Disneyland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Disney theme park | |
  Sleeping Beauty Castle as decorated for the park's fiftieth birthday. |
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| Disneyland Park | |
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| Location | Anaheim, California, U.S. |
| Opening Day | July 17, 1955 |
| Resort | Disneyland Resort |
| Theme | Main Street, USA; Adventureland; Frontierland; Fantasyland; New Orleans Square; Mickey's Toontown; Tomorrowland |
| Website | Disneyland Resort Homepage |
| Operator | The Walt Disney Company |
| Disneyland Resort |
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Disneyland park |
| Resort hotels |
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Disneyland Hotel |
Disneyland is an amusement park or theme park located in Anaheim, California, USA. It opened to the public on the 18th of July, 1955 - with a press preview the day before. The park is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company. The park consists of various areas with separate themes; an early 20th century Midwest town, jungle adventures, the western frontier, fantasy, and the future. These areas are named, respectively, Main Street USA, Adventureland, Frontierland, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. An elevated berm supports a three-foot (narrow) gage railroad which circumnavigates the park. Disneyland features rides and attractions designed to appeal to all ages.
The park has been visited by more than 515 million guests since it opened to the public, including presidents, royalty, and other heads of state. Since 1998 Disneyland has been officially renamed Disneyland Park in order to distinguish it from the larger Disneyland Resort complex of which it is a part. In February 2001 Disney opened an adjoining yet separate amusement park called Disney's California Adventure.
[edit] Dedication
| “ | 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 ideas, 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. | ” |
With the exception of Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, all the dedications of the Disneyland-type parks begin with the phrase "To all who come to this happy place – welcome."
[edit] Concept and construction
Walt Disney and his older brother Roy already headed one of Hollywood's more successful studios founded in 1923, long before the idea of a park even began to form.[citation needed] Walt's original concept was of a permanent family fun park without the negative element that traveling carnivals often attracted. He developed the idea during his many outings with his daughters Diane and Sharon, when he realized that there were no parks with activities that adults and children could enjoy together.
While many people had written letters to Walt Disney about visiting the Disney Studio lot and meeting their favorite Disney character, Walt realized that a functional movie studio had little to offer to the visiting fan. He then began to foster ideas of building a site at or near his Burbank studios for tourists to visit and perhaps 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. Walt's initial concept, his "Mickey Mouse Park," grew bigger and bigger into a concept for a larger enterprise which was to become Disneyland.
Disneyland Park was partially inspired by Tivoli Gardens (built in 1843 in Copenhagen, Denmark), Greenfield Village (built in 1929 in Dearborn, Michigan), and Children's Fairyland (built in 1950 in Oakland, California).[citation needed] The Republica de los niños (built in 1951 in La Plata, Argentina during the presidency of Juan Perón and visited soon after by Walt Disney), has been another source of inspiration according to the place own history. Disney's original modest plans called for the park to be built on eight acres (32,000 m²) on Riverside Drive next to the Disney Studios in Burbank, California as a place where his employees and families could go to relax.
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. [2] [3] Construction began on July 18, 1954 and would cost USD$17 million to complete. U.S. Route 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.
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, Western Publishing (a long-time Disney licensee) and ABC each owned shares. After the park proved successful, Western sold its share in the enterprise back to Disney. It was not until 1960 that Walt Disney Productions acquired ABC's share; the network had refused Disney's original request to sell. This fallout led Disney to move their anthology series to NBC in 1961.
[edit] 1955: Opening day
Disneyland Park was opened to the public on Monday, July 18, 1955. However, a special "International Press Preview" event was held on Sunday, July 17, 1955 which was only open to invited guests and the media. The Special Sunday events, including the dedication were televised nationwide and anchored by three of Walt Disney's friends from Hollywood: Art Linkletter, Bob Cummings, and Ronald Reagan.
The event did not go smoothly. The park was overcrowded as the by-invitation-only affair was plagued with counterfeit tickets. All major roads nearby were congested. The summer temperature was over 110 degrees Fahrenheit, and a plumbers' strike left many of the park's 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. A gas leak in Fantasyland caused Adventureland, Frontierland, and Fantasyland to close for the afternoon. Parents were throwing their children over the shoulders of crowds to get them onto rides such as the King Arthur Carrousel.
