You’d be hard pressed to find a person alive who hasn’t heard of Taylor Swift. For better or worse, the Nashville-born singer-songwriter who rose to fame throughout the 2000s stands among a small pantheon of 21st century pop culture icons that probably also includes the MCU, Frozen, Bluey, and “Baby Shark.”
Taylor’s 11-album discography has been the subject of substantial discussion as of late thanks to “The Eras Tour.” This stadium-sized outing isn’t just the highest grossing tour of all time (reportedly crossing one billion dollars in revenue)… it’s a retrospective singalong from a star who’s reached incomprehensible heights. Re-living each “Era” of the often-reinvented singer’s style, the tour sees Taylor step through each discrete album for a snapshot of her life (and ours) during each age.
Swift’s albums range from down-home teen country idol to domineering radio pop; from singer-songwriter laments to stadium-shaking EDM-infused anthems. Which got us to thinking… If each of those albums is a beloved time capsule, then it might be interesting to imagine which Disney theme park best aligns to your favorite Taylor Swift album. Ready to give it a go?
1. Debut
We know, we know. It would be easy to just say, “Hey, first album, first theme park, so Disneyland!” But let’s be honest. Taylor Swift’s debut album – 2006’s Taylor Swift – doesn’t have much in common with Disneyland at all. Nicknamed “Debut” by fans, Taylor’s first album is pure country swirled with pop and pop rock moments. It’s a singer-songwriter sitting in her bedroom and penning entries like “Tim McGraw” and “Teardrops on My Guitar” and “Our Song.” Compared to the Taylor Swift we know today, “Debut” sounds young, simplistic, and naive – even if it’s got the makings of something more.
For that reason, we’d say that if “Debut” if your jam, your go-to Disney Park is… well… Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris. Okay, okay, so Disneyland Paris’ infamously-underbuilt second gate has required decades and billions of dollars of reinvestment, and is still, by far, the worst Disney Park on Earth. And frankly, even its reintroduction as “Disney Adventure World” doesn’t look likely to raise this park out of its bottom slot. But like “Debut,” it’s a work in progress; a starting point; a young, impressionable, emotional, and maybe uncentered project.
2. Fearless
Released when Taylor was just 19, 2008’s “Fearless” shows what can happen when a naturally talented singer-songwriter gains the esteem of “the industry.” Hits like “You Belong with Me” and “Love Story” gave Swift crossover appeal and surely signaled the beginning of her ascent from country “teeny bopper” to a figure who brought country instrumentation to pop radio. Fearless was big and bright and bombastic and professional in a way that signaled that Taylor Swift would remain a figure of importance in radio play…
Idealistic and buttoned up and backed by industry professionalism, the vibes here are giving Magic Kingdom. Like “Fearless,” Magic Kingdom has an air of being “corporate” and very intentionally “produced.” Both are squeaky clean; reliable; filled with forever-iconic classics; and both signal the beginnings of a very big, very unstoppable era being on the horizon…
3. Speak Now
By 2010, the 21-year-old Swift had grown, and so had her experience in the industry. From there emerges “Speak Now” – an album that saw Swift pull back into songwriter mode. (She wrote every song on the album alone with no co-writers.) Deeply emotional (if occasionally shallow and simplistic), “Speak Now” produced just a few sincere radio hits (“Mine” and “Back to December”), but a whole tracklist of fan favorites (including “Mean,” “Dear John,” and “The Story of Us.”)
For whatever reason, “Speak Now” seems to align with Disney’s newest global park – Shanghai Disneyland. Both are sorts of oddballs. Like “Speak Now,” Shanghai Disneyland feels like a concept album, packed with bold reinventions (Treasure Cove, Adventure Isle, TRON Lightcycle Power Run) but also has its “samesie” moments (Peter Pan’s Flight, Buzz Lightyear Planet Rescue, etc). Shanghai Disneyland and “Speak Now” both represent eras of growth and experimentation with new ways of doing the same old thing.
4. Red
There’s no question that 2012’s “Red” represented the beginning of a new era for Taylor Swift. Though still largely considered a “country” album, Red dove deep into new genres altogether. “State of Grace” is a U2 style arena power ballad; “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” is a radio-commanding chant-along pop anthem; “The Last Time” is an aching, emotional ballad; “I Knew You Were Trouble” infuses an electronic-style breakdown; “All Too Well” is an (eventually, ten minute) acoustic songwriter anthem considered by many to be her best track. Red is wild and chaotic, with gut punches and dance-alongs co-mingling. As Taylor herself puts it in “22” – a song about the age she was at when she wrote it – “We’re happy, free, confused, and lonely at the same time; it’s miserable and magical.”
