Disneyland's History
One day Walt Disney had a vision. It was a vision of a place where children and parents could have fun together. The more Walt dreamed of a "magical park," the more imaginative and elaborate it became.
The original plans for the park were on 8 acres next to the Burbank studios where his employees and families could go to relax. Although, World War II put those plans on hold. During the war, Walt had time to come up with new ideas, and creations for his magical park. It was soon clear that 8 acres wouldn't be enough.
Finally in 1953, he had the Stanford Research Institute conduct a survey for a 100-acre site, outside of Los Angeles. He needed space to build rivers, waterfalls, and mountains; he would have flying elephants and giant teacups;a fairy-tale castle, moon rockets, and a scenic railway; all inside a magic kingdom he called "Disneyland."
Location was a top priority. The property would have to be within the Los Angeles metropolitan area, and accessible by freeway. It would also have to be affordable: Walt's pockets were only so deep.
The search for the best spot finally ended in the rural Anaheim, California with a purchase of a 160-acre orange grove near the junction of the Santa Ana Freeway (I-5) and Harbor Boulevard.
The site where Disneyland was to be built.
Although, Disneyland was expensive. Walt once said "I could never convince the financiers that Disneyland was feasible, because dreams offer too little collateral." So Walt turned to Television for his financial support. "Walt Disney's Disneyland" television series offered a glimpse of the future project. This brought the idea of Disneyland into reality for Walt and the American people.
Construction for Disneyland began on July 21, 1954, a meager 12 months before the park was scheduled to open. From that day forward Walt Disney's life would never be the same.
Some 160-acres of citrus trees had been cleared and 15 houses moved to make room for the park. The area was in semi-rural Orange County, near a freeway that would eventually stretch from San Diego to Vancouver.
When the real designing came around, Walt was met with inevitable questions. How do you make believable wild animals, that aren't real? How do you make a Mississippi paddle ship? How do you go about building a huge castle in the middle of Anaheim, California? So, Walt Disney looked to his movie studio staff for the answers. The design of Disneyland was something never done before. There would be five uniquely different lands.
Walt discussing the plans of all the different lands
Walt had planed out all the lands, to every detail. Main Street, U.S.A., the very front of the park, was where Walt wanted to relive the typical turn of the century city Main Street. He said:
"For those of us who remember the carefree time it recreates, Main Street will bring back happy memories. For younger visitors, it is an adventure in turning back the calendar to the days of grandfather's youth."
Walt made Main Street U.S.A the entrance to a "weenie," as he called it. He said:
"What you need is a weenie, which says to people 'come this way.' People won't go down a long corridor unless there's something promising at the end. You have to have something the beckons them to 'walk this way.'"
Walt also had planed for an "exotic tropical place" in a "far-off region of the world." Called Adventureland. Walt said, "To create a land that would make this dream reality, we pictured ourselves far from civilization, in the remote jungles of Asia and Africa."
Frontierland was made to relive the pioneer days of the American frontier. Walt said:
"All of us have a cause to be proud of our country's history, shaped by the pioneering spirit of our forefathers. . .Our adventures are designed to give you the feeling of having lived, even for a short while, during our country's pioneer days."
Fantasyland was created with the goal to "make dreams come true" from the lyrics of "When You Wish Upon a Star." Walt said:
"What youngster. . .has not dreamed of flying with Peter Pan over moonlit London, or tumbling into Alice's nonsensical Wonderland? In Fantasyland, these classic stories of everyone's youth have become realities for youngsters-of all ages-to participate in."
Fantasyland would feature a large Sleeping Beauty Castle, and a Fantasy Village.
Tomorrowland was created as a look at the "marvels of the future." Walt said:
"Tomorrow can be a wonderful age. Our scientists today are opening the doors of the Space Age to achievements that will benefit our children and generations to come. . .The Tomorrowland attractions have been designed to give you an opportunity to participate in adventures that are a living blueprint of our future."
Although, Walt had trouble working on Tommorrowland. He said that "right when we do Tommorrowland, it will be out dated."
Walt Stayed close to every detail of the Park's Construction, and he visited the site in Anaheim several times a week. Progress went sporadically despite exasperating obstacles.
The Rivers of America, carved out of sandy citrus grove soil, refused to hold water. The answer was finally found in a bed of native clay: an inch layer on the river bottom formed a pad as hard as cement. Although, minor set backs did follow, progress did continue.
Plants were planted throughout the park, emptying nurseries from Santa Barbara to San Diego. Detail was made; if Walt Disney didn't like what his studio designers came up with, he'd do it himself. An example of this is Tom Sawyers Island. He thought his designers had "misunderstood the idea" so Walt took home the plans and the next day had it designed the way it appears today.