The park got such bad press for the event day 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 1955 executives forever referred to the first day as "Black Sunday," although July 17 is currently acknowledged by Disney as the official opening day. On July 17 every year, cast members wear pin badges stating how many years it has been since July 17, 1955. For example, in 2004 they wore the slogan "The magic began 49 years ago today." But for the first ten years or so, Disney did officially state that opening day was on July 18, including in the park's own publications.
On Monday, July 18 crowds started to gather in line as early as 2 a.m., and the first person to buy a ticket and enter the park was David MacPherson. Walt Disney decided to have a photo taken with two children, Michael Schwartner and Christine Vess instead, and the photo of the three always carries a caption along the lines of "Walt Disney with the first two guests of Disneyland." MacPherson, Schwartner and Vess all received lifetime passes to Disneyland, which was later expanded to every single Disney-owned park in the world.
[edit] Magic Kingdoms around the world
Despite the problems on opening day, Disneyland became an enormous success within its first few months. It attracted visitors worldwide in unprecedented numbers. Soon, even as Disneyland continued to grow, Walt Disney planned an expansion of the concept: Disneyworld.
Disneyworld would be a self-contained and completely-integrated vacation experience encompassing more land than twice that of the island of Manhattan.
Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida is the world's largest privately owned vacation destination, in addition to being its most popular.
Walt Disney World opened in 1971 under the guidance of Roy O. Disney, almost five years after the death of Walt Disney. Roy O. Disney felt that as a tribute to Walt Disney, he would change the name from Disneyworld, to Walt Disney World[citation needed]. Since the initial opening with one theme park and two hotels, the resort has grown into a collection of four theme parks, two water parks, twenty-three hotels, and an entertainment district.
In 1983 the first international Disney theme park opened: Tokyo Disneyland Park in Japan. Tokyo Disneyland is now part of Tokyo Disney Resort and has a sister theme park, Tokyo DisneySea. Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Sea are owned by a Japanese corporation, Oriental Land Company. The Walt Disney Company receives royalties based on revenues and maintains creative control.
In 1992 Euro Disney opened in France. It has since been renamed Disneyland Resort Paris and currently contains two theme parks.
On September 12, 2005, Hong Kong Disneyland was opened in Hong Kong, People's Republic of China. Hong Kong Disneyland Resort is owned jointly by the Hong Kong Government and The Walt Disney Company.
[edit] 1990s transition: Park becomes Resort
In the late 1990s, work began to expand on the one park property. Disneyland Park and its Hotel, the site of the original carpark, as well as acquired surrounding properties were earmarked to become part of a greater vacation resort development. The new components of this resort were another theme park; Disney's California Adventure Park, a shopping and entertainment precinct; Downtown Disney, and a remodeled Disneyland Hotel, Paradise Pier Hotel and Grand Californian Hotel. Because the old open air carpark was built upon, the six-level 10,250 space "Mickey and Friends" parking structure was constructed.
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. Management came under increasing criticism for a host of cost-cutting initiatives and profit-boosting schemes. 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 Disney's original theme park was showing visible signs of neglect. Fans of the park decried the perceived decline in customer value and park quality and rallied for the dismissal of the management team.
[edit] Disneyland in the 21st Century
In 2003, both Harriss and Pressler stepped down to take over operations of national clothing retailer The Gap. Irby stepped down the following year.
Matt Ouimet, formerly the president of the Disney Cruise Line, was promoted to assume leadership of the Disneyland Resort in late 2003. Shortly afterward, he selected Greg Emmer as Senior Vice President of Operations. Emmer is a long-time Disney cast member who had worked at Disneyland in his youth prior to moving to Florida and holding multiple executive leadership positions at the Walt Disney World Resort. Ouimet quickly set about reversing certain trends, especially with regards to cosmetic maintenance and a return to the original infrastructure maintenance schedule, in hopes of restoring the safety record of the past. Much like Walt Disney himself, Ouimet and Emmer could often be seen walking the park during business hours with members of their respective staff. They wore cast member name badges, stood in line for attractions and welcomed comments from guests.
