Walt Disney - The Origins of Disneyland
We ended off part 4 on a pretty rough note - speaking about the Disney strike that happened in the 1940s where Walt lost a ton of his animators, and also how Walt dealt with the studio becoming a war plant during World War II. Naturally, life imitates art, and the next decade of his life brightens up again, as this series does too. Now we will talk about the origins of the happiest place on Earth: Disneyland.
A New Idea
For his whole life, Walt was fascinated by trains. Elias worked closely to the railroads, Walt loved the structures of them and how they moved, and he even made his own miniature train that he had in his backyard, the Lilly Belle. The idea of creating his very own locomotive was very exciting to him, and he wondered if he could do more.
Following this "train" of thought, Walt dreamed up his very first amusement park, "Mickey Mouse Park" across from the Disney Studios in Burbank. It was just going to be quaint, nothing too extravagant. He felt that across from the studio was the perfect place for it, so people could come visit the studio without having to actually go inside where everyone was working. It would be something for the public to enjoy. His idea grew more after one day on a Saturday, Walt took his daughters Diane and Sharon to a merry-go-round. He sat on a bench watching them have so much fun on the ride, and he began thinking about a way that both the parent and child could have fun just the same.
the bench from the merry-go-round, placed in the Greatest Moments with Mr.Lincoln attraction today
His dream went from a small quaint park to the idea of Disneyland, a full blown amusement park. But, because of the financial crisis at the time just coming out of the war, it didn't seem very possible. He accepted it as just a dream, but only for a short period of time. Walt was not one to give up on what he wanted, as we already know from his past, so he was determined to find investors for his idea.
Creating the Plan
Walt approached Herb Ryman, one of his animators, to help him draw out a rough plan for Disneyland. He had a lot of ideas for it and Ryman did his best to draw them out on paper, so that he could bring this realized idea to an investor; and he did, in September 1953.
Walt Disney, 1954
Herb Ryman once said that the difference between Disneyland and any other amusement park is the comfort level. He noticed that with other parks, it involved a lot of walking, so the parents who typically had significantly less energy than their children would have less fun as well. Disneyland was to be a safe place for happiness and comfort, where the parents could let their children be free and join them when they were rested up and ready to go. This was the initial magic that Walt and Herb dreamed up.
The stigma behind amusement parks being exhausting and a money grab confused Walt's team, and even Roy, as to why Walt wanted to even build one. Much like Snow White, it was another big step forward for the company that could make or break it. People were confused as to why people would invest in it, why banks would loan money for it, and why it seemed to be working out in Walt's favor. But, Roy had always been one of Walt's biggest supporters, and so he helped him create a fully realized idea to show the bank and show them that they were serious about it.
Disneyland proposal, 1953
On Saturday September 26, 1953, now titled the lost weekend, Walt, Herb, and Roy worked continuously for 48 hours planning out what Disneyland would look like, what it would entail, and what kind of new innovative things they could add to it to make it stand out from other theme parks. Herb spent the entire night at the studio creating the original Disneyland drawing, with Walt by his side all night. Walt trusted Herb to translate his vision, and although it was short notice to bring to life such a large concept, Herb pulled through for his friend. They presented all of their material to investors, and they agreed. Disneyland construction was underway.
Aerial View of the Park for the Proposal by Marvin Davis, 1953
Beginning Construction
The location was chosen by the Stanford Research Institute, who ruled that Anaheim was the best place for it. Locations in Baltimore and Philadelphia supplied 100 year old gas lamps to put on Main Street, Nashville and Memphis supplied old railings for Frontierland and Main Street, and San Francisco, Oakland, and Sacramento supplied historic structures from the gold rush.
Original model of the Disneyland castle, 1953
On November 16, 1954, Walt wrote a letter to Ruth, his sister. It was just a casual letter, describing what was going on in his life, plans for Christmas, wishing her a happy birthday, and a P.S that he was having a grandson in February. He also explained how excited he was about how creating Disneyland was going. He described each of the lands to her:
Main Street: "As you enter the Park you will find yourself on Main Street in the Civic Center of the period of 1900. There will be various shops on Main Street -- including a bank, Postoffice, Fire Department, and the Opera House. At the end of the Street will be the Plaza, and from there you can go into Tomorrowland." - Walt Disney.