Disneyland under construction in 1955
Bit by bit, Disneyland got ready for Opening Day. The staff worked around the clock to get ready. The Mark Twain was being moved, deck by deck, down the Santa Ana freeway to get to Disneyland on time. Finally, everything seemed to come together. The "magical little park" was really a $17,000,000 "Magic Kingdom." Walt's dream had come true and Disneyland was ready to open."
Opening day, was a day to remember. Six thousand invitations to the Grand Opening had been mailed. By mid-afternoon over 28,000 ticket holders were storming the Magic Kingdom. Most of the tickets were counterfeit.
Walt Disney was 53 when he dedicated Disneyland Park. It was a memorable ceremony. There in Town Square, Walt could look around and see the fulfillment of his hopes, dreams, and ambitions in the form of a spectacular entertainment kingdom.
Although, Opening Day was a terrible disaster. A 15 day heat wave raised temperatures up to 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Also, due to a plumbers strike, few water fountains were operating in the hot weather. Asphalt still steaming, because it had been laid the night before, literality "trapping" high heeled shoes. After opening day, the heat wave continued, and almost wiped out the park.
Beside the terrible opening day conditions, the park did eventually pick up. By 1965, ten years after opening day, 50 Million visitors had come through the gates.
Even though Walt Disney wasn't able to see how his park and his company prospered and grew into the 21st Century, his legacy still lives on with us. Throughout Disneyland and throughout the entire world, he will always be there.
As Walt Disney sat at a bench, at an amusement park, watching his daughters play, he noticed how ragged and filthy the small amusement park was. He also observed people's reactions to different rides, and noticed how children's parents had nothing to do. They would be anxious to go home, while their children were still having fun, and playing.
This is where Walt was conjuring, and planning a new type of amusement park; one that would be clean, and would have attractions for parents and children together. This was Walt Disney's idea, which eventually turned to be Disneyland.
Walt once said:
"What this country really needs is an amusement park that families can take their children to. They've gotten so honky tonk with a lot of questionable characters running around, and they're not to safe. They're not well kept. I want to have a place that's as clean as anything could ever be, and all the people in it [his park] are first-class citizens, and treated like guests."
Years before Disneyland was constructed, Walt was thinking, generating, and creating everything in his mind. He traveled the United States, and visited buildings of Americas most prolific inventors and creators, such as Thomas Edison's Workshop, the Wright Brothers Bicycle shop, and the home of the Dictionary magnate Noah Webster. While visiting these places, he was formulating and dreaming of a "Mickey Mouse Park" with a western village, Main Street, and more, these ideas would eventually form Disneyland.
Walt at Disneyland
On the opening day of Disneyland, Walt stood in his apartment, above the fire station on Main Street, and looked out the window to see the crowds pour through the gates. Sharon Baird, a mouseketeer, said this:
I was standing next to him at the window, watching the guests come through the gates. When I looked up at him, he had his hands behind his back, a grin from ear to ear, and I could see a lump in his throat and a tear streaming down his cheek. He had realized his dream.
Right after Disneyland opened, Walt said: "We're gonna kick ourselves for not buying everything within a radius of ten miles around here." He could visualize the growth around Disneyland.
Walt would often visit Disneyland a few times a week. Although, many times he would visit late at night, when no one was there. Often times he would spend the night in his apartment in the fire station, on Main Street. When he came before the park opened, he would make sure the park was clean, and talk with the cast members.
Walt always wanted to know everything that was going on in the park. He knew about everything. He knew where water pipes were, how tall buildings were, he knew how the park ticked.
One time Walt visited the park, and noticed things were a little sloppy. He found the maintenance engineer of the park, and told him "I want this place painted". The engineer agreed, and said "We'll do it over the weekend." "No, I want it finished a painted by morning," ordered Walt. Dozens of painting crews painted through the night, and finished before the park opened.
Even though Walt Disney wasn't able to see how his park prospered and grew into the 21st Century, his legacy still lives on with us. Throughout Disneyland and throughout the entire world, he will always be there.
The Walt Disney Touch
Even though Walt Disney passed away more than 30 years ago, his particluar attention to detail still lives on in his first theme park, Disneyland.
Part of Walt Disney's beliefs about Disneyland could perhaps be summerized as there being no such thing as an insignificant detail. Every corner of Disneyland shows this belief, from the lights and landscaping to the trashcans. Everything the public sees is made and fabricated with the highest quality, no matter what the cost.
Some of Walt's details are still visible throughout the park. Such as:
The names on the second-story windows on Main Street are people who contributed to the design, implementation, and running of Disneyland. One of the most recently added is for Dick Nunis, a Cast Member from opening day who eventually ran the Disney Theme Parks , and Charles Boyers, who is noted for his famous Disneyland artwork.
