Why Disney Secretly Created A Unique Color To Trick Its Guests
Disney has many tricks up its sleeve.
designwithsheila / Canva / Alliance Images / TR Stock / Shutterstock From the time Disneyland opened in July of 1955, Walt Disney did everything in his power to differentiate the massive theme park from any others.
Disney is its own world full of fantasy, futuristic adventures, and nostalgia. There is always something new to see and, as the years pass by, it seems to get bigger and better.
With almost 13 million people coming from near and far each year to catch a glimpse of the Florida illusion that is Walt Disney World, it’s no wonder the engineers do whatever they can to make it a memorable experience.
Some of the smartest and innovative additions to Disney theme parks have likely gone unnoticed by tourists — and that’s on purpose.
One of Disney’s secrets is in the paint colors used at the park. Its engineers came up with a color by the name of “Go Away Green” that is meant to make certain things invisible to the eye.
What is Go Away Green?
The idea by Disney is for visitors to focus on what matters: rides, attractions, and restaurants. To that end, Disney created Go Away Green, Blending Blue, AKA Bye-Bye Blue, and an unnamed beige color.
They understand that Disney is a fantasy land where anything is possible. Customers don’t have to experience parts of the park like garbage cans, fences, administrative buildings, and unsightly structures because all are strategically painted to disappear right before your eyes.
Go Away Green is described as a combination of gray, green, and blue that has been created to blend in with the landscaping, the sky, cement, and metal.
Go Away Green and Blending Blue are not featured on any park attractions or signs. But they are always in the background, camouflaged by their surroundings.
Go Away Green was originally meant to hide backstage buildings and construction sites out of plain sight and allow your eyes to focus elsewhere.
People have tried to get the formulation from Disney to no avail. That’s partly because Go Away Green is not just one shade of green, but a palette of colors matching anything in the area, as seen on the backside of Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure.
Why does Go Away Green work?
Disney determined that by covering unsightly objects at their amusement park with shades matching the surrounding trees and foliage, they could get patrons' eyes to automatically blend them into the background as non-pertinent.
Of course, the items painted in this proprietary Green Disney color don’t truly disappear. They just become a lot easier to ignore when you’re frolicking around the Disney theme park feeling like a kid again.
But that’s not all. Even without noticing the elements painted in this unique color, you can still have a psychological reaction to it.
The green color is connected to peace and calm, and certainly the engineers knew that as well. The same applies to Blending Blue, which represents imagination, and is primarily used at the Florida resort with the intention of seemingly becoming one with the blue skies.
One place where you can see both Go Away Green and Blending Blue is at the Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind building at EPCOT. That particular building uses two different shades from the Go Away Green palette and Blending Blue to disguise the parts they don’t want you to see.
Disney’s Use Of Go Away Green in ‘Encanto’
In the movie "Encanto," Go Away Green is used specifically for the character Bruno. Bruno’s poncho features a few different shades of this specific green color.
Disney also uses this color palette to hide Bruno in the background of the promotional posters for "Encanto" to give viewers a sense that he is an evil villain during his visions, as they love to use Go Away Green to indicate that evil is afoot.
Other Ways Disney Tricks Its Guests
Go Away Green is just one of the tricks that Disney has up its sleeve.
The pavement on Main Street is dark in color to attract heat and keep pedestrians moving along, inspiring them to stop at a shop, make a purchase, and take advantage of the air conditioning indoors.
Disney also makes guests feel special with the red bricks on the ground that are meant to symbolize a red carpet. And in some buildings, the bricks get smaller toward the top to create the illusion that they are taller than they actually are.
In addition, "smellitizers" are used to plant familiar scents in the air, creating nostalgic moments for visitors and enticing them into taking actions that result in a purchase.
NyRee Ausler is a writer from Seattle, Washington, and author of seven books. She covers lifestyle and entertainment and news, as well as navigating the workplace and social issues.