In July 2006, Matt Ouimet announced that he would be leaving The Walt Disney Company to become president of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. Soon after this announcement, Ed Grier, executive managing director of Walt Disney Attractions Japan, was named president of the Disneyland Resort. Greg Emmer remains at the Disneyland Resort.
[edit] 50th anniversary
In 2004, the park undertook a number of major renovation projects in preparation for its fiftieth anniversary celebration. Many classic attractions that had been neglected far too long were restored, notably Space Mountain, Jungle Cruise, and Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room.
In 2005, the entire Walt Disney Company celebrated Disneyland Park's 50th anniversary with the "Happiest Homecoming on Earth" marketing campaign. The official celebration began on May 5, 2005 with a dedication from then Company CEOMichael Eisner, Bob Iger, and Art Linkletter. On July 15, 2005, Disneyland Park became the first 'location' to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The first person to enter the park on the official 50th anniversary July 17, 2005 was Madison Steigerwald, a 15-year old girl from Old Greenwich, CT. She and her grandmother, Mary Madison, began to line up at 3 p.m. the day before. Overnight, park management opened the gates of Disney's California Adventure Park simply to house the thousands of people who showed up over the course of the night. A second line formed outside the security checkpoints as thousands more arrived in the final hours before the park opened. Disneyland Park opened at 7:00 a.m., although it took several hours to admit the crowds that showed up that morning.
At 10:00 a.m., Diane Disney Miller reread her father's original dedication speech in a ceremony with Art Linkletter, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, CEO-elect Robert Iger, and then CEO Michael Eisner. Later that day, at exactly the same time of the original dedication, a recording of Walt Disney's dedication speech was replayed throughout the park.
The 50th Anniversary celebration ended on September 30, 2006.
- Further information: Happiest Homecoming on Earth
[edit] Park layout
The park is divided into realms, which radiate like the four cardinal points of the compass from Central Plaza, and well-concealed backstage areas, which normally only Disneyland cast members can enter. The public areas occupy approximately 85 acres (344,000 m²).
At the center of The Magic Kingdom and immediately North of Central Plaza stands Sleeping Beauty Castle, which provides entrance to Fantasyland by way of a drawbridge across a moat. Adventureland, Frontierland, and Tomorrowland are arrayed on both sides of the castle.
To reach Central Plaza, guests first progress through Main Street, U.S.A., "everyone's hometown", as Walt Disney described it.
Born in Chicago, Illinois in 1901, Walt Disney conveyed impressions of his formative years at the turn of the 20th Century in middle America, specifically in Marceline and Kansas City, Missouri, through the idealized and universalized form of the archetypal Main Street.
It is here, also, where the duality of Disneyland is first experienced. Main Street, Disneyland, U.S.A. gives way to a magic kingdom where timeless and imaginary characters, settings, and stories come to life in fully-immersive and permanent physicality.
[edit] Lands of Disneyland
The original park layout included four distinct lands or realms[1], in addition to Main Street, U.S.A. The idea behind this was to develop theatrical "stages" with seamless passages from one land to the next. Because Disneyland is set up with stage set environments, all its employees who interface with the public in the park are referred to as cast members.
Three more areas have been added since the park's opening, including New Orleans Square and Critter Country in Frontierland and Mickey's Toontown as an annex to Fantasyland. Once entering a realm, a guest is unable to see the outside world or any of the adjacent areas.
[edit] Main Street, U.S.A.
Main Street, U.S.A. is patterned after a typical midwest town of the early 20th century. Walt Disney derived inspiration from his boyhood town of Marceline, Missouri and worked closely with designers and architects to develop the Main Street appeal.
- To quote Disney: 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.[citation needed]
Main Street, U.S.A. is reminiscent of the Victorian period of Americana with the trainstation, town square, movie theatre, city hall, firehouse complete with a steam-powered pump engine. emporium, shops, arcades, double-decker bus, horse-drawn streetcar, jitneys and other bits of memorabilia. At the far end of Main Street, U.S.A. is Sleeping Beauty Castle, and the Plaza hub which is a portal to all the theme lands.
