I'd say the Soarin' queue in Epcot is a liminal space. It's just walking through vague corridors and switchbacks, losing a sense of where you are, what direction you're facing, and how much further you have to go. It's a transient area between The Land and Patrick Warburton.
They tried to tart it up by putting the screens for the trivia game in there (I don't know if they're still there actually), but there's just not much to it.
I’ve never really “gotten” what people mean when they talk about liminal spaces but your comment just made me think of the Soarin queue when there’s nobody else in line and now I get it
I'd like to make a strong argument for the loading area of Living With the Land, especially on a slow day. You just walk right up to a boat in what is otherwise a kind of sad mall food court, and it feels like someone's built a water ride in their garage.
We went on it a couple months ago RIGHT before park closing & I'm pretty sure we were the last people let on? It feels WEIRD but in a good way. I love the entrance because it is just straight up in some food court & does not feel like it should be there.
The exit platform of Magic Kingdom's Space Mountain (right after getting off the train) also gives off this vibe. I see it a lot in my dreams more than the regular boarding station.
I was going to mention that! You beat me by 15 minutes! The loading area for MK Space Mountain is highly themed these days and feels like a proper part of the experience. But the unloading area (which is physically immediately below it, I think) isn't. It's got this sort of generic drop ceiling like you'd see in a cafeteria, and a carpet with what my daughter describes as a bowling-alley pattern on it, and lettering on the wall that reads "TOMORROWLAND STATION MK-1" but it's not terribly convincing. It just feels like they weren't trying quite as hard with that area--maybe they're trying to hurry you along to clear the area, so they made it less interesting to look at. Once you get into the corridor that used to be a moving walkway, there's more theming with some show scenes and it feels more like a walk-through attraction. But before that is the liminal space. I haven't been back since they took out the moving walkway. But from the videos I've seen of the remodeled area at the far end of that corridor, where you ascend to the level of the exit, it kind of has liminal vibes as well. They tried to spruce it up but there's not a lot going on there.
Anecdote here! Me and my friends went on Space mountain, and as walking through that exact spot, the power for the lights were out, and we didn’t even notice until we saw cast members a little further up with flashlights
Man, I love liminal spaces. When you take a turn into a less traveled area and it's just you and some architecture that has not been updated in a long time? When it was clearly designed to hold a crowd but the only thing to remind you there are other humans on the planet is some very faint atmosphere music? Transcendent.
From how most people talk about it, it's some creepy existential sensation. Honestly, it would be kind of cool being at some of these places, assuming I'm not going to get mugged or killed by some heroin addict.
As a CM, i've been lucky enough to roam certain areas of the parks early morning and late nights before and after guests leave to get to where I need to be. And that feeling of walking through as nothing happens, with no one in sight always gives me that odd sensation of liminal spaces, I love it. I often particularly walk through Grizzly Peak at night alone and man is it spooky! Secondarily, when we came back after the shutdown but before opening to guests, we got a few hours to play in the parks to "test" the attractions up and running and Pirates was my favorite in that day because I was all alone in there once the boat went into the Bayou and so on. Also, that scene where the pirate turns into a skeleton, that entire tunnel had the lights off and it was pitch black from start to finish, I couldn't see my hand in front of my face. To add on, no animatronics were on and some were missing their faces, fun times.
The most liminal space in Disneyland is Snow White's wishing well at night. Its very secluded and quiet enough to hear your own heartbeat. I literally have had many dreams where I end up in that area and it creeps me out to no end.
Then there’s queues in general, especially ones that aren’t popular. There’s something extremely liminal about weaving through empty stanchions and past set pieces so you can get to a walk on. Sometimes you’ll get to bypass entire areas of a queue and only get to glance at unused space with empty chains as you pass by. For example, with Voyage of The Little Mermaid, you can often zip past the roaring waters and rock work, ignore the crabs who peer at you through those little portholes and other glass, and then rush past the Scuttle animatronic who will continue to babble on to no one on and on forever. It’s very eerie. The Nemo ride also tends to lack a wait so you quickly pass a very immersive queue that is very very dark and already offers liminal eeriness through the idea you’re visiting the beach at night when no one is there and neither should you, followed by entering the deep expanse of the ocean, empty, quiet, the only sign of life being the boat above you. Space Mountain feels strange late at night as you speedwalk past the Star Tunnel and hall with the games that might try to speak to you while models of ride vehicles whip past on the other side. Anything in Storybook Circus feels liminal at night when it’s dark and empty. The Robinson Treehouse feels liminal in that it feels abandoned, like someone lived there and suddenly disappeared without warning. Bill Nye echos to no one as people rush to get on Dinosaur, signs about Big and Little Red in like for the safari echo a past that no longer exists, and that queue also feels like a work space where the people just disappeared, same with Everest. Droids continue to speak to no one in Star Tours when it’s empty. Queues are inherently liminal but under the right conditions, they’re even more.
The beginning of the Three Caballeros ride in the Mexico pavilion does this for me. Going from being in a busy plaza with a restaurant buzzing next to you, to that long expanse of screens showing the characters and the story. It gives me that transitional feeling and the feeling that despite many people riding it, it hasn’t been really paid attention to in a while.
I first learned the word "liminal" in regards to cats and the way felines can't decide if they want to be inside or outside. For a while, I had a hard time even finding the word in a dictionary. I appreciate learning more about the in between spaces.
try the contemporary gym! it’s on the third floor which is mostly cast members only so it’s always empty and seriously looks like it hasn’t been updated since the 80s. even plays 80s workout synth music on loop! something very nostalgic about standing in a room completely empty that looks like it’s been forgotten.
I think Tower of Terror was designed purposely to use the feeling of liminal spaces -- a hotel (where we stay temporarily), maintenance areas, elevator, Twilight Zone. It's interesting to see these spaces like the Space Mountain entrance and Epcot Monorail ramp that sort of accidentally fell into that feeling.
Disney World and probably Tokyo Disneyland have the most since they retain a lot of the 70's 80's features while Disneyland has refurbished almost everything. Epcot and parts of the Contemporary (ironically) have a lot of blank spaces that feel completely out of time like the Nixon speech ballroom and every unused area of the Land, Imagination and Seas pavilions. Like my grandparents find it funny that they haven't been changed since they started going in '82.
Because apparently I can’t stop: There used to be a theater on Main Street in WDW where you meet Mickey and Tink now. Back past the camera and photo stuff, you’d see these old timey things you could pose with like cameos or a wagon, and then past that, you’d find a theater with plenty of seating where you could watch a selection of Disney shorts like Steamboat Willie, Flowers and Trees, and The Band Concert. The back of the theater also had things to pose with like a little Steamboat Willie set, and things where you could put your face in cutouts so you look like a Dalmatian or an LGM. There was almost always no one in there and an abandoned theater playing cartoons was a perfect place to eat lunch when I was a kid. I miss it. Also areas for meet and greets when there’s no character around. Like the spot Buzz meets over by The Carousel of Progress. It’s often times just a strange little set off in the corner. A few others: the backside of the castle near the fountain with Cinderella feels empty and wrong at night, as well as the paths off to the side of the castle. That alley besides the Muppets gift shop and the Christmas Store is also usually empty.
i feel that way when im the pixie hollow section, and i kinda love it. the speakers making everything outside of the area harder to hear, trying to sit on the mushrooms.
my first time on Journey Into Imagination was right before Epcot closed at night a couple months ago. After we exited those doors, there wasn't a soul around, couldn't even hear people talking in the distance. Fountains running, it's dark, the doors to the theater next door just standing open... It felt so bizarre. Absolutely felt like we were alone in that park.
The canyon & waterfall walkway behind Canada pavilion at Epcot. The ornately tiled two-story courtyard area in Morocco. Being alone in the Maelstrom "small town" transition area after the ride but before the movie theater. The old Catwalk Lounge above/adjacent to the Brown Derby.
