1. Load Times: Every game promises an exciting experience, but we always have to load. For some reason I always wait five minutes for each passing turn in Civ4 on the huge maps, and I always patiently await each Loading sign in Half-Life 2. At Disneyland we wait in line for hours for a 10-15 minute experience, and during the wait we fantasize about what amazing thing we'll experience next.

2. Simulacra: Each world in Disneyland is a simulation of an archetype, which is similar to what we experience in videogames. Max Payne has his film noir graphic novel, The Sims has its suburban communities, Fable is the medieval fantasy, and even Mario has his themed fantasy worlds. Disneyland just calls it Tomorrow Land and Mainstreet instead of 1-1 and 2-1.

3. Imagineers: The myths behind Disneyland are similar to those behind game developers. The people responsible for the worlds in which we play are as important as the play itself, the Imagineers of Disneyland are as celebrated as the pioneers of videogames in their current form. It's only a matter of time before serious comparisons between Walt Disney and Miyamoto are made.

4. Technology: American culture is famous for the celebration of technology as savior, and as much as this was true in the founding of America, it really takes on religious tones from the cold-war to the present. Disneyland is as much fun on the surface as it is to try and figure out "how they did that." This is part of what makes gaming fun and astonishing for the players of games as well.

That's all I can think of right now, I'm sure there will be a lot of great comparisons made here. As far as the religious elements of Mickey Mouse, I noticed similar things when I attended a taping of The Price is Right, and wrote an article about it which can be found here if anybody is so inclined. I attribute the sometimes religious overtones in hardcore fans of play (videogames, gameshows, Disneyland, whatever) to a variation on the old Puritan themes of the meditative quality of work. This can work equally well with play, when one pre-empts work for immersion. Does that make sense?