3. Because they are inherently subjective

I think Space Mountain is the best attraction at Walt Disney World – yes, even better than the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean. I think Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey is immensely overrated (I love Harry Potter, but come on -- what actually happens on that ride?). You may disagree with me, but that's OK – we're both right. And we're both wrong.

There is no best and worst. There is no “good” and “bad.” There are the attractions and there are our responses to them, but no one has the right to claim their response it the “right” one. The fact that I can claim Space Mountain is the best attraction at Walt Disney World and you can say I'm being patently ridiculous is only possible if the rides are artistic in nature. They speak differently to different people with different backgrounds, just as the Mona Lisa says something different to an American tourist today than it did to an Italian art connoisseur in the 1500s.

If theme park attractions were simply there as physical objects and you were asked to evaluate which is, say, worth more money for scrap metal, you likely wouldn't face much significant debate. However, they aren't. And, instead, we all discuss which one's are our favorites and which ones are the most fun. We do this, of course, because they connect with us on that emotional level, thereby making any real analysis of them subjective – which is a calling card of art.

4. Because they are created by artists

Above all else, theme park attractions are art because they are created, designed, and constructed by artists.

OK, yes, I understand that this sounds like circular logic, but bear with me for a second.

The people who created theme park attractions as we understand them today were Walt Disney's imagineers – a group of people who were largely made up of animators, writers, and designers who originally worked for Walt's studio. They took the knowledge they gained from Walt's first animated films and applied it to his new idea for a family-friendly theme park. Those ideas eventually coalesced into the iconic Disneyland, complete with its dark rides and its omnimovers and its background music.

Now, you'd be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't think Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a work of art. In fact, in 1989, it was added to the U.S. National Film Registry to be preserved in the Library of Congress. So, it would follow, the folks who created that work of art are artists – and, continuing down the line, if they used those skills and techniques to create something similar, like a theme park attraction, that ought to be a work of art too.

That's the logical argument. The emotional one is more fun.

Countless people have devoted their lives to creating attractions like these. They put their hearts and their souls into these rides and shows for no reason other than to give you and I an escape from our daily lives. They make these things so that we can have fun together, laugh together, and spend time together. And, for them, the only result that matters is nothing more than a smile on your face. They don't create these rides out of any technological or societal need. They aren't utilitarian. Just as Starry Night or The Scream has no real purpose, a theme park attraction has no purpose other than to be fun.

Sure, the theme parks themselves are in this business for money, but that doesn't preclude these attractions from being art – have you seen the prices for a Picasso? They make seven nights in the Vacation Kingdom seem like a bargain.