Disneyland

Disneyland Park is a theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, USA. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company. Disneyland Park has become the world's most famous theme park and one of the most visited sites in the world. An estimated 515 million visitors have visited the park since its opening on July 17, 1955. A worldwide celebration began in commemoration of Disneyland's 50th anniversary on May 5, 2005. It is renowned for being the only one of the eleven worldwide Disney theme parks personally developed by Walt Disney.

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 ideals, the dreams and the hard facts which have created America...with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world." Walter E. Disney, July 17, 1955

History

Concept and construction

Walt Disney and his 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. Walt's original concept was of a permanent family fun park without the negative element which 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 parents 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). 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. [1] [2] Construction began on July 18, 1954 and would cost USD$17 million to complete. U.S. Highway 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 his brother Roy's distrust of the project, and because of financial considerations, Walt Disney was forced to turn to outside financing for his theme park. He first turned to long-time licensee Western Publishing which invested in the park. ABC as part of the deal to broadcast the Disneyland television show also became an investor. For the first five years of its operation, Disneyland was owned by Disneyland, Inc., of which Walt Disney Productions, Western Publishing and ABC each owned shares. After the park was a clear success Western acceeded to a request to sell its share in the enterprise back to Disney. But ABC refused the same request initially, feeling the profit potential of the park was too lucrative to sell. It wasn't until 1960 that Walt Disney Productions acquired ABC's share of the theme park. Disney's displeasure at ABC's actions partly motivated the Walt Disney anthology series moving to NBC in 1961.

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 Dumbo Flying Elephants.

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 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".

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 every single Disney-owned park in the world.

Disneylands around the world

Despite the problems on the opening day, Disneyland was clearly an enormous success. It attracted visitors worldwide in unprecedented volume. Soon, even as they refined and developed Disneyland, Walt and Roy were also planning an expansion of the concept to other locations.

The Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida was built with Walt's hatred of the cheap motels and amusements that popped up around Disneyland in mind. It is the largest private-owned vacation destination, and the most popular vacation destination in the world although the yet-to-open Dubai Land in the United Arab Emirates is twice the size. Walt Disney World opened in 1971 under the guidance of Roy O. Disney. Since its opening, with one theme park and two hotels, the resort has grown into four theme parks, two water parks, twenty-three hotels and a retail, dining and entertainment district.

In 1983 the first international Disney theme park opened: Tokyo Disneyland Park in Japan. Tokyo Disneyland Park is now part of the Tokyo Disney Resort, and has a sister theme park Tokyo DisneySea. Tokyo Disneyland Park and Tokyo DisneySea 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, and is now the Disneyland Resort Paris with two theme parks.

On September 12, 2005, the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort was opened in Hong Kong. Hong Kong Disneyland Resort is owned jointly by the Hong Kong Government and the Walt Disney Company.

1990s Transition: theme park becomes resort

In the 1990s, major construction began to transform Disneyland from a theme park into a vacation resort. The Walt Disney Company purchased land surrounding the park that was once the site of low-budget motels and trailer courts, and dug up its original "Hundred-Acre Parking Lot". On this land, Disney's California Adventure Park and Downtown Disney opened in 2001. The Grand Californian Hotel, patterned after the Arts and Crafts movement of the early 20th century, extends into Disney's California Adventure Park and allows paying guests to enter that park through the hotel itself.

Most of the resort's parking today is handled by the six-level "Mickey and Friends" parking garage. With six levels and 10,250 parking spaces, it is the largest parking structure in the world. Propane-powered trams bring visitors to the entrance plaza between the two parks. There are also some smaller, off-property lots with regular shuttle service to the parks, and most nearby hotels offer regular shuttle service as well.

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. The leaders came under increasing criticism for a host of cost cutting initiatives and profit boosting schemes.

Under their direction, few new attractions were built and many were closed down. Shops that once carried a variety of items themed to their locations now carried general Disney character products. Themed restaurants and shops were closed and replaced by outdoor vending carts which caused crowds to clog walkways. The decision to remodel Tomorrowland, derided by some fans, was attributable to Pressler, as was the closure of a great many popular attractions within the area. 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. Paint was peeling off buildings and roofs were literally disintegrating from age, especially the thatched roofs in Fantasyland. Light bulbs, which were once replaced before they burned out, not only were run to burnout but were so numerous as to make the facades they outlined look almost toothless. Fans of the park decried the perceived decline in customer value and park quality and railed for the dismissal of the management team.