No park can match the mixed bag and chaos and ongoing transformation like Disney’s Hollywood Studios – a park that is, to say the least, happy, free, confused, lonely, miserable, and magical in part. Hollywood Studios has never quite figured out what it wants to be, as evidenced by its very name containing the word “Studio” – a thing it long along stopped pretending to have. It’s a mess, filled with contradictions and dead-ends. But it’s also got some of the most incredible attractions ever conceived. “Red” is an album of fan favorites, and Hollywood Studios is a park of them, each filled with angst and heartbreak and joy.
5. 1989
At the age of 25, Swift dropped the album that pretty much marked the turning point in her career. Named for her birth year, “1989” was often cited as Swift’s first certifiable pop record, at last dropping the last vestiges of “country” instrumentation and imagery that had at least snuck into bits of “Red.” Intentionally avoiding the singer-songwriter trappings of broken hearts, romance, and woe-is-me relationship lyrics that critics had criticized Swift for her reliance on, 1989 is – to put it one way – an album of bangers. (That’s no surprise – some tracks were co-written or produced by the unshakable pop juggernauts of our time, Max Martin and Shellback.) “Shake It Off”; “Blank Space”; “Bad Blood”; “Style”; “Wildest Dreams”; and the jaw-dropping “Out of the Woods”… Seriously, this is an all-timer; an absolutely incredible outing that remains a legendary entry in her expanding discography.
Here, we’d put Disneyland – a park with a “no skips” collection of rides matching 1989’s “no skips” track list. Disneyland is just pure, unbridled quality. It has more rides, more dark rides, and more E-Tickets than any other Disney Park on Earth. It is unbeatable. Hallowed ground. As much a first-of-its-kind as one-of-a-kind. It’s young and carefree and happy and thoughtful. It’s about freedom and discovery and growing up. Disneyland – like 1989 – is “radio friendly.” It doesn’t try to insist that it’s the most sophisticated. Instead, both revel in their eternal youth and optimism. It’s no surprise that fans return to them again and again and again, leaving their troubles at the door.
6. Reputation
A three year hiatus saw Swift retreat from public life post-“1989”, turning reclusive as her newly-cemented pop icon status turned into intense media scrutiny of the star. Famously, Swift was embroiled in a he-said-she-said “feud” with Kanye West, who (with then-wife Kim Kardashian) led social media pile-ons of Swift, spamming her social media accounts with “snake” emojis to suggest that Swift was a duplicitous, fame-seeking liar. Taylor cleared out her social media and disappeared as her image of a soft-spoken country star who was “America’s sweetheart” faded.
When she returned, it was clad in the production of Max Martin, Shellback, and Jack Antonoff – and plenty of snakes – with “Reputation.” Though often regarded as a “dark” album (and yes, it’s full of staggering one-liners, R&B elements, electropop moments, drum machines, and scratching songs like “Look What You Made Me Do,” “… Ready For It?” and “I Did Something Bad”), it’s also a deeply sweet reflection on fame and love, as in “Gorgeous,” “King Of My Heart,” and “Delicate”. (In the latter, she sings, “My reputation’s never been worse, so you must like me for me.”)
Here, our best Disney Parks connection is EPCOT. Think about it. EPCOT is a park that diverges tremendously from what came before. It was a reinvention and reintroduction. But more to the point, it’s a park of extremes, and one that elicits as much love as hate. It’s confusing. It’s raw. It’s been piled on before, and it’ll happen again. But EPCOT is still a park centered on change; progress; fundamentally, optimism and forward-momentum, even in the dark moments.
7. Lover
Cementing Taylor’s ability to “reinvent” herself and diverge stylistically, lyrically, and narratively between “eras,” 2019’s “Lover” saw the star change course. By then anchored as the leading figure in pop music – and certainly, one of the biggest pop culture stars to ever exist – “Lover” is a pink-tinted record of synth-pop and ’80s musicality, powering songs that proudly proclaim support for LGBTQ+ rights and feminism. “You Need to Calm Down,” “Me!”, “Lover”, and “The Man” are the album’s forward-facing singles. But the album contains beautiful, low-key entries like “Cornelia Street,” “The Archer,” and “It’s Nice to Have a Friend.”
Like all good albums, “Lover” is a sampler of genres and stories and attitudes. But it’s all wrapped in a gorgeous, reflective, and ultimately thoughtful collection that only looks airy and light and ineffectual for those who don’t dig deeper. For that reason, we equate it with Disneyland Paris – a park that’s so intensely layered, and so deeply personal that it’s almost a shame that most people don’t see or appreciate it. Disneyland Paris is, at its core, the most beautiful and romantic Disney Park on Earth, filled with warmth, detail, and brilliance for those who slow down and take their time with it.