For me I got that feeling in the exit area of the Disney World Haunted Mansion. Literally the last ten feet of the walkway where you transition from inside the Mansion to outside. That feeling may have been pushed along by the fact that when I entered the ride it was perfectly sunny out, and exiting it was raining its face off. Edit: I just realized that even when Offhand Disney doesn't specifically mention the Haunted Mansion, his video STILL finds a way to include it. GET OUT OF MY BRAIN
I’ve never thought about this before but I agree! I always get a very weird feeling while I’m exiting through there. Just like he said I feel like I’m not supposed to be there…
One of the other many liminal spaces at Epcot is the series of walkways over the pond in front of the Odyssey building--which I guess is actually used on a regular basis now, but for a while it was this mysterious functionless building as far as visitors were concerned. Nevertheless there was this elaborate system of walks over the water that just connected it to the adjoining land areas, and they collectively formed an outdoor space that didn't seem to have much of a purpose either.
The moment he first mentioned Epcot, I immediately time traveled back to one of the few moments of truly feeling the strangeness of being in a liminal space.
@@mushieslushie You go in there and suddenly feel like you're in a connecting passage to a low-traffic airport concourse, with a weird smell of urinal cakes.
@@mushieslushie right? I remember waiting for one of my friends in one of those places. a really odd and specific memory from my time at the park, huh.
A definite liminal space is the brief scene in the WDW Haunted Mansion between the piano player and the endless hallway; once was giant spider webs, now Escher stairs.
Me and my friend were in Epcot, and the doors to Journey Into Your Imagination (With Figment). We were Disney novices, we didn't know anything about the ride. So we went in, and we wandered through the completely empty line, past all the theming, worried that we weren't supposed to be in there. Until we rounded the corner and saw a Cast Member at the loading area. We managed to go through 3 times before we saw any other guests XD
Gosh I have LOVED liminal space before I even knew the term for it! I love this video! You really hit the nail on the head when you said that when you get off the Epcot monorail it looks like you’re going to work in a dystopian city. That was brilliantly accurate! Another liminal space I really love is in Tomorrowland at Disneyworld. The place where the purple wall is, and the unused space next to it where they sometimes host firework viewing parties and sometimes sell food. Usually when you walk through it it’s totally empty and serves no purpose. I love it!
6:42 "a space that doesn't quite know what it wants to be, but never the less, Is used and very well traveled (and trapped in time)" ...are you sure you don't mean all of TomorrowLand
8:00 I would almost argue the EPCOT monorail exit is more oddly liminal than the entrance ramp. The entrance ramp, at the least is a ramp, leading upwards with some sense of progression. The exit ramp swings out to the west with a long stretch of flat area that makes you wonder why it exists and if something else should be there on that large, flat, elevated surface.
The EPCOT monorail station was built before the park properly opened in 1982, as a preview center to show a teaser and continue the excitement after a series of delays. This is where the monorail only goes around the former Future World section and not anywhere in World Showcase--that section was further along in construction. As a result, it is much wider and elaborate than it has to be, with far more open and currently unused space (especially when compared to the other monorail stations at Magic Kingdom.)
@@PreferredCustomer It was also built to, if necessary, house another line coming in from the area hotels, where guests could then transfer trains to go on to the Transportation Center. This obviously never happened and thus the Epcot station is twice the size it needs to be.
I feel like MK's Jungle Cruise temple scene gives off this feeling extremely well Just the silence of the skipper and the minimal light while that ambience plays Either that or it's my irrational fear of chimpanzees kicking in
The transition from Lafiete's landing, around the Blue Bayou restaurant and past the old man in the shack is so relaxing. As you described it, I was transported back to that place on my childhood and can vividly remember the increasing sense of calm that came over me as we begin the ride. Great story telling. Thanks for the video.
Airports, of course, are among the ultimate liminal spaces, and the theme parks make MCO a bit stranger by intruding into it with themed shops, and (until January) the Disney's Magical Express stop, which I've always thought was a brilliant and weird mingling of spaces. You're still at the airport, and suddenly you encounter a MagicBand scan station like you're getting on a ride at Disney World! What is this? The message is that you're *already* in the begloved hands of the Mouse. Which I think is just so effective that it's bizarre they're getting rid of it. But the liminality there is more a sense of heightened transition than of an abandoned or disregarded space. It's like stepping through the wardrobe into Narnia. On the other hand, going through that and then still having to climb onto a basically ordinary motor coach and sit there for a while has an odd liminality to it. Not to mention the freaking Hyatt Regency built right into the terminal, so that you're somehow suddenly walking through its atrium without leaving the main terminal. That is just a bizarre experience.
Man, I remember how much hype there was for the "Information Super-highway" (no one called it The Internet in marketing back then) and there was no where else that was clear than the Communicore. There was a whole booth you could go "surfing" on the web with a surfboard ride. Actually, come to think of it, that has a lot of parallels to the hype for the National Highway System in the original Tomorrow Land.
Man I totally didn't even remember that little bit in Pirates, I remember dude on dock with the banjo music, but mentally spaced out between there and the skull. I don't think I can count the number of times I've been on that ride (ok I probably can, I just don't remember), and never really remember there being a secondary house scene after the bayou
Great idea for a video. Disney has a LOT of liminal spaces. I swear the beasts room In the animation building at DCA is creepy when it's empty... Which it is a lot
Gonna comment a few time to boost engagement and avoid a wall of text: The Tomorrowland Terrace gives similar vibes to that bit about the DL Space Mountain path but at WDW. The Terrace opens once in a blue moon but it’s mostly a shortcut into Tomorrowland from Mainstreet. You can see all the cash registers and order windows and seating but it’s just nothing and then the purple wall which feels liminal in its own right. Small note: Tom Swayer’s Island can also feel liminal if you end up in areas with no one around you like in the mines, mill, or fort-which might have nothing but the invitation to shoot at passing trains to keep you company. And also the Streets of America were usually vastly empty and gave the impression of abandoned streets or at least an abandoned film lot.
The load area for Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom during the fireworks will always hold a special liminal space in my heart. If you get into that big open room with no other parties and all you see is the 80s carpet, sterile white walls, a few cast members, and your rocket approaching from the darkness. It is 100% unnerving
the liminal space in Pirates at Disneyland is one of my favorite places in the entire world. I think it's genius how the ride incrementally brings you deeper into its world, with that mixture of anticipation and dread
For me, just walking through Tomorrowland Terrace is that feeling 100%. Especially on a late January or early February day when the air is still and dry.
walking down the curved staircase at the rear of the late Adventurer’s Club…staring out the large glass windows and doors…sounds of merriment and improv behind you, lake buena vista before you, lite by the neon of Pleasure Island…I remember wandering through this space as a kid, preteen, snd later teenager, and would sit on the soft cushioned bench or over sized chair, and just enjoy this odd, very very lightly themed foyer within what could be argued was one of the most heavily themed buildings at the time…as a kid snd now adult who enjoys being in one’s head it was beautiful and fleeting moment in the chaos that was 90’s PI…
I get the same felling from the ramp to the second floor of the Coke store at Disney Springs. It's a huge ramp the wraps all the way around the outside of the building and only has glass walls. So you can look down on all the shoppers and dinners running around below and the lake in the distance, but you're alone in a glass bubble with only the faint sounds of the store behind you.
I experienced a liminal space at Disney a few years back at a conference. It was being hosted at Coronado. The conference space in Coronado is in three major parts: there's a front area you come to initially where lots of activity is typically going on but when you keep walking past that and the middle part, do a dog leg down the hallway, you come to the backend of the conference area that's not used nearly as much. Very often there's nobody down there and it feels very weird and looks like it just got abandoned yesterday. This isn't helped by the fact that the conference room at the very end of that hallway is not as finished as any of the others it looks like someone gave up about four-fifths of the way through finishing construction.
The queue area for Space Mountain (in Tokyo Disneyland). It's a weird mix of the past and future, which screams "retro futurism" to me. It makes me feel so weird and oddly nostalgic that it reminds me of my childhood (although I can't quite put a finger on a specific part of my childhood). It's a space that's so disjointed from the present but you still somehow get it even though you've never lived in that era of the past.
Maelstrom... just all of Maelstrom was a liminal space, especially late at night with few people around. The pre-show area of the Short Film Festival 3-D theater is like this for me, too. There's an odd vibe there when it's practically empty. And, I'm probably alone on this, but that moment in WDW's Little Mermaid ride as you're going under Flotsam and Jetsum into Ursula's lair, by that weird, dark corner, is a liminal space for me.
