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Kaitlin Buickel

MUSE-600-01

December 12, 2013

An American Methodology for Presenting Cultural Heritage

In an age of increasing technological advancement, entertainment, and worldwide

tourism, museums have had to make changes to accommodate such pressures and remain a

relevant part of society. On the other hand, the theme park industry has continued to flourish

alongside these changes and consistently attracts visitors from all over the world. Florida in

particular over the past few decades has become a prime destination in the United States for both

amusement park tourism and cultural tourism, and thus the relationship between museums and

theme parks is one that inevitably overlaps. As a result of this overlap, cultural centers and theme

parks throughout Florida represent a unique American methodology of presenting and preserving

heritage and culture due to the reliance on entertainment, consumerism, and a sense of false

authenticity. In this paper, I will briefly discuss the history of tourism in Florida and the

economic impacts, examine how tourist attracts such as Walt Disney World, Epcot, and The

Holy Land Experience, and other attractions have made attempts at presenting cultural heritage

under this American methodology of false authenticity and consumerism, and explore how

museums in Florida, such as the Orange County Regional History Center, living museums, and

Fantasy of Flight have surrendered to the pressures of tourism.

In the late 1800s following the invention of the automobile and the construction of major

railways and highways that made it easier for people to travel from one end of the country to

another, primarily from the north to the south, travelers, known as “tin-can” tourists, began

frequenting Florida due to the warm weather and access to vacation spots up and down the

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coastline. As many travelers decided to remain in Florida and the population steadily increased,

so did its development; cattle-raising, commercial agriculture, and the citrus industry all became

the primary means of economic stability and development during this time. After the end of

World War II, the tourist industry and availability of job opportunities in Florida increased

dramatically and took over as being the leading source of income, which again led to an influx of

not only visitors from all around the country, but an influx of people moving to Florida to make a

living. While Florida was flourishing due to its various natural attractions, such as national parks,

lakes, and beaches, the opening of Walt Disney World in 1971 set the stage for Florida to

ultimately become one of the world’s most desired tourist destinations. After hoping to find a

location to build his second theme park installment as a result of the success of Disneyland in

California, Walt Disney flew over Orlando and was immediately drawn to the area due to the

central location in the state and its large network of roads. During the first year of being open,

“this 28,000-acre park brought about $14 billion dollars to Orlando’s economy”1 and inspired

other developers to build large scale attractions, such as Universal Studios, Busch Gardens, and

SeaWorld, due to the ever-growing increase in tourism and high demand for tourist destinations.

Florida does not only benefit from the impacts of amusement park and attraction tourism,

but arts, history, and culture tourism as well. As the population of Florida increased, so did the

number of museums and cultural sites, and today there are nearly 340 museums all throughout

the state. Some of the more popular museums include the National Museum of Naval Aviation in

Pensacola, the new Salvador Dali Museum in St. Pete, and the Florida Museum of Natural

History in Gainesville. St. Augustine, the nation’s oldest city, became a popular historic travel

destination in the mid-1900s where tourists can both visit the Castillo de San Marcos fort and

learn about Florida’s rich Spanish past, but also spend time shopping and eating. This cultural

1 "Tourism in Florida." FL History. : 1-2. http://fcit.usf.edu/florida/lessons/tourism/tourism1.pdf

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center attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists every year. Along with museums and historic

sites for tourists to visit all throughout Florida, there are also various cultural events and festivals

that take place, particularly in Miami, such as Art Basel and the Art Deco Weekend Festival. As

Miami slowly became a city known for its cultural diversity and large population of Spanish-

speakers and Cuban-Americans, it also became a mecca for museums and art and has thus

become a leading destination of tourists alongside Orlando and St. Augustine.

