What kid doesn't dream about Disneyland? I mean even if you're never a Disney kid growing up

it's hard to deny the cultural impact Disneyland has made on society. Maybe you never dreamt about Disneyland per se, but the idea of

Disneyland more than likely still affected you. I mean, how could it not? It's this magical

place with incredible rides and epic firework shows behind towering

fantasy castles where a kid could actually meet and interact with their favorite

cartoon and movie characters. But this idea, the promise of returning people to a state of childlike wonder is not unique to Disneyland.

It's at the core of all amusement parks and it's embedded in our cultural consciousness.

When you really think about it, amusement parks have quite literally become the quintessential childhood fantasy.

Some of the more renowned parks can themselves be a once in a lifetime bucket list excursion.

And that's the whole appeal of amusement parks.

They've become Americana,

part of our cultural identity.

It's just as a 2021 Vox article on amusement parks says,

quote, amusement parks embody the American story itself.

And that makes a lot of sense if you think about it.

Sure, we've discussed how Amusement Parks reflect

imagination, ingenuity, innocence, possibility, and more.

But just think about how precisely those characteristics feed America's ego.

It's like they represent the American dream.

As Margaret King, Director of the Center for Cultural Studies and

analysis suggests, theme parks play off nostalgia, sure, but it's an anachronistic

nostalgia and that's just a way of saying that they portray idealized versions of things

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