The design of Main Street, U.S.A. lead to the development of a special type of designer called an "imagineer." This required designers to think a little more "out of the box" when it came to creating innovations that were patently Disney. The original plan for Main Street, U.S.A. was to create a 3/4 scale version of an American town. The scale would leave the buildings looking like mere short versions of the real ones. In order to gain an appearance of height without the real height, Disney had the design adjusted to create smaller scales as the building worked upward. Thereby if the ground level was 3/4 scale, the next level might be 5/8, and then 1/2, and so on creating a "forced perspective" that would make the building look taller than they actually were. Eventually Disney developed a School of Imagineering which would set the standards for park designs and other techological advancements.
[edit] 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 opening day's Jungle Cruise, the "Temple of the Forbidden Eye" in Indiana Jones Adventure, and Tarzan's Treehouse, which is a conversion of the earlier Swiss Family Robinson Tree House from the Walt Disney film, Swiss Family Robinson. Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room which is located at the entrance to Adventureland is the first feature attracton to employ Disney's patented Audio-Animatronics, a computer synchronization of sound and robotics.
[edit] New Orleans Square
New Orleans Square, was among the last of the Disneyland additions overseen by Walt Disney himself. Based on the French Quarter district of New Orleans, the Square is home to two of the park's most popular attractions; Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion.
[edit] 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, and Sailing Ship Columbia. Frontierland is also home to the Golden Horseshoe Saloon, a show palace straight out of the Old West. Currently the comedic troupe "Billy Hill and the Hillbillies" entertain guests on a daily basis.
[edit] Critter Country
Critter Country opened in 1972 as "Bear Country," and was renamed in 1988. Formerly the area was home to Indian Village where actual indigenous tribespeople demonstrated their dances and other customs. Today, the main draw of the area is Splash Mountain, a log-flume journey inspired by the Uncle Remus stories of Joel Chandler Harris and the animated segments of Disney's Academy Award-winning 1946 film, Song of the South. In 2003, a dark ride called The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh replaced the Country Bear Jamboree, which presented shows featuring singing bear characters that were original to Disneyland and were visualized through electronically-controlled and mechanically-animated puppets.
[edit] Fantasyland
Fantasyland is the area of the Disneyland of which 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 Bavarian village. Attractions include several dark rides, the King Arthur Carrousel, and various children's rides.
Fantasyland is often credited with being Walt Disney's favorite land.
[edit] Mickey's Toontown
Mickey's Toontown opened in 1993 and was partly inspired by the fictional Los Angeles suburb of Toontown in The Walt Disney Studios' 1988 release Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Mickey's Toontown is a 1930s cartoon come-to-life and is home to Disney's most popular cartoon characters.
[edit] Tomorrowland
Tomorrowland inspired Walt Disney to say this: "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."
Disneyland producer Ward Kimball had Rocket scientist Wernher von Braun, Willy Ley, and Heinz Haber as technical consultants during the original design of Tomorrowland. [4] Initial rides included the rocket to the moon; later, a large fleet of submarines was added. 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. Current rides include the popular Space Mountain, Star Tours, and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, among others.
[edit] Theatrical Analogy
Disneyland staff use theatrical terminology. This is to emphasise that a visit to the park is intended to be similar to witnessing a performance. For example, visitors are referred to as Guests. Terms such as visitor and particularly customer are discouraged by management. A Cast Member is any Disney Company Employee. On Stage refers to any area of the Resort that is open to Guests. Backstage refers to any area of the Resort that is closed to Guests. Costume is the attire that Cast Members who perform the day-to-day operations of the park must wear. Terms such as uniform are not used. Show is the Resort's presentation to its Guests, such as the color and façades of buildings, placement of rides/attractions, costumes to match the themed lands.
[edit] Backstage
Backstage areas include closed areas of attraction, store, and restaurant buildings, as well as outdoor service areas located behind such buildings. Although some areas of the park, particularly New Orleans Square, have underground operations and storage areas, there is no park-wide network of subterranean tunnels as exist in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom (despite popular urban legends).
There are several points of entry from outside the park to the backstage areas: Ball Gate (from Ball Road), T.D.A. Gate (adjacent to the Team Disney Anaheim building), Harbor Pointe (from Harbor Boulevard), and Winston Gate (from Disneyland Drive).