Without such large centers for cultural tourism, theme park tourism, and natural tourism,

Orlando would not be nearly as economically stable and many people would be jobless. As of

this year, “direct tourism jobs make up 50.7 percent of the total” and the amount of people in

Florida working for the tourist industry amounts to over a million people.2 Also, the number of

tourists coming to Florida tends to increase from year to year, and with a total of over 79.6

million visitors this year alone, the number of tourists has grown by 3.4 percent from last year.3

Currently, the annual direct GDP contribution of Florida tourism averages about $51.14 billion

with $31.16 billion going towards tourist industry worker salaries.4 As more as more tourists

travel to Florida each year, more jobs also become available for Florida residents. Approximately

for every 100 million people that travel to Florida, nearly 122,000 jobs are created.5 Because of

these statistics, the tourist industry in Florida continues to expand dramatically in order to

accommodate the needs and demands of both tourists from all around the world as well as locals

looking to secure jobs.

While America has become a nation focused almost entirely on consumerism, capitalism,

and entertainment, the way culture in Florida is being presented to the public has shifted in this

way as well. Along with the vast economic benefits of tourism throughout Florida, this type of 2 "Investing in Tourism: Analyzing the Economic Impact of Expanding Florida Tourism." Florida TaxWatch, 53 Susan Lundine, "Florida tourism numbers hit new high." Orlando Business Journal4 "Investing in Tourism: Analyzing the Economic Impact of Expanding Florida Tourism." Florida TaxWatch, 35 "Tourism in Florida." FL History. : 1-2. http://fcit.usf.edu/florida/lessons/tourism/tourism1.pdf

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tourism has created a standard for learning and being entertained while spending money and

feeding the demands of capitalism. This American methodology of presenting and preserving

cultural heritage by way of adhering to consumerism and a sense of false authenticity and

accuracy is a direct result of this intermingling of tourism and culture throughout the state. More

specifically, because attraction and theme park tourism casts such a large shadow over the nature

and culture of Florida, it is nearly impossible for tourism and culture to not intermingle and for

the presentation of culture not be affected by this desire to make money off of tourism. Many

critics of this capitalistic model believe that popular tourist destinations throughout Florida,

specifically Walt Disney World, have a mission “to establish a sovereign state within a state, a

private entertainment mecca to which every working family in America would be lured to at

least once and preferably several times”.6 Instead of being solely about entertainment, many of

these theme parks blend aspects of cultural heritage, education, and entertainment in ways that

have “taken western humanity into a topsy-turvy world of make-believe, invention and fantasy”

while essentially selling these inauthentic versions of culture to the public.7

Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom in particular has had a monumental impact on the

way cultural heritage is being presented to people under this American methodology. In a case

study about authenticity within central Florida theme parks, Earney Francis Lasten and Randall

S. Upchurch claim that because Americans inherently crave “real” and authentic experiences,

consumerist tourist attractions, specifically Disney World, create a world of hyperreality and

fabrication in order to satisfy this demand and capitalize on culture in order to continue making

money. Because of this, they believe that the “tourist at any cultural attraction has to be aware of

the hyperreality that typified the inability of perception to distinguish authenticity from fantasy”,8

6 Carl Hiaasen, Team Rodent: How Disney Devours the World, Random House LLC, 2010.7 Adrian Franklin, Tourism: An Introduction, Sage Publications, 2003, 176-209.8 Earney Lasten and Randall Upchurch, "Authentic Experiences Assessment Instrument: The Case of Millennial Students and Cultural Attractions in Central Florida." FIU Review, (2012), 14-38.

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especially since technology and the media has such an effect on perceptions and expectations.

Other critics of this model, such as Carl Hiaasen and Harvey H. Jackson, believe that Disney

World has not only become an ever-expanding and intimidating company that collects large

amounts of money from unsuspecting tourists each year, but that it has blended “faux-reality

(real history does not sell well in Florida) with nostalgia and thrilling rides”.9 For example, the

“It’s a Small World” ride at Disney World, a boat ride through rooms with singing dolls that

represent over 100 different nations, is meant to teach visitors that despite all the diversity

throughout the world, all people are very much the same. While the intentions of breaking down

boundaries is an admirable one on some levels, the stereotypical way in which the animatronic

figures distinguishing each nation are dressed and the idea that there is one universal culture is

superficial and represents this inauthentic and Americanized version of presenting cultural

heritage. However, because the theme park guests have paid a large amount of money to be

entertained and have memorable experiences, they tend to be unaware of such inauthenticity.

