The Hub & Spoke

It's one thing to get the guests into the parks, it's another thing getting them around it.  Theme parks need to be easy to navigate and lead the guests around the entirety of the premise.  Disney has designed their theme parks in the layout of a hub & spoke.  "Another common layout is the "hub and spoke" approach that Disneyland first popularized. It has a central visual icon (such as a castle) as its hub, with themed areas fanning out from this centerpiece."(Leisure Business Advisors LLC) 


As the guest enters the park they are led down a main thorough fair, smartly laid out with shopping, and reach the center of the park, the hub.  This allows for centerpiece to be erected in the park, creating an icon for each park.  In the Disneyland and Magic Kingdom parks it's the castles, in EPCOT it is the "giant golf ball", Animal Kingdom has the Tree of Life and Hollywood Studios has recently added the Sorcerer's Hat.  These icons leave an imprint on the minds of guests and allows them to easily identify each of the parks and the center of those parks.

EPCOT is actually a variation using the Hub & Spoke layout in Future World and a Loop layout in the World Showcase. (The Imagineers, 2010)

References:

http://www.leisure-business.com/theme-park-design.html

The Imagineers, Initials. (Ed.). (2010). Walt disney imagineering: a behind the dreams look at making more magic real. New York, NY: Disney Editions.