Berm Road encircles the park from Firehouse Gate (behind the Main Street Fire Station) to Egghouse Gate (adjacent to the Disneyland Opera House). The road is so called because it generally follows outside the path of Disneyland's berm. A stretch of the road, wedged between Tomorrowland and Harbor Boulevard, is called Schumacher Road. It has two narrow lanes and runs underneath the Monorail track. There are also two railroad bridges that cross Berm Road: one behind City Hall and the other behind Tomorrowland.
Major buildings backstage include the Frank Gehry-designed "Team Disney Anaheim," where most of the division's administration currently works, as well as the old Administration Building, behind Tomorrowland. The old Administration Building additionally houses the Grand Canyon and Primeval World dioramas visible on the Disneyland Railroad.
The north-west corner of the park is home to most of the park's maintenance facilities, including:
- Company vehicle services, including Parking Lot trams and Main Street Vehicles
- Scrap yard, where the Resort's garbage and recyclables are sorted for collection
- Circle D Corral, where the Resort's horses and other animals are stabled
- Parade float storage and maintenance
- Distribution center for all Resort merchandise
- Ride vehicle service areas
- Paint shop
- Sign shop
"Backstage" also refers to parts of show buildings that are normally not seen by guests. Most attractions contain hidden walkways, service areas, control rooms, and other behind-the-scenes operations. Backstage areas are generally off-limits to park guests. This prevents guests from seeing the industrial areas that violate the "magic" of onstage and allows cast members some solace while they work or rest. Photography is forbidden in these areas, although some photos have found their way to a variety of web sites. Guests who attempt to overtly see backstage are warned and often escorted from the property.
Various amenities exist for Cast Members backstage when they are on breaks, or before and after their scheduled shifts. A number of cafeterias, collectively called Star Dinerz locations, offer discounted meals throughout the day. These include Inn Between (behind the Plaza Inn), Eat Ticket (near the Team Disney Anaheim building behind Mickey's Toontown), and Westside Diner (located in a lower level beneath New Orleans Square). Partners Federal Credit Union, the credit union for employees of The Walt Disney Company in Orange County, provides nearly 20 ATMs backstage for cast member use and maintains an express branch at the Team Disney Anaheim building.
[edit] Transportation
Walt Disney had a longtime interest in transportation, and trains in particular. He even built a miniature live steam backyard railroad, the "Carolwood Pacific Railroad", on the grounds of his Holmby Hills estate. Throughout all the iterations of Disneyland during the seventeen or so years when Mr. Disney was conceiving it, one element remained constant: a train encircling the park.[citation needed]
[edit] Disneyland Railroad
Encircling Disneyland and providing a grand circle tour is the Disneyland Railroad, a short-line railway consisting of five oil-fired and steam-powered locomotives, in addition to three passenger trains and one passenger-carrying freight train. Originally known as the Disneyland and Santa Fe Railroad, the D.R.R. was presented by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway until 1974. From 1955 to 1974, the Santa Fe Rail Pass was able to be used in lieu of a Disneyland "D" coupon. Laid to three-foot gauge, the most common narrow gauge measurement used in North America, the track runs in a continuous loop around The Magic Kingdom through each of its realms. Each turn-of-the-19th-Century train departs Main Street Station on an excursion that includes scheduled station stops at: Frontierland Station; Toontown Depot, the gateway to Fantasyland; and, Tomorrowland Station. The Grand Circle Tour then concludes with a visit to the "Grand Canyon/Primeval World" dioramas before returning passengers to Main Street, U.S.A.
[edit] Disneyland Monorail System
One of Disneyland's signature attractions is its monorail service, which opened in Tomorrowland in 1959 as the first daily-operating monorail train system in the Western Hemisphere. The monorail guideway has remained almost exactly the same since 1961, aside from small alterations while Indiana Jones Adventure was being built. Four generations of monorail trains have been used in the park, since their lightweight construction means they wear out quickly. The most recent generation, the Mark V, was installed in 1987 when more modern trains built by Ride & Show Engineering eliminated the old ALWEG Buck Rogers-style trains. The next update will be in 2007, when the Mark VII trains are slated to be installed. The monorail shuttles visitors between two stations, one inside the park in Tomorrowland and one in Downtown Disney. It follows a 2.5 mile (4 km) long route designed to show off the park from above.
