- This article is about Disneyland in California. For other similarly named Disney parks and resorts see here.
- “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 ideals, the 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.”
- ―Walt Disney
Disneyland (sometimes known unofficially as the Magic Kingdom) is the original and first Disney theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California and is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company. The creation of brothers Walt Disney and Roy O. Disney, Disneyland has become the world's most famous themed amusement park and one of the most visited sites in the world. Following a televised first-look of the park along with a pre-opening for the press and VIPs on July 17, 1955, the official and historic public opening of Disneyland occurred on July 18, 1955. A half-century later, the official commemoration of Disneyland's 50th anniversary began on May 5, 2005 and ended on September 30, 2006.
Concept and construction
Walt Disney and his business partner-brother Roy were heading a Hollywood film studio before their idea of a theme park formed. Walt Disney's original concept was of a permanent family fun park minus the "negative element", which he felt traveling carnivals often attracted. While on outings with his daughters Dianne and Sharon, Walt realized there were no parks with activities both parents and children could enjoy together.
Over time, Walt had received numerous letters written by people wanting to visit the Disney Studio lot and to meet their favorite Disney character. Realizing a functional movie studio had little to offer to the visiting fan, he then began to foster ideas of building an area at his Burbank studios for tourists to visit and take pictures with Disney characters set in statue form. His ideas then evolved to a small play park with a boat ride and other themed areas. Over time, Disney's ideas continued to evolve into a concept for a larger enterprise; that enterprise became what is known today as Disneyland.
Disneyland was partially inspired by Tivoli Gardens, built in 1843 in Copenhagen, Denmark and Children's Fairyland built in 1950 in Oakland, California. Disney's original modest plans called for the park to be built on eight acres (32,000 m²) next to the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California as a place where his employees and families could go to relax.
Another influence on the Disneyland concept was Walt's interest in model trains. Hazel George, a nurse who treated Walt's chronic pain on a daily basis at the studio, suggested in 1948 that he take some vacation time and visit the Chicago Railroad Fair, which he did, along with Ward Kimball, Disney Studios animator and train enthusiast. Walt's fascination for trains was also encouraged by another studio animator, Ollie Johnston. Soon, Walt built the Carolwood Pacific, a miniature steam train layout in the back yard of the Disney residence on Carolwood Drive. Walt delighted in giving visitors rides on his miniature train. (See Michael Broggie, Walt Disney's Railroad Story, 1998.)
Early in development, during the early 1950s, it became clear that more area would be needed. 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 Disneyland which was broadcast on the fledgling American Broadcasting Company (ABC) television network. In return, the network agreed to help finance the new park.
On the suggestion of researchers at 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. Construction began on July 18, 1954 and would cost US$17 million to complete. U.S. Highway 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.
The orange grove where Disneyland was to be constructed.
Because of his brother Roy's distrust of the project, and 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., of which Walt Disney Productions and ABC each owned half. In 1960, Walt Disney Productions bought ABC's share of the theme park. This would later come full circle in 1999, when The Walt Disney Company, the successor to Walt Disney Productions, merged with Capital Cities-ABC, Inc.
1955: Opening day
Disneyland was opened to the public on Monday, July 18, 1955. A Special Media Preview which included a live TV show on ABC aired on July 17, 1955, the opening ceremonies were televised nationwide and anchored by three of Walt Disney's friends from Hollywood: Art Linkletter, Bob Cummings, and Ronald Reagan.
The media event did not go smoothly. The park was overcrowded as the invitation only affair was plagued with counterfeit tickets: 11,000 people were invited, but 28,000 showed up. All major roads nearby were congested. The high temperature was over 110 degrees Fahrenheit, and a plumbers' strike left many of the 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. Torch Lady Statue was built in front of castle A gas leak in Fantasyland caused Adventureland, Frontierland, and Fantasyland to close for the afternoon. Parents were throwing children over the shoulders of crowds to get in line for rides such as Dumbo the Flying Elephant.
The park got such bad press for the event 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 executives forever referred to the first day as Black Sunday.
Disneylands around the world
Despite the problems on the opening day, Disneyland was clearly an enormous success. It attracted visitors worldwide in unprecedented volume. Soon, even while they were refining and developing Disneyland, Walt and Roy began planning to expand the concept to other locations.
The Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida was built with Walt's hatred of the cheap motels and amusements that popped up around Disneyland in mind. It is the largest private-owned vacation destination, and the most popular vacation destination in the world, although the yet-to-open Dubai Land in the United Arab Emirates is twice the size. It opened in 1971 under the guidance of Roy O. Disney. Since its opening with one theme park and two hotels, the resort has grown into a four theme park, two water park, twenty-three hotel and two shopping complex vacation resort.
In 1983, the first international Disney theme park opened: Tokyo Disneyland in Japan. Tokyo Disneyland is now part of the Tokyo Disney Resort, and has a sister theme park Tokyo DisneySea. In 1992, Euro Disney opened in France, and is now known as Disneyland Resort Paris, and has two theme parks. On September 12, 2005, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort opened in Hong Kong.
