Soccer Disney style: the soccer fields at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex were designed to promote superior athletic performance, with just a touch of magic

摘要

The best-known icon gracing the 200-acre Disney Wide World of Sports complex, in Lake Buena Vista, FL, may be its spectacular, nostalgic-themed ballpark. But the five multi-purpose soccer fields actually see some of the heaviest action--by players representing every level from world class athletes to amateur high schoolers. When Disney set out to transform part of a cattle pasture into a group of soccer fields, the entertainment giant began in the typical Disney way--it used loads of professional advice, loads of money, and loads of dirt. The idea being to promote superior athletic performance. From the get-go, Disney's overriding design goal was to provide its soccer players with a superior playing field that could inspire athletes to give the best performances of their lives, and yearn to return to play again. "From the players' standpoint, we wanted that (personal best performance) to be part of the thrill--to be able to go home and say 'I can't believe the soccer field we just played on,'" says David Muenks, Director of Resorts and Facilities Development, and a member of Disney's famous creative team of designers and engineers, its Imagineers.