Theme parks are inherently money-driven, so the fabrication of cultural heritage blended with

elements of fantasy and entertainment has become more of a promotional tool for Walt Disney

World.

Another theme park owned by Walt Disney World that represents the overlap of cultural

heritage and entertainment under this American methodology of false authenticity is Epcot, or

rather, the “Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow”. Opened in 1982, Epcot was

meant to be “a community of tomorrow that will never be completed, but will always be

introducing, and testing, and demonstrating new materials and new systems”.10 Disney

envisioned it as being a prototype city that would allow industrial leaders and researchers to 9 Harvey Jackson, "Sunshine Paradise: A History of Florida Tourism by Tracy J. Revels (review)." American Studies, (2013).10 Gretchen Thomas, "Walt Disney’s EPCOT: The City of Tomorrow that Might Have Been." The Objective Standard, (2011), 103-109.

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work with technology in finding solutions to modern-day problems. This “Community of

Tomorrow” represents the embracing of technological advancement and the creation a

community within the much larger community of Florida. In a sense, Epcot is Disney’s own

attempt at recreating what the world is and how he believed the world should be which inevitably

becomes its own type of hyperreality. The first half of Epcot, “Future World”, is similar to a

science museum in that it has interactive games, attractions, and exhibits that teach visitors about

technology and how it can be used to impact the world around them. There is even an area called

the Advanced Training Lab that allows visitors to learn what it takes to be an astronaut by using

computers to complete tasks and play educational games. Neil Postman, author of Museum

Provision and Professionalism, claims that Epcot’s message does more harm than good in that it

represents America’s increasing obsession with technology while ignoring things like “religion,

family, children, history and education”.11 What is even more interesting is that many of the

buildings in this area were once sponsored by large corporations, such as Exxon and Kraft, in

order to help fund the building, though much of this sponsorship has been since dropped due to a

lack of corporate interest. This “Future World” in Epcot is similar to Disney World’s “It’s a

Small World” ride because it bases culture, technology, and education off of this capitalistic,

Americanized version of a corporate utopia and completely disregards cultural heritage and

diversity.

While this section of Epcot represents this American methodology of consumerism and

capitalism blended with elements of entertainment, the “World Showcase” area is a way for

Epcot to present their own idea of cultural heritage. This area is divided into pavilions, each

themed to represent a specific country, while the United States pavilion is conveniently placed

right in the center. In this sense, other nations are represented as being inferior to the United

11 Neil Postman, "Museum as Dialogue," Museum Provision and Professionalism, (1994), 67-81.

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States, which is a way that Epcot falsifies and disregards other cultures by making the United

States the elite nation. While countries like France, China, and Canada offer visitors with

opportunities to learn about the different cultures, such as through videos and objects, the “only

features common to all pavilions of World Showcase are restaurants and shops”.12 Epcot also

makes a large amount of money off of their annual International Food and Wine Festival. This

reliance on consumerism overshadows and undermines the educational aspects of this World

Showcase, which, again, falls under this American methodology of how cultural heritage is now

being presented to the public due to tourism and entertainment. While many of these national

pavilions contain small museums dedicated to each country containing items belonging to actual

museums outside of Epcot, Kratz and Karp claim that this mingling of entertainment, tourism

and culture “obfuscates the difference between real and facsimile, making reproductions seem

more authentic, the overall effect hyperreal”.13 While this might inspire more wonder and

excitement in the eyes of the visitors, being inauthentic undermines and capitalizing off of

culture the whole point of trying to present and preserve cultural heritage.