1990s Transition: theme park becomes resort
In the 1990s, major construction began to transform Disneyland from a theme park into a vacation resort. The Walt Disney Company purchased land surrounding the park that was once the site of low-budget motels and trailer courts, and dug up its original "Hundred-Acre Parking Lot". On this land, Disney California Adventure and Downtown Disney opened in 2001. The Grand Californian Hotel (now the Grand Californian Hotel and Spa), patterned after the Arts and Crafts movement of the early 20th century, extends into Disney's California Adventure and allows guests of the hotel to enter that park through the hotel itself.
Most of the resort's parking today is handled by the Mickey and Friends parking structure. With six levels and 10,250 parking spaces, it is the second-largest parking structure in the world, behind only the structure at the Tokyo Disney Resort in Japan. Propane-powered trams bring visitors to the entrance plaza between the two parks. There are also some smaller, off-property lots with regular shuttle service to the parks, and most nearby hotels offer regular shuttle service as well.
Park Mismanagement
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. The leaders came under increasing criticism for a host of cost cutting initiatives and profit boosting schemes.
Under their direction, few new attractions were built and many were closed down. Shops that once carried a variety of items themed to their locations now carried general Disney character products. Themed restaurants and shops were closed and replaced by outdoor vending carts which caused crowds to clog walkways. The decision to remodel Tomorrowland, derided by some fans, was attributable to Pressler, as was the closure of a great many popular attractions within the area, mainly the PeopleMover and Submarine Voyage. 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.
After nearly a decade of deferred maintenance, Walt's original theme park was showing visible signs of neglect. Paint was peeling off buildings, burnt out light bulbs, which were once replaced before they could burn out, were so numerous as to make the facades they outlined look like toothless poor relations of their counterparts on reruns of the various Disney TV shows. Disney purists such as Internet columnist Al Lutz decried the perceived decline in customer value and park quality, and railed for the Pressler regime's dismissal.
In 2003, both Harriss and Pressler stepped down to take over operations of national clothing retailer The Gap. Irby stepped down the following year. Pressler and Harriss were replaced by Matt Ouimet, who immediately went to work fixing Pressler-era additions. This mainly involved re-establishing maintenance schedules and fixing Tomorrowland, which included a new paint scheme and the reopening of the Submarine Voyage with a Finding Nemo theme.
To this day, many tend to misplace blame on Michael Eisner, when he had little, if any, involvement in any of Pressler and Harriss' decisions.
Sleeping Beauty Castle towers at the entrance to Fantasyland on May 5, 2005.
Disneyland in the 21st Century
Matt Ouimet, formerly manager of Disney Cruise Line, was promoted to assume leadership of Disneyland. Unlike his predecessors, Ouimet was an amusement park fan and had worked summers in Disneyland in his youth. Praised by Disney fan sites for his success in building the Cruise Lines, Ouimet quickly set about reversing negative trends, especially with regards to cosmetic maintenance and a return to the original infrastructure maintenance schedule, in hopes of restoring the good safety record of the past. Much like Walt Disney himself, Ouimet can often be seen walking the park during business hours with members of his staff. He wears a cast member name badge and welcomes comments from guests. Ouimet left in July 2006 to become President of the Starwood chain of Hotels. He was replaced by Tokyo Disney Resort executive Ed Grier.
Disneyland hosted its 500-millionth guest in 2004. The park is undergoing a number of major renovation projects, and celebrated its fiftieth anniversary (see below) with events that started in May 2005. Many classic attractions (often ones neglected during Paul Pressler and Cynthia Harriss' times as Disneyland Resort President) have been restored, probably most notably Space Mountain, Jungle Cruise and Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room, which has received a completely rejuvenated soundtrack based on the original forty year old music.
Park layout
The park was designed by Walt Disney's movie studio staff to have five distinctly-themed "lands". Three more lands have been added since the park's opening. At the center of the park stands Sleeping Beauty Castle. In front of the castle is Plaza Square, the center of Disneyland's "hub and spokes" organizing scheme. From this central point, the original lands of the park radiate outward. This layout was designed to make Disneyland easy to navigate and to assist in distinguishing one themed area from another. Main Street, USA leads guests directly into Plaza Square from the south. Fantasyland lies to the north of the hub, aligned with the guests' approach from Main Street, Sleeping Beauty Castle serving as its gateway. Frontierland's gateway lies due west, symbolizing America's historic westward expansion. Due east lies the gateway to Tomorrowland and Adventureland's gateway is somewhat hidden southwest of the hub, consistent with its theme of exploring the unknown and exotic.
To complement the "hub and spokes" layout, Walt wanted to create easily-identified landmarks in each land that would be visible from the hub and draw visitors into each area, setting expectations for each themed experience. He sometimes referred to these landmarks as "weenies" due to their vertical proportions. The original "weenies" include King Arthur's Carousel (Fantasyland), The Mark Twain (Frontierland) and the X-1 Rocket (Tomorrowland). The Disneyland Railroad Main Street Station and Sleeping Beauty Castle perform the same scenic organizing function, drawing visitors toward the park entrance and the hub, respectively.
