This article is a continuation of a series about Disney Parks’ icons. READ PART I
Appreciating Disney Park Icons
The icons of Disney Parks—while unique for the most part—are alike enough to be grouped into four categories. That way, we can fully appreciate each icon and understand what makes them special.
The categories will be Castles, Hidden Attractions, Fabricated Wonders, and Iconic by Default.
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Hidden Attractions
The icons in the Hidden Attractions category double as rides or shows, but you would never know it just by looking at them.
Spaceship Earth
EPCOT
This category starts strong with the prettiest girl in school, Spaceship Earth at EPCOT.
Design
The 180-foot-tall geodesic sphere greets guests at the park’s entrance, standing as an introductory point to a world of innovation and culture. The landmark complements the surrounding areas with Walt Disney World’s Monorail wrapped around it. Spaceship Earth is an anchor for EPCOT’s mission as it’s seen from all around the park.
Development
Spaceship Earth is probably Disney’s most impressive icon from an engineering standpoint. Disney took inspiration from the geodesic dome at Expo 67 in Montreal, creating an elaborate sphere within a sphere design. The large structure’s elevated position added extra complications as the crew had to perform wind tunnel tests, ensuring safety for pedestrians. One of the geodesic sphere’s many functional features is its built-in system for collecting rainwater, which flows into the park’s lagoon. Spaceship Earth is the world’s largest free-standing geodesic sphere, weighing in at nearly 16 million pounds; the 165-foot-wide sphere is covered in more than 11,000 triangular tiles, giving it that golf ball look.
Creativity
The reason Spaceship Earth is so impressive in size and design is that it’s the venue for a classic Disney dark ride. Typically, Disney builds their dark rides in some type of themed show building, but this ride is elevated and enclosed inside the geodesic sphere. Spaceship Earth’s helix-like track layout spirals up the sphere with a gradual descent back at the end.
On the creative side, Disney consulted with famed author Ray Bradbury to outline the attraction’s storyline. Spaceship Earth takes an encouraging journey through the advancements in human communication and connections.
Impact
Spaceship Earth being toward the front of the park means it’s the first and final sight guests see when visiting EPCOT. It’s a symbol of EPCOT itself and also the harmonious future it represents. That feeling is punctuated at night with its shimmering lighting package called Beacons of Magic, which debuted in 2021. It’s illuminated with various shows and effects, giving guests one final spark of inspiration at the end of the night as they pass by Spaceship Earth toward the exit.
Fabricated Wonders
The next few park icons fit into the Hidden Attractions category, but they also are prime examples of Fabricated Wonders. These icons combine works of art with natural aesthetics for believable, adventurous, and calm settings.
Mount Prometheus
Tokyo DisneySea
Tokyo DisneySea is generally considered the gold standard for Disney Parks, and its icon definitely meets that standard.
Design
Tokyo DisneySea flows around its icon: Mount Prometheus. The man-made volcano anchors the park’s coastal-themed areas, known as ports of call. No matter where you stand in the park, the 189-foot-tall Mount Prometheus blends into the background. From different angles, the active volcano may be more graceful with pleasing rock formations and foliage—as seen from Port Discovery. In ports of call like Mysterious Island, Mount Prometheus is more intense and volcanic as if it could erupt at any moment. It magnifies the adventurous spirit of Mysterious Island, which is heavily inspired by the retrofuturistic works of Jules Verne. The port of call is crawling with gorgeous craftwork, inventions, submarines, and points of discovery wrapped around and through Mount Prometheus.
Development
As eye-catching as Mount Prometheus is, the icon is technologically impressive as well. Its 750,000 square feet of sculpted rockwork hold the most dazzling effect in a Disney icon: fire. Mount Prometheus has 10 3,000-pound rocket boosters in its crater, which erupt flames up to 50 feet in the air. The volcano bursts throughout the day and as part of DisneySea’s nighttime spectaculars. It’s a glorious icon on the outside with more surprises for those who venture inside.
Creativity
Mount Prometheus is an attraction in and of itself, but it also contains—not one, but—two major rides: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Journey to the Center of the Earth. These attractions further the Jules Verne world; the wonder of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and especially the compelling thrills of Journey to the Center of the Earth are among the best DisneySea has to offer. Mount Prometheus rewards exploration with its rides, mystique, and design.
Impact
Mount Prometheus clearly isn’t the typical Disney icon. At one level, it’s a staggering creation that represents Disney’s most cohesively creative theme park. Beyond the surface, Mount Prometheus is an engineering accomplishment that contains some of Disney’s finest attractions. It would take a special icon to stand up to the quality of Tokyo DisneySea, and Mount Prometheus does so with excellence.
Tree of Life
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park
Only one icon can combine the spectacle of nature and the magic of Disney: Animal Kingdom’s Tree of Life.
Design
Disney’s Animal Kingdom simultaneously looks like a creation by nature and a construction by Imagineers. The park and its icon are organic and, in contrast, well thought out; that’s a compliment to the handiwork of the great outdoors and Disney’s innovation. The Tree of Life combines Animal Kingdom’s respect for nature with a brilliantly lush design made by Imagineers.
From far away, it has intrigue and significance—but close up, it is a work of art with carvings and intricacies around every bend. The Tree of Life is covered in more than 300 wildlife carvings that appear to be naturally growing from the wood. It unifies our world’s diverse animal kingdom of land, water, and air, including creatures from ants to zebras—A to Z. The decorative roots sprawl throughout the Discovery Island area, intertwining the tree in the park’s hub.
