The Signage of Disney Parks (Part 1)

When it comes to Disney parks (and really any theme park in general), I find that the thing that catches my interest is often the most mundane and simple of details; the signage.

Signs are meant to catch your eye by design, but what's always stood out to me in Disney Parks is the level of detail that's devoted to the signage. As someone who spent his young adult years designing signage professionally, it's perhaps not at all surprising that a significant portion of my camera roll winds up consisting of pictures of signage.

It's for that reason that I've decided to devote my first post on this newly minted site to some of the signage that I've fallen in love with at the Disney parks. This is by no means exhaustive, so expect a part two in the future!

To start, let's look at my home park, Disneyland in Anaheim.

If my blog's title isn't enough of an indication, Pirates of the Caribbean is one of my favorite attractions in the park. Not only does it have immaculate signage, but it also holds a very special place in my heart as my parents met while working on the attraction's attached restaurant: The Blue Bayou.

There's something so ornate and elegant about this sign that just gives me such a warm feeling. The stained glass construction evokes an era of sign-making that's perhaps long gone in the mainstream craft, and it does exactly what it's designed to do as a result; transport you back in time to a different world. It's truly one of my favorite signs on the property, and why I've chosen it as the first to look at.

This next sign is fairly simple, but it's got such an awesome turn-of-the-century charm to it that I couldn't not include it. I love how it's three different types of sign creating something that really transports you to an early 1900s main street.

Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle might not be as big as Walt Disney World's Cinderella Castle, but it's got a cute and charming walk-through attraction inside of it, with an equally charming sign. In my books, that gives it quite a few points over WDW (I'm totally not biased).

On the western side of the park we have The Golden Horseshoe Saloon. Once home to the legendary "Golden Horseshoe Revue" headlined by Wally Boag and Betty Taylor (and even Ron Schneider, before he moved to Florida to portray the delightfully imaginative Dreamfinder at Epcot Center!)

The 2012 refresh of Disney California Adventure (no apostrophe S) was a much-needed overhaul to a park that honestly stood out as being done on the cheap even to me as a kid in 2001. That park peaked (pun intended) in my opinion in 2015 with the retheme of the opening day Condor Flats area as an extension of Grizzly Peak (which was easily the best-executed land in DCA 1.0). The carved sign for Soarin' is easily one of my favorite signs in DCA, and I just love the rustic charm it has. It perfectly fits with the rest of the land and very much evokes that National Park feel!

The sign for Grizzly Peak Airfield is equally wonderful, however, I've seemed to have misplaced it in my camera roll, so alas that will have to wait for the inevitable part two.

Now I would be remiss if I didn't include Walt Disney World in Orlando

My history with Walt Disney World is admittedly not as personal as my connection to Disneyland, but that's not to say I don't still have very fond memories of that park from my childhood. Some of my earliest memories are of me watching Epcot's fondly remembered "Tapestry of Nations" parade with my grandmother. I only ever went maybe two or three times when I was a kid, and only recently had the chance to visit the resort again back in 2017 as a young adult with my grandmother. 

Now, this might be contentious in the Disney Parks fan community, but I've always felt that Disneyland had the far superior theming of the two U.S. resorts, but I think that comes more from the execution rather than the actual design work itself. Disneyland after all is vastly smaller, so it comes off as a more charming and intimate park. Now before you come after me with torches and pitchforks, I don't mean that as an insult. If there's one thing that Disney World really goes all out on it's their signage. 

As a kid I always loved the Hall of Presidents, and admittedly thought that once a president left office they were forced to live at Disneyworld where they'd somehow gain immortality as part of that show... I guess in a way they did in animatronic form? But I digress. This attraction's sign has always been one of my favorites, and incidentally was the first picture of a sign I took at Walt Disney World all the way back in 2017 (well, the cracked and peeling vinyl of the TTC's monorail sign might have technically been the first I photographed, but this was the first inside the parks)

Only a short walk away is the fantastic Columbia Harbour House restaurant, which is easily my favorite quick-service restaurant in any Disney park. Sorry, Fowler's Harbor at Disneyland, Harbour House's second storey won my heart. This restaurant (and all of Liberty Square really) has such a nice New England charm, which was incredibly alien yet welcome to me, a Southern Californian native who has never visited the real New England.

Also nearby is the Haunted Mansion's gift shop: Memento Mori, whose sign's whimsical eyeball element quite literally caught my eye. I've never set foot in this gift shop so I have no clue if it's got that classic Haunted Mansion charm, or whether it's cut from the same cloth as the overly cartoony extended queue...

Moving on though! We have the absolutely wonderful and amazing Country Bear Jamboree. This sign has such a wonderful charm to it, and I'll forever lament the fact that Disneyland evicted their version for (an admittedly better version of) Disney World's Winnie the Pooh ride.

Leaving the Magic Kingdom, we have Disney MGM's (I know it's Hollywood Studios but it'll forever be MGM in my heart) Tower of Terror. I love this sign, and I've always loved this version of the attraction over California Adventure's former iteration.

It's got some beautifully busted channel letters too, that evoke that classic Hollywood hotel feel.

Now, I know that this particular attraction is gone, but it will forever be one of my favorite rides in a Disney park, primarily because it touched on so many classic movies. It absolutely guided my decision to choose a movie theater as my first job. It's simply wonderful and I'll forever miss it.

Epcot's Spaceship Earth is truly wonderful, and it was one of the first push-thru type signs I saw in the parks. It's fitting that an Epcot sign chose a more modern and visually interesting style of sign, and I'm sad I didn't think to grab a late-night photo of it, as it has a wonderful lighting package at night!

Saludos Amigos! This sign is just great, and this ride will ALWAYS be a must-ride for me. You just can't beat the Three Caballeros. Say what you want about intellectual property integration in Disney parks, but this was an example of that done right in my opinion.

The Living Seas was one of my favorite pavilions as a kid, and while I'll always miss the Hydrolators and admittedly dry preshow video, I do think that the Finding Nemo integration was well done. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but at least this pavilion still tries to be educational... Bonus points for the revised signage in the Seabase area that's been added over the last few years.

The Land is wonderful, and I love how simple yet elegant it's sign is. I also really love the Living with the Land sign, and that might be one of my favorites in Epcot for how neat the design is.

I love the signage in World Showcase, and I wish I grabbed more of them. That part of the park might not be a truly accurate portrayal of the represented country's cultures, but boy did it get me interested in world history as a kid, and I can really thank Epcot for my love of history (and chosen career) as an adult!

Say what you want about Dinoland at Disney's Animal Kingdom, but I really love the signage in that area.

I particularly loved this sign at the entrance of Pandora: The World of Avatar, as it really captures what I imagine a national park sign in the future would be. Clinical yet also kind of rustic?

There's so many more fantastic signs at Animal Kingdom, and I'm bummed that I can't seem to find the pictures I took. In any case, I suppose it gives me more reason for a return visit in the future.

To close this off is the simple sign for Trader Sam's east. I might be a SoCal native, but I really like Disney World's version of this bar more. It's hidden behind an unassuming door, feels bigger, and has some Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea easter eggs which Disneyland's does not. A winner in my book if you ask me!

Well, that's the end of my signage showcase for today. I hope you found it interesting, and maybe even learned some things about me, this was meant to be an introduction post after all! I hope to have more content like this up in the future, so keep an eye out, and if you found this interesting, perhaps you'd like to stick along for the ride?

Until next time!