Look carefully at the buildings in Walt Disney World, and you’ll notice something interesting: not everything is how it seems at first glance. Disneyworld uses an architectural design trick called forced perspective, which essentially fools our brains into seeing what Walt wants us to see. Here’s some examples:
Main Street, U.S.A.
Look at the buildings lining Main Street in the Magic Kingdom. They start out normal size at ground level, then get progressively smaller as they go up. The end result is that the second and third stories together equal the height of the first story. But why, you ask, would they do a silly thing like that? It contributes to the cozy, small town feeling Disneyworld has created for Main Street, U.S.A.
Cinderella’s Castle
Ever notice how the spires of Cinderella’s Castle appear as if they’re soaring right up into the clouds? The castle doesn’t look that way because it’s unusually tall, or even because Florida is unusually flat (it seems flat to me because I live in Utah where we have lots of mountains). Cinderella’s castle looks monsterously tall because it gets narrower as it goes up toward the towers.
Animal Kingdom
Animal Kingdom is all about the wonders and majesty of nature. Disney architects made all of the buildings small, so the trees would tower over them. They especially wanted the Tree of Life to rise above all the other features around it. Of course, the Tree of Life isn’t really a tree, but let’s not get technical!