The Space Place is one of my most favorite recent Disneyland "defunct" discoveries. That area makes so much more sense now that I know it used to be a quick service counter.
As for Epcot, at night time, the paths of Future World West also feel liminal due to lack of people and a serious lack of lighting. It’s so dark over there! Each of the pavilions there can also be liminal like how the Imagination Institute feels like a completely unused place especially in the lobby, there’s also often no one near the jumping fountains. The Land feels like an airport even without the addition of Soarin’, by being this large building where people are just trying to get to an attraction or eat in essentially a big cafeteria. The Seas is also a big building and has dark corners where you might not find anyone around you at times, and the shark room feels strange and out of place when there aren’t children running around it. The room upstairs with the coral is also usually empty. Some of the nooks and crannies of the World Showcase feel liminal as well like the little museums in Morocco or Norway which almost no one occupies because they don’t know they exist. Morocco itself is full of winding pathways few people seem interested in fully exploring.
I was always eating at The Space Place Restaurant at Disneyland. It had the best "Cottage Fries". They were crinkle cut circular fries that were Parmesan Garlic. The Space Place was open as much as when the old Fantasyland Autopia was operating. The Space Place was my preferred restaurant over the Tomorrowland Terrace (Galactic Grill). I loved watching the Peoplemover pass by while eating my meal. Memories! Hello from Phoenix Arizona!🔥
Would love to see more of these explored. These liminal spaces are so fascinating because I'm sure most of us notice them and may even make a mental note of the weird vibe, but yet they are never discussed.
I haven't been over there in a while, but I imagine that the old Motor Boat Cruise platform in Disneyland would probably be a pretty good liminal space.
I think one of my favorite things last visit to epcot was getting off the monorail to that monorail system and seeing a Walt quote about deadlines on posters on the rails leading down the ramp. Really hammered home the cold business feel.
I would like to add: almost all cast member areas. The worn down break rooms, weirdly shaped and dimly lit maze like hallways built around showrooms and guest areas, underground corridors, old ride vehicles and festival stalls sitting in a field, the 2nd floor of Journey into Imagination before the Vacation club was built, and so many old backstage murals that the guests will never see. A few very specific ones I’ve experienced: walking the Test Track outdoor portion while the sun rises, the middle of Future World East after guests have left but the music is still playing, Journey Into Imagination at 3am, the one weird meeting room in the Land Pavilion that character performers have to pass through to reach the break room, the cast member barbershop underneath Magic Kingdom.
Side topic: I’ll never understand why they just didn’t gut all of CommuniCore West to turn the entire space into a festival center. It’d have been MUCH cheaper to do.
The WDW people mover has a lot of empty enclosed areas inside the buildings meant to get you to the actual indoor scenes, they always felt like some kind of weird middle ground you're not supposed to see.
I worked at the Magic Kingdom and backstage (especially the tunnels) is the most liminal space I’ve ever been in. Working after park close, running around in circles in the tunnels, the faint sound of music, a never ending basement underneath an expansive park, old posters on the walls, feeling like you should run into someone but never do because the tunnels follow a set path and no one stays in one place long enough… yeah. Definitely the most liminal experience I’ve had
California Adventure when it rains just seems full of them. Especially when you are walking to Grizzly Rapids from Ariel's Undersea Adventure. That part of the park feels very calming.
I'm extremely late to the party here, but I used to get those vibes through the entire Hollywood section of the park when it rained. Just all these facades and sets--but not even real sets, fake sets--completely abandoned. It really felt like I wasn't supposed to be there, but it was okay. Very dreamlike.
the banjo always gave me a irrational feeling I cant explain to this day. why is the man outside and the banjo player inside? Shouldn't they be both be together? What's the point of playing inside?
i definitely get big liminal space vibes around the line/area for space mountain in disneyland. always kinda felt...strange...like i was missing something, some, information or alternative...something or other..."abandoned mall" definitely captures it. it's almost a little eerie, feels distinctly..abandoned.. and now i know why! and come to think of it, main street kinda gives off those vibes too.
I love how your story telling and general presentation skills continue to improve with each new piece of content you release, the camera work, the dialogue. This is some of the BEST Disney based content on youtube.
That big hallway at EPCOT next to the Coca Cola store really gets me. My family and I would walk through it every time we visited EPCOT and I always felt like there was so much history buried in its walls despite never having seen the hallway when it was used as an attraction and knowing nothing about its history. I also always felt really at peace in there for some reason. Weird, but I loved it.
FWIW, EPCOT really is a product of the late 1970s idea of architecture (not 1980s) since that was when it was designed (it took a few years to build, so it was completed in the 1980s but the design is very 1970s). It embraced the ideas of brutalism and elevating walkways (which was a tenet of the era - to get pedestrians away from traffic/car exhaust). The EPCOT monorail station, Odyssey area and even earlier buildings like the Contemporary all are hallmarks of that heavy concrete modularity of the 1970s. For someone like me, EPCOT was so amazingly futuristic and the Contemporary was something out of a sci fi movie (I know that is hard to believe for younger individuals today). Also, Space Mountain in Disneyland now enters through what was once the exit and bathrooms area. The theatre was for captain EO/Honey I Shrunk The Kids and the second floor queue area/entrance used to be an open air theater (I saw Berlin play there at Grad Night 1985). To the right of the new Space Mountain entrance was the StarCade, a huge two story game arcade that had the latest and greatest games. That quick serve restaurant had to be entered through a different direction than now (they built a ramp over it to get to Space Mountain) and was deserted a lot as well because of its somewhat hidden location. The escalator to enter Space Mountain had to be removed because if the line got long enough, it reached the top of the escalator and people would get backed up/there had to be a cast member or two always directing if people could go up the escalator. But even in the early 1980s, that area was kind of unused - so much emptiness on the top floor and the bottom was too hidden away for people. Plus, the bathrooms were so far back that you had to fight your way through the crowds exiting the ride to get to them.
the convention center in the contemporary is a super big case of liminal space. the outdated decor, the architecture, how its lit all through the night. its a really neat place and its open to be in since its not blocked off and lit, but it feels almost forbidden and like a time capsule
The Epcot monorail station is one of the last places in Epcot that still has the old feel from the 80s. There was this stark architectural style in the late 70s especially that exemplified an ideal future, and it looked...well, it looked a lot like the Contemporary resort. Angular and monolithic, cast in concrete grays and stainless steel, maybe with some blues thrown in. It gave off a sense of indestructibility. It was a place that was, for lack of a better word, clean, and along with that it seemed like there could be no bad things within its walls. No crime, poverty or sickness. The place was too powerful for that. It was an ideal. And it was the present would should be enjoying, but for bad decisions by a few greedy people.
The Epcot monorail station is a vision of the future with its Soviet-inspired concrete design. Unlike the other areas, there is literally nothing about the Soviet-style monorail station that will offend, much less stimulate, anyone.
I definitely felt this way when I rode the original Star Tours just before Hollywood Studios closed for the night. I knew it was going to be replaced with the new Star Tours, so I wanted one last ride before I left Florida. Still, walking through the exterior "forest" of Endor in the dark, and then suddenly entering the (extremely 80s) dimly-lit interior with the constant echoing of the announcement chime reporting fictional flight takeoffs to an empty queue and all the animatronics performing for no one was a weird way to experience an attraction for the last time. It all really emphasized the sense of nostalgia and finality I felt when I realized that I would never have that exact experience again once the new ride opened.
Really liked that intro, great video topic. By the way, the Countdown Chicken Fusilli is pretty good at Pizza Port (its name before the halfhearted Toy Story tie-in―apparently there's a "Pizza Planet" out there that owns the name, hence _"Alien_ Pizza Planet" despite that not being its name in the movies). The pizza's not too bad either, if you're into the thick-crusted California style
Oooo I love this!! Yes please to more :D And does anyone else find, that if you have a subconcious dream about visiting Disney World it's always in a part like this? I now know what they are called, thanks Offhand Disney :D
Alien Pizza Planet was my go-to eatery when I went to Disneyland after it opened. The pasta was a quick and easy meal (not amazing, but I wouldn't complain either), and the parfait was a nice dessert. But, for me, food at Disneyland was less part of the experience and more a necessary thing that took away ride time.