Fantasyland: "Here you will find the Sleeping Beauty Castle, a number of fantastic rides -- everything here will be based on the idea of Fantasy. We will recreate portions of Snow White, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, which will be known as Walk Throughs and Fly Through, in the case of Peter Pan." - Walt Disney
Frontierland: "Another location, will be the gold rush period with Indians, Buffalo, Stage Coaches, etc., and a Paddle Wheel Riverboat that will carry 300 people." - Walt Disney
Adventureland: "Will be a tropical setting -- fish, flowers, birds, water, and other things associated with the Tropics. An Explorer's Boat will take you on a journey to some of the remote corners of the world -- darkest Africa included." - Walt Disney
Opening Day
Disneyland officially opened on July 17th, 1955. Walt later named this day the "Black Sunday", because there were so many problems going on. Despite people now thinking that that was probably the most exciting and magical day for the park, it really wasn't. Having opening day mid-summer meant that it was extremely hot outside, the rides were breaking down, cement wasn't dried, trees were dying, and it wasn't as perfect as imagined.
Art Linkletter was asked by Walt to MC the opening day, and Art brought along Ronald Reagan and Bob Cummings to help him with this job. The 4 of them split up amongst the park, and amongst the chaos, and they did their best to help Walt make this day a little better.
Ronald Reagan on the opening day of Disneyland. Image from: https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/144115256797930115/?lp=true
50,000 people showed up to the grand opening of Disneyland. Many celebrities and political figures also showed up, such as Jeff Chandler, Marilyn Maxwell, Anaheim Mayor Charles Pearson, other mayors, governors in California, people from the board, and more.
That day, attendees and workers picked up copies of "The Disneyland News", which was going to be a monthly newsletter of what was going on in the park that month. People could buy it in shops on Main Street.
Disneyland Newsletter, 1955
Tickets
The way ticketing for the park worked in 1955 is much different than it is today. There was no California Adventure until 2001, so park hoppers didn't exist. And, there were half the amount of rides opening day compared to what we have now, so instead of having a general admission ticket that got you access to all of the rides, Walt had created A-C tickets.
General Admission was $1 for adults, and $0.50 for children. In order to ride the attractions, you had to pay a separate fee at ticket kiosks near each ride.
A-tickets were $0.10 and got you access to 7 rides, B-tickets were $0.20 and got you access to 9 rides, and C-tickets were $0.30 and got you access to 12 rides. You could get an 8-ticket book which cost $2.50. If you wanted to get access to all 30+ rides and attractions, combining all of these tickets together would cost you between $5.00 - $8.00.
Opening Day Rides
More than half of the attractions that opened in 1955 have now disappeared, whether it was due to faulty construction, or to make room for new ones. The rides that have survived from opening day until 2019 are:
Autopia
Disneyland Band
Disneyland Railroad Main Street Station
Disneyland Railroad New Orleans Square Station
Jungle Cruise
King Arthur Carrousel
Mad Tea Party
Main Entrance
Main Street Cinema
Mark Twain Riverboat
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
Peter Pan's Flight
Snow White's Scary Adventures
Storybook Land Canal Boats
Disneyland model from the Walt Disney Family Museum
The idea for Disneyland, constructing it and also promoting it was a big undertaking for Walt, especially while he was also still making films as well. But, today, 64 years later, Disneyland is more popular than ever. New rides, themes, and lands are added every few years, new shows are added, but most importantly, the magic has stayed consistent. I encourage you to look up above the firehouse on Main Street where Walt's apartment is and look at the light that always stays on for him. You will feel more at home than ever. It is not just a theme park - it is walking into one big epic dream.
Disneyland firehouse
Credit: https://www.mousemonthly.com/how-much-did-disneyland-cost-when-it-opened-compared-with-today/ https://touringplans.com/disneyland/attractions/opening-dates **credit for some info and pictures goes to the Walt Disney Family Museum