Above the Fire House on Main Street is Walt's apartment, which he used when he stayed overnight at Disneyland. A small lamp in the window is kept constantly lit, in his memory.
Main Street and Sleeping Beauty's Castle were both built with the use of an artist trick called "forced perspective.'' They were built so that the ground levels were at normal size, but higher areas were progressively smaller. This makes the upper areas look even higher when seen from below.
Gum is not, and never has been, sold inside Disneyland. Any gum found on the ground is scraped up immediately. Walt didn't want his guests to have to pick gum off their shoes every ten minutes, as was (and is) common at other amusement parks. Alcohol is also not available in any public area of the park.
The horses on the King Arthur Carousel are all individually hand- carved and painted. They are continually being repainted, and all the brass is polished every night.
The Jungle Cruise got a major overhaul based on what Walt overheard one guest say. The remark in question was: "We don't need to go on this ride, we've already seen it.''
The petrified tree in Frontierland, along the banks of the Rivers of America, was an anniversary present that Walt gave to his wife, Lillian. She donated the tree to Disneyland, where it was given its spot overlooking the Rivers of America.
Walt made sure the grass areas weren't fenced in until he saw which areas people walked on. Areas that were used frequently as short-cuts had sidewalks added.
When New Orleans Square was added, Walt wanted to put in a private club at which he and other dues-paying members could entertain. Sadly, he was not able to see it completed, but the club was finished and is now a members-only club that occupies much of the second floor of New Orleans Square. The club, called Club 33 for its address, 33 Rue Royale, is the only place in the park where alcohol is served. The membership fee is about $10,000 to start plus annual dues of $1800. There is a waiting list to become a member; the average wait is four years.
Disneyland's address is 1313 Harbor Boulevard. This address was picked by Walt, because at the time Disneyland was built, all that was in the area was orange groves. The explanations for the address are either that 'M' is the thirteenth letter in the alphabet, making the address MM for Mickey Mouse, or that the thirteens, being unlucky, were Walt's way of thumbing his nose at those who thought Disneyland would fail.
Walt Disney was very insistent that the designers take the perspective of young children into account when designing the park. Because of this, Walt would frequently stoop down while looking at a partially constructed building to take into account how smaller people would see things.
Most gold trim in the park is done with real gold leaf rather than gold paint. This is partially because the gold leaf looks spectacular, and partially because the gold leaf may actually be cheaper because it doesn't need to be replaced as often.
http://www.justdisney.com/disneyland/waltdisney_touch/index.html
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As TV, radio, and newspapers throughout the country cover the grand opening of Disneyland's California Adventure, and huge crowds vie for tickets, it seems like a timely moment to take a trip down memory lane and visit another grand opening: July 17, 1955, when the first crowds of eager visitors made their way across the drawbridge of Sleeping Beauty's castle into Disneyland. Back in the early 1950s, Anaheim was a sleepy little town, and the area around it was nothing more than acres and acres of orange groves. Enter Walt Disney, the original Imagineer. Disney's initial idea was to build a park near his Burbank studio for his employees and their families, but those plans changed over time and his dream grew.
He bought over 160 acres of those sleepy orange groves around Anaheim and set about, in 1954, building his "Magic Kingdom." Original plans called for a 9 million dollar 45-acre park, but by opening day the park covered 160 acres and had cost 17 million. Opening day was a gala affair: The ceremonies were broadcast live on ABC with Art Linkletter and Robert (Bob) Cummings as hosts, with celebrities like Ronald Reagan, and VIPs like the Governor of California also in attendance.
In 1955 the park consisted of 5 "lands": Main Street, Fantasyland, Adventureland, Frontierland, and Tomorrowland. Many of the rides were not finished. Adventureland had only one ride: the Jungle Cruise. Tomorrowland had more exhibits than rides. Landmarks we are all familiar with were absent in 1955: neither the Matterhorn nor the Monorial had been built yet. There were rides and exhibits that are now long gone: the Aluminum Hall of Fame, Rocket to the Moon, a 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea exhibit (a movie tie-in!), and Space Station X-1 in Tomorrowland, and stage coach rides in Frontierland. Fantasyland had rides that are still open today: King Arthur Carousel, Snow White's Adventures, Dumbo, and the kid-terrifying Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, but was missing the Autopia (1956), and It's a Small World (1966).
The park was turning a profit by its second year of operation, and new rides were soon planned. The Viewliner train in 1957 whisked visitors between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. The Matterhorn, Submarine Voyage, and the Monorail opened in 1959. Today Disney Inc. is global, with theme parks in Florida, Paris, and Tokyo, a cruise line in the Bahamas, a cable and network TV presence. To quote Jiminey Cricket:
When you wish upon a starMakes no difference who you areAnything your heart desiresWill come to you.