Final ramp up in the tunnel at the Magic Kingdoms space Mountain. I’ve been blessed to be able to be in the park at near empty quite a few times and there’s nothing like coming up through that hallway by yourself with the music in the background. It’s some of my favorite memories. Thanks for making me think of it
That Epcot Station is interesting. Epcot itself of course _was_ to be a --utopian-- dystopian workplace in Disney's original vision, after all. The Modern/Brutalist architecture of the station really does echo that, while also having a sort of blandly retrofuturistic charm that feels like it really fits the American Disney parks' take on Tomorrow
Our boarding group for Rise of the Resistance got called. While we barely made it to a stop initially going into the queue, the ride coincidentally broke down (lol). Many of the guests decided to leave, but it would be my boyfriend's first time on the ride, so we decided to stay. We were the last two waiting as there were no additional boarding groups admitted after us since the ride broke down right away. It had been about 20 minutes and there was no movement, and I had to leave the line to use the restroom. On my way out there was a CM standing at one of those earlier in-queue exits, they let me out from there and told me I could come back to them when I'm ready. When I got back, they weren't there, so I awkwardly let myself back in. I ran into no other CM's where they usually scanned boarding passes, and once I entered the cave-like queue area... I entered a liminal space. Now, as an AP, I am thoroughly familiar with Disneyland - pre-pandemic, I was there about 2-3 times a week. But because of the boarding group hassle I had only experienced Rise once or twice before since its opening day. I doubt this was it, though. During a busy hour it serves a great purpose. But walking absolutely by myself, with the ambience and realism of the queue, the turns seemed to go on forever and at one point I wondered if I'd hit the line again. I did, and my boyfriend looked at me confused. I shook it off but I'll never forget... such a weird feeling. I'll bet that camera footage was amusing.
I love the Epcot monorail station for the reason you described - Its cold and uninviting and offputting - after a day in the world showcase, that feels like space to spread out, and less people around. A great place to stretch and breathe.
I know this doesn't count, but please sample this if you can, my friends: THE TIKI ROOM BATHROOMS. There's a delicious disquite there. I used that restroom once and felt the entire time like I was in a place I shouldn't be, in the best way. It's like when you have that Disneyland dream (you know the one) where you go somewhere in Disneyland that you know doesn't exist, like the "kitchen scene" of the Haunted Mansion. Because it feels like the Tiki Room shouldn't have a bathroom, let alone with the entrance right in the courtyard where the preshow is. But more than that, the bathroom there was outdated compared to the ones in the rest of the park, breaking emmersion in a way that makes it feel like you suddenly aren't in Disneylad anymore. But you are, Disneyland is just two feet away on all sides. You couldn't be anywhere else. So... like a pocket of the real world inside a dream world. Speaking of eerie spaces -- the lockers on Main Street. Right?
I cheered when you mentioned pirates, the first half always hit different for me. Honestly the skeleton show scenes also gave me liminal vibes; slow music, the sound of water and thunder, scenes of skeletons that are almost human but perfectly still, big liminal vibes for me
“So un-inviting it’s inviting is the perfect way to describe Disney liminal spaces! I particularly loved the black void underneath the Blue Bayou bridge. I can taste and feel that one, having been born and raised at Disneyland. Love your channel! Jean Lafitte forever 🏴☠️
Oh my goodness watching this in bed, at night, with the only light in the room being that coming from my laptop, my eyes hurt going from the dark ride, almost pitch-black section of Pirates of the Caribbean to a well-lit Dallin in front of a green screen legitimately hurt my eyes.
The area near the fantasyland bathrooms heading towards galaxy's edge gives off these same vibes. It almost seems like they're still theming it to fit the 3 areas it connects.
The last time i was at WDW it was with folks that couldn't have allowed anything like these liminal spaces to resonate with that calm oddness. Pack drama. Nice folks. But no chill.
So glad you included that Space Mountain one - had no idea about the history, but that space had this really weird vibe the one time I went and I just couldn't explain why
i managed to go on the sum of all thrills back when the entire rest of the building was empty. it was such a weird experience and definently was out of place
I hate how much I love this video. As someone who grew up in Florida, going to Disney throughout my childhood and adult life, I have found many places in the parks eerie, and yet comforting. Is it nostalgia? Is it just poor planning on Disney’s behalf that I am familiar with? Both, probably. This video put into words something I love to hate, and find comfort in about the Disney parks. Thank you for putting it into words… and for making me overthink every visit I ever had. I’m a big fan.
To me, the Epcot monorail station, makes me think of the old Tomorrowland skylift station at Magic Kingdom. Honestly I wish there were still skylifts there. But I guess the Skyliner will do
One fore me is definitely the trail behind Big Thunder Mountain at Disneyland. With the knowledge you're walking through the old Train Through Natures Wonderland, it's just an odd feeling with all the virtually abandoned scenery items from the past.
I do so love the creativity of your content. Been too long since I've been to any of the parks to be able to contribute a favorite liminal space of my own.
The most liminal space is the entrance of revenge of the headless horseman at Adventureland at night during 2014 Hong Kong Disneyland Halloween. Remember that area was so empty. There were no queues outside the entrance. It’s really looks like an abandoned place in the jungle. Also, they put smogs and sounds made by the headless horseman. It’s a weird atmosphere. The jungle cruise in Hong Kong Disneyland at night is also a liminal space because the boat will past through a wide river before starting the experience. The gap between the queue station and the Tarzan treehouse is silent. The Tarzan treehouse closed because of the virus. It add more vibes to the river that everything is abandoned.
![เกิดใหม่ทั้งทีก็เป็นสไลม์ไปซะแล้ว ซีซั่น 3 - ตอนที่ 67 [ซับไทย]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/he_uIQ-Xv_Q/mqdefault.jpg)
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 76 | คู่เอก "ผึ้งหลวง vs สมิงดำ"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/9SBshmGQOIM/mqdefault.jpg)
I'd say the Soarin' queue in Epcot is a liminal space. It's just walking through vague corridors and switchbacks, losing a sense of where you are, what direction you're facing, and how much further you have to go. It's a transient area between The Land and Patrick Warburton.
They tried to tart it up by putting the screens for the trivia game in there (I don't know if they're still there actually), but there's just not much to it.
@@MattMcIrvin yes the TV's and trivia game are still there (as of July this year).
@@MattMcIrvin they're still there
Patrick Warburton’s voice is a liminal space.
I’ve never really “gotten” what people mean when they talk about liminal spaces but your comment just made me think of the Soarin queue when there’s nobody else in line and now I get it
Ah yes, the three emotions: Joy, Sadness, and Baymax
Esmile!
Baymax is a neutral emotional state, of course!
On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your pain?
@@ClearTrackSpeed 6 seems appropriate
Falalalala
I'd like to make a strong argument for the loading area of Living With the Land, especially on a slow day. You just walk right up to a boat in what is otherwise a kind of sad mall food court, and it feels like someone's built a water ride in their garage.
Yes I agree! For the longest time, because it felt so odd, I thought I'd just dreamt that ride up XD
I WAS LOOKING FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO MENTION THIS
We went on it a couple months ago RIGHT before park closing & I'm pretty sure we were the last people let on? It feels WEIRD but in a good way. I love the entrance because it is just straight up in some food court & does not feel like it should be there.
100% agree! when i first went that area felt so eerie and i couldn't place why, i felt so misplaced
I think that's part of why I always liked Living With the Land.
The exit platform of Magic Kingdom's Space Mountain (right after getting off the train) also gives off this vibe. I see it a lot in my dreams more than the regular boarding station.
The entrance area too, in my opinion. (Of WDW)
I was going to mention that! You beat me by 15 minutes!
The loading area for MK Space Mountain is highly themed these days and feels like a proper part of the experience. But the unloading area (which is physically immediately below it, I think) isn't. It's got this sort of generic drop ceiling like you'd see in a cafeteria, and a carpet with what my daughter describes as a bowling-alley pattern on it, and lettering on the wall that reads "TOMORROWLAND STATION MK-1" but it's not terribly convincing. It just feels like they weren't trying quite as hard with that area--maybe they're trying to hurry you along to clear the area, so they made it less interesting to look at.