Together, the "hub and spoke" layout plus the "weenies" help establish a cognitive map in the mind of visitors, making the park's organization memorable and easily understood.
Main Street, USA
Based on the stereotypical turn-of-the-20th-century city Main Street, Main Street, U.S.A. is home to many shops but is short on attractions in comparison to other lands. Main Street's attractions include vehicles (the Disneyland Railroad, a horse-drawn trolley, horseless carriages, a fire truck, a double-decker omnibus, etc.), a cinema (which now shows early Mickey Mouse shorts) and "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln," which moved to Disneyland in 1965 after debuting at the Illinois pavilion of the 1964 New York World's Fair. Early attractions also included an exhibit of sets from "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" in the building now occupied by "Lincoln".
To Walt, Main Street, U.S.A. is reminiscent of Marceline, Missouri, as it appeared in 1911, a place he considered his hometown. In design, Main Street, U.S.A. is actually a reasonably faithful recreation of early Fort Collins, Colorado, the hometown of Harper Goff, Main Street's designer.
The 1880s-styled shops that line Main Street appear to be full two-story buildings. In reality, however, they implement forced perspective to give the illusion that they are full height. The second levels of the buildings are a few feet short of being full size. If the Disneyland architects had made the buildings a full two stories high, they would have looked incongruously tall compared to the castle. Forced perspective is also employed in the relative height of the buildings, with buildings at the south (entrance) end of the street being generally taller than buildings at the north (castle) end, creating an illusion of greater length and making Sleeping Beauty Castle appear larger than it is. Many of the second story windows are painted with the names of Disney's friends and supporters who were instrumental in the creation and development of Disneyland.
Walt Disney 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." Above the firehouse is Walt Disney's personal apartment, fully furnished but off-limits to the public. A lamp is kept burning in the window as a tribute to his memory. A fireman's pole once served as a quick entrance to the park from the Disney apartment, but the opening into the apartment was closed to keep nosy guests out.
Adventureland
Adventureland is designed to be an exotic tropical place in a far-off region of the world. "To create a land that would make this dream reality," said Walt Disney, "we pictured ourselves far from civilization, in the remote jungles of Asia and Africa." Attractions include the "Temple of the Forbidden Eye" an Indiana Jones Adventure, the Jungle Cruise and "Tarzan's Treehouse."
Frontierland
Frontierland recreates the setting of pioneer days along the American frontier. According to Walt Disney, "All of us have 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." Frontierland is home to the Pinewood Indians band of animatronic Native Americans, who live on the banks of the Rivers of America. Entertainment and attractions include Fantasmic!, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Mark Twain Riverboat, Sailing Ship Columbia, and the Frontierland Shootin' Exposition.
Fantasyland
Walt Disney 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 was originally styled in a fairground fashion, but its 1983 refurbishment turned it into a Tyrolean village.
Tomorrowland
In Walt Disney's words, "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."
Tomorrowland's showpiece was his TWA Rocket to the Moon, derived from his historic "Man in Space" set of three television shows in the 1950s. It in turn was derived from the first spectacular ride from the 1901 Pan-American Exposition, the trip to the moon ride which eventually became the anchor ride and namesake for Coney Island's Luna Park. In the 1970s, the interior of the ride was updated, and its destination was changed to Mars.
Another initial exhibit was Monsanto's "House of Tomorrow," a plastic house with four wings cantilevered from a central plinth. This too had its precursors at World's Fairs, though in those cases they were simply homes with modern conveniences and aimed at housewives.
Walt Disney was never completely satisfied with Tomorrowland. The area underwent a major transformation in 1967 to become "New Tomorrowland," and then again in 1998 when its focus was changed to present a "retro-future" theme reminiscent of the illustrations of Jules Verne. Tomorrowland changed yet again in 2005, with a new blue, silver, white, and gold paint scheme, similar to its 1967-1997 paint scheme, but with a small mixture with its 1998 scheme.
Many of the plants in Tomorrowland are edible, based on the belief that all free space will be used for agriculture to feed the future's huge human population. The landscaping areas are home to fruit trees, vegetable plants, and herbs such as parsley and rosemary.
Current attractions include the popular Space Mountain, which opened in 1977; and Star Tours, a futuristic Star Wars ride created as a collaboration between George Lucas and Disney imagineers.
Just opened in 2005 is Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, which first appeared at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Florida. The Submarine Voyage, which closed in 1998, reopened in 2007 with a Finding Nemo theme. Following Michael Jackson's untimely death, the Captain EO 3D experience reopened in 2010 at the Magic Eye Theater.
New Orleans Square
New Orleans Square was among the last additions to Disneyland overseen by Walt Disney himself. Opened in 1966, it is meant to capture the flavor and architectural detail of New Orleans's Bourbon Street.