Another theme park in Florida that represents the blending of tourism and cultural heritage

under this American methodology is The Holy Land Experience, which opened in 2001. Located

in the heart of where tourists come to visit in Orlando, right between Universal Studios and

SeaWorld, The Holy Land Experience is a Christian-based “living biblical” theme park that

recreates what the ancient city of Jerusalem might have been like in 1st century Israel while

providing families with opportunities for entertainment, shopping, and eating. While this theme

park is untraditional in the sense that it does not have any actual rides like most other theme

parks do, it is similar in that it is broken up into different areas of entertainment that include 12 Corinne Kratz and Ivan Karp, "Wonder and Worth: Disney Museums in World Showcase." Museum Anthropology, (1993), 32-4213 Corinne Kratz and Ivan Karp, "Wonder and Worth: Disney Museums in World Showcase." Museum Anthropology, (1993), 32-42

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interactive activities and themed restaurants and stores. Some of the food at the different stations

includes the “Goliath Burger, Jaffa Hot Dog, Centurion Salad, [and] a Samson-Size

Drumstick”.14 The theme park also offers a Scriptorium museum that houses biblically-related

artifacts, though the items are on loan for now. Critics believe that not only is the theme park

exploiting stories within the bible and the story of Jerusalem in order to adhere to the demands of

consumerism, but that it is biased and condenses biblical themes in a way that hinders anyone

from learning. Joan Branham compares The Holy Land Experience to the “It’s a Small World”

ride at Walt Disney World because it condenses “4,000 years of distinctive histories into fifteen

acres of fun-in-the-sun theological entertainment” while merging “Judaism and Christianity into

a homogeneous and harmonious entity”.15 Because the theme park presents biblical aspects in a

primarily Americanized, Christian way without allowing anyone else, such as members of the

Jewish community, to have a voice, it does not present the visitor with an entirely accurate and

unbiased version of 1st century Jerusalem and biblical themes. Even various sectors of the

Christian community as well as Jewish leaders have criticized the theme park because it

trivializes and consumerizes faith. The Holy Land Experience has also been criticized for its tax

exempt status, because although one of its supposed goals is to educate the public, it is still

designated as a theme park, not a museum, and adheres to the consumerist and entertainment

standards that most other amusement parks do.

The Holy Land Experience also combines education and entertainment by providing visitors

with various opportunities to watch actors perform recreated scenes from the bible, one of which,

the one that draws the most crowds, is the crucifixion of Jesus. Branham claims that “the midst

of cell phones ringing, cameras clicking, videocams rolling, and tourists drinking lemonade, a 14 Joan Branham, "The Temple that Won't Quit: Constructing Sacred Space in Orlando’s Holy Land Experience Theme Park." Cross Currents, 358-38215 Joan Branham, "The Temple that Won't Quit: Constructing Sacred Space in Orlando’s Holy Land Experience Theme Park." Cross Currents, 358-382

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blood drenched Jesus stumbles and falls, is nailed to the cross, crucified, taken down, and found

missing from the empty tomb”.16 The entire performance demonstrates this uneasy intermingling

of tourism, education and theater, and exemplifies why presenting visitors with anything having

to do with cultural heritage and history may not be as effective in an amusement park setting due

to the distractions of consumerism and entertainment. Because I have not personally been to The

Holy Land Experience myself, I read through many essays that described certain experiences at

the theme park, most of which criticizing how inauthentic everything seemed. Researcher Yorke

Rowan believes that while the entire experience at The Holy Land may seem falsely authentic

and biased, cultural heritage and historical events must be tailored to reflect what the modern-

visitor wants in order to keep people interested in learning at all.17 In this way, the entire

experience is a catch-22.

A few more tourist and entertainment based destinations in Florida that represent false

authenticity and an emphasis on capitalizing off of culture include Universal Islands of

Adventure as well as themed dinner shows, such as the Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament.

