better terms
As themed places increase in number, we must describe them more carefully so we can appreciate and evaluate them. Disneyland is not the whole story. Better terminology will let us see that theming is not some alien perversion, but one modulation of the conditions that make an area into a place.
We might make a distinction this way: A theme park contains only staff and customers, whereas a themed place has residents or users for whom its theme forms a background to other activities than showing or consuming the theme. Manhattan's Battery Park City themes the New York of the 1920s, but people live and do other work there; they don't just consume the theme. There are many different kinds and degrees of theming, with different purposes.
(c) David Kolb, 1 August 2001