Disneyland Park History
Dedication
| “ | To all who come to this happy place – welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideas, dreams and the hard facts that have created America… with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world. | ” |
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— Walter E. Disney, July 17, 1955 |
The dedication of all Disney Magic Kingdom parks (with the exception of Walt Disney World) begin with the phrase "To all who come to this happy place – welcome."
The concept for Disneyland began one Sunday when Walt Disney was visiting Griffith Park with his daughters Diane and Sharon. His idea was simple; a place that both adults and children could enjoy . However, this lay dormant for many years.[1]
While many people had written letters to Walt Disney about visiting the Disney Studio lot and meeting their favorite Disney character, Walt realized that a functional movie studio had little to offer to the visiting fan. He then began to foster ideas of building a site at or near his Burbank studios for tourists to visit. His ideas then evolved to a small play park with a boat ride and other themed areas. Walt's initial concept, his "Mickey Mouse Park," started with an eight acre plot across Riverside Drive.
He started his designers working on concepts, however it eventually grew into a project far greater than the few acres could contain. Walt started to visit other parks for inspiration and ideas, documenting what he liked and did not like. Some of these included: Tivoli Gardens , Greenfield Village, Children's Fairyland, and Republica de los niños.
It became clear that more area would be needed. Walt hired a consultant, Harrison Price from Stanford Research Institute who correctly envisioned the area's potential growth, Disney acquired 160 acres (730,000 m²) of orange groves and walnut trees in Anaheim, south of Los Angeles in neighboring Orange County. [1] [2]
Difficulties in obtaining funding caused Disney to investigate new ways of raising money. He decided to use television to get the ideas into people's homes, and so he created a show named Disneylandwhich was broadcast on the fledgling American Broadcasting Company (ABC) television network. In return, the network agreed to help finance the new park.
Construction began on July 18, 1954 and would cost USD$17 million to complete. U.S. Route 101 (later Interstate 5) was under construction at the same time just to the north of the site; in preparation for the traffic which Disneyland was expected to bring, two more lanes were added to the freeway even before the park was finished.
Because of financial considerations, Walt Disney was forced to turn to outside financing for his theme park. For the first five years of its operation, Disneyland was owned by Disneyland, Inc., which was jointly owned by Walt Disney Productions and ABC. In addition, many of the shops on Main Street, U.S.A. were owned and operated by other companies who rented space from Disney. In 1960 Walt Disney Productions purchased ABC's share.
The event did not go smoothly. The park was overcrowded as the by-invitation-only affair was plagued with counterfeit tickets. All major roads nearby were congested. The summer temperature was over 110 degrees Fahrenheit, and a plumbers' strike left many of the park's drinking fountains dry. The asphalt that had been poured just the night before was so soft that ladies' high-heeled shoes sank in. Vendors ran out of food. A gas leak in Fantasyland caused Adventureland, Frontierland, and Fantasyland to close for the afternoon. Parents were throwing their children over the shoulders of crowds to get them onto rides such as the King Arthur Carrousel.
The park got such bad press for the event day that Walt Disney invited members of the press back for a private "second day" to experience the true Disneyland, after which Walt held a party in the Disneyland Hotel for them. Walt and his 1955 executives forever referred to the first day as "Black Sunday," although July 17 is currently acknowledged by Disney as the official opening day. On July 17 every year, cast members wear pin badges stating how many years it has been since July 17, 1955. For example, in 2004 they wore the slogan "The magic began 49 years ago today." But for the first ten years or so, Disney did officially state that opening day was on July 18, including in the park's own publications.
On Monday, July 18 crowds started to gather in line as early as 2 a.m., and the first person to buy a ticket and enter the park was David MacPherson. Walt Disney decided to have a photo taken with two children, David MacPherson and Michael Schwartner, and the photo of the two carries a caption along the lines of "Walt Disney with the first two guests of Disneyland." MacPherson and Schwartner both received lifetime passes to Disneyland, which was later expanded to every single Disney-owned park in the world.
Despite the problems on opening day, Disneyland became an enormous success within its first few months. It attracted visitors worldwide in unprecedented numbers. Soon, even as Disneyland continued to grow, Walt Disney planned an expansion of the concept: Disneyworld. It would be a self-contained and completely-integrated vacation experience encompassing more land than twice that of the island of Manhattan.
In 1971 (nearly 5 years after the death of Walt Disney) Walt Disney World Resort opened under the guidance of Walt's brother, Roy O. Disney in Lake Buena Vista, Florida as the world's largest privately owned vacation destination.
In 1983 the first international Disney theme park opened: Tokyo Disneyland Park in Japan. Tokyo Disneyland is now part of Tokyo Disney Resort and has a sister theme park, Tokyo DisneySea. Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Sea are owned by a Japanese corporation, Oriental Land Company. The Walt Disney Company receives royalties based on revenues and maintains creative control.
In 1992 Euro Disney opened in France. It has since been renamed Disneyland Resort Paris and currently contains two theme parks.
And in 2005 Hong Kong Disneyland opened in Hong Kong. Hong Kong Disneyland Resort is owned jointly by the Hong Kong Government and The Walt Disney Company.
In the late 1990s, work began to expand on the one park property. Disneyland Park and its Hotel, the site of the original parking lot, as well as acquired surrounding properties were earmarked to become part of a greater vacation resort development. The new components of this resort were another theme park, Disney's California Adventure Park; a shopping and entertainment precinct, Downtown Disney; and a remodeled Disneyland Hotel, Paradise Pier Hotel and Grand Californian Hotel. Because the old parking lot was built upon, the six-level 10,250 space "Mickey and Friends" parking structure was constructed.
The park's management team of the mid-1990s was a tremendous source of contention to many Disneyland fans and employees. Headed by executives Cynthia Harriss and Paul Pressler, each with a retail marketing background, Disneyland's focus gradually changed from attractions to merchandising. Management came under increasing criticism for a host of cost-cutting initiatives and profit-boosting schemes. Dewitt "T" Irby, a retired U.S. Army officer hired as facilities manager, was blamed for the destruction of much of the tooling and attraction components in storage in the backstage areas in an effort to streamline operations as recommended by outside consultants, McKinsey & Co.
After nearly a decade of deferred maintenance, Walt Disney's original theme park was showing visible signs of neglect. Fans of the park decried the perceived decline in customer value and park quality and rallied for the dismissal of the management team.
In 2003, both Harriss and Pressler stepped down to take over operations of national clothing retailer The Gap. Irby stepped down the following year.
Matt Ouimet, formerly the president of the Disney Cruise Line, was promoted to assume leadership of the Disneyland Resort in late 2003. Shortly afterward, he selected Greg Emmer as Senior Vice President of Operations. Emmer is a long-time Disney cast member who had worked at Disneyland in his youth prior to moving to Florida and holding multiple executive leadership positions at the Walt Disney World Resort. Ouimet quickly set about reversing certain trends, especially with regards to cosmetic maintenance and a return to the original infrastructure maintenance schedule, in hopes of restoring the safety record of the past. Much like Walt Disney himself, Ouimet and Emmer could often be seen walking the park during business hours with members of their respective staff. They wore cast member name badges, stood in line for attractions and welcomed comments from guests.
In July 2006, Matt Ouimet announced that he would be leaving The Walt Disney Company to become president of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. Soon after this announcement, Ed Grier, executive managing director of Walt Disney Attractions Japan, was named president of the Disneyland Resort. Greg Emmer remains at the Disneyland Resort.