Once you get into the corridor that used to be a moving walkway, there's more theming with some show scenes and it feels more like a walk-through attraction. But before that is the liminal space.
I haven't been back since they took out the moving walkway. But from the videos I've seen of the remodeled area at the far end of that corridor, where you ascend to the level of the exit, it kind of has liminal vibes as well. They tried to spruce it up but there's not a lot going on there.
Anecdote here! Me and my friends went on Space mountain, and as walking through that exact spot, the power for the lights were out, and we didn’t even notice until we saw cast members a little further up with flashlights
Omg yes! I didn’t think about it until you mentioned it
I love your channel TPC
Man, I love liminal spaces. When you take a turn into a less traveled area and it's just you and some architecture that has not been updated in a long time? When it was clearly designed to hold a crowd but the only thing to remind you there are other humans on the planet is some very faint atmosphere music? Transcendent.
Your comment spoke my soul.
From how most people talk about it, it's some creepy existential sensation.
Honestly, it would be kind of cool being at some of these places, assuming I'm not going to get mugged or killed by some heroin addict.
As a CM, i've been lucky enough to roam certain areas of the parks early morning and late nights before and after guests leave to get to where I need to be. And that feeling of walking through as nothing happens, with no one in sight always gives me that odd sensation of liminal spaces, I love it. I often particularly walk through Grizzly Peak at night alone and man is it spooky! Secondarily, when we came back after the shutdown but before opening to guests, we got a few hours to play in the parks to "test" the attractions up and running and Pirates was my favorite in that day because I was all alone in there once the boat went into the Bayou and so on. Also, that scene where the pirate turns into a skeleton, that entire tunnel had the lights off and it was pitch black from start to finish, I couldn't see my hand in front of my face. To add on, no animatronics were on and some were missing their faces, fun times.
You got to live my wildest fantasy.
Okay... not my wildest. But certainly the wildest that involves staying fully clothed.
I've had nightmares like that.
Why didn’t the animatronics have faces? Is it something that’s done during downtime or was it a maintenance thing? I’m just being nosy lol
The most liminal space in Disneyland is Snow White's wishing well at night. Its very secluded and quiet enough to hear your own heartbeat. I literally have had many dreams where I end up in that area and it creeps me out to no end.
Oh yeah, that's the best one ever. Just tucked right out of the way of the park's biggest icon, and you can STILL enjoy it all by yourself.
You take a date over there at night and it is very romantic
Every time I go, I HAVE to make a wish at the well right before I leave at night. It's personal tradition lol.
Lol that’s where my friend and I go to have deep talks, cry and eat churros at night 😂
Then there’s queues in general, especially ones that aren’t popular. There’s something extremely liminal about weaving through empty stanchions and past set pieces so you can get to a walk on. Sometimes you’ll get to bypass entire areas of a queue and only get to glance at unused space with empty chains as you pass by. For example, with Voyage of The Little Mermaid, you can often zip past the roaring waters and rock work, ignore the crabs who peer at you through those little portholes and other glass, and then rush past the Scuttle animatronic who will continue to babble on to no one on and on forever. It’s very eerie. The Nemo ride also tends to lack a wait so you quickly pass a very immersive queue that is very very dark and already offers liminal eeriness through the idea you’re visiting the beach at night when no one is there and neither should you, followed by entering the deep expanse of the ocean, empty, quiet, the only sign of life being the boat above you. Space Mountain feels strange late at night as you speedwalk past the Star Tunnel and hall with the games that might try to speak to you while models of ride vehicles whip past on the other side. Anything in Storybook Circus feels liminal at night when it’s dark and empty. The Robinson Treehouse feels liminal in that it feels abandoned, like someone lived there and suddenly disappeared without warning. Bill Nye echos to no one as people rush to get on Dinosaur, signs about Big and Little Red in like for the safari echo a past that no longer exists, and that queue also feels like a work space where the people just disappeared, same with Everest. Droids continue to speak to no one in Star Tours when it’s empty. Queues are inherently liminal but under the right conditions, they’re even more.
The beginning of the Three Caballeros ride in the Mexico pavilion does this for me. Going from being in a busy plaza with a restaurant buzzing next to you, to that long expanse of screens showing the characters and the story. It gives me that transitional feeling and the feeling that despite many people riding it, it hasn’t been really paid attention to in a while.
Yes! One of the best liminal spaces!
absolutely!
More of this. Irrational spaces that used to be functional rides or queues!
Yes. A part 2 would be great
Oh, _irrational_ spaces are a very different thing... ;) That would make a very unusual video!
Irrational spaces?
I first learned the word "liminal" in regards to cats and the way felines can't decide if they want to be inside or outside. For a while, I had a hard time even finding the word in a dictionary. I appreciate learning more about the in between spaces.
And “SUBliminal” is below the threshold (of perception).
I feel like people who like stuff like this are also the people who like being in corners.
I love corners
Holy cats, I had no idea anyone else loved corners! You just made my day.
@@its_me_jen_jen9204 I love corners but hate them in a pool for some reason, lol.
The entire convention center at the contemporary, also gives off a hella vaporwave aesthetic
try the contemporary gym! it’s on the third floor which is mostly cast members only so it’s always empty and seriously looks like it hasn’t been updated since the 80s. even plays 80s workout synth music on loop! something very nostalgic about standing in a room completely empty that looks like it’s been forgotten.
I think Tower of Terror was designed purposely to use the feeling of liminal spaces -- a hotel (where we stay temporarily), maintenance areas, elevator, Twilight Zone. It's interesting to see these spaces like the Space Mountain entrance and Epcot Monorail ramp that sort of accidentally fell into that feeling.
I think it has too much purpose in it's design.
To me, liminal spaces are usually rooms that seem to have no meaning
This will be totally off topic but man what I would give to spend a weekend at EPCOT in the 80’s/90’s.
Disney World and probably Tokyo Disneyland have the most since they retain a lot of the 70's 80's features while Disneyland has refurbished almost everything. Epcot and parts of the Contemporary (ironically) have a lot of blank spaces that feel completely out of time like the Nixon speech ballroom and every unused area of the Land, Imagination and Seas pavilions. Like my grandparents find it funny that they haven't been changed since they started going in '82.
the 3rd floor of the contemporary is so eerie to me. I think it’s closed right now but it’s just bizarre.
Yep, when your space is limited, you can’t afford to leave the awful 70’s garbage just lying around.
Because apparently I can’t stop:
There used to be a theater on Main Street in WDW where you meet Mickey and Tink now. Back past the camera and photo stuff, you’d see these old timey things you could pose with like cameos or a wagon, and then past that, you’d find a theater with plenty of seating where you could watch a selection of Disney shorts like Steamboat Willie, Flowers and Trees, and The Band Concert. The back of the theater also had things to pose with like a little Steamboat Willie set, and things where you could put your face in cutouts so you look like a Dalmatian or an LGM. There was almost always no one in there and an abandoned theater playing cartoons was a perfect place to eat lunch when I was a kid. I miss it.
Also areas for meet and greets when there’s no character around. Like the spot Buzz meets over by The Carousel of Progress. It’s often times just a strange little set off in the corner.
A few others: the backside of the castle near the fountain with Cinderella feels empty and wrong at night, as well as the paths off to the side of the castle. That alley besides the Muppets gift shop and the Christmas Store is also usually empty.
i feel that way when im the pixie hollow section, and i kinda love it. the speakers making everything outside of the area harder to hear, trying to sit on the mushrooms.
i forgot about the muppets alley :o
my first time on Journey Into Imagination was right before Epcot closed at night a couple months ago. After we exited those doors, there wasn't a soul around, couldn't even hear people talking in the distance. Fountains running, it's dark, the doors to the theater next door just standing open... It felt so bizarre. Absolutely felt like we were alone in that park.
The canyon & waterfall walkway behind Canada pavilion at Epcot. The ornately tiled two-story courtyard area in Morocco. Being alone in the Maelstrom "small town" transition area after the ride but before the movie theater. The old Catwalk Lounge above/adjacent to the Brown Derby.