Currently the Two Monorails in the park are up and running (Monorail Red and Purple) and doing the full circle loop. For much of 2006 the Monorail was only using part of the track to allow for construction of the new Finding Nemo: Submarine Voyage attraction scheduled to open in June of 2007. As of 2004, three monorail trains, Monorail Red, Monorail Blue, and Monorail Purple, were in regular service. A fourth train, Monorail Orange, was removed from service and shipped to Disney's engineering department in Glendale for disassembly and study so that new blueprints can be created from it, because ALWEG, the company which built the original monorail trains, has gone out of business, and the current trains, built by Ride & Show Engineering in 1987, use some of the same parts as the ALWEG trains. Monorail Blue was sent to Canada for major rebuilding in late August of 2006.
Disneyland had a contract with Alweg which required the Alweg name to be displayed on the monorail, which conflicted with the contract with the Santa Fe that specified only their name could be associated with railroad attractions at the park. This caused a rift between Disneyland and the railroad, and eventually caused the breakdown in their relationship and the removal of Santa Fe sponsorship from the Disneyland Railroad.
[edit] Main Street vehicles
A number of vehicles, including a double-decker bus, a horse-drawn streetcar, an old-fashioned fire engine, and an 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 (3 kW) engines and manual transmission and steering.
[edit] Entertainment
In addition to the attractions, Disneyland provides live entertainment throughout the park.
[edit] Characters
Disney characters, who greet visitors, interact with children, and pose for photos can be found wandering the park. Some characters have specific areas where they are scheduled to appear, but also can be found wandering as well. One reason Mickey's Toontown was created, was so that there would be a place for Mickey Mouse to always be available to greet guests in his own house.
During the summer of 2006, Mickey climbed Matterhorn Mountain several times a day with the support of his friends Minnie, Goofy, as well as Disneyland guests. He posted the 50th anniversary flag at the summit of the mountain. Other mountain climbers can be seen on the Matterhorn mountain from time to time.
[edit] Parades
Disneyland has always had parades that have marched down Main Street. There are several daytime and nighttime parades that celebrate Disney films or seasonal holidays with characters, music, and large floats. One of the most popular parades was the Main Street Electrical Parade (now at California Adventure as the Disney's Electrical Parade). Beginning May 2005, Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams is presented, celebrating several of the classic Disney stories including The Lion King, Alice in Wonderland, and Pinocchio. During the holiday season, Disneyland presents "A Christmas Fantasy" parade.
[edit] Fireworks
Elaborate fireworks shows synchronized with Disney songs and often an appearance by Peter Pan's character Tinker Bell. Recent presentations have become more elaborate, featuring new pyrotechnics, launch techniques and story lines.
- 1958-1999 Fantasy in the Sky
- 2000-2003 Believe... There's Magic in the Stars
- 2003-current Believe... In Holiday Magic (Holiday season only)
- 2004-2005 Imagine... A Fantasy in the Sky
- 2005-current Remember... Dreams Come True
[edit] The Disneyland Band
The Disneyland Band, which has been part of the park since its opening play the role of the Town Band on Main Street, U.S.A. but also break out into smaller groups like the Main Street Strawhatters, the Hook and Ladder Co., and the Pearly Band in Fantasyland.
[edit] Daily ceremonies
Every evening at dusk, there is a flag ceremony to lower the American Flag for the day.
[edit] Fantasmic!
Fantasmic! is a popular multimedia nighttime show hosted by Mickey Mouse. The presentation is made at the millhouse end of Tom Sawyer Island and uses the Rivers of America as part of the stage. It uses Frontierland and New Orleans Square as the spectator arena.
It consists of synchronized lighting and special effects, with floating barges, the Mark Twain riverboat, the Columbia pirate ship, fountains, lasers, fireworks, thirty-foot-tall "mist screens" upon which animated scenes are projected, and an automated forty-five foot fire-breathing dragon.
[edit] The Golden Horseshoe Revue
The Golden Horseshoe Saloon offers a live stage show with a frontier or old-west feel. The Golden Horseshoe Revue is an old-west Vaudeville type of show starring Slue Foot (or Sluefoot) Sue and Pecos Bill. It 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.
