Hulk's Mathmagic Land

Mathmagic Land: Brazil’s Math Pavilion Adds Up

Mathematics? Phooey! That’s for eggheads!

Or is it?

Mathmagic Land proves that mathematics isn’t as dry or as distant as you might think. It can be fun, accessible, and imaginative. Everywhere you look in your day-to-day life, math is there! A journey through Mathmagic Land will prove that. With Donald Duck as your guide, with living shapes Jerk & Jounce & Crackle & Pop leading the way, you’ll discover just how joyous mathematics can be!

That is the promise made by Disneyland Brazil Resort. And promise kept! Here at Park Lore, we love chronicling Modern Marvels as they appear throughout the theme park universe. We’ve played along with Universal’s Super Nintendo Country, sailed down the rivers of Tokyo’s New Westernland, hummed along to Energylandia’s musical reinvention, solved a Parisian mystery with Tintin, and more. Now it’s time for a journey down to Brazil for a mathematical pavilion which is more than the sum of its parts. You'll love seeing how it shapes up!

Image: Disney

Mathmagic Land has quickly proved itself with Disney parks fans young and old. This pavilion is so special to so many that we don’t mind it if you want to skip straight ahead to the extended pavilion walkthrough, and gloss over our customary preamble. You can jump forward to the Mathmagic Land overview, its outdoor attractions, its dining & retail & queue, or its dark ride and post-show Part One, Part 2, and Part III. Though if you stick around, you’ll find an introduction on the development of Disneyland Brazil, from the initial park proposal all the way to its mesmerizing second gate, Disney's Nexus Expo. You’ll see how an early pitch called Cyberpunk City grew into something special. You’ll see how different designers fused their disparate concepts into a single “connected” experience. Ultimately you’ll see an imaginary land of numbers, shapes and equations unlike anything else…

And before we head off, remember that you can unlock rare concept art and audio streams in this story, access over 100 Extra Features, and receive an annual Membership card and postcard art set in the mail by supporting this clickbait-free, in-depth, ad-free theme park storytelling site for as little as $2 / month! Become a Park Lore Member to join the story! Until then, let’s start at the beginning…

Disney Goes to South America

Image: Disney

Disneyland Brazil Resort sprang up along the tropical shores between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. This 21st century theme park complex united its cities via high speed rail, and connected the resort elements together with Monorails and cruise ships. Central to the whole enterprise was Disneyland Brazil, a bold new take on the classic Castle Park concept. Breaking the mold with an off-axis Main Street, an expanded Frontierland, and the all-new Saludos Beach area, Disneyland Brazil proved to be an instant critical and commercial success for the House of Mouse. The park was flush with a surplus of profits, swiftly leading to the development of a wholly unique Adventureland for the Brazilian market. Profits continued to pour in, making additional park expansion an inevitability.

Image: Disney

When the time came to develop a second gate in Brazil, several concepts were considered. Ultimately, Disney took inspiration from Epcot, and at least equal parts inspiration from Possibilityland: WestCOT. With a World Showcase-inspired area off of the table (at least for the time being), instead all attention turned Epcot's former Future World. The park which Disney’s creatives developed started out with the placeholder name of “Cyberpunk City,” to reflect a new generation of futurist influences. These influences included Neom in Saudi Arabia, Chongqing in China, and Singapore’s Changi Airport.

Disney’s Imagineers knew that they wanted to recapture some of the long lost magic of the original EPCOT Center. The blank slate in Brazil provided them with a better opportunity to start afresh than aging Epcot in Orlando ever could. Here they could redefine what an “Epcot” park could be from the ground up, organized around the principle of Connection. They could fashion a park better suited to the whims of time (and future executives), where a timeless exploration of mankind’s achievements could stand in for futurism and tech showcases. That park they came up with was DISNEY'S NEXUS EXPO.

Image: Disney

For their Math Pavilion, which on the surface appeared to be a deathly dull subject, Disney’s designers turned to Tony Baxter’s Lost Legend: Journey into Imagination for that one little spark of inspiration. The idea was to create something fun, something hands-on and human-scaled. In some ways, Modern Disney’s approach ran counter to the original EPCOT Center design philosophy (no self-serious lecturing here), yet in other ways their hypothetical Math Pavilion would double down on what made 1982 EPCOT Center so celebrated to begin with (engaging, approachable edutainment).

The end result of Disney’s swift brainstorming sessions, as fans are likely already aware, was MATHMAGIC LAND. And while it’s possible to cover this beloved modern pavilion with a blow-by-blow account of its inspiration and creation, that would be against the Mathmagic Land ethos. Rather, let us assume the roles of tourists, and encounter this pavilion as they would…piece-by-piece, exploring with curiosity and passion. Read on…

Read on...!

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Modern Marvels

Disneyland Brazil, Disneyland Brazil Resort