One of my favorite cities in the U.S. is New Orleans; my favorite section of Disneyland is New Orleans Square. Although I love both of them due to some similarities, they are definitely different beasts.
The first thing I like about both is the architecture. Walt himself loved the real city, and his designers did a wonderful job of capturing the look of the buildings, the balconies, and to some extent, the atmosphere. One is kept clean; the other not so much. Interestingly enough, New Orleans is designed (for the most part) on a grid with squares, including its most famous, Jackson Square.
At Disneyland, there is no square in New Orleans Square. Instead, the pathways curve around and make you think the area is larger than it actually is. Brilliant design!
The nooks and crannies of both places draw me in as well. At Disneyland, the now inaccessible Court of Angels was a favorite haunt of mine.
New Orleans is full of these little courtyards; they’re just not maintained quite as well, which is probably preferable to me. Something about that Great Expectations decay really gets me!
Both places are full of life, people, and creative activity.
New Orleans is just a lot more edgy and unexpected. I like that, too.
Lots of great music to be enjoyed; Disneyland’s is scheduled:
…and New Orleans’ is typically random and not quite as polished. Again…totally fine by me.
More on this topic tomorrow! See more REAL New Orleans photos at my main website and New Orleans Square.
Dave, I agree totally.
ReplyDeleteThe One-of-A-Kind Shop made complete sense after I visited New Orleans. Thank you for the tip about Hotel Monteleone.
Also, I am convinced that the view of Jackson Square had at least some influence on the Hub and the Castle.
It would be interesting to see photos side-by-side.
JG
I've never been to New Orleans, but I've been to (and LOVE) New Orleans Square. I especially love your Court of Angels shot, and enjoyed this post - thank you!
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