[edit] Tomorrowland Terrace
The Tomorrowland Terrace is a stage in Tomorrowland. It is a two story stage where the lower stage rises from below with dramatic effect. It was popular in the 1960s with music performers of the day. Over the years, it was eventually replaced with Club Buzz, a Buzz Lightyear themed stage and show featuring the space character from the Toy Story movies. In 2006, it was restored to the Tomorrowland Terrace with the same style and design as the original . It is now home to the Jedi Training Academy interactive stage show where children are chosen as Jedi padawan and taught how to use a Lightsaber. Each child then has the opportunity to face either Darth Vader or Darth Maul.
[edit] Other performers
The Main Street Piano Player plays at Corner Cafe on Main Street. Until his retirement in 2005, Rod Miller had played piano at Disneyland since October 1969. Now several very talented pianist perform around Coke Corner.
The Dapper Dans barbershop quartet often sings on Main Street. In Spring 2006, the Dans underwent creative changes and were recast, returning to song and routines not seen on Main St. since the early 70's.
Various unscheduled street performers play and sing in New Orleans Square, often with a jazz influence. There is also a band of pirates that sing and play with the theme of the Pirates of the Caribbean.
The Laughing Stock Co., providing small humorous skits with an old-west theme in front of the Golden Horseshoe Saloon.
Merlin, who appears in Fantasyland several times a day to help some lucky child pull a sword from an anvil and stone.
[edit] Tickets
From Disneyland's opening day until 1982, the price of the attractions was in-addition to the price of park admission.[2] Park-goers paid a small admission fee to get into the park, but in order to be admitted to most the rides and attractions they would purchase a book of tickets that consisted of several coupons labeled "A" through "E". The coupons were also sold individually. "A" coupons allowed admission to the smaller rides and attractions such as the vehicles on Main Street, whereas "C" coupons were used for the most common attractions like the Peter Pan ride, or the Tea Cups. As more thrilling rides were introduced, such as the Monorail or the Matterhorn bobsled, "D" and "E" coupons were introduced. From the thrill ride experience at Disneyland is derived the colloquial expression "an E ticket ride" which is used to describe any exceptionally thrilling experience.
Later Disneyland featured a "Keys to the Kingdom" booklet of tickets which consisted of 10 unvalued coupons sold for a single flat rate. These coupons could be used for any attraction regardless of its regular value. Obviously it would behoove the buyer to use these for the most thrilling attractions or rides.
While Pacific Ocean Park is credited as being the first amusement park to use a "pay one price" admission ticket , it was in the 1970s when nearby Magic Mountain introduced their one-price admission ticket which allowed free access to all attractions within the park when the "pay one price" model really took off. (Six Flags Timeline) 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.
The park also has an annual pass available to guests. The Premium pass allows access to the park every day of the year, and has various discounts at shops and restaurants. The Deluxe pass has similar discounts, but also has busy park days blocked out. Other passes also exist with greater restrictions.
| Date | 1/1999 | 1/2000 | 11/2000 | 3/2002 | 1/2003 | 3/2004 | 1/2005 | 6/2005 | 1/2006 | 9/2006 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price (US$) | $39 | $41 | $43 | $45 | $47 | $49.75 | $53 | $56 | $59 | $63 |
[edit] FastPass
In 1999, in an effort to offset the long waits for the most popular attractions, Disney implemented a new service named Fastpass [5]. At attractions featuring Fastpass, a guest can use their 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 returns to the attraction at their return time, they can 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 has meant that the list of Fastpass equipped attractions has changed over time.
[edit] Closures
Disneyland Park has only had three unscheduled closures since it opened in 1955. The first occurrence was due to President Kennedy's assassination.[citation needed] The second was an "invasion" and demonstration by Yippies in August 1970. The stated reason for the attack was because Bank of America -- a sponsor of Disneyland -- was financing the Vietnam War, which they opposed.[citation needed] The third was when both Disneyland Park and Disney's California Adventure remained closed on September 11, 2001 out of fear of being a high-profile target.[citation needed]
In Disneyland's early years, the park was often scheduled to be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays during the off-season. In cooperation with nearby Knott's Berry Farm, which closed on Wednesdays and Thursdays to keep costs down for both parks, while offering Orange County visitors a place to go 7 days a week.[citation needed]
A scheduled closure occurred on May 4, 2005 so that the finishing touches for the 50th Anniversary Celebration media event (held May 5, 2005) could be completed.[citation needed]
[edit] Management
The operations of Disneyland are mostly merged with that of its sister park, Disney's California Adventure, so both parks, as well as the other Disneyland Resort properties, are managed by one team of senior executives.