While Islands of Adventure is broken up into various themed areas, each with different rides,

shops, and restaurants, the newest addition to the theme park and the most popular area is the

Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The area is designed to look like Hogsmeade Village and

Hogwarts Castle, both iconic locations in the Hary Potter book series. Although the books are

based on a fantasy world that does not exist in real life, because people can come to this area and

feel as though they are part of this wizarding community, this creates a false sense of cultural

authenticity that is primarily focused on drawing in tourists and making money. Another unique

example of this overlap between tourism and cultural heritage is the Medieval Times Dinner & 16 Joan Branham, "The Temple that Won't Quit: Constructing Sacred Space in Orlando’s Holy Land Experience Theme Park." Cross Currents, 358-38217 Yorke Rowan, "Repackaging the Pilgrimage: Visiting the Holy Land in Orlando," MarketingHeritage: Archaeology and the Consumption of the Past, (2004), 249-264

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Tournament. During this experience, visitors sit in a large arena-type space and are served dinner

while watching a medieval times-inspired jousting tournament between knights. The entire

experience is meant to give the audience a taste, literally, for what it might have been like living

during medieval times, and dinner is even served without utensils so that it gives the illusion of

authenticity. Overall, these types of shows draw in huge crowds of tourists throughout Florida,

and while there may be some educational merit, the primary goal of these shows is to be

entertaining and to capitalize off of people’s interest in historical periods such as the medieval

era.

While many theme park destinations throughout Florida represent this American

methodology of presenting cultural heritage in a way that adheres to the standards of

consumerism and entertainment, many museums in Florida have had to adopt elements of

tourism in order to compete with such attractions. Instead of focusing solely on educational

aspects, museums are becoming centers for “edutainment” and interactivity, thus adopting

elements of this American methodology. For example, the mission of the Orange County

Regional History Center located in downtown Orlando focuses on preserving the community’s

heritage and educating people about Central Florida’s rich history. While the museum is

primarily comprised of many permanent exhibits showcasing Orlando’s history, such as exhibits

about aviation, citrus and cattle, Florida’s first people, the natural environment, and civil rights,

the museum has had to recently come up with new ways to attract tourists and members of the

community due to its competition with neighboring theme parks. To do this, the museum

collaborated with the Universal Orlando Resort in order to create a special, year-long exhibit

called Year in the Life: Backstage to Onstage at Universal Orlando Resort. While the exhibit

focuses on teaching the community about annual events held at the Universal Studios theme

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parks, the popularity of this exhibit seems to rely on the interactive and entertaining elements

rather than the strictly educational ones. For example, on opening day of the exhibit, the museum

employed face-painters, stilt walkers and jugglers to build up community excitement and attract

visitors. Weeks after the exhibit had been open to the public, visitors would come to the museum

and ask where these entertainers, such as the face painters, were, only to be disappointed that

they were only there opening day. Because of this, the museum brought the entertainers back a

few times a month to maintain community excitement and interest in the exhibition. This

represents the fact that people’s desires to be entertained tends to overshadow the desire to be

educated, thus museums have been giving into this American methodology of presenting culture

in order to remain relevant in society.

Another example of how cultural centers in Florida are giving into the pressures of tourism

and this American methodology is living museums. While there are numerous historical sites

throughout Florida for people to visit, many of these sites have created living museums where

the atmosphere imitates a certain period of time and people act out how life would have been

during this time to create a more immersive experience for visitors. Because living museums,

like theme parks, rely primarily on the aspect of entertainment, acting, and the creation of a

particular space in order to present a certain culture, this represents this American methodology

of relying on entertainment and forced authenticity, which ends up being somewhat inauthentic

as a result. Simply stated, “from the best-endowed institutions to the least, operators cannot

avoid visitor demands (and expectations) for entertainment”.18 However, while living museums

do give into these pressures, they are still able to effectively present cultural heritage. A popular

living museum in Tampa, Florida is the Cracker Country living museum, which was founded in

18 David Saxe, "Living Heritage: An Experimental Model Mixing Heritage and Entertainment." Journal of Interpretation Research , 33-44

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1978 by Mildred W. & Doyle E. Carlton, Jr as a way of preserving Florida’s rural heritage.19

