The Path to Adventure

Transitions are key elements in Disney theme park storytelling. The parks were designed like motion picture sets, and just like in the movies, one scene moves to another through cuts, fades and cross-dissolves.

A great example of this sort of transition happens on the way from Main Street, U.S.A. to Adventureland in the Magic Kingdom. Main Street is turn-of-the-20th-century Victorian America, representative of a time when, among other things, there was tremendous interest in the world at large. Since air travel was not yet a reality and people couldn't easily travel the world, entrepreneurs and educators strove to bring the world to the people.

During this time, menageries and greenhouses became all the rage. The design of the Crystal Palace was inspired by several elaborate greenhouse structures, including the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco and the Palm House at Kew Gardens in England.

A Victorian greenhouse displaying exotic flora from tropic regions of the world provides the perfect bridge between the settings of the two lands, and additional exterior details help make the transition complete. In the photo below, you can see the Main Street side of the Crystal Palace. Notice that this end of the building has a broad porch and finely manicured gardens, appropriate to the setting of the town.

The other end of the Crystal Palace building looks quite a bit different. Here, awnings cover the windows to protect from the hot sun, and the landscape is much more tropical in nature.

Walk a little further across the bridge toward Adventureland, and the Crystal Palace building all but disappears, enshrouded by the jungle. Below, a river winds back into that jungle, inviting us to follow and explore further.