In 2003, both Harriss and Pressler stepped down to take over operations of national clothing retailer The Gap. Irby stepped down the following year.

Disneyland 2005 and beyond

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. Praised by Disney fan sites for his success at Disney Cruise Line, Ouimet quickly set about reversing negative trends, especially with regards to cosmetic maintenance and a return to the original infrastructure maintenance schedule, in hopes of restoring the good safety record of the past. Much like Walt Disney himself, Ouimet and Emmer can often be seen walking the park during business hours with members of their staff. They wear cast member name badges, queue in line for attractions and welcome comments from guests.

Disneyland Park hosted its 500-millionth guest in 2004.

Fiftieth anniversary

In 2004, the park undertook a number of major renovation projects in preparation for its fiftieth anniversary celebration. Many classic attractions (often ones neglected during Paul Pressler and Cynthia Harriss' times as Disneyland Resort President) have been restored, probably most notably Space Mountain, Jungle Cruise, and Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room, which has received a complete restoration of its 40-year-old soundtrack.

In 2005, the entire Walt Disney Company celebrated Disneyland Park's 50th anniversary, marketed as the "Happiest Homecoming on Earth." The official celebration began on May 5, with a dedication from Michael Eisner, Bob Iger, and Art Linkletter. On July 15th, 2005, Disneyland Park became the first 'location' to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The actual anniversary day (July 17) was an event marked more by the fans' enthusiasm than by the company's recognition. The first people 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 a.m., although it took several hours to admit the crowds that showed up that morning.

At 10 a.m., Diane Disney Miller re-read her father's original dedication speech in a ceremony with Art Linkletter, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, CEO-Elect Robert Iger, and CEO Michael Eisner. Later that day, a recording of Walt Disney's original dedication speech was replayed throughout the park, exactly 50 years to the minute from when it was originally delivered. No other special events had been planned for the day, making for a much smaller celebration than the media blowout of May 5. There were also complimentary golden Mickey ears that were specifically made for July 17, along with cupcakes for the guests. Many of the people who had waited overnight left after the re-dedication. Although the gates had been temporarily closed in the morning, it was only done to control crowds which were flooding Main Street for the morning ceremony. The park never reached capacity that day.

Park layout

Main articles: List of current Disneyland attractions and List of past Disneyland attractions

The park was designed by Walt Disney's movie studio staff to have five distinctly-themed "lands". Three more lands have been added since the park's opening.

At the center of the park stands Sleeping Beauty Castle.

Main Street, U.S.A.

Based on the stereotypical turn-of-the-20th-century city Main Street, specifically Disney's boyhood home of Marceline, Missouri, Main Street, U.S.A. is home to many shops but is the only land in all of Disneyland without a permanent ride.

The 1880s-styled shops that line Main Street appear to be full two-story buildings. In reality, however, they implemented forced perspective to give the illusion that they are full height. The second levels of the buildings are a few feet short of being full size. If the Disneyland architects had made the buildings a full two stories high, they would have looked incongruously tall compared to the castle.

Walt Disney 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." Above the firehouse is Walt Disney's personal apartment, fully furnished but off-limits to the public. A lamp is kept burning in the window as a tribute to his memory.

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 the "Temple of the Forbidden Eye" in Indiana Jones Adventure, the Jungle Cruise, Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room and "Tarzan's Treehouse." (The Tarzan Treehouse is an adaptation of the earlier Swiss Family Treehouse from the Walt Disney film, Swiss Family Robinson)

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.

Fantasyland

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.

King Arthur Carrousel

Walt Disney felt that no park was complete without a carousel. Therefore, an 1875 Dentzel park model carousel which had operated since 1922 at Sunnyside Park in Toronto, Ontario was taken from Sunnyside and moved to Disneyland just before the park opened in 1955.

The carousel has been significantly altered since then. The original chariots were removed and used as cars on the "Casey Jr. Circus Train" attraction. A Wurlitzer #157 band organ is on the carousel, but does not operate. Motifs from The Sword In The Stone were used in 1955 to replace elements of the carousel. Original inner rounding boards were replaced with mirrors, and the jester and princess head shields on the outer rounding boards have been extensively altered also.