New Orleans Square is also home to a private club and restaurant, Club 33, located above the "Blue Bayou Restaurant" around the corner from the entrance to the Pirates Of The Caribbean. Not open to the general public and rarely mentioned in any of the park's promotional material, Club 33's membership costs around $7,500-$10,000 per year with a waiting list several years long. The entrance to the club is a plain blue door, marked only with an address plaque bearing the number "33", immediately to the right of the Blue Bayou. It is the only place in Disneyland where alcoholic beverages are served.
Critter Country
Critter Country opened with the park as a part of Frontierland named "Indian Village". Indian Village was torn down and transformed into a little mining town in 1972 and was renamed "Bear Country". It was renamed in 1988 to Critter Country, to welcome Splash Mountain. It is themed after the animated segments of Disney's 1946 movie Song of the South.
Mickey's Toontown
Opened in 1993 and patterned after "Toontown" in the Disney/Touchstone Pictures 1988 release Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Mickey's Toontown looks like a 1930s Max Fleischer cartoon short come to life. Attractions include Gadget's Go Coaster and Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin.
List of Disneyland Attractions
Disneyland as Multi-Dimensional Cinematic Experience
When Disneyland was originally designed and built, there were no Imagineers, a title coined by Walt Disney to describe the planners, engineers, architects, designers, artists, writers and composers that now create theme park and resort experiences for guests of Disney's properties. Consequently, Disneyland was originally designed and built by the same artists and craftsmen who created Disney's animated and live action films. Combined with Walt Disney's own cinematic style of story-telling, Disneyland's designers created an experience that is analogous to the experience of attending a film, with the film's characters and settings coming to life in three or more dimensions, complete with the kinetic, tactile, olfactory and culinary sensory dimensions that films lack. Each land and the park as a whole were designed so that each themed area is free from the intrusions of contradictory theming including intrusions of the "non-themed" everyday world, which was hidden behind a landscaped berm, blocking it from view. This allows Disney storytelling to monopolize the senses and allows guests to imagine themselves experiencing the stories directly, not just hearing them or watching them on a two-dimensional surface.
The cinema analogy begins with the main gate approach. Ticket booths mark the entrance to the park just as they marked the entrance to the movie theaters of 1955. On opening day attraction posters lined the entrance plaza, just as movie posters punctuate theater lobbies. The floral Mickey Mouse that dominates the entrance plaza's hill is analogous to the title card that marked the beginning of the mid-century Mickey Mouse short subjects shown prior to the feature film in many theaters. Visitors leave the entrance plaza and enter the park through two symmetrically-arranged tunnels under the railroad tracks, drawing an analogy to the archways leading into the theater from the lobbies of the day. (Today, the attraction posters are located in the train tunnels.) The tributes to the park's contributors that occupy the windows of Main Street, U.S.A. bear some resemblance to a film's opening credits.
Once past Main Street, the visitor becomes the protagonist in a series of cinematic adventures. Originally, Fantasyland's dark rides consistently failed to portray the main characters of the movies on which they are based (Peter Pan, Snow White, Alice, Mr. Toad) because it was expected that the guests would see themselves experiencing the world in the place of those characters. Each story experience in the park occupies a distinct place just as each scene of a film has a distinct setting. Each setting includes a high level of multi-sensory detail, heightening the sensation of being transported to another place and time through effects as subtle and subconscious as music and other ambient sound, the smells of foods, degrees of sunlight and shade, landscaping effects, color, architecture, and even the width, shape and texture of the paths on which guests walk. The experience is even meant to include the use of story-centric clothing and props available in gift shops (Indiana Jones' hat, Luke Skywalker's lightsaber, pirate booty, princess dresses).
As one exits the park, the experience is reversed: the cinematic adventures reach their climax (parades, fireworks), then end; the film's closing credits roll by (Main Street's windows); guests pass back through the archways (train tunnels) into the lobby (entrance plaza) and back into the everyday world (outside the berm).
Backstage Areas
Areas closed to park visitors are considered in Disneyland lingo "Backstage". There are several points of entry from the outside world to the backstage areas: Ball Gate (at the terminus of Cast Place off Ball Road), TDA Gate (adjacent to the Team Disney Anaheim building), Harbor Gate (off Harbor Boulevard, behind Tomorrowland), and Winston Gate (off Disneyland Drive, behind the Mickey and Friends parking garage).
Berm Road encircles the park from Firehouse Gate (behind the Main Street Fire Station) to Egghouse Gate (adjacent to the Main Street Opera House). The road is so called because it generally follows outside the path of Disneyland's earthen berm, although with the addition of Mickey's Toowntown, the road now strays as much as 100 yards from onstage areas at some points. A stretch of the road, wedged between Tomorrowland and Harbor Boulevard, is called Schumaker Road. It has two narrow lanes divided by a double yellow line, runs underneath the Monorail track. There are also two railroad bridges that cross Berm Road: one behind City Hall and the other behind Tomorrowland near Harbor Gate. The speed limit for most parts of Berm Road is 15 miles per hour, although a section cutting through Disneyland's maintenance shops behind the park's northwestern corner has a speed limit of 5 miles per hour.
The major buildings backstage include Team Disney Anaheim, where many of the park's support staff and top-level managers work and the Old Administration Building, behind Tomorrowland and Main Street.