While the museum is focused on educating the community and does an excellent job at

recreating a specific time in Florida history, it does heavily rely on aspects of entertainment in

order to attract tourists and children. At the cane mill, visitors can taste freshly made syrup,

children can ride on a small train around certain buildings on the property, and there are many

places where people can shop for historical treasures that are made to look like old “mom and

pop” stores. While these aspects consumerism, entertainment, and an underlying level of

inauthenticity are apparent in parts of the experience, there is still educational merit and visitors

are able to engage while learning. All the same, as Saxe explains, living museums “have moved

decidedly into the tourist-entertainment field where professional planners work to design venues

and programs to compete for visitor’s attention and discretionary income”.20 In sum, living

museums, particularly in Florida, cannot avoid making these necessary changes and giving into

the American methodology of presenting culture because otherwise many people may go to a

theme park or other tourist attraction instead. However, because living museums are usually able

to provide entertainment while still engaging visitors in history, particularly at Cracker County,

this model of preserving cultural heritage can be quite successful.

The last example of a museum that has had to rely on elements of entertainment and

consumerism in order to effectively engage people in wanting to learn about cultural heritage and

history is Fantasy of Flight, located in Central Florida. This aviation-related museum, opened in

1995, has slowly been adding tourist-like attractions and areas of entertainment in order to

present a certain history and culture in a way that appeals to the many tourists that visit Florida

each year. While visitors have the opportunity to walk through an immersive museum space that

19 “Welcome to Cracker County”. http://www.crackercountry.org/20 David Saxe, "Living Heritage: An Experimental Model Mixing Heritage and Entertainment." Journal of Interpretation Research , 33-44

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showcases the days of early aviation and its impact on World War I, World War II as well as

present day, they can also pay an additional fee to climb around on a large obstacle course that is

located right outside of the museum. The rope course, called Wing WalkAir, also gives visitors

the opportunity to zip-line over a small lake located on property, and seems to be the most

popular aspect of the entire experience at Fantasy of Flight. When I visited Fantasy of Flight,

almost nobody was inside the actual museum while there was a large line of people to get into

the obstacle course. On their website it says that “Wing WalkAir takes you beyond the limits of

your body, mind, and spirit—while providing miles of smiles and a ton of fun!”.21 While there

may be a way to tie the theme of excitement and “walking on air” into the theme of aviation, this

rope obstacle course seems to be more of a vehicle for the museum to provide entertainment,

attract tourists, and earn extra money. The way in which the museum relies heavily on these

aspects of entertainment and consumerism and less on education is a direct result of tourism in

Florida and is a prime example of the American methodology of presenting cultural heritage and

history to an audience.

Margaret J. King, author of the article “The Theme Park Experience: What Museums can

Learn from Mickey Mouse” believes that the theming of America, or rather, the application of

using themes, entertainment and interactivity in order to educate, is effective and needs to be

adopted by museums throughout the country. In this way, she is supporting this American

methodology of representing cultural heritage and claiming that it is necessary in order for

museums to be successful. Further, she argues that this “Disney effect” is now being felt all

throughout the cultural landscape of America, and if museums do not change, they “risk either

remaining static, lifeless, and forbidding places with a rising level of public indifference or

21 “Central Florida Zipline and Ropes Course Fantasy of Flight”. http://www.fantasyofflight.com/activities/walk-on-air/

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becoming sales-oriented storefronts whose appeal runs in sporadic bursts without providing

experiences of enduring value”.22 Carol S. Jeffers not only agrees with this notion, but also

believes that the way in which theme parks are now trying to become more like heritage centers

is beneficial to the community and creates more opportunities for learning based on a certain

experience. More specifically, she claims that theme parks “reflect and contribute to the

construction of knowledge, identity, beliefs, imagination, sense of time and place, feelings of

agency, and the quality of life at all ages”.23 Simply put, she is insisting that theme parks are able

to educate people about cultural heritage by way of creating a more meaningful and imaginative

experience.

