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Disney World opened 40 yrs ago today: "family amusement park...to walk, sit...relax, stay human, stop swearing, start smiling"
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Disneyland, the original California park, was groundbreaking in every possible way. Prior to Disneyland’s creation, amusement parks were, by and large, dirty, dangerous places aimed almost exclusively at teenagers. Parents didn’t go on rides, they sat on benches while the kids played. As an animator, Walt Disney had already earned a reputation as a maverick, a rebel genius who was able to sell adult audiences on feature-length cartoons, something his peers had claimed would never work. Disneyland was the culmination of many of Walt’s big dreams, a different kind of park, where parents and children could have fun together. Walt Disney told stories, and Disneyland allowed guests to become a part of those stories.
Walt Disney World History Year by Year
"WALT DISNEY WORLD is a tribute to the philosophy and life of Walter Elias Disney and to the talents, the dedication and the loyalty of the entire Disney organization that made Walt Disney's dream come true. May Walt Disney World bring Joy and Inspiration and New Knowledge to all who come to this happy place...a Magic Kingdom where the young at heart of all ages can laugh and play and learn - together." ~ Plaque dedicated October 25, 1971, by Roy O. Disney, rededicated Oct. 1, 1996, by Roy E. Disney
"My only hope is that we never lose sight of one thing, that it was all started by a mouse." Perhaps one of Walt Disney’s most famous quotes, this phrase has guided development of the Walt Disney company ever since. Walt was a dreamer, who dared to dream big, with enough chutzpah to bring his dreams to life. Disneyland, the original California park, was groundbreaking in every possible way. Prior to Disneyland’s creation, amusement parks were, by and large, dirty, dangerous places aimed almost exclusively at teenagers. Parents didn’t go on rides, they sat on benches while the kids played. As an animator, Walt Disney had already earned a reputation as a maverick, a rebel genius who was able to sell adult audiences on feature-length cartoons, something his peers had claimed would never work. Disneyland was the culmination of many of Walt’s big dreams, a different kind of park, where parents and children could have fun together. Walt Disney told stories, and Disneyland allowed guests to become a part of those stories. Although its 1955 opening day was fraught with problems, Disneyland was an immediate smash success, welcoming its one millionth guest only seven weeks after opening.
Walt soon realized that he had made one small error when planning Disneyland. He bought only as much property as he needed. With Disneyland’s massive success, suddenly everyone wanted to cash in on the profits. Cheap motels and cheesy tourist attractions began to spring up all around, pinning Disneyland in and leaving no room for future expansion. And even worse, these cheap attractions were visible from some of the high points at Disneyland, such as the Skyway. Always a dreamer, Walt began to dream of a resort property that was big enough to hold all the dreams he could possibly dream, as well as a buffer zone that protected his land of make believe from the encroachment of the real world.
In 1959, the Walt Disney Company began scouting new locations. Although many were considered, it was central Florida that Walt finally decided was the best. At the time, it was a sleepy area consisting primarily of cattle lands, and a lot of them. The existing road system worked perfectly to create accessibility to the proposed site, and the weather was similar to that of Anaheim, where Disneyland was located. Walt began a series of flyovers in November 1963, and on October 23, 1964, the first land parcel was purchased.
The new property lay across parts of two different counties, Osceola and Orange. Progress City was to be a utopian city of the future, fully self-sufficient and self-governing. Walt felt that in order to achieve his dreams, he needed control over the property, without having to go through the red tape of approvals from two counties. After much negotiation, the Reedy Creek Improvement District was born, and given eminent domain over its own governance.
Walt Disney himself passed away from cancer on December 15, 1966. Many at the company feared that the Florida Project would never come to pass. But Walt’s brother Roy was confident that the project could go ahead. Roy had been planning to retire, but postponed retirement to step forward and lead the company. Under Roy’s capable guidance, Phase One of the Florida Project, consisting of the Magic Kingdom, two hotels, a campground, golf courses, and a shopping village, plus a monorail for transportation, opened on October 1, 1971. In keeping with the spirit of self-sufficiency, the new resort had facilities for generating its own power, handling all of its own laundry, and even distributing all of its own food. At that time, Walt Disney World also had its own airstrip, granting Shawnee Airlines an exclusive contract to fly guests on commuter planes from Orlando International Airport directly to Walt Disney World. The airstrip has not been used for many years, and is now primarily a staging area for buses.
Roy Disney passed away only two months after opening the new resort. However, operations were taken over by a team that had been personally trained by the Disney brothers, who would lead the resort for the next decade. Growth was rapid in those days, adding additional hotels, attractions, parades, and spectacles at an incredible rate. The park hit capacity and was forced to close its gates for the day only a month after opening, on the day after Thanksgiving in 1971, and building could not happen fast enough to keep up with the ever increasing demand.
