Dismaland - 'Disney' in the UK

[Rob]

So we finally have a Disney park here in the UK! Okay, no we don't really, but we do have Dismaland which is open until 27th September. Basically it is Banksy's new art exhibition - a dystopian theme park - in Weston-Super-Mare. Here is a good article on it and a few photos from the article:

Tickets to get in are £3 although the Dismaland website is currently down due to very high demand.

I'd love to know what everyone makes of this. I personally think it is a very interesting and thought provoking exhibition. It's said to "offer an escape from mindless escapism". I'm sure there will be many different interpretations but I see it as trying to present a different view of all theme parks, not just Disney.

Saying that I'd love to be a fly on the wall during the inevitable meeting The Walt Disney Company have/had about this!

 

[Poisson]

I'm waiting for the Mail/Mirror/Insert Other Toilet Rag Here to make an article linking it to the AT/CP/Bottons incidents....

 

[DiogoJ42]

The Metro has already said it's for "the 99% who'd rather be at Alton Towers".

So when are we going?

 

[Alastair]

That castle looks like the kind of thing Merlin would produce for a fantasy-themed coaster. Except without the grotty details, it would just be bare concrete.

 

[jmc]

It really is embarrassing that all of the run down stuff there is comparable to what Merlin seriously create for their theme parks

 

[Martin]

Banksy is terrible and so is this.

 

[Johno]

So I went to this last weekend.

It's fantastic. Really fun take on 'theme parks' in the UK. Employees who ask you if you want a queue line photo or not and force you to get one taken anyway, the dystopian view of 'Disneyland' and how we are a commercialised society, along with our willingness to pay £2 to hook a duck and win a 'fish finger'.

I really enjoyed it. If you do get the chance to get a ticket and visit I'd encourage you all to do so.

 

[delta79]

Employees who ask you if you want a queue line photo or not and force you to get one taken anyway,

No theme park in the uk have staff jumping out with a camera. trying to get you to pay for a photo you could do on your phone.

 

[DiogoJ42]

We tried to get in last Saturday but wasted the drive.
Stood in the standby queue for about fifty minutes before we realised there were "no walk up tickets today". I have no doubt that the impossible to book tickets, and the lack of staff telling people what is going on is all part of the "experience", along with the portaloos with no paper.

We ended up at Brean instead, so we still had a thoroughly miserable day with staff who don't care.

 

[Martin]

At first I just thought this was stupid but now I actively hate it and will thoroughly get on the cans if Banksy ever turns out to be a wrongun and gets sent down. For people who think writing 'capitalism' then writing an r between the c and the a is deep and clever social commentary. And the pointless anger at pointless things like selfies, you can't criticise narcissism when you've built your own playground to your world views. Smug, cliched and obvious nonsense that you'd only think is clever after waiting in line too long at the real Disneyland.

And I write this as someone who agrees with some of his views.