Midway to Main Street | Why Are Disney Traffic Signs Purple? @MidwaytoMainStreet | Uploaded October 2017 | Updated October 2024, 1 day ago.
Subscriber Philip asks “Can you do a video about the colors of the Walt Disney World traffic signs? Are they special colors that relate to colors from particular characters or movies?” Great question Philip! Let’s talk about those famous purple signs at Walt Disney World!
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So if you’ve never been to Walt Disney World, the signs Philip is referring to aren’t signs around the parks themselves, but the road signs scattered all along Walt Disney World property. These signs are the work of Sussman/Prejza & Co, a Los Angeles design firm that was hired in 1989 to tackle the design for the wayfinding and traffic signs of Walt Disney World and EuroDisney.
As for the colors, according to the firm, they drew inspiration from the mouse himself, Mickey! The black, red, and yellow colors used on the signs were chosen to mimic the color palette of Mickey Mouse. The signs were further fleshed out with complimentary colors which are colors that lie on the opposite side of the color wheel. Red’s complementary color is green, and yellow’s complementary color? Purple.
“Yeah, but if that’s the case why not leave out the complementary color and just use the Mickey colors?” Well, this part is just a guess, but I’d wager it’s because a traffic sign that primarily used yellow would be too hard to read, a traffic sign that primarily used black would cause issues at night, and a traffic sign that primarily used red would… well it’d be ugly.
On top of that, it’s worth pointing out that these bold and vibrant colors used in the signs are nothing new for designer Deborah Sussman. The firm up until that point was most well known for their work on the design and signage for the 1984 Olympics in LA, which featured similarly bold color palettes.
One other explanation I had found was that as an experiment, different colored flags were put out around the property. Guests were then surveyed to see which flags they remembered seeing. Apparently the purple and red flags had a higher instance of being recalled. Now, while that’s not a mutually exclusive explanation with the Mickey Mouse answer, I do want to note that I wasn’t able to find a second verified source on this, so I’d take that part with a grain of salt.
So know we know why the Disney traffic signs are purple, red, yellow, and black, but how are they those colors? How could Disney control the colors of road signs outside of the parks?
Well the answer to that is that Disney has their own governing jurisdiction at Walt Disney World, and it’s called the Reedy Creek Improvement District. The district is responsible for overseeing the public services of the property, including the fire department, EMS, water treatment, electric and roadways and bridges. The Reedy Creek Improvement district is a fascinating part of Disney World’s history and a crucial element in what allowed the resort to become what it is today. It’s a topic deserving of its own whole video, and it’s one I plan to create later this year.
So there you have it. As odd as it may sound, Disney World’s traffic signs are purple because of Mickey Mouse. It would have been easy for Disney to just stick with the status quo and throw up signs that were the same green and white we’re all used to seeing on the roads, but part of what makes Disney so special is that no detail is too small to make unique.
Subscriber Philip asks “Can you do a video about the colors of the Walt Disney World traffic signs? Are they special colors that relate to colors from particular characters or movies?” Great question Philip! Let’s talk about those famous purple signs at Walt Disney World!
This week's video was sponsored by Ye Olde Proppe Shoppe!
👍etsy.com/shop/YeOldeProppeShoppe
Check out Ye Olde Proppe Shoppe for fantastic Disney signs!
New here? Be sure to subscribe!
🔷goo.gl/x17zTL
My Patreon!
❤patreon.com/RobPlays
My Disney Podcast!
🎧ttapodcast.com
Follow me on Twitter!
📱Twitter.com/RobPlays
So if you’ve never been to Walt Disney World, the signs Philip is referring to aren’t signs around the parks themselves, but the road signs scattered all along Walt Disney World property. These signs are the work of Sussman/Prejza & Co, a Los Angeles design firm that was hired in 1989 to tackle the design for the wayfinding and traffic signs of Walt Disney World and EuroDisney.
As for the colors, according to the firm, they drew inspiration from the mouse himself, Mickey! The black, red, and yellow colors used on the signs were chosen to mimic the color palette of Mickey Mouse. The signs were further fleshed out with complimentary colors which are colors that lie on the opposite side of the color wheel. Red’s complementary color is green, and yellow’s complementary color? Purple.
“Yeah, but if that’s the case why not leave out the complementary color and just use the Mickey colors?” Well, this part is just a guess, but I’d wager it’s because a traffic sign that primarily used yellow would be too hard to read, a traffic sign that primarily used black would cause issues at night, and a traffic sign that primarily used red would… well it’d be ugly.
On top of that, it’s worth pointing out that these bold and vibrant colors used in the signs are nothing new for designer Deborah Sussman. The firm up until that point was most well known for their work on the design and signage for the 1984 Olympics in LA, which featured similarly bold color palettes.
One other explanation I had found was that as an experiment, different colored flags were put out around the property. Guests were then surveyed to see which flags they remembered seeing. Apparently the purple and red flags had a higher instance of being recalled. Now, while that’s not a mutually exclusive explanation with the Mickey Mouse answer, I do want to note that I wasn’t able to find a second verified source on this, so I’d take that part with a grain of salt.
So know we know why the Disney traffic signs are purple, red, yellow, and black, but how are they those colors? How could Disney control the colors of road signs outside of the parks?
Well the answer to that is that Disney has their own governing jurisdiction at Walt Disney World, and it’s called the Reedy Creek Improvement District. The district is responsible for overseeing the public services of the property, including the fire department, EMS, water treatment, electric and roadways and bridges. The Reedy Creek Improvement district is a fascinating part of Disney World’s history and a crucial element in what allowed the resort to become what it is today. It’s a topic deserving of its own whole video, and it’s one I plan to create later this year.
So there you have it. As odd as it may sound, Disney World’s traffic signs are purple because of Mickey Mouse. It would have been easy for Disney to just stick with the status quo and throw up signs that were the same green and white we’re all used to seeing on the roads, but part of what makes Disney so special is that no detail is too small to make unique.
