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In the early 1940's, children began asking to see where Mickey Mouse and Snow White lived. Walt Disney thought of building a character display beside the studio since he figured that watching people making cartoons was boring. He came up with a vision of a place where children and their parents could have fun together; a "magical park"
To help him in designing the park. Walt Disney looked to his movie studio staff for the answers. They decided there would be five different lands; Main Street U.S.A., Adventureland, Frontierland, Fantasyland, and Tomorrowland. Walt Disney planned out every detail of all these lands.
Disney wanted to recreate the typical turn of the century city in "Main Street USA". It was planned to bring back happy memories or turn back time to the days when our grandfathers were young. It was also intended to be something to beckon visitors to "walk this way" to get to the rest of the park.
Adventureland was planned as an "exotic tropical place" in a "far-off region of the world". It was supposed to be experienced as "far from civilization, in the remote jungles of Asia and Africa."
Frontierland was designed to help visitors relive the pioneer days of the American frontier. Walt Disney envisioned adventures that "give you the feeling of having lived, even for a short while, during our country's pioneer days"
Fantasyland was pictured as a way for classic stories like Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland to become realities for children of all ages to participate in. There would be a large Sleeping Beauty Castle and a Fantasy Village.
Tomorrowland was pictured as a look at the "marvels of the future". It was designed to give visitors "an opportunity to participate in adventures that are a living blueprint of our future". Walt Disney had trouble working on Tomorrowland, and pointed out that "right when we do Tomorrowland, it will be out dated."
Walt Disney once said "I could never convince the financiers that Disneyland was feasible, because dreams offer too little collateral." He borrowed against his life insurance and sold his second house just to develop his idea adequately. ABC-TV helped with financing by guaranteeing a $6 million loan in exchange for part ownership and Disney's commitment to produce a weekly television show called "Walt Disney's Disneyland" that would offer a glimpse of the future Disneyland; thus bringing the idea into reality for it's viewers.
He needed a place to put Disneyland, as the City of Burbank denied a request to build a site near his studio. In 1953, he recruited the Stanford Research Institute to survey a 100 acre site that was affordable, near Los Angeles, and accessible by freeway. He finally chose a 160 acre site in Anaheim, and the construction of Disneyland was started in 1954.
He looked to his movie studio staff for answers to the inevitable questions like "How do you make believable wild animals that aren't real?"; but if Walt Disney didn't like what his studio designers came up with, he'd do it himself. He stayed close to every detail of the construction and visited the site several times a week. There were several obstacles, such as a river that refused to hold water in the sandy soil and required a bed of native clay, and the staff worked around the clock to get ready for opening day.
Opening day was a disaster, in that the temperatures were 110 degrees, and due to a plumber's strike, no drinking fountains were available. There was a gas leak in Fantasyland. More than 28,000 ticket holders arrived, most of them with counterfeit tickets; where only 6,000 had been expected. There was a 7 mile freeway backup and attractions broke down under the enormous number of guests. Most reviewers decided the park was over-priced and poorly managed, and didn't expect it to last long.
Walt Disney subsequently decided to limit attendance to 20,000 quests per day to avoid overcrowding. Within seven weeks, there were one million visitors, and within 10 years, there had been 50 million visitors to Disneyland. He decided to charge $1.00 admission ($6.70 in 2005 dollars) to get through the gate and see three free attractions in four themed lands. Individual tickets for the 18 rides cost 10 to 35 cents each.
Walt Disney once said that "Disneyland will never be completed as long as there is imagination left in the world" and within a year attractions are opening, closing and changing, as they are still doing today.
Disneyland was, and continues to be, an enormous success, and the inspiration for all theme parks that followed it. It took a tremendous vision, unstoppable determination, and careful attention to every detail to create such an unprecedented and exceptional theme park. It is unfortunate that Disney didn't live long enough to see just how successful it was; a fitting legacy for a man whose name is legendary in entertainment.
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