8. Folklore
Released in summer 2020 – just as we were all sheltering in place – “Folklore” was a “surprise album,” meaning that fans only became aware of its existence 16 hours before its release. As its name and key imagery implies, “Folklore” is an album that departs from the pop dominance of 1989, Reputation, and Lover and instead presented a mellow, reflective, muted, “indie folk” collection of songs where Taylor’s matured songwriting skills finally shine. Written and recorded entirely by Taylor and longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff plus Aaron Dessner – all in COVID-19 isolation, mind you – Folklore is an album that unfolds the more listens you give it.
Famously, it’s also the first of Taylor’s projects where a bulk of the songs aren’t necessarily autobiographical. Instead, like poetry, she weaves together stories into songs like “The 1”, “Invisible String,” “Illicit Affairs,” and “The Last Great American Dynasty,” which tells the story of American socialite Rebekah Harkness and her historic home in Rhode Island. A trio of songs (“Betty”, “Cardigan”, and “August”) are presented from the points-of-view of three invented characters. It’s lantern-lit; home-spun; deeply captivating. Folklore is concerned with different ways of seeing the world; the power of storytelling; the deep, raw emotions of life. And we’d say that all applies to Disney’s Animal Kingdom, too.
9. Evermore
Less than five months after “Folklore” came “Evermore” – a sort of “part II” to the pandemic isolation-born folk rock collection. Evermore puts producer Aaron Dessner at the forefront, diving deep into character studies, impressionist storytelling, and tales of love, marriage, infidelity, and grief. Understated (and under-appreciated given its lack of radio hits), Evermore is a quiet, reserved, and as deep as they come.
For that reason, we’re assigning Tokyo Disnyeland as its best match. Why? Like Evermore, it’s a follow-up to an existing project (in Tokyo’s case, Magic Kingdom) that doesn’t diverge too much from what worked in its predecessor. But in many ways, it takes those same ingredients and recontextualizes them, delving a bit deeper. Tokyo Disneyland feels like a natural pair with Magic Kingdom, but is enough of a divergence to leave first-time visitors doing double-takes. That’s kind of a cool relationship that the two parks share.
10. Midnights
2022’s Midnights is remarkable. Fans expected that – after the relative lull of Folklore and Evermore – Taylor would return with another pop banger album, restoring her #1 spot atop pop music. And Midnights is that… but not in the form most expected. Carrying along Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner (but leaving far behind any Swedish pop music makers), Midnights is subdued pop… it’s vibey; pulsating; low. Meant to be a collection of “midnight thoughts” that keep us awake at night, Midnights is an album about regret, self-criticism, fantasy, heartbreak, and infatuation. Songs like “Maroon,” “Anti-Hero,” “Question…?” “Karma,” and “Mastermind” show just how diverse the album is, with TikTok friendly beats and stadium-ready anthems all in one.
Our choice here might be an odd one, but hear us out… We think Midnights has a lot in common with Disney California Adventure. Both, after all, are obsessed with the idea of staying current. Both are about fears of inadequacy; both are tuned to the needs of the moment; both have the happiness and joy, but undercut by a more chill, contemplative, and occasionally exhausted perspective compared to their more upbeat, simplistic, and colorful predecessors.
11. Tortured Poets Department
Taylor Swift described 2024’s “Tortured Poets Department” as a needed album; one that opens the floodgates of emotion and closes chapters on personal happenings. Incredibly complex and woven with poetic lyrics, the album is a jaw-dropping 31 tracks, all products of the fourth album-sized collaboration with Antonoff and Dessner. Critical analysis of the album has been mixed given its density, its intensity, and its occasionally lavish self-importance. It’s true that “TTPD” is a lot, with extraordinary highs and lows. It’s big and bombastic in places, then small and meager in others. Only a few of its 30+ songs feel like they were produced with the radio in mind, including the lead single “Fortnight,” then “But Daddy I Love Him,” “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart,” and “Down Bad” (beautifully comparing a breakup to being abducted by aliens, shown the vastness of the universe, then being plopped back on Earth alone).
But more to the point, “Tortured Poets Department” doesn’t feel like an album released with radio singles in mind at all. Instead, this feels like a release of emotional baggage that could only be made commercial and successful by the biggest music star on Earth at the absolute height of her career. It’s rich and textured and complex and timeless, drawing from deep emotion and speaking to the spirit of the times for young people.
Maybe given its somewhat thorough mellowness, it seems odd to say that “TTPD’s” closest relative in the Disney Parks sphere is Tokyo DisneySea… but both are projects defined by a staggering overlap of quality and quantity. They’re personal, larger-than-life, and incredibly diverse in their offerings. More to the point, both demonstrate an inner connectedness; a sort of consistency and richness that makes them both one-of-a-kind, above-standards standouts in the “discographies” they’re a part of.