Development
At 145 feet tall, the Tree of Life has nearly 8,000 end branches as the canopy extends 165 feet wide. The tree holds more than 100,000 leaves that stay put during Florida’s heavy storms thanks to wind tunnel studies during development; the tree can withstand 100 mph winds. The Tree of Life was constructed using a scaled oil rig—designed specifically for the project. This framework allowed for a sturdy natural figure while having enough space for an attraction inside.
Creativity
The Tree of Life is one of Disney’s more expansive icons with roots weaving far beyond its trunk. This environment paves exploration areas like the Discovery Island Trails, which wander by calm animal exhibits through the Tree of Life Garden. The tree’s gorgeous root system ushers guests through a queue that leads to the Tree of Life Theater. Inside the base of the Tree of Life is a 400-plus-seat venue presenting It’s Tough to Be a Bug!: a 4D show with animatronics, scents, and more. This opening-day attraction will be replaced with Zootopia: Better Zoogether!, which will take over the Tree of Life Theater.
Impact
The Tree of Life accomplishes what the best Disney icons do: It makes a statement. Animal Kingdom’s icon is bold yet serene; it’s a monumental work of art that makes guests want to discover more under its shady branches and beyond. That level of curiosity is what Animal Kingdom is all about—appreciating a world beyond our own.
Iconic by Default
Some of Disney’s theme parks are tightly tethered to their icons; try imagining EPCOT without Spaceship Earth. However, for other parks, the icons might seem like an afterthought. They randomly choose the tallest ride in the park as an icon simply because it’s the best option. That leads us to the final category: Iconic by Default.
Pixar Pal-A-Round
Disney California Adventure Park
Even though Disney California Adventure is only a few steps from the park that Walt built, Anaheim’s second gate is far from a typical Disney park. Disney’s other theme parks emphasize worlds of fiction and fantasy; when it opened, California Adventure was basically a CliffsNotes version of The Golden State. California Adventure’s early logo and marketing showed off its icon at the time: Grizzly Peak. This 110-foot-tall mountain was inspired by California’s state animal and its scenic national parks. Grizzly Peak has much more to appreciate and could fit into the Fabricated Wonders category, but—alas—it’s no longer the park’s icon.
Disney has diluted California Adventure’s identity over the years as a multi-billion-dollar effort to correct the park’s early shortcomings. Despite its name, California Adventure lost its heavy California theme—so the California-esque Grizzly Peak is no longer an accurate signifier of the park. Grizzly Peak still exists, but it is out of the spotlight and often shrouded by overgrown plants.
By default, due to rapid change and a lack of options, the park’s icon in recent years has been the Pixar Pal-A-Round Ferris wheel. Pixar Pal-A-Round is in a picturesque location by the water and is among the tallest attractions in the park at 160 feet. This Ferris wheel originally opened as the Sun Wheel but now features a large Mickey Mouse face. It’s not ideal or revolutionary; it’s Iconic by Default.
Grizzly Peak is more unique to the park and is closer in quality to Disney’s other icons. It is California Adventure’s most intentional visual anchor, but Disney has made it more irrelevant as the park evolves.
Earffel Tower
Disney-MGM Studios and Walt Disney Studios Park
When Disney-MGM Studios first opened, the park’s icon was the Earffel Tower: a fake water tower with a pair of Mickey ears. It fit the park’s studio backlot theme, but it was removed in 2016 to make room for Toy Story Land.
Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris has its own version of the Earffel Tower. That park is being transformed into Disney Adventure World with a refreshed entrance; by the looks of the concept art, the Earffel Tower seems to be safe in Paris.
The Sorcerer’s Hat
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
The park formerly known as Disney-MGM Studios has had a few iconic landmarks—for better or for worse. The park’s Chinese Theatre facade has arguably been its most recognizable landmark, being located in a typical spot for an icon at the end of the Main Street-style entrance. However, even that iconic facade was covered up at one point.
To honor the 100th anniversary of Walt’s birth, Walt Disney World Resort held the 100 Years of Magic celebration in 2001. For this, Disney introduced The Sorcerer’s Hat, which was plopped right in front of The Great Movie Ride and the legendary Chinese Theatre recreation. The 122-foot-tall structure was inspired by Mickey’s role in Fantasia and lasted until 2015.
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Since the removal of the Earffel Tower and The Sorcerer’s Hat, the icon of Disney’s Hollywood Studios has defaulted to The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. As the tallest attraction at Hollywood Studios, Tower of Terror has stumbled into being an icon. Truthfully, Tower of Terror is an attraction first and an icon second, so it doesn’t quite fit the Hidden Attractions category from earlier. However, it is still incredibly well designed.
Tower of Terror lives up to its name by being the tallest Disney icon at a towering 199 feet tall. The Hollywood Tower Hotel creeps over the glitz and glitter of Sunset Boulevard with a twisted golden-age look. The building’s backside was famously designed to blend into the skyline of the Morocco Pavilion where it can be seen all the way at EPCOT.
Tower of Terror may be Hollywood Studios’ backup icon, but is a star in its own right—for now. Once The Muppets take the place of Aerosmith, The Twilight Zone will be the only non-Disney property at the Walt Disney World Resort. So, who’s to say what Hollywood Studios’ icon will look like in the future.
Iconic Memories
When a Disney park has a less-than-stellar icon, it reveals just how impactful the top-tier ones are. From storybook castles to a geodesic sphere, Disney’s icons are a snapshot of the wonder experienced at theme parks and the lasting memories formed there.
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