Obviously, Disney's 'castle' parks and Animal Kingdom are the best examples of the hub-and-spokes layout, with subsequent parks using figure-8 (California Adventure, DisneySea, and Epcot) and. What's better, the hub-and-spokes layout ensures that guests are never too far from anything – even the opposite ends of the park are connected via a path through the Hub! – and that wayfinding is simple and natural: just get back to the castle! From that center point, guests are 'pulsed' into the lands, able to circumnavigate the park however they'd like.

Main Street forces all guests to the center of the wheel, with themed lands branching off via pathways laid out like spokes on a tire. You can see why – when viewed from above, the park is laid out like a wheel or a bicycle tire. While other amusement parks had developed as long, stretched midways or piers lined with attractions, Disneyland was built all-at-once in what designers called a 'hub-and-spokes' layout. But this, too, was intentional and groundbreaking. Have we mentioned yet that Disneyland was revolutionary? Just as its single entrance and its admission fee were radical, so was what followed: how that long, single, shared entry forced all guests into the center of the park. When will Disney World add the legendary and mythological 'fifth gate?' It's anyone's guess. Simple enough, except when fans begin talking about 'Walt Disney World's cinematic gate' (Disney's Hollywood Studios) or 'Disneyland's second gate' (Califonia Adventure), essentially turning the name game into a pop quiz on association or Disney Parks history. Often, 'gate' is a synonym for theme park. When Disney Parks enthusiasts talk about a 'gate,' they usually don't mean entrance turnstiles.

Synonym for phantasmic