Christ Campbell

FS-4

5/29/02

"The Magic Kingdom", "The Happiest Place on Earth" in other words Disneyland. From the time construction started almost half a century ago to the newest attraction in Tomorrowland, it has gone through a lifetime of changes. Disney land has done many things in the past. They have added and taken away attractions, but the most amazing thing that Disney ever did was creating the image that would stay around for years and years to come. Ever since construction began that hot day in July the dream has never been.

The creation of Disneyland was hard to do, because even though Walt Disney had the idea in his mind, he couldn’t get people to believe in it. Choosing the location of the Disneyland was changed frequently. Originally it was supposed to be an eight-acre park next to the Burbank studios in California, but Walt dreamt bigger, so it was changed to a hundred-acre park outside Los Angeles in California. The final location of Walt’s dream was Anaheim, California. There the property was one-hundred-sixty acres. The site was picked and on July 16, 1954 construction began on land that would change the lives of many. The park was due to open on July 17^th, 1955 only twelve months from when it began to be created. Walt had all the plans and all the ideas, but he didn’t have the money. He once said, "I could never convince the financiers that Disneyland was feasible, because dreams offer to little collateral."(Disneyland History). However they did find funding. Walt’s brother, Roy, helped his brother make a deal with ABC that if they turned Disneyland in to a show then they would help fund it, and they did. The show debuted on Oct. 27^th, 1955. The show’s scenes were the different lands in the park, like Frontierland or Adventureland(Here’s our first look at Disneyland).Even though Walt was running all over looking for funding that still did not divert any of his attention from the park (Mouse Tales: A Behind-the-Ears Look At Disneyland, pg. 19) Walt would always be on top of something. If he saw something his team created that he didn’t like, he would take it home and bring it back the next the day how he wanted it. For twelve months Disneyland was being built little by little and finally on July 17^th, 1955 opening day took place. The whole park cost seventeen million dollars. Opening day was not a day to relax, it was a day pray(Disneyland History). On opening day attractions and parts of the park were still being built. At 6:30am asphalt was still being poured, but because it was so hot out the asphalt never really dried and a woman wearing spike heals got her heal stuck in the asphalt. Eleven-thousand invitations went out, but twenty-eight-thousand one-hundred-fifty-four came. Most of the tickets were counterfeit. In total eighteen attractions were opened, but Walt wasn’t even prepared for this day. The restaurants and refreshment stands ran out of food, people were eating off of paper plates. About the only thing that went right that day was a fifty-three year old Walt Disney dedicating the park. This day was known as "Black Sunday"( Mouse Tales: A Behind-the-Ears Look At Disneyland, pg.22-23) . Not many people thought Disneyland would last, but ten years after opening day fifty-million people walked through the gates to experience the same dream that people today go to experience.

This July Disneyland will celebrate its forty-seventh anniversary, but what was Disneyland like on opening day? Disneyland adds more and more attractions every year, so it is hard to figure out if people could ride the Jungle Cruise or get their picture on Splash Mountain when Disneyland opened. In 1955, Disneyland was introduced to the world. With in the walls that separated fantasy and reality were five worlds. These five worlds were Main Street U.S.A., Adventureland, Frontierland, Fantasyland, and Tommorowland. Now all these lands were linked together so that you could go from Adventureland to Frontierland like going from scene to scene in a movie. Walt put much thought into these five lands. For Main Street U.S.A. he said, "…Main Street will bring back happy memories. For younger visitors it is an adventure in turning back the calendar to the days of grand fathers youth". Main Street doesn’t offer the same thrilling attractions as the other lands, but if you want to relax you can take the Disney Railroad around the park or even the horse drawn carriages. Adventureland was meant to be an "exotic tropical place", where people could visit the jungles of Africa and Asia. One of the original attractions in this land was the "Jungle Cruise" where you took a boat trip through the jungles of Africa and Asia where you would see different animals. Frontierland was a simple reason for Walt to make it, it was to relive the pioneer’s days. Frontierland was also the home of the Davy Crockett Canoes that were led by an Indian guide. Fantasyland is where every kid’s dream comes true, Walt said, "Where kids can fly with Peter Pan…tumble into Alice’s nonsensical Wonderland…" This land is compacted with rides and attractions from "Peter Pan’s Flight" to the "Tea Cups" The last on the list is Tommorowland, which was created to look at "marvels of the future"(Disneyland History). Disneyland has come a long way from the five land amusement park to a dream that never died.

Not a year goes by in the history of Disneyland with the beginning of one creation or the ending of another. Nothing in Disneyland is ever still something is always being created with in the minds of the Disney creators. Over the forty-seven years of history Disneyland has added on or taken away or just changed the name of an attraction. Of the original five lands three more have been created. They are New Orleans square where you can find the "Pirates of the Caribbean" and the "Haunted Mansion" Also an Indian Village that was changed into Bear Country in 1972 and now is Critter Country, and Mickey’s Toontown where you can find all of the Disney characters. Over the years Disneyland also gained a few thrill rides, which are the Matterhorn Bobsleds, Big Thunder Railroad and Space Mountain in 1977. Many attractions were renovated and renamed, such as the Swiss Family Tree House, which opened in 1962 and was renamed Tarzan’s Tree house in 1999, or the Rocket Jets that is now the Astro Orbiter, and Jungle Cruise, which used to be Explorers Boat Ride. Many attractions have been added like "It’s a Small World" in 1964, Splash Mountain in 1987, Star Tours in 1987, the Enchanted Tiki Room in 1963 the Monorail in 1959 and many more. Many of these attractions usually make it, but some are closed down, for example the Submarine Voyage. It opened in 1959, but in the year of 1998 Disney closed it down(Doug’s Disneyland Page). Well Disneyland was making it’s mark on the map, so almost twenty years after the opening in 1995 Walt created "Walt Disney World". This amusement park was located in Florida and it opened October first 1971. Walt Disney World was made up of three parks. There was the "Magic Kingdom", "EPCOT", and "MGM Studios". Also Disney has opened many amusement parks in Europe and Asia like "EuroDisney" (Mouse Tales: A Behind-the-Ears Look At Disneyland, pg. 216-219). Through the years, changes were made; whether they were bad or good Disneyland made it.

Through the years Disneyland has had quite an adventure. From the beginning construction to "Black Sunday". It hasn’t all been games and fun, but Disneyland as upheld an image to be "The Happiest Place on Earth", probably because it is the "Magic Kingdom". Disneyland goes through many changes every year, but there are still some parts of it that were there on opening day.