Transportation
Walt Disney had a longtime interest in transportation, and railroads in particular. He had built a miniature steam railroad on the grounds of his own home. Therefore a number of different modes of transport were incorporated into the park. The transportation systems are in some respects intended more as entertainment rides than as a means of transporting guests.
Disneyland Railroad
Disneyland incorporates a steam railroad. Originally known as the Disneyland and Santa Fe Railroad, it was sponsored by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Laid to three-foot gauge, the most common narrow gauge measurement used in North America, the railroad is laid in a continuous loop around the park. All the Disneyland locomotives burn diesel fuel, which is less polluting (though more expensive) than the coal, wood or heavy "Bunker C" oil normally used on steam locomotives.
Originally, two trains could operate on the railroad. Passing tracks were incorporated at Main Street & Frontierland where one train had to wait to allow the other to pass. Later, after another station & train were added, the need for passing tracks was eliminated. The passing track at Main Street was disconnected and now is only used to display a handcar, a gift to Walt. The 1958 addition of the "Grand Canyon/Primeval World" diorama necessitated a change in the rolling stock as well; instead of facing forward, the benches of the new flatcars now faced right so that the diorama could be better enjoyed by the passengers. Five open-air, clerestory-roofed observation cars with forward-facing seats dating from the park's opening were returned to service in 2004 after undergoing a three-year restoration.
Another detail dating from the park's opening can be seen from the railroad. As the train passes behind the "it's a small world" attraction in Fantasyland, it crosses a service road that is protected by two miniature wigwag crossing signals. Santa Fe offered the use of full-scale crossing signals, but Disney declined as they would be out of scale with the trains. These scaled-down replicas were designed and built by the San Bernardino shops of the Santa Fe Railroad as a gift to Disneyland. They operate with automotive windshield wiper motors.
The Walt Disney Company constructed the original two locomotives in its own workshops under the supervision of Roger E. Broggie. Patterned after the Lilly Belle, a miniature steam locomotive Broggie had made for Walt's backyard Carolwood Pacific Railroad, these were also models of classic "Wild West" style American 4-4-0s, but built to a larger three-fifths scale. No. 1 (the C.K. Holliday) was given a big wood-burning 'balloon' stack and large, pointed pilot (cowcatcher) while No. 2 (the E.P. Ripley) was given a straight stack and smaller pilot common to East Coast coal-burning locomotives.
Two more locomotives were later acquired from outside sources, since this was cheaper than building new ones and since many narrow-gauge lines were closing down and selling their equipment. All three were given extensive renovations before entering service, including new boilers. No. 3 (the Fred Gurley) is a "Forney" locomotive, a type of tank locomotive. As an 1894 product of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, No. 3 is the oldest locomotive in service at any Disney property. No. 4 (the Ernest S. Marsh) was acquired the year after the No. 3.
In 2004, Disney purchased the inoperable Maud L locomotive from the Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio, and sent it to a Southern California shop to restore it and transform it into a Disneyland Railroad locomotive. This 1902 Baldwin loco will be Disneyland Railroad train #5, and will be the first Disneyland Railroad train added since 1959. The train is named after the late Ward Kimball, one of Disney's Nine Old Men.
The railroad reopened in March 2005 after undergoing a three-month restoration to bring the roadbed back to gauge in time for the park's fiftieth anniversary. It is the most prolonged closure of the railroad in park history.
Monorail
One of Disneyland's signature attractions is its Alweg monorail system, installed in 1959. The monorail track has remained almost exactly the same since 1961, aside from small alterations while Disney's California Adventure and Downtown Disney were being built. The monorail shuttles visitors between two stations, one in Disneyland itself (in Tomorrowland) and one outside the park, originally at the Disneyland Hotel but now, after the 2001 remodel, at the Downtown Disney shopping complex. It follows a 2.5 mile (4 km) long route designed to show off the park from above. Three generations of monorail cars have been used in the park, since their lightweight construction means they wear out quickly.
As of 2014, three monorail trains, Monorail Red, Monorail Blue, and Monorail Orange, are in regular service. Orange was removed from service in 2004 and shipped to Disney's engineering department in Burbank for disassembly and study so that new blueprints can be created from it, because Alweg, the company which originally built the monorail trains, has gone out of business. Monorail Blue was removed in 2006 to begin the upgrade process into a Mark VII, followed by Monorail Red in 2007, leaving Monorail Purple as the only monorail. The newly-upgraded Monorail Red entered service on July 3, 2008, following design change issues. Monorail Blue came online in September the same year, at which point Monorail Purple, the last Mark V monorail, was removed from service and scrapped. Monorail Orange was put into service in February 2009.
Disneyland had signed a contract with the Alweg company which required the Alweg name to be displayed on the monorail. This conflicted with the contract with the Santa Fe that only their name could be associated with railroad attractions at the park. This caused a rift between Disneyland and the Santa Fe railroad, and eventually caused the breakdown in their relationship and the removal of Santa Fe sponsorship from the Disneyland Railroad.