For me I got that feeling in the exit area of the Disney World Haunted Mansion. Literally the last ten feet of the walkway where you transition from inside the Mansion to outside. That feeling may have been pushed along by the fact that when I entered the ride it was perfectly sunny out, and exiting it was raining its face off.
Edit: I just realized that even when Offhand Disney doesn't specifically mention the Haunted Mansion, his video STILL finds a way to include it. GET OUT OF MY BRAIN
I’ve never thought about this before but I agree! I always get a very weird feeling while I’m exiting through there. Just like he said I feel like I’m not supposed to be there…
One of the other many liminal spaces at Epcot is the series of walkways over the pond in front of the Odyssey building--which I guess is actually used on a regular basis now, but for a while it was this mysterious functionless building as far as visitors were concerned. Nevertheless there was this elaborate system of walks over the water that just connected it to the adjoining land areas, and they collectively formed an outdoor space that didn't seem to have much of a purpose either.
The moment he first mentioned Epcot, I immediately time traveled back to one of the few moments of truly feeling the strangeness of being in a liminal space.
Epcot used to have a number of essentially abandoned places that they left open basically so people could use the bathroom.
@@mushieslushie You go in there and suddenly feel like you're in a connecting passage to a low-traffic airport concourse, with a weird smell of urinal cakes.
@@mushieslushie right? I remember waiting for one of my friends in one of those places. a really odd and specific memory from my time at the park, huh.
A definite liminal space is the brief scene in the WDW Haunted Mansion between the piano player and the endless hallway; once was giant spider webs, now Escher stairs.
Me and my friend were in Epcot, and the doors to Journey Into Your Imagination (With Figment). We were Disney novices, we didn't know anything about the ride. So we went in, and we wandered through the completely empty line, past all the theming, worried that we weren't supposed to be in there. Until we rounded the corner and saw a Cast Member at the loading area. We managed to go through 3 times before we saw any other guests XD
Gosh I have LOVED liminal space before I even knew the term for it! I love this video! You really hit the nail on the head when you said that when you get off the Epcot monorail it looks like you’re going to work in a dystopian city. That was brilliantly accurate! Another liminal space I really love is in Tomorrowland at Disneyworld. The place where the purple wall is, and the unused space next to it where they sometimes host firework viewing parties and sometimes sell food. Usually when you walk through it it’s totally empty and serves no purpose. I love it!
6:42 "a space that doesn't quite know what it wants to be, but never the less, Is used and very well traveled (and trapped in time)" ...are you sure you don't mean all of TomorrowLand
The EPCOT monorail station looks like a walk-through ride themed around finding your car in a parking garage
8:00 I would almost argue the EPCOT monorail exit is more oddly liminal than the entrance ramp. The entrance ramp, at the least is a ramp, leading upwards with some sense of progression. The exit ramp swings out to the west with a long stretch of flat area that makes you wonder why it exists and if something else should be there on that large, flat, elevated surface.
The EPCOT monorail station was built before the park properly opened in 1982, as a preview center to show a teaser and continue the excitement after a series of delays.
This is where the monorail only goes around the former Future World section and not anywhere in World Showcase--that section was further along in construction.
As a result, it is much wider and elaborate than it has to be, with far more open and currently unused space (especially when compared to the other monorail stations at Magic Kingdom.)
@@PreferredCustomer It was also built to, if necessary, house another line coming in from the area hotels, where guests could then transfer trains to go on to the Transportation Center. This obviously never happened and thus the Epcot station is twice the size it needs to be.
I feel like MK's Jungle Cruise temple scene gives off this feeling extremely well
Just the silence of the skipper and the minimal light while that ambience plays
Either that or it's my irrational fear of chimpanzees kicking in
I'd argue that's a VERY rational fear. Yeesh. Violent little buggers.
The transition from Lafiete's landing, around the Blue Bayou restaurant and past the old man in the shack is so relaxing. As you described it, I was transported back to that place on my childhood and can vividly remember the increasing sense of calm that came over me as we begin the ride. Great story telling. Thanks for the video.
Airports, of course, are among the ultimate liminal spaces, and the theme parks make MCO a bit stranger by intruding into it with themed shops, and (until January) the Disney's Magical Express stop, which I've always thought was a brilliant and weird mingling of spaces. You're still at the airport, and suddenly you encounter a MagicBand scan station like you're getting on a ride at Disney World! What is this? The message is that you're *already* in the begloved hands of the Mouse. Which I think is just so effective that it's bizarre they're getting rid of it. But the liminality there is more a sense of heightened transition than of an abandoned or disregarded space. It's like stepping through the wardrobe into Narnia.
On the other hand, going through that and then still having to climb onto a basically ordinary motor coach and sit there for a while has an odd liminality to it.
Not to mention the freaking Hyatt Regency built right into the terminal, so that you're somehow suddenly walking through its atrium without leaving the main terminal. That is just a bizarre experience.
Man, I remember how much hype there was for the "Information Super-highway" (no one called it The Internet in marketing back then) and there was no where else that was clear than the Communicore. There was a whole booth you could go "surfing" on the web with a surfboard ride.
Actually, come to think of it, that has a lot of parallels to the hype for the National Highway System in the original Tomorrow Land.
I love how your little mention of liminal spaces in your recent vlog led to this! Amazing foreshadowing!!
;)
Man I totally didn't even remember that little bit in Pirates, I remember dude on dock with the banjo music, but mentally spaced out between there and the skull. I don't think I can count the number of times I've been on that ride (ok I probably can, I just don't remember), and never really remember there being a secondary house scene after the bayou
Great idea for a video. Disney has a LOT of liminal spaces.
I swear the beasts room In the animation building at DCA is creepy when it's empty...
Which it is a lot
Gonna comment a few time to boost engagement and avoid a wall of text:
The Tomorrowland Terrace gives similar vibes to that bit about the DL Space Mountain path but at WDW. The Terrace opens once in a blue moon but it’s mostly a shortcut into Tomorrowland from Mainstreet. You can see all the cash registers and order windows and seating but it’s just nothing and then the purple wall which feels liminal in its own right.
Small note: Tom Swayer’s Island can also feel liminal if you end up in areas with no one around you like in the mines, mill, or fort-which might have nothing but the invitation to shoot at passing trains to keep you company. And also the Streets of America were usually vastly empty and gave the impression of abandoned streets or at least an abandoned film lot.
The load area for Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom during the fireworks will always hold a special liminal space in my heart. If you get into that big open room with no other parties and all you see is the 80s carpet, sterile white walls, a few cast members, and your rocket approaching from the darkness. It is 100% unnerving
the liminal space in Pirates at Disneyland is one of my favorite places in the entire world. I think it's genius how the ride incrementally brings you deeper into its world, with that mixture of anticipation and dread
For me, just walking through Tomorrowland Terrace is that feeling 100%. Especially on a late January or early February day when the air is still and dry.
walking down the curved staircase at the rear of the late Adventurer’s Club…staring out the large glass windows and doors…sounds of merriment and improv behind you, lake buena vista before you, lite by the neon of Pleasure Island…I remember wandering through this space as a kid, preteen, snd later teenager, and would sit on the soft cushioned bench or over sized chair, and just enjoy this odd, very very lightly themed foyer within what could be argued was one of the most heavily themed buildings at the time…as a kid snd now adult who enjoys being in one’s head it was beautiful and fleeting moment in the chaos that was 90’s PI…
I get the same felling from the ramp to the second floor of the Coke store at Disney Springs. It's a huge ramp the wraps all the way around the outside of the building and only has glass walls. So you can look down on all the shoppers and dinners running around below and the lake in the distance, but you're alone in a glass bubble with only the faint sounds of the store behind you.
“Until Eisner broke it” keep throwing that shame!!!! 😎 #Peoplemover
We need more liminal space videos. This was great.
