When you dissimilate, you pretend to not have something you do. To simulate is to pretend to have something you have.
There is one major difference between the pair. If you simulate something, you threaten the difference between true and false, real and imaginary. However, if you dissimilate, the difference you have is always clear, just masked. (pg 168)
Disneyland is a perfect example of simulation. It is full of illusions and fantasys, with its displays of pirates and the future. This imaginary world is what you would expect draws the crowds in, but it is thought that it is more the social meaning of the entire thing. Once inside, you are surrounded by excitement and affection from everyone around you. The difference between inside Disneyland and the carpark outside is absolute.
Disneyland, however, is there to conceal the fact that it is the "real" America, and that Los Angeles and everywhere else in the surrounding area is no longer considered, real. It is a hyperreal and a simulation. The reality of Disneyland is neither true nor false. It is meant to be a world for childishness, a world that makes us believe that the adults are in the outside world, when really it is just allowing the adults to be fulfil the desire and illusion to be childish.
Disneyland is not the only example of this. There is also the Enchanted Village, Magic Mountain and Marine World.
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