Main Street vehicles
A number of vehicles, including a double-decker bus, a horse-drawn streetcar, an old-fashioned fire engine, and 2 old-fashioned automobile, are available for rides along Main Street, U.S.A.
The fire engine was built for Walt Disney, who used it to drive around the park and host celebrity guests. The horseless carriages are modeled after cars built in 1903. They (as well as the fire truck) have two cylinder, four horsepower (3kW) engines and manual transmission and steering.
Skyway
The Disneyland Skyway, "the first aerial tramway of its kind in the United States," was one of the signature attractions at the park. Opened in 1956 by Walt Disney himself, it shuttled passengers between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland 100 feet (30 m) above the ground, giving passengers fantastic views of Sleeping Beauty Castle, the Matterhorn (which it went through), and the Autopia. A distinctive feature was that Disneyland maintained the 'on-stage/backstage' illusion to Skyway guests, covering any sites that would be unsuitable to guests that were also hidden to guests on foot.
Due to the enormous impending cost to retrofit the Skyway for earthquake safety and ADA compliance, the attraction closed permanently on November 9, 1994, its operating budget reallocated to Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye. Four years later, Tokyo Disneyland removed their Skyway; finally, in 1999, Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom removed theirs. No Skyways are left at any Disney park (Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland have never had a Skyway attraction).
The Tomorrowland station remained and was used as a maintenance bay for Rocket Rods beginning in 1998. It was removed shortly after the Rocket Rods closed in spring 2001. The Fantasyland station remains, but is rumored to be slated for demolition in 2014.
Live entertainment
In addition to the attractions, Disneyland provides live entertainment throughout the park. Through the years, this has included:
- Disneyland's Fantasmic! in Frontierland, a popular nighttime show with a live Mickey Mouse, special effects, floating barges, a pirate ship, a forty-five foot fire-breathing dragon, fireworks, and a fifty-foot-tall water projector.
- The Disneyland Band, which has been part of the park since its opening. Its members gather in flashy matching uniforms to open and close the park daily, then disburse and change costumes to spend the day playing music appropriate to the various themed lands, such as Dixieland music in New Orleans Square. One currently popular group is the Trash Can Trio, which pops up unexpectedly in random places in the park. The Disneyland Band is traditionally all male.
- The Golden Horseshoe Saloon offers a live stage show with a frontier or old-west feel. The Golden Horseshoe Revue—an old-west Vaudeville type of show starting Slue Foot (or Sluefoot) Sue and Pecos Bill—ran until the mid-1980s, when it was replaced by a similar show starring Lily Langtree (or Miss Lily) and Sam the Bartender. Most recently, Billy Hill and the Hillbillies have played their guitars and banjos in a bluegrass-and-comedy show.
- The Dapper Dans barbershop quartet often sings on Main Street.
- Rod Miller is a ragtime pianist that played at Coke Corner until he retired in 2005.
- Stages throughout the park provide singing and dancing shows.
- Character actors in Frontierland provide small humorous skits with an old-west theme.
- A steel drum band often plays on the roof of the Jungle Cruise in Adventureland.
- Disney cartoon characters (cast members in costume) greet visitors, talk with children, and pose for photos. Characters who wear full-head masks to create their personas never speak; characters who do not need masks, called "face characters—including many of the female characters, such as princesses—have no such restriction. Besides greeting visitors in regular places, they often participate in Disneyland parades.
- Character actors stroll up and down Main Street occasionally, chatting to guests and performing humorous skits with each other. Characters include the town gossip, the mayor, and a host of others.
- Merlin appears in Fantasyland several times a day to help some lucky child pull a sword from an anvil and stone.
- A musical chairs game daily at 2:30 PM with characters from Alice in Wonderland, Mary Poppins, and Peter Pan, among others.
- Street Bands will occasionally play in New Orleans Square.
Admission
From Disneyland's opening until 1982, the price of attractions was in addition to the price of park admission. Park-goers paid a small sum to get into the park, then bought coupons (also called tickets), individually or in booklets, that allowed them access to rides and attractions. The least-expensive "A" tickets gave access to the smaller attractions, while the most-expensive "E" tickets gave access to the newest thrill rides or the most interesting and unusual attractions. This led to the use of still-popular term "E ticket ride" to refer to any particularly outstanding, special, or thrilling experience.
In the 1970s, nearby Magic Mountain introduced a one-price admission ticket which allowed free access to all attractions within the park. This model spread rapidly to all other parks, including Disneyland, because its business advantages were obvious: in addition to guaranteeing that everyone paid a large sum even if they stayed for only a few hours and rode only a few rides, the park no longer had to print tickets or ticket books, staff ticket booths, or provide staff to collect tickets or monitor attractions for people sneaking on without tickets.
Fastpass
In 1999, in an effort to offset the long waits for the most popular attractions, Disney implemented a new service named FASTPASS. At attractions featuring FASTPASS, a guest can use his park admission ticket to obtain a FASTPASS ticket with a return time later that day (an hour-long window) printed on it. If the guest comes back to the attraction at his return time, he will get to wait in a shorter line and be on the attraction within ten minutes, or often much more quickly. Initially, only a few attractions offered this service, but its popularity ensured its spread to many of the park's attractions.