Can’t begin to explain the significance this video holds
I experienced a liminal space at Disney a few years back at a conference. It was being hosted at Coronado. The conference space in Coronado is in three major parts: there's a front area you come to initially where lots of activity is typically going on but when you keep walking past that and the middle part, do a dog leg down the hallway, you come to the backend of the conference area that's not used nearly as much. Very often there's nobody down there and it feels very weird and looks like it just got abandoned yesterday. This isn't helped by the fact that the conference room at the very end of that hallway is not as finished as any of the others it looks like someone gave up about four-fifths of the way through finishing construction.
The queue area for Space Mountain (in Tokyo Disneyland). It's a weird mix of the past and future, which screams "retro futurism" to me. It makes me feel so weird and oddly nostalgic that it reminds me of my childhood (although I can't quite put a finger on a specific part of my childhood). It's a space that's so disjointed from the present but you still somehow get it even though you've never lived in that era of the past.
Maelstrom... just all of Maelstrom was a liminal space, especially late at night with few people around. The pre-show area of the Short Film Festival 3-D theater is like this for me, too. There's an odd vibe there when it's practically empty. And, I'm probably alone on this, but that moment in WDW's Little Mermaid ride as you're going under Flotsam and Jetsum into Ursula's lair, by that weird, dark corner, is a liminal space for me.
The Space Place is one of my most favorite recent Disneyland "defunct" discoveries. That area makes so much more sense now that I know it used to be a quick service counter.
As for Epcot, at night time, the paths of Future World West also feel liminal due to lack of people and a serious lack of lighting. It’s so dark over there! Each of the pavilions there can also be liminal like how the Imagination Institute feels like a completely unused place especially in the lobby, there’s also often no one near the jumping fountains. The Land feels like an airport even without the addition of Soarin’, by being this large building where people are just trying to get to an attraction or eat in essentially a big cafeteria. The Seas is also a big building and has dark corners where you might not find anyone around you at times, and the shark room feels strange and out of place when there aren’t children running around it. The room upstairs with the coral is also usually empty. Some of the nooks and crannies of the World Showcase feel liminal as well like the little museums in Morocco or Norway which almost no one occupies because they don’t know they exist. Morocco itself is full of winding pathways few people seem interested in fully exploring.
I was always eating at The Space Place Restaurant at Disneyland. It had the best "Cottage Fries". They were crinkle cut circular fries that were Parmesan Garlic. The Space Place was open as much as when the old Fantasyland Autopia was operating. The Space Place was my preferred restaurant over the Tomorrowland Terrace (Galactic Grill). I loved watching the Peoplemover pass by while eating my meal. Memories!
Hello from Phoenix Arizona!🔥
Would love to see more of these explored. These liminal spaces are so fascinating because I'm sure most of us notice them and may even make a mental note of the weird vibe, but yet they are never discussed.
I haven't been over there in a while, but I imagine that the old Motor Boat Cruise platform in Disneyland would probably be a pretty good liminal space.
I think one of my favorite things last visit to epcot was getting off the monorail to that monorail system and seeing a Walt quote about deadlines on posters on the rails leading down the ramp. Really hammered home the cold business feel.
I would like to add: almost all cast member areas. The worn down break rooms, weirdly shaped and dimly lit maze like hallways built around showrooms and guest areas, underground corridors, old ride vehicles and festival stalls sitting in a field, the 2nd floor of Journey into Imagination before the Vacation club was built, and so many old backstage murals that the guests will never see.
A few very specific ones I’ve experienced: walking the Test Track outdoor portion while the sun rises, the middle of Future World East after guests have left but the music is still playing, Journey Into Imagination at 3am, the one weird meeting room in the Land Pavilion that character performers have to pass through to reach the break room, the cast member barbershop underneath Magic Kingdom.
Side topic: I’ll never understand why they just didn’t gut all of CommuniCore West to turn the entire space into a festival center. It’d have been MUCH cheaper to do.
the space mountain walkway is my FAVORITE liminal disney space, you really nailed it there!
the epcot and tomorrowland stuff are my favorite, it's so aesthetically pleasing to me
This video is fantastic, I love that part of space mountain I used to sit there a lot and just rest and think about what it used to be there.
I was at Alien Pizza Planet, the Pizza was pretty average in an extent, I haven't tasted the pasta there but i bet it's somehow cold
The WDW people mover has a lot of empty enclosed areas inside the buildings meant to get you to the actual indoor scenes, they always felt like some kind of weird middle ground you're not supposed to see.
Could you do another luminal spaces video? I love this subject so much! Two of my favorite things have been put together :)
I worked at the Magic Kingdom and backstage (especially the tunnels) is the most liminal space I’ve ever been in. Working after park close, running around in circles in the tunnels, the faint sound of music, a never ending basement underneath an expansive park, old posters on the walls, feeling like you should run into someone but never do because the tunnels follow a set path and no one stays in one place long enough… yeah. Definitely the most liminal experience I’ve had
"...it seems, without the Universe's permission."
Very poetic, Dallin!
I would love to see you do a film on how Disney changes The Haunted Mansion to the Holliday Haunted Mansion every year
i just learned about this today! id love to see more info on it
I'd also love to see his review of the haunted mansion movie
California Adventure when it rains just seems full of them. Especially when you are walking to Grizzly Rapids from Ariel's Undersea Adventure. That part of the park feels very calming.
I'm extremely late to the party here, but I used to get those vibes through the entire Hollywood section of the park when it rained. Just all these facades and sets--but not even real sets, fake sets--completely abandoned. It really felt like I wasn't supposed to be there, but it was okay. Very dreamlike.
The wonders of life pavilion is my top liminal space by far. And the dvc lounge at the imagination pavilion. Both make my skin crawl
the banjo always gave me a irrational feeling I cant explain to this day. why is the man outside and the banjo player inside? Shouldn't they be both be together? What's the point of playing inside?
I think it's an atmospheric thing. Disney is big on "background banjos" in many of the "old America"-themed areas.
He's been practicing that same song for weeks.
i definitely get big liminal space vibes around the line/area for space mountain in disneyland. always kinda felt...strange...like i was missing something, some, information or alternative...something or other..."abandoned mall" definitely captures it. it's almost a little eerie, feels distinctly..abandoned.. and now i know why!
and come to think of it, main street kinda gives off those vibes too.
The Soarin queue at Epcot has a liminal space feeling to it.
I love how your story telling and general presentation skills continue to improve with each new piece of content you release, the camera work, the dialogue. This is some of the BEST Disney based content on youtube.
That big hallway at EPCOT next to the Coca Cola store really gets me. My family and I would walk through it every time we visited EPCOT and I always felt like there was so much history buried in its walls despite never having seen the hallway when it was used as an attraction and knowing nothing about its history. I also always felt really at peace in there for some reason. Weird, but I loved it.
FWIW, EPCOT really is a product of the late 1970s idea of architecture (not 1980s) since that was when it was designed (it took a few years to build, so it was completed in the 1980s but the design is very 1970s). It embraced the ideas of brutalism and elevating walkways (which was a tenet of the era - to get pedestrians away from traffic/car exhaust). The EPCOT monorail station, Odyssey area and even earlier buildings like the Contemporary all are hallmarks of that heavy concrete modularity of the 1970s. For someone like me, EPCOT was so amazingly futuristic and the Contemporary was something out of a sci fi movie (I know that is hard to believe for younger individuals today). Also, Space Mountain in Disneyland now enters through what was once the exit and bathrooms area. The theatre was for captain EO/Honey I Shrunk The Kids and the second floor queue area/entrance used to be an open air theater (I saw Berlin play there at Grad Night 1985). To the right of the new Space Mountain entrance was the StarCade, a huge two story game arcade that had the latest and greatest games. That quick serve restaurant had to be entered through a different direction than now (they built a ramp over it to get to Space Mountain) and was deserted a lot as well because of its somewhat hidden location. The escalator to enter Space Mountain had to be removed because if the line got long enough, it reached the top of the escalator and people would get backed up/there had to be a cast member or two always directing if people could go up the escalator. But even in the early 1980s, that area was kind of unused - so much emptiness on the top floor and the bottom was too hidden away for people. Plus, the bathrooms were so far back that you had to fight your way through the crowds exiting the ride to get to them.
the convention center in the contemporary is a super big case of liminal space. the outdated decor, the architecture, how its lit all through the night. its a really neat place and its open to be in since its not blocked off and lit, but it feels almost forbidden and like a time capsule
The Epcot monorail station is one of the last places in Epcot that still has the old feel from the 80s. There was this stark architectural style in the late 70s especially that exemplified an ideal future, and it looked...well, it looked a lot like the Contemporary resort. Angular and monolithic, cast in concrete grays and stainless steel, maybe with some blues thrown in. It gave off a sense of indestructibility. It was a place that was, for lack of a better word, clean, and along with that it seemed like there could be no bad things within its walls. No crime, poverty or sickness. The place was too powerful for that. It was an ideal. And it was the present would should be enjoying, but for bad decisions by a few greedy people.