On July 14, 1974, the company announced plans to go ahead with Phase II. Progress City, now dubbed EPCOT Center, was to be the centerpiece of the new expansion. However, EPCOT had changed significantly from Walt’s original concept. Rather than a city, EPCOT would be a showcase of ideas, demonstrating the interconnectedness of man through a series of exhibits on the past and future. EPCOT would also feature a global neighborhood, celebrating cultures from around the world.
Ground was broken in October 1979, and on October 1, 1982, EPCOT opened to the public. Opening day was a massive success, with a star-studded dedication ceremony rivaling any red carpet event. The building boom continued as EPCOT added many new attractions over the next two years. Meanwhile, other areas of the resort continued to grow as well.
Ray Bradbury Shares Walt Disney's Vision and Legacy
"I saw this on a number of occasions when I was fortunate enough to have lunch with Walt, way back in 1963 and 1965.
"I remember one noon when, arriving for lunch, Walt's secretary warned me: one hour, no more, just one! Walt had appointments. Walt had to run.
"Seated there over soup and salad, casually set out on a card table in Walt's office. I listened to him talking about his childhood much like my own, comfortable with candy butchers and horse-drawn milk wagons, beginning to fall in love with the newly invented movies.
"There lay Walt's greatest strength. He displayed constant proofs of his childhood. He wasn't childish in any way. He didn't let his memories get in his path. But he did use them and grow with them. He didn't let anyone talk him out of his loves, as most of us do by the time we are 17 and our so-called friends and well-meaning but ignorant relatives have brainwashed us into insignificance. Walt spoke of his past with immense affection, but the Future, now! Well, that was really something!
"My time was up. The hour was over. I leaped to my feet and headed for the door! The secretary was there, eyeing her watch.
"'Wait!' cried Walt. 'There's one last thing I have to show and tell!'
"He swept me past a glaring secretary and out across the studio lot to confront a strangely beautiful mechanism.
"'What do you think of that?' he said, beaming.
"'It's nice, but what is it?' I said.
"'Nice?' cried Walt. '"No, it's incredible. That's our PeopleMover. Climb aboard!'
"I climbed. We rode a fair distance up in the sky, in our individual brightly colored car. Walt enthused.
"No use talking about the future, unless you build it. Some day, there'll be PeopleMovers like this around every city, and in every airport. Move more people efficiently. Leave cars behind."
"'How,' I said, 'did you get into all this? Disneyland. Walt Disney World?'
"'My family taught me. Taking my kids to various pier parks or kiddie rides. I gradually grouched myself in the direction of putting things right, cleaning up the perspiration and rust, as it were, firing the freaks, leaning the tent poles in the right direction, creating clowns that didn't terrify. Can't we, can't I, I wondered build a place that's beautiful and honest, where you can go without having to worry that the place is a secret pesthouse run by dope fiends on the lam?"
"We were off the People Mover now and into a building where Abraham Lincoln lay on a table, in the final stages of being brought to audio-animatronic life.
"'Good Lord,' I said, as Lincoln's lips moved and he began to speak. 'Walt, do you know what you're doing?'
"'Tell me.'
"'We've been writing and talking about humanoid mechanical creatures for centuries, but you're the first to really pay attention. By 2001, educational groups, finally catching on, should learn from your lead and build historical or philosophical rooms in high schools, universities. Places where you walk in, find and ask Plato, 'How goes it with the Republic?' and he tells you."
"'Great!' Walt's eyes lit up. 'How about Ben Franklin?'
"'Should be a Ben Franklin, lightning bolt conductor, electrical experimenter, political interlocutor in every school broom closet in the country to take stock and speak wisdoms. But you started it, Walt, no one else ever tried.'
"We were off again at a good pace.
"This time we wound up at a spread bas relief of Walt Disney World, still up ahead in the future. Walt leaned over it with the same happy look of a boy with his first Christmas morn electric train.
"'Room,' he said. 'That's what we need. Disneyland's too small. We didn't buy enough land. But in Florida, we can do all the things we always wanted to do, plus controlling and protecting the environment, experimenting with solar energy. Remember those fabulous architectures in H.G. Wells motion picture 'Things To Come' back in 1935? Wouldn't it be great to build a hotel like that, and tunnel a monorail into it, so you could glide out of the Present and pull up, all fresh, in the Future? We'll do it!'
"We arrived back at Walt's office, two hours late for his appointments. His secretary started to protest when Walt steered me past, saying, 'Coffee, and a few final points!'
"'Thanks to Dr. Schweitzer,' I said.
"Walt cocked his head at me. 'Schweitzer?'
"'The good doctor was always saying, 'do something.' Someone may imitate it. Especially do something good or excellent. Well, that's you. People will be imitating you far beyond the end of the century. You haven't just built a family amusement park, you've shown people how to walk, sit, look at others, relax, stay human, stop swearing, start smiling."