Halloweentime
In Mid September the park is dressed up in Halloween Decorations.
Main Street
Pumpkins adorn Mainstreet Along with a Giant Mickey Mouse Pumpkin in the center of Town Square.
Big Thunder Ranch
Woody's Halloween Round up show plays here. There are also grown pumpkins decorated as Disney Characters.
Haunted Mansion Holiday
The Haunted Mansion is Transformed into the Haunted Mansion Holiday. Jack Skellington and Friends create an Ex-scream Makeover
Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy
Your intergalactic mission takes you to a haunted sector where Ghost will try and get you!
Mickey's Trick or Treat Party
Come at Night for this exclusive party and dress up as your favorite character. Also catch a glimpse of Halloween Screams Fireworks Show.
Holiday's at the Disneyland Resort
Main Street is dressed with Garland and the Giant Tree sits proudly at the center of town square. It's a Small World Holiday and Haunted Mansion Holiday are two attractions offered. Along with Believe in Holiday Magic Fireworks with a magical snow fall. Sleeping Beauty Castle is given a snow-covered makeover.
Deaths
In the half-century that Disneyland has been in operation, nine guests and one cast member have died from their visit to the park. A greater number of guests have been injured.
Seven of the deaths were the result of negligence on the guests' part rather than the park's.
- In 1964, 15-year-old Mark Maples of Long Beach, California died after he stood up in the Matterhorn Bobsleds and fell out.
- In 1966, Thomas Guy Cleveland, 19, of Northridge, California was crushed by the Monorail during a Grad Nite celebration while trying to sneak into the park by climbing its track.
- In 1967, Ricky Lee Yama, 17, of Hawthorne, California was crushed while jumping between two moving PeopleMover cars.
- In 1973, Bogden Delaurot, 18, of Brooklyn, New York drowned while trying to carry his little brother swimming across the Rivers of America.
- In 1980, Gerrardo Gonzales, 18, of San Diego, California was crushed by the PeopleMover while jumping between moving cars.
- In 1983, Philip Straughan, 18, of Albuquerque, New Mexico drowned in the Rivers of America while trying to pilot a rubber emergency boat from Tom Sawyer's Island.
- In 1984, Dolly Regene Young, 48, of Fremont, California unbuckled her seatbelt and was thrown from a Matterhorn Bobsleds car and struck by an oncoming train.
- In 1974, cast member Deborah Gail Stone, 18, of nearby Santa Ana, California was crushed to death by a revolving wall in the now-closed "America Sings" attraction. She was in the wrong place during a ride intermission; it was unclear whether this was due to inadequate training or a misstep. The attraction was subsequently refitted with breakaway walls.
- On December 26, 1998, a metal cleat aboard the sailing ship "Columbia" tore loose, striking three people in the head. Of them, Luan Phi Dawson, 33, of Duvall, Washington, died of a head injury. The normal non-elastic rope (designed to break easily) to tie the boat off was improperly replaced by an elastic rope which stretched and pulled off the cleat. The park received much criticism for this incident due to its policy of restricting outside medical personnel in the park to avoid frightening visitors, as well as for the fact that the cast member in charge of the ship at the time was a novice.
- On September 5, 2003, 22-year-old Marcelo Torres of nearby Gardena, California died after suffering injuries in a derailment of the Big Thunder Mountain roller coaster. The cause of the accident was determined to be improper maintenance. Exactly what happened to Mr. Torres is unknown; he was hit in the chest with a blunt object that fractured his ribs, leading to the laceration of his lungs which caused "severe blood loss," according to an Orange County coroner's statement. He died at the scene.
Incidents
After Walt passed away, in August 1970, Disneyland was literally invaded by several Yippies who planned the stunt as an attack on what they saw as bloated establishment decadence. In their leaflets, they stated they would help "liberate" Minnie Mouse. They raised a Viet Cong flag on Tom Sawyer's Island, filled the now-closed Inner Space dark ride with marijuana smoke, and caused the closing of the park for the rest of the day until they were rounded up by police.
With memories of this event in mind, in May 1989, park security personnel were prepared for rumors of an invasion of the park by neo-Nazis, in honor of the birth of an obscure Nazi leader named Gregor Strasser. Although several leaflets were published announcing this, only one car of skinheads was seen in the parking lot before the park opened, and none entered.
Some cast members and visitors have reported seeing ghosts in the park, including those of the people who have died in the park and even Walt Disney himself. Supposedly, there also are actual ghosts in the Haunted Mansion. Some claim to have witnessed Walt Disney's spirit itself in the Disney Gallery above the Pirates of the Caribbean or in the Grand Canyon exhibit on the Railroad line.
