Before we could even enter the park, we needed to traverse a mile of concourses between the parking lot and the park entrance. Once out of range of the wonky jams in Cat-In-The-Hat lot, we were then greeted by high energy pop-rock. It’s the same station played in rec-centers and upscale apartment lobbies. It’s safe for all ages from eight to eighty. Looking around, I saw that people heading to Universal truly were all over the age range.
This music was interrupted, conservatively, every 30 seconds by automated pleas for guests to maintain social distancing and wear face masks. These messages were ignored, not as a form of resistance, but as a polite decline of the request - a respectful assumption of the risks. Have you ever breezed through the Terms and Conditions on a software update? It was the same thing there. Collective rejection of these announcements played out on a grand scale, and it was scored by the music of AJR and Imagine Dragons.
We found where the concourse terminates. It looked like a hollowed-out starship repossessed by the TSA. There’s something eerie about such a vast structure serving as little more than a kiosk where guests are scanned for small sharp objects. As we picked up our items from the x-ray machine, an adult dressed in wizard’s robes was pulled aside for additional screening. We walked away as the security guard asked if he had any weapons. The last I heard from the exchange was the man responding by asking if a wand was considered a weapon.
We approached the arch welcoming us to City Walk - a collection of restaurants and shops outside of the park. Billboards and neon signs seemed to emerge like heads of a hydra summoned by Don Draper. My senses were bombarded with sights, sounds, and scents from ten different stores. One sold pizza, while another sold margaritas, while a third sold swim trunks. This place made me think of the bazaars found outside of ancient castles. I didn’t imagine there was much of a difference between then and now; I’m sure producers of mead or horseshoes would have used neon signs and sound systems if they had the technology.
I became overwhelmed by the amount of activity. Dodging family selfies is hard enough in public without gawking at the omnipresence of brand logos. The whole scene made me long for a grappling hook, or a helicopter’s rope ladder - anything that could get me somewhere with less than ten billboards. I found it difficult to understand what exactly CityWalk wanted me to do or where I was supposed to go. Luckily, the crowds kept me from trying to open an umbrella of logic in this hurricane of souvenirs and sandwiches. As my girlfriend who studied these types of environments explained to me, “you just keep moving with the crowd, don’t get hung up anywhere”.
As we got to the park entrance, I realized why I was having such trouble understanding “the point” of City Walk: There isn’t one. Not a singular reason, anyway. It exists to be something to everybody. How else can a couple on a first date, an entire peewee hockey team, and grandparents looking after twin toddlers all have a place to eat, shop, and buy things for their shelves? This was the only way to ensure a thorough response to the welcoming yet ostentatious request to consume.
This may sound like an obvious revelation, but think about how difficult it is for a business to do this intentionally. The inconsistency of offerings served as the perfect shuffle button for guests’ needs. Strategically erratic. Tactically volatile on an institutional level. That way, everyone shuffling through the gates could be paired with something that they wanted. It was hard to deny the effectiveness; every shop had a line out the door. It felt like everyone who passed through saw something they wanted. Most people were there on vacation, after all. Coffee mugs, smashed pennies, and bottle openers will always fit in the overhead compartment on the flight back home.
We made our way to the turnstiles. As we finally entered, I felt a sense of relief at the thought of being strapped into a coaster seat. At least that way, myself and everyone else riding would experience the same thing at the same time. Stability from consistency.
I’m excited that you have decided to explore these pictures and where they were taken with me. If you would like to know more about this project, check out this article. If you would like to share a photo that matters to you, please do so through the link below. The link to join the mailing list is below that.
Cheers,
NS