Disney's dream land lives on ...
RANDOR GUY
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Walt Disney's land of fun and fantasy, the vision that gives pleasure to kids and adults alike, turns 50 this year.
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ONE MAN'S VISION: The refurbished Castle during Disney's 50th Anniversary Global Celebration Event at Disneyland.
It was one man's vision that created a wonderland where children and their families could enjoy and indulge in their fantasies. That man was Walt Disney.
He was the creator of immortal cartoon icons such as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Pluto, Goofy and others.
The magical kingdomthat Walt Disney created turns 50 this year. Disneyland, as it is called, is a never-never land of delight that even transforms adults into kids.
The dirty park
One eventful day, Walt Disney sat at an amusement park, watching his daughters play, and observed how disorganised and dirty the small park was. He also watched people's reactions to the different rides and saw how parents, who had come with their kids, had nothing to do. They seemed restless and were anxious to return home, while their children were having fun.
He began to think about it. And the seeds of a new kind of amusement park were sown in his fertile mind.One that would be clean, organised and with various attractions for children and their parents alike.
That was how the idea of Disneyland born.
Disney created plans about his `dreamland.' He travelled all over his homeland and visited buildings of famous creators, like Thomas Edison's Workshop, the Wright Brothers Bicycle shop, and the home of the Dictionary magnate Noah Webster.
While visiting these places, he was formulating ideas of a `Mickey Mouse Park' which eventually became Disneyland.
The War interrupts
The original plan was to locate the park on an eight acre-plot next to his Burbank Studios where it would be close to his staff and their families. The Second World War (1939-1945) put the brakes on his plans. But there was a silver lining. During the war, Disney had time to come up with new ideas. It became too clear too soon that eight acres would scarcely be enough.
Finally in 1953, he had the Stanford Research Institute conduct a survey for a 100-acre site, outside of Los Angeles. He required land to build rivers, waterfalls, mountains, flying elephants, giant teacups, a fairy-tale castle, moon rockets, and a scenic railway. Location was important. The land had to be inside the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area, accessible by freeway and affordable.
After much research, he zeroed in on the then rural Anaheim, not faraway from Los Angeles and bought a 160-acre orange grove.
So Disney needed money to execute his plans. He said later, "I could never convince the financiers that Disneyland was feasible, because dreams offer too little collateral!"
TV glimpses
Therefore, he turned to television for the dollars. His `Walt Disney's Disneyland' TV Series offered a glimpse of the project and its future. Its success gave the nation an idea of his dreams, which soon became true.
Walt Disney
Construction for Disneyland began on July 21, 1954, twelve months before the park was scheduled to open. It was no easy task.
Finally on July 17, 1955, Disneyland (constructed at a cost of $ 17,000,000) was opened to the public.
For Disney and his men, it was not a day for rejoicing but a date with disaster.
Six thousand tickets were sent to invitees for the inauguration, but 28,000 turned up.
Obviously, 22,000 people had entered Disneyland on fake tickets sold at exorbitant rates and there was a virtual stampede outside and inside the park.
Not only that, the asphalt also melted in the blazing sun and there were gas leaks too. However, these problems were set right fast, and soon Disneyland became a major attraction. It had Fantasyland, Adventureland, Frontierland, Mono-rail, Jungle Cruise, Submarine ride, Roller-coasters, Moon Rocket and so on.
Similar ones
Visitors metthe Disney characters Mickey and Minnie Mouse too. Disney also built similar parks near Orlando, Florida, Marne-la-Vallée, France, and Urayasu, Japan.
A new park is under construction in Hong Kong.
(During one of his visits to Disneyland in the late 1990s, this writer had a chat with one of the senior executives who spoke to him about the plans to build a Disneyland in India, near Mumbai or Delhi.
Much research and groundwork were done but theendless red tape, and corruption made them give up the project at least for the time being.)
Disneyland recently played host to its 500-millionth guest. The park is undergoing major renovation for its 50th anniversary.
Although Walt Disney has not lived to see how his dreamland and his company have prospered, his legacy lives on. Once he said, "In every man or woman lives the child for the rest of life and I appeal to that child!" That is the secret of his genius.
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