Ed Grier is president of the Disneyland Resort. Grier reports to Al Weiss, president of worldwide operations for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts; Weiss reports to Jay Rasulo, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, who in turn reports to Bob Iger, the president and CEO of The Walt Disney Company. Grier is assisted by several experienced theme park managers, including senior vice president of operations Greg Emmer and vice president of theme park operations Jon Storbeck.
On a minute-to-minute basis, the parks are run by duty managers, who are identified by their radio call signs. Disneyland's senior on-the-ground manager at any time is called Theme Park One, a position which rotates among a group of managers in the resort's Theme Park Operations department. (DCA's senior manager is called Theme Park Two.) These managers respond to situtations throughout the park and are empowered to open backstage areas for crowd control purposes, close specific locations, or even close the entire park.
Guest service managers from the park's several business units, including Attractions, Custodial, Foods, Merchandise, and Security, report to the Department Director who in turn reports to Theme Park One, and are given call signs such as Attractions One or Merch One. Various assistant managers, in turn, report to their business unit's duty manager, and carry call signs such as River One (the manager in charge of the Critter Country and New Orleans Square rides). Unfortunately, Disneyland (current and past) has an extremely poor reputation in hiring qualified managers, particularly in Attractions. As of 2007, most Departments have only one manager with the others being Assistant Managers or "TA's" (Managers in Training).
The Ranking Structure for most Departments within the Resort is as follows: {From Highest to Lowest} Director of (Department), Area Manager, Manager, Assistant Manager, General Lead (status eliminated in 2003), Lead, Trainer, and Cast Member.
[edit] Past presidents
[edit] See also
- Incidents at Disney parks
- List of Disney attractions
- List of current Disneyland attractions
- List of past Disneyland attractions
[edit] References
[edit] Books
- Bright, Randy (1987). Disneyland: Inside Story. Harry N Abrams. ISBN 0-8109-0811-5.
- France, Van Arsdale (1991). Window on Main Street. Stabur. ISBN 0-941613-17-8.
- Gordon, Bruce and David Mumford (1995). Disneyland: The Nickel Tour. Camphor Tree Publishers. ISBN 0-9646059-0-2.
- Dunlop, Beth (1996). Building a Dream: The Art of Disney Architecture. Harry N. Abrams Inc. ISBN 0-8109-3142-7.
- Marling, ed., Karal Ann (1997). Designing Disney's Theme Parks: The Architecture of Reassurance. Flammarion. ISBN 2-08-013639-9.
- Koenig, David (1994). Mouse Tales: A Behind-the-Ears Look at Disneyland. Bonaventure Press. ISBN 0-9640605-5-8.
- Koenig, David (1999). More Mouse Tales: A Closer Peek Backstage at Disneyland. Bonaventure Press. ISBN 0-9640605-7-4.
[edit] External links
- Official Disneyland park webpage
- MiceAge
- MiceChat
- MousePlanet
- INTERCOT West
- LAUGHINGPLACE.com
- Yesterland - a site about discontinued Disneyland attractions
- Disneyland Roller Coasters - Details about the most popular attractions in the park.
- O.C. Register: "Fans are put center stage" - Disneyland's 50th Anniversary article
[edit] Aerial photos
- Aerial photo of Disneyland from Google Maps
- Aerial photo of Disneyland from Microsoft Terraserver
- Bird's Eye photo from Windows Live Local
Categories: Articles lacking sources from February 2007 | All articles lacking sources | Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since March 2007 | 1955 establishments | Amusement parks in California | Anaheim, California | Disney franchises | Disneyland Resort | Disney parks and attractions | Disneyland Park | Hollywood Walk of Fame | Landmarks in California | Orange County, California | Tourism in California
