Hanging out on the backlot

Light from darkness
Orlando, FL
January 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I don't think I view theme parks through the same lens as anyone else. Then again, I don't think I view ANYTHING through the same lens as anyone else. Part of the joy of being me, I guess, for better or for worse.

To wit, Hollywood Studios. Disney's newest park is a riot of overlapping storylines, themes, and architectures. Everywhere you look, there's some kind of stimulus, some kind of element, be it large or small, that defines the movie-ness of this place to the exclusion of all else.

There is no real world here, which is what makes being here such a remarkable experience. Just come on in and immerse yourself in the storytelling.

I admit I struggled a bit at first to take it all in, not sure where to look or what to focus on. It was the most obvious kind of sensory overload I've likely ever experienced, yet I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would. When I eventually stopped worrying about what I might miss along the way, I got back into my usual look-into-the-margins groove and started to really get the vibe of the place.

The Backlot Express is one of the park's countless restaurants, and it quickly became one of my favorites thanks to an aesthetic that seemed perfectly aligned with the "why" of this entire park. Standing outside the warehouse-like architecture, I was struck by how subtly it echoed what an actual studio lot might feel like, right down to the roughly scrubbed, corrugated metal shed that housed it all.

This photo belies the frantic pace that seems to define life in Disney's world, and transports me right back to a moment when we got to pause and take in a gently nuanced corner of the planet, under the watchful eye of a crescent moon.

Light, darkness, and composition: A perfect mix that moviemakers for generations have been striving to refine. In this frozen moment toward the end of an epic day for my family, it all somehow seemed to come together.

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