The Epcot monorail station is a vision of the future with its Soviet-inspired concrete design. Unlike the other areas, there is literally nothing about the Soviet-style monorail station that will offend, much less stimulate, anyone.
I definitely felt this way when I rode the original Star Tours just before Hollywood Studios closed for the night. I knew it was going to be replaced with the new Star Tours, so I wanted one last ride before I left Florida. Still, walking through the exterior "forest" of Endor in the dark, and then suddenly entering the (extremely 80s) dimly-lit interior with the constant echoing of the announcement chime reporting fictional flight takeoffs to an empty queue and all the animatronics performing for no one was a weird way to experience an attraction for the last time. It all really emphasized the sense of nostalgia and finality I felt when I realized that I would never have that exact experience again once the new ride opened.
Really liked that intro, great video topic.
By the way, the Countdown Chicken Fusilli is pretty good at Pizza Port (its name before the halfhearted Toy Story tie-in―apparently there's a "Pizza Planet" out there that owns the name, hence _"Alien_ Pizza Planet" despite that not being its name in the movies). The pizza's not too bad either, if you're into the thick-crusted California style
Oooo I love this!! Yes please to more :D And does anyone else find, that if you have a subconcious dream about visiting Disney World it's always in a part like this? I now know what they are called, thanks Offhand Disney :D
Alien Pizza Planet was my go-to eatery when I went to Disneyland after it opened. The pasta was a quick and easy meal (not amazing, but I wouldn't complain either), and the parfait was a nice dessert. But, for me, food at Disneyland was less part of the experience and more a necessary thing that took away ride time.
Final ramp up in the tunnel at the Magic Kingdoms space Mountain. I’ve been blessed to be able to be in the park at near empty quite a few times and there’s nothing like coming up through that hallway by yourself with the music in the background. It’s some of my favorite memories. Thanks for making me think of it
That Epcot Station is interesting. Epcot itself of course _was_ to be a --utopian-- dystopian workplace in Disney's original vision, after all. The Modern/Brutalist architecture of the station really does echo that, while also having a sort of blandly retrofuturistic charm that feels like it really fits the American Disney parks' take on Tomorrow
Our boarding group for Rise of the Resistance got called. While we barely made it to a stop initially going into the queue, the ride coincidentally broke down (lol). Many of the guests decided to leave, but it would be my boyfriend's first time on the ride, so we decided to stay. We were the last two waiting as there were no additional boarding groups admitted after us since the ride broke down right away.
It had been about 20 minutes and there was no movement, and I had to leave the line to use the restroom. On my way out there was a CM standing at one of those earlier in-queue exits, they let me out from there and told me I could come back to them when I'm ready. When I got back, they weren't there, so I awkwardly let myself back in. I ran into no other CM's where they usually scanned boarding passes, and once I entered the cave-like queue area... I entered a liminal space.
Now, as an AP, I am thoroughly familiar with Disneyland - pre-pandemic, I was there about 2-3 times a week. But because of the boarding group hassle I had only experienced Rise once or twice before since its opening day. I doubt this was it, though. During a busy hour it serves a great purpose. But walking absolutely by myself, with the ambience and realism of the queue, the turns seemed to go on forever and at one point I wondered if I'd hit the line again. I did, and my boyfriend looked at me confused. I shook it off but I'll never forget... such a weird feeling. I'll bet that camera footage was amusing.
I love the Epcot monorail station for the reason you described - Its cold and uninviting and offputting - after a day in the world showcase, that feels like space to spread out, and less people around. A great place to stretch and breathe.
I know this doesn't count, but please sample this if you can, my friends: THE TIKI ROOM BATHROOMS. There's a delicious disquite there. I used that restroom once and felt the entire time like I was in a place I shouldn't be, in the best way. It's like when you have that Disneyland dream (you know the one) where you go somewhere in Disneyland that you know doesn't exist, like the "kitchen scene" of the Haunted Mansion.
Because it feels like the Tiki Room shouldn't have a bathroom, let alone with the entrance right in the courtyard where the preshow is. But more than that, the bathroom there was outdated compared to the ones in the rest of the park, breaking emmersion in a way that makes it feel like you suddenly aren't in Disneylad anymore.
But you are, Disneyland is just two feet away on all sides. You couldn't be anywhere else. So... like a pocket of the real world inside a dream world.
Speaking of eerie spaces -- the lockers on Main Street. Right?
Oh my god he made a liminal space video, the ultimate internet E-boy extraordinarily vibing gentleman
I cheered when you mentioned pirates, the first half always hit different for me. Honestly the skeleton show scenes also gave me liminal vibes; slow music, the sound of water and thunder, scenes of skeletons that are almost human but perfectly still, big liminal vibes for me
“So un-inviting it’s inviting is the perfect way to describe Disney liminal spaces! I particularly loved the black void underneath the Blue Bayou bridge. I can taste and feel that one, having been born and raised at Disneyland.
Love your channel! Jean Lafitte forever 🏴☠️
Dude I thought this was about forced perspective not forced existential crisis.
Oh my goodness watching this in bed, at night, with the only light in the room being that coming from my laptop, my eyes hurt going from the dark ride, almost pitch-black section of Pirates of the Caribbean to a well-lit Dallin in front of a green screen legitimately hurt my eyes.
The area near the fantasyland bathrooms heading towards galaxy's edge gives off these same vibes. It almost seems like they're still theming it to fit the 3 areas it connects.
The last time i was at WDW it was with folks that couldn't have allowed anything like these liminal spaces to resonate with that calm oddness. Pack drama. Nice folks. But no chill.
This is such an interesting disney parks video concept! Love it
The extended queue room for Star Tours at Disneyland. Every time that room is open I find it so weird.
So glad you included that Space Mountain one - had no idea about the history, but that space had this really weird vibe the one time I went and I just couldn't explain why
i managed to go on the sum of all thrills back when the entire rest of the building was empty. it was such a weird experience and definently was out of place
I hate how much I love this video. As someone who grew up in Florida, going to Disney throughout my childhood and adult life, I have found many places in the parks eerie, and yet comforting. Is it nostalgia? Is it just poor planning on Disney’s behalf that I am familiar with? Both, probably. This video put into words something I love to hate, and find comfort in about the Disney parks. Thank you for putting it into words… and for making me overthink every visit I ever had. I’m a big fan.
To me, the Epcot monorail station, makes me think of the old Tomorrowland skylift station at Magic Kingdom. Honestly I wish there were still skylifts there. But I guess the Skyliner will do
One fore me is definitely the trail behind Big Thunder Mountain at Disneyland. With the knowledge you're walking through the old Train Through Natures Wonderland, it's just an odd feeling with all the virtually abandoned scenery items from the past.
I do so love the creativity of your content. Been too long since I've been to any of the parks to be able to contribute a favorite liminal space of my own.
The most liminal space is the entrance of revenge of the headless horseman at Adventureland at night during 2014 Hong Kong Disneyland Halloween. Remember that area was so empty. There were no queues outside the entrance. It’s really looks like an abandoned place in the jungle. Also, they put smogs and sounds made by the headless horseman. It’s a weird atmosphere.
The jungle cruise in Hong Kong Disneyland at night is also a liminal space because the boat will past through a wide river before starting the experience. The gap between the queue station and the Tarzan treehouse is silent. The Tarzan treehouse closed because of the virus. It add more vibes to the river that everything is abandoned.
This might be a really weird one but the bathrooms at Disney more specifically the ones at the ticket and transportation center