Ah, New Orleans Square, the apex of Walt's thematic treatment of Disneyland and his personal legacy to the Park, with its two major attractions built perfectly for this extension of Frontierland's westward exploration into the unknown.
Disney historians and theme park articles alike have designated New Orleans Square as not only one of the last projects Walt worked on, but the first and only "land" to open during Walt's time.
Oddly, WED publications and park literature describes New Orleans Square as an extension of Frontierland and even as late as 1968, the Disneyland Dictionary of that year listed the Haunted Mansion as a Frontierland attraction while having a section dedicated to the then-one-year-old Pirates ride in New Orleans Square.
This all reminds me of something WED was trying to accomplish in 1968.
They were trying to realize Walt's dream by at least constructing the Vacation Kingdom aspect of his ambitious EPCOT plans and this naturally included a distinct-yet-familiar Magic Kingdom park with a mixture of new experiences and classical attractions suited for a Florida audience.
Instead of using New Orleans from its mid-19th century heyday, WED evoked the spirit of Johnny Tremain in a recreation of 1700's New England with cobblestone alleys, brick storefronts, and Revolutionary-era antiques.
Like New Orleans Square in California, Liberty Square was meant to be a unique experience for guests in Florida and it's no accident that both lands share a Haunted Mansion, an appropriate anchor attraction, and a number of shops and restaurants.
However, unlike New Orleans Square, Liberty Square wasn't marketed as an extension of WDW's Frontierland, but as its own land since the beginning, despite Liberty Square and Frontierland blending together as a coherent timeline of American history.
To understand my point, walk along the Rivers of America at Walt Disney World near Peter Pan and the Haunted Mansion all the way to the entrance to Big Thunder. Look at the architecture and how the 1600's Hudson River Valley metamorphoses through 1700's Philadelphia (Hall of Presidents), 1700's Virginia (Liberty Tree Tavern), 1830's St. Louis (Diamond Horseshoe), and the vernacular styles of Colorado (Grizzly Hall), Kansas, and Texas (Pecos Bill) terminate at the 1880's Arizona-California area of Thunder Mesa (Big Thunder)---with the notable misplaced exception of Splash Mountain and its setting of 1860's-1870's Georgia.
In addition to how Frontierland and Liberty Square would often get lumped together on the same page in some of the guidebooks of the early 1970's, it's one of Disney's more complicated blunders, but of course, WED would change its tune between 1966 and 1971.
But excuse the tangent and let's look at how locations within both US Magic Kingdoms were advertised since the beginning. After all, this will help us understand what constitutes a Land versus an attraction in relation to the Park.
In 1954, Herb Ryman's treatment of a pirate-themed street in "True-Life Adventureland" was foreshadowing the placement of a piracy-themed attraction in Adventureland and his concept art for a rustic recreation of New Orleans along the Rivers of America in Frontierland were the basis for this "hybrid-land" because this little bend of the river was the junction between Frontierland and Adventureland, which were both based on Man's struggle to tame the wilderness and expand civilization, and this meant that a transition between both realms would need to be both American and foreign. Walt's obsession with New Orleans and trains had been instrumental in providing the perfect locale.
Think of it, New Orleans was a defining part of the American frontier as it not only served as a thriving port for the region, but it had been the site of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 where Jefferson's Empire of Liberty (the United States) had acquired about 827,000 square miles of land west of the Mighty Mississippi from the French government.
However, New Orleans had a flavor that was not entirely American, so solely placing it in the all-American* Frontierland would be a disservice to the Big Easy, given its vibrant history of being exotic and foreign with regards to its history.
So while it was marketed as a whole new land, the Disneyland Tencennial Guidebook in 1965 said, "The charm and grace of old New Orleans will be re-created in Frontierland". This asks the question if it was deliberate or a mistake and looking at how Sam McKim's 1958-1964 maps of the Park, there is no reference to New Orleans Square other than being a future attraction on par with the planned Haunted Mansion or the Thieves Market, so I assume it was in practice treated as a sub-land of Frontierland before it was marketed as a whole new land in 1966.
But getting back to my main point. If New Orleans Square was the newest land at the Park when it debuted in 1966, then what makes a land different than an attraction since WED treated it as both?
Wouldn't it make sense to throw the towel in and say it was always a separate entity, even when being planned as a Frontierland attraction?
No, because either way I try to look at this, it twists into a game of mental gymnastics, which brings me to wonder if there is an almighty Disney Dictionary that has all the information on these matters culled from the remnants of WED's past as well as the paper-trails of Disney management, including even cast members and operators.
Let's continue and discuss how Disney World guests demanded a ride from California that brought its own section of the park separate from the ambiguous theming of the land it was situated in and how that section is worthy of being treated separately while also being a specific extension of that land's general theme.
You know, the very reason why I created a site about this sort of thing?
In the case of Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, the infamous Caribbean Plaza was marketed as a unique extension of Adventureland, while retaining a singular setting**, so logically it may be treated as sovereign. However, it was not the Magic Kingdom's 7th land. WDW's only recognition of Caribbean Plaza's independence is the directory sign in the Hub that points westward towards "Adventureland and Caribbean Plaza". In fact, the only other major sign of sovereignty by WDW was the welcoming sign that sat under the western arch from about 1973 until 2006.
So this brings me to this wild ride of defining things in a way that makes an inkling of sense (at least to me) with this reference guide I made.
REFERENCE GUIDE (Some of the lands at Disney parks or sections can be fluid in terms of how they are defined)
Cardinal Land: This refers to the five major MK lands: Main Street USA, Fantasyland, Frontierland, Tomorrowland, and Adventureland.
Hybrid Land: This is a thematic transition point between two cardinal lands, such as New Orleans Square, Caribbean Plaza, or the planned Holiday-Land for WDW's MK.
IP Land: Fantasyland can be described as an early attempt at an IP land, but a great example of an IP Land would be the Storybook Circus at Walt Disney World or the under-construction Star Wars Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland. Perhaps, the Wonderland section of Disneyland's Fantasyland qualifies as it houses the Alice in Wonderland dark ride and the Mad Tea Cups.
Sub Land: The early concept art of New Orleans Square had it placed initially in Frontierland as a sub-land. A great example of a sub-land would be Caribbean Plaza's placement in Adventureland or the planned Thunder Mesa in Frontierland. This is usually a distinct part of a Cardinal Land and it has enough of a distinct atmosphere to be marketed as a separate land, but its placement within said Cardinal Land is thematic consistent.
Attraction Land: This is a land designed for a single attraction, such as Disneyland's Bear Country or Walt Disney World's Caribbean Plaza, and typically embodies the theme of said attraction.
Square Land: New Orleans Square and Liberty Square are the only two examples I have at this time.
Thank you for accompanying me on this wild ride through Disney-Town and into the Hell of ignorance and confusion. Of course, that was a joke. Have a great day, everyone.
*All-American as it referring to how Frontierland concerned itself with the American frontier and yet it dealt with the Southwestern/Mexican element of the North American frontier.
**The singular setting is the "Spanish motif" WED used to connect the Pirates of the Caribbean directly to Adventureland without having to replicate New Orleans Square.
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