Closures
Disneyland has only been forced to close twice in its history. The first occurrence was due to President Kennedy's assassination, yet urban legends have circulated that Walt Disney refused to lower the US Flag in Town Square in respect - however, Walt and his brother were on the other side of the country surveying land for the future site of Walt Disney World in Florida. Disneyland closed again during the attacks of September 11, 2001, for two reasons - firstly in respect and secondly in case there were plans to target the park, which is now a famous symbol of American culture. However, due to the time difference, the only people in the park were there for Magic Morning, so it was easier for the parks to close.
A scheduled closure occurred on May 4, 2005, Disneyland was again closed to the public. Though the original stated reason was to put the finishing touches on the 50th Anniversary Celebration, Disneyland also played host to a large media event designed to generate interest in the 50th anniversary celebration. The celebration began on May 5. The event started with a dedication from Michael Eisner and Art Linkletter, one of the hosts of the original dedication on July 17, 1955 (along with Walt Disney and Bob Cummings) and ended on October 2, 2006.
There have also been cases where the park is opened for part of the day, but then closes to the public for several events. Among those were two Major League Baseball All-Star Game Galas (in 1967 and 1989), Elizabeth Taylor's 60th Birthday Party and a Sweet Sixteen Birthday Party for Miley Cyrus, the star of the Hannah Montana television series on October 5, 2008.
Trivia
- Part of the land now occupied by Disneyland was owned and occupied by the Dominguez family. The Dominguez home once sat in present-day New Orleans square and was relocated to become one of the park's first administration buildings. A palm tree that was planted by the Dominguez family on the property still exists today, at the entrance to the Indiana Jones Adventure Fastpass queue. Ron Dominguez, who grew up in the home, was employed at Disneyland early in its history and later became president of Disneyland.
- Disneyland launched the entertainment careers of Steve Martin and the Osmond family.
- "The Golden Horseshoe Revue" played at the Golden Horseshoe Saloon in Frontierland for over 31 years, the longest running show in history. Wally Boag and Betty Taylor performed in most of those performance.
- The Golden Horseshoe Saloon in Frontierland hosted the 30th wedding anniversary party of Walt and Lillian Disney on July 13, 1955, four days prior to the park's opening. On that occasion, Lillian's gift to Walt was a petrified tree, which remains in Disneyland to this day, on the riverfront a few paces from the Saloon.
- From 1956 to 1972, Frontierland's Indian Village was home to authentic exhibits of Native American culture. There, Native Americans were honored to demonstrate their traditional music, dance, clothing and crafts. The Village Trading Post still occupies its original spot, now a gift shop adjacent to the Splash Mountain queue at the entrance to Critter Country.
- Many "hidden Mickeys" are visible in Disneyland--one large circle and two small circles arranged in the shape of Mickey Mouse's head and ears. Some of these are meant to be seen as references to Mickey Mouse as part of the decor. (Example: the blank Mickey head that once occupied the inside of the loop on California Screamin'. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-a7jUkj9vlyM/UJhQG693-dI/AAAAAAAAFyw/Om6yCOrHx1A/s640/Melissa+UCLA+&+Disneyland++8-06+020.jpg) Others are deliberately created and concealed--sort of an inside joke created by Imagineers and cast members. (Example: one large plate and two adjacent small plates on the banquet table in the ballroom of the Haunted Mansion. http://www.hiddenmickeys.org/Images/Disneyland/platemick2.jpg)
- Many of the audioanimatronic characters appearing in the "Splash Mountain" attraction in Critter Country once entertained guests in an attraction called "America Sings" in Tomorrowland. Some audioanimatronic geese from "America Sings" were stripped of their feathers and bills and became droids in the "Star Tours" queue.
- A candidate for mayor in New Orleans once inadvertently used photographs of Disneyland's New Orleans Square on her campaign website instead of images of the real New Orleans.
- Four of Disneyland's attractions were relocated to the park after debuting at the 1964 New York World's Fair: It's a Small World (created by Disney for Pepsi-Cola's pavilion), The Carousel of Progress (created by Disney for GE's pavilion, later moved to Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom), Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln (created by Disney for the Illinois pavilion) and the Grand Canyon and Primeval World dioramas (created, along with other dioramas, by Disney for Ford's Magic Skyway attraction, now visible from the Disneyland Railroad).
References
- Disneyland the First Quarter Century (1979). Walt Disney Productions.
- Yesterland (http://www.yesterland.com/skyway.html).
- Daily park brochures from Summer 1981, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2002
External links
- Disneyland on Wikipedia
- Disneyland Resort website
- FASTPASS® page
- Official Disneyland Facebook Page
- Attendance statistics for Disneyland
- The Disneyland Report: Disneyland and Disney News
- Celebrities at Disneyland
- Deaths at Disneyland
- Walt's Magic Kingdom: A history of all attractions, shops and restaurants at Disneyland since 1955
- Once Upon a Time in Anaheim: a site featuring photographic tours of many of the Disneyland Resort's attractions
- Jungleis101.blogspot.com: a former Disneyland cast member offers insights from the late 1970s and into the 1980s, with an emphasis on Adventureland and, of course, the Jungle Cruise.
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This page uses content from the English Wikipedia page Disneyland. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. Text from Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. |
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