The carousel has seventy-two horses, carved in Germany in the late 19th century. Some of the horses were taken from a Stein and Goldstein carousel and another carousel in 1955 to add a fourth row, completely made of jumpers and operated by a custom-built crankshaft. Standers on the original three rows were converted to jumpers in 1955. Because of the overwhelming popularity of the carousel's single white horse, all horses have been painted white since 1976.

King Arthur Carrousel (sic) reopened in February 2003 after extensive renovations. These renovations included a new computerized operating system that stops the carousel in the same spot every time, and the replacement of about half of the mirrors with scenes from Sleeping Beauty.

King Arthur Carrousel is a major attraction in Fantasyland, and was featured during the finale number, When You Wish Upon A Star, in a Sing Along Songs videocassette featuring Disneyland Park.

Tomorrowland

In Walt Disney's words, "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."

Tomorrowland's showpiece was his TWA Rocket to the Moon, derived from his historic "Man in Space" set of three television shows in the 1950s. It in turn was derived from the first spectacular ride from the 1901 Pan-American Exposition, the trip to the moon ride which eventually became the anchor ride and namesake for Coney Island's Luna Park. In the 1970s, the interior of the ride was updated, and its destination was changed to Mars, with a name change to Mission to Mars.

Disneyland producer Ward Kimball had Rocket scientist Wernher von Braun, Willy Ley, and Heinz Haber as technical consultants during the original design of Tomorrowland.[3]

Another initial exhibit was Monsanto's "House of Tomorrow," a plastic house with four wings cantilevered from a central plinth. This too had its precursors at World's Fairs, though in those cases they were simply homes with modern conveniences and aimed at housewives.

Walt Disney was never completely satisfied with Tomorrowland. 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. Tomorrowland changed yet again in 2005, with a new blue, silver, white, and gold paint scheme, similar to its 1967-1997 paint scheme, but with a small mixture with its 1998 scheme. Space Mountain returned to its classic white look during this repaint of Tomorrowland.

Current attractions include the popular Space Mountain, which opened in 1977, closed in 2003 and reopened in 2005 with rebuilt track and new effects; and Star Tours, a futuristic Star Wars ride created as a collaboration between George Lucas and Disney Imagineers.

The newest Tomorrowland attraction, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, opened in 2005 (a version of this ride first appeared at the Magic Kingdom Park in Florida on October 7, 1998 as Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin). The Submarine Voyage, which closed in 1998, will reopen in 2007 with a Finding Nemo theme.

New Orleans Square

New Orleans Square was among the last additions to Disneyland overseen by Walt Disney himself. Opened in 1966, it is meant to capture the flavor and architectural detail of New Orleans's Bourbon Street.

This area contains two of the most popular Disneyland attractions: Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean. Haunted Mansion is an innovative haunted house experience, while Pirates of the Caribbean takes park guests on a boat ride through extensive pirate adventure scenes. The exterior of the Haunted Mansion was actually constructed in 1962, but Imagineers took several years to develop the attraction. The completed ride opened on August 9, 1969.

New Orleans Square is also home to a private club and restaurant, Club 33, located above the "Blue Bayou Restaurant" around the corner from the entrance to Pirates of the Caribbean. Not open to the general public and rarely mentioned in any of the park's promotional material, Club 33's membership costs around $7,500-$10,000 per year with a waiting list several years long. The entrance to the club is a plain blue door, marked only with an address plaque bearing the number "33", immediately to the right of the Blue Bayou. It is the only place in Disneyland where alcoholic beverages are served.

Morse code can be heard at the train station in New Orleans Square. The transmission is the first two sentences from Walt Disney's opening day speech on July 17, 1955. "To all who come to this happy place, welcome. Here age relives fond memories of the past, and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future."

Critter Country

Critter Country opened in 1972 as "Bear Country," and was renamed in 1988. Formerly the area was home to the Indian Village with actual Native Americans entertaining guests. Today, its main draw is Splash Mountain, a log flume attraction themed after the animated segments of Disney's 1946 movie Song of the South. In 2003, a dark ride called The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh replaced the long-running Country Bear Jamboree, a show featuring singing Audio-Animatronic bears.

