FRONTIERLAND :
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’s goal was to ‘make dreams come true’. As Walt truly 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 also featured a Fantasy Village and a large Sleeping Beauty Castle.
Tomorrowland was created with a view to look at the ‘marvels of the future.’
"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…", said Walt.
Walt faced many troubles working on Tomorrowland. He rightly said, "When we do
Tomorrowland, it will be outdated".
| Bit by bit, Disneyland was ready for inauguration. The
‘magical little park’ was really a $17,000,000 ‘Magic Kingdom’. The
staff worked round the clock. Finally the great day arrived. Disneyland was inaugurated on
July 17, 1955. On the opening day, about 20 cameras took pictures of the great ceremony.
But the day was a disaster. Rides broke down, water fountains didn’t work, roads were
jammed with cars and no sufficient parking arrangement was available. The people were
irritated and crowded the park. A 15-day heat wave raised temperatures to 110 degrees
Fahrenheit. The asphalt still steaming as it had been laid out the night before, trapped
high-heeled shoes. The heat wave continued and almost wiped out the park. Despite these
problems, the opening day was a day to remember. As many as 6,000 invitees had been mailed
and almost 28,000 ticket holders stormed the gala affair. A 90-minute live telecast of the
opening was made on television. Commentaries delivered by Art Linkletter, Bob Cummings and
Ronald Reagan were added attractions. |
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Despite a terrible opening day, the park did pick up eventually. By 1965, 10 years after
opening day, 50 million people had come through the gates.
Walt continuously made changes. Dumbo Flying Elephants, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and
Mike Fink KeelBoats were projects in progress before the end of the year. Walt was always
aware of the requirements of the park and maintained regular contacts with the
administrative staff.
Once when he was wandering in the park he observed that a few things were a little sloppy.
He called the maintenance engineer and told him "I want this place painted. The
engineer agreed and said "We’ll do it over the weekend." Walt said,
"No, I want the job done by morning." Dozens of painters worked till morning and
finished their job. Walt had once said, "Disneyland will never be complete. It will
continue to grow as long as there is the final bit of imagination left in the world."
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An interesting thing to know about Disneyland is the selection of its address, 1313 Harbor Boulevard. Walt himself selected this address as all that was there in that area before Disneyland was orange groves. The explanation for the address, is either that, M is the 13th letter in the alphabet, making the address MM for Mickey Mouse, or that 13s being unlucky, was Walt’s way of thumbing his nose to those who thought that Disneyland would fail. |
Another interesting thing is that Gum is not allowed and has never been sold inside
Disneyland. Any gum found on the ground is scrapped off immediately. Walt felt that none
of his guests should be required to pick gum off their shoes every few minutes, a common
feature at other amusement parks. Alcohol is not available in any public area of the park.
A small lamp in the window of the apartment above the fire house on Main Street, where
Walt stayed overnight in Disneyland, is kept constantly lit in his memory.
"We don’t need to go on this ride. We have already seen it", a comment Walt
overheard a guest say, was the reason why The Jungle Cruise went through a major overhaul.
Walt made sure the grass areas weren’t fenced in until he identified the areas people
used frequently as short cuts. Those areas then had sidewalks added to them.
WALT DISNEY WORLD
After the grand success of Disneyland, Walt purchased 43 square miles of land in the heart
of Florida. After working on it for seven years he planned a whole new Disney world of
entertainment to include a new amusement theme park, motel-hotel resort, vacation center
and EPCOT and on October 1, 1971 he inaugurated the WALT DISNEY WORLD Resort.
The MAGIC KINGDOM Park and Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park were also added later on. He
said, "Here in Florida, we have something special that we never enjoyed at
Disneyland… the blessing of size. There’s enough land here to hold all the ideas
and plans we can possibly imagine". Walt Disney World Resort was not a replica of
Disneyland. In fact it gave newer heights to Walt’s imagination.
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