Disneyland's History
One day Walt Disney had a vision. It was a vision of a place where children and parents could have fun together. The more Walt dreamed of a "magical park," the more imaginative and elaborate it became.
The original plans for the park were on 8 acres next to the Burbank studios where his employees and families could go to relax. Although, World War II put those plans on hold. During the war, Walt had time to come up with new ideas, and creations for his magical park. It was soon clear that 8 acres wouldn't be enough.
Finally in 1953, he had the Stanford Research Institute conduct a survey for a 100-acre site, outside of Los Angeles. He needed space to build rivers, waterfalls, and mountains; he would have flying elephants and giant teacups;a fairy-tale castle, moon rockets, and a scenic railway; all inside a magic kingdom he called "Disneyland."
Location was a top priority. The property would have to be within the Los Angeles metropolitan area, and accessible by freeway. It would also have to be affordable: Walt's pockets were only so deep. The search for the best spot finally ended in the rural Anaheim, California with a purchase of a 160-acre orange grove near the junction of the Santa Ana Freeway (I-5) and Harbor Boulevard. The site where Disneyland was to be built.
Although, Disneyland was expensive. Walt once said "I could never convince the financiers that Disneyland was feasible, because dreams offer too little collateral." So Walt turned to Television for his financial support. "Walt Disney's Disneyland" television series offered a glimpse of the future project. This brought the idea of Disneyland into reality for Walt and the American people.
Construction for Disneyland began on July 21, 1954, a meager 12 months before the park was scheduled to open. From that day forward Walt Disney's life would never be the same.
Some 160-acres of citrus trees had been cleared and 15 houses moved to make room for the park. The area was in semi-rural Orange County, near a freeway that would eventually stretch from San Diego to Vancouver.
When the real designing came around, Walt was met with inevitable questions. How do you make believable wild animals, that aren't real? How do you make a Mississippi paddle ship? How do you go about building a huge castle in the middle of Anaheim, California? So, Walt Disney looked to his movie studio staff for the answers. The design of Disneyland was something never done before. There would be five uniquely different lands.
Walt had planed out all the lands, to every detail. Main Street, U.S.A., the very front of the park, was where Walt wanted to relive the typical turn of the century city Main Street. He 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."
Walt also had planed for an "exotic tropical place" in a "far-off region of the world." Called Adventureland. Walt said, "To create a land that would make this dream reality, we pictured ourselves far from civilization, in the remote jungles of Asia and Africa."
Walt Stayed close to every detail of the Park's Construction, and he visited the site in Anaheim several times a week. Progress went sporadically despite exasperating obstacles. Plants were planted throughout the park, emptying nurseries from Santa Barbara to San Diego. Detail was made; if Walt Disney didn't like what his studio designers came up with, he'd do it himself. An example of this is Tom Sawyers Island. He thought his designers had "misunderstood the idea" so Walt took home the plans and the next day had it designed the way it appears today.
Bit by bit, Disneyland got ready for Opening Day. The staff worked around the clock to get ready. The Mark Twain was being moved, deck by deck, down the Santa Ana freeway to get to Disneyland on time. Finally, everything seemed to come together. The "magical little park" was really a $17,000,000 "Magic Kingdom." Walt's dream had come true and Disneyland was ready to open."
Opening day, was a day to remember. Six thousand invitations to the Grand Opening had been mailed. By mid-afternoon over 28,000 ticket holders were storming the Magic Kingdom. Most of the tickets were counterfeit.
Walt Disney was 53 when he dedicated Disneyland Park. It was a memorable ceremony. There in Town Square, Walt could look around and see the fulfillment of his hopes, dreams, and ambitions in the form of a spectacular entertainment kingdom.
Although, Opening Day was a terrible disaster. A 15 day heat wave raised temperatures up to 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Also, due to a plumbers strike, few water fountains were operating in the hot weather. Asphalt still steaming, because it had been laid the night before, literality "trapping" high heeled shoes. After opening day, the heat wave continued, and almost wiped out the park. Beside the terrible opening day conditions, the park did eventually pick up. By 1965, ten years after opening day, 50 Million visitors had come through the gates.
Even though Walt Disney wasn't able to see how his park and his company prospered and grew into the 21st Century, his legacy still lives on with us. Throughout Disneyland and throughout the entire world, he will always be there.
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Images courtesy of Bettmann / Corbis, Disney World / AP, The Walt Disney Company, and Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.
Image Gallery: Disney World Celebrates Its 40th Anniversary
Amusement parks are really fun loving and so good to have them around us or in our city. It's been an immense pleasure to be here and get to know the highlights of this park.
Even moving requires ethics and most of it must be applied on the day itself. There are simple things that should be attending to while the moving process is taking place.
My brother and I genuinely enjoyed reading on this site, I was just interested to know if you trade featured posts? I am always trying to find anyone to make trades with but it’s only an idea I would ask.