While it may be true that museums are becoming more popular due to the use of

entertainment and Disney-like qualities and that theme parks are able to engage people with

certain topics successfully due to more immersive experiences, this American methodology for

representing cultural heritage in Florida must not overshadow the point of both museums and

theme parks as being mutually exclusive entities. Museums have a mission to educate the

community about various topics while preserving and representing cultural heritage in a

responsible manner. Theme parks, on the other hand, are for-profit and are much more about

entertainment and consumerism rather than education and cultural preservation. Cultural tourism

in Florida in some ways represents the blending of the two institutions, primarily because most

people that travel to Florida to learn about a particular culture also want to be entertained and do

not mind spending large amounts of money doing so. After all, “tourism as a form of

consumerism cannot be easily disentangled from the conditions of early and later modernity that

22 Margaret King, "The Theme Park Experience: What Museums Can Learn From Mickey Mouse." The Futurist. (1991), 24-3123 Carol Jeffers, "In a Cultural Vortex: Theme Parks, Experience, and Opportunities for Art Education." Studies in Art Education, A Journal of Issues and Research. (2004), 221-232

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gave rise to it, modified it, and continue to change it”.24 It is clear that because of the demands of

tourism in Florida, these two entities have overlapped immensely due to an ever-growing lack of

authenticity and a stronger focus on making money. This American methodology may not be

necessarily always be a negative one, though it is important for cultural heritage to be presented

in a way that does not rely on consumerism and inauthenticity, otherwise the point of

preservation and representation is ineffective and null. However, because living museums such

as Cracker County are fairly effective at preserving and presenting cultural heritage while

adhering to some aspects of tourism, it is clear that this overlap can be successful, though this

model is quite rare. While I do not think theme parks should be held to as high as a standard as

museums are at presenting cultural heritage, because they are meant more for entertainment, if

they are willing to be sources of cultural information on even the most superficial of levels, it

needs to carry some level of authenticity and accuracy so that visitors are not learning the wrong

information. While the theming and “edutainment” method being used by more museums is

becoming a more effective tool for inspiring visitors to want to learn about cultural heritage,

museums would not have to rely so heavily on these methods if they did not have to compete

with tourism and capitalism. I am not entirely sure what can be done to avoid this overlap, but I

believe that museums can successfully be centers for entertainment and education if they simply

stick to their missions and avoid capitalizing off of culture in any way possible. For example, the

Orlando Science Center, similar to the Exploratorium, relies heavily on entertainment, though

this is presented in a way that engages both kids and adults in the process of learning and

engaging in science.

In brief, based upon my own experiences growing up in Florida as well as the various case

studies discussed throughout the paper, it is evident that there is an American methodology for

24 Franklin, Adrian. Tourism: An Introduction, Sage Publications, 2003,176-209

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presenting cultural heritage that relies heavily on entertainment, consumerism, and false

authenticity. More specifically, theme parks such as Walt Disney World, Epcot, The Holy Land

Experience, and other attractions are attempting to present cultural heritage inauthentically and

in a money-driven manner while museums such as the Orange County Regional History Center,

the Cracker Country living museum, and Fantasy of Flight have adopted elements of tourism in

order to compete with popular attractions. While this overlap and American methodology is

prominent throughout Florida, these trends can also be seen all over the country and even

different places around the world. This methodology is unavoidable the more tourism and

technology increases, but it is my opinion that theme parks and museums need to and can be

recognized as separate entities, even when aspects of each overlap.

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Land Experience Theme Park." Cross Currents. : 358-382.

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Fink, Jonathan. "The Holy Land Experience." Southwest Review. : 346-364.

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Foglesong, Richard. Married to the Mouse: Walt Disney World and Orlando. Connecticut: Yale

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Hiaasen, Carl. Team Rodent: How Disney Devours the World. Random House LLC, 2010.

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Museum Anthropology. (1993): 32-42.

Lasten, Earney, and Randall Upchurch. "Authentic Experiences Assessment Instrument: The

Case of Millennial Students and Cultural Attractions in Central Florida." FIU Review.

(2012): 14-38.

Lundine, Susan. "Florida tourism numbers hit new high." Orlando Business Journal. (2013).

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