Mickey's Toontown

Mickey's Toontown opened in 1993 and patterned after "Toontown" in the Disney/Touchstone Pictures 1988 release Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Mickey's Toontown looks like a 1930s Max Fleischer cartoon short come to life. The land is built like the town where Disney characters live and work, and Mickey's Toontown Fair at the Magic Kingdom Park at the Walt Disney World Resort is built like a county fair with judging tents.

Backstage areas

Areas closed to park visitors are considered in Disneyland lingo "backstage". There are several points of entry from the outside world to the backstage areas: Ball Gate (at the terminus of Cast Place off Ball Road), TDA Gate (adjacent to the Team Disney Anaheim building), Harbor Gate (off Harbor Boulevard, behind Tomorrowland), and Winston Gate (off Disneyland Drive, behind the Mickey and Friends parking garage).

Berm Road encircles the park from Firehouse Gate (behind the Main Street Fire Station) to Egghouse Gate (adjacent to the Main Street Opera House). The road is so called because it generally follows outside the path of Disneyland's earthen berm, although with the addition of Mickey's Toowntown, the road now strays as much as 100 yards from onstage areas at some points. A stretch of the road, wedged between Tomorrowland and Harbor Boulevard, is called Schumaker Road. It has two narrow lanes divided by a double yellow line, runs underneath the Monorail track. There are also two railroad bridges that cross Berm Road: one behind City Hall and the other behind Tomorrowland near Harbor Gate. The speed limit for most parts of Berm Road is 15 miles per hour, although a section cutting through Disneyland's maintenance shops behind the park's northwestern corner has a speed limit of 5 miles per hour.

The major buildings backstage include "Team Disney Anaheim", where many of the park's support staff and top-level managers work; and the "Old Administration Building", behind Tomorrowland and Main Street.

Transportation

Walt Disney had a longtime interest in transportation, and railroads in particular. He had built a miniature live steam backyard railroad, the "Carolwood Pacific Railroad", on the grounds of his own home. Therefore a number of different modes of transport were incorporated into the park. The transportation systems are in some respects intended more as entertainment or sightseeing rides than as a means of transporting guests, such as the "Casey Junior" train ride.

Disneyland Railroad

Disneyland incorporates a steam railroad, the Disneyland Railroad. Originally known as the Disneyland and Santa Fe Railroad, it was sponsored by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway until 1974. Laid to three-foot gauge, the most common narrow gauge measurement used in North America, the railroad is laid in a continuous loop around the park. All the Disneyland locomotives burn diesel fuel, which is less polluting (though more expensive) than the coal, wood, or heavy "Bunker C" oil normally used on steam locomotives.

Originally, two trains could operate on the railroad, running in opposite directions. A passing track was incorporated at Main Street station where one train had to wait to allow the other to pass. Later, for safety reasons and to allow the use of more than two trains, the line was changed so that trains in normal service run in a clockwise direction only. The passing track was disconnected and now is only used to display a handcar. The 1958 addition of the "Grand Canyon/Primeval World" diorama necessitated a change in the rolling stock as well; instead of facing forward, the benches of the new flatcars now faced right so that the diorama could be better enjoyed by the passengers. Five open-air, clerestory-roofed observation cars with forward-facing seats dating from the park's opening were returned to service in 2004 after undergoing a three-year restoration.

Another detail dating from the park's opening can be seen from the railroad. As the train passes behind the "it's a small world" attraction in Fantasyland, it crosses a service road that is protected by two miniature wigwag crossing signals. Santa Fe offered the use of full-scale crossing signals, but Disney declined as they would be out of scale with the trains. These scaled-down replicas were designed and built by the San Bernardino shops of the Santa Fe Railroad as a gift to Disneyland. They operate with automotive windshield wiper motors.

The Walt Disney Company constructed the original two locomotives in its own workshops under the supervision of Roger E. Broggie. Patterned after the Lilly Belle, a miniature steam locomotive Broggie had made for Walt's backyard Carolwood Pacific Railroad, these were also models of classic "Wild West" style American 4-4-0s, but built to a larger three-fifths scale. No. 1 was given a big wood-burning 'balloon' stack and a large, pointed pilot (cowcatcher) while No. 2 was given a straight stack and smaller pilot common to East Coast coal-burning locomotives.

Two more locomotives were later acquired from outside sources, since this was cheaper than building new ones and since many narrow-gauge lines were closing down and selling their equipment. All three were given extensive renovations before entering service, including new boilers. No. 4 is a "Forney" locomotive, a type of tank locomotive. As an 1894 product of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, No. 4 is the oldest locomotive in service at any Disney property.

In 2004, Disney purchased the inoperable Maud L locomotive from the Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio, and sent it to a Southern California shop to restore it and transform it into a Disneyland Railroad locomotive. This 1902 Baldwin loco will be Disneyland Railroad train #5, and will be the first Disneyland Railroad train added since 1959. The train will be named after the late Ward Kimball, one of Disney's Nine Old Men.

The railroad reopened in March 2005 after undergoing a three-month restoration to bring the roadbed back to gauge in time for the park's fiftieth anniversary. It is the most prolonged closure of the railroad in park history.

Disneyland Monorail

One of Disneyland's signature attractions is its Alweg monorail system, installed in 1959. The monorail track has remained almost exactly the same since 1961, aside from small alterations while Disney's California Adventure and Downtown Disney were being built. The trains themselves have received multiple updates; the most recent was in 1987 when more modern trains built by Ride and Show Entertainment eliminated the old ALWEG Buck Rogers-style trains. The next update will be around 2006 or 2007. The monorail shuttles visitors between two stations, one in Disneyland itself (in Tomorrowland) and one outside the park, originally at the Disneyland Hotel but now, after the 2001 remodel, at the Downtown Disney shopping complex. It follows a 2.5 mile (4 km) long route designed to show off the park from above. Three generations of monorail cars have been used in the park, since their lightweight construction means they wear out quickly.

As of 2004, three monorail trains, Monorail Red, Monorail Blue, and Monorail Purple, are 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 Entertainment in 1987, use some of the same parts as the ALWEG trains did.

Disneyland had signed a contract with the Alweg company which required the Alweg name to be displayed on the monorail. This conflicted with the contract with the Santa Fe that only their name could be associated with railroad attractions at the park. This caused a rift between Disneyland and the Santa Fe railroad, and eventually caused the breakdown in their relationship and the removal of Santa Fe sponsorship from the Disneyland Railroad.

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.

Skyway

The Disneyland Skyway, "the first aerial tramway of its kind in the United States"¹, was one of the signature attractions at the park. Opened in 1956 by Walt Disney himself, it shuttled passengers between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland 100 feet (30 m) above the ground, giving passengers fantastic views of Sleeping Beauty Castle, the Matterhorn (which was built around the Skyway in 1959), and the Autopia. A distinctive feature was that Disneyland maintained the 'on-stage/backstage' illusion to Skyway guests, covering any sites that would be unsuitable to guests that were also hidden to guests on foot.

Due to the enormous impending cost to retrofit the Skyway for earthquake safety and handicap accessibility, the attraction closed permanently on November 10, 1994. Four years later, Tokyo Disneyland Park removed their Skyway; finally, in 1999, Walt Disney World Resort's Magic Kingdom Park removed theirs. No Skyways are left at any Disney park (Disneyland Park in Paris never had a Skyway attraction).

The Tomorrowland station remained and was used as a maintenance bay for Rocket Rods beginning in 1998. It was removed shortly after the Rocket Rods closed in spring 2001.

The Fantasyland station remains.

Autopia

The Disneyland Autopia opened with the park in 1955, and represented a future look at what would become America's multilane limited-access highways that were still being developed (President Eisenhower had yet to sign the Interstate Highway legislation at the time Disneyland opened).

Robert Gurr designed the original Autopia cars to be reminiscent of Ferraris. In 1967, the cars were redesigned to resemble the popular Chevrolet Corvette. This car design was used through 2000, when the entire ride was rethemed and modernized. The new cars resemble those used in television commercials for Chevron and are in one of these three styles:

• Suzy the zippy compact
• Sparky the sports car
• Dusty, an S.U.V.

Live entertainment

In addition to the attractions, Disneyland provides live entertainment throughout the park. Through the years, this has included:

• Daytime and nighttime parades that celebrate Disney films or seasonal holidays with characters, music, and large floats. 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.
• Elaborate fireworks shows featuring Disney songs and an appearance by "Peter Pan" character Tinker Bell. The Fantasy in the Sky fireworks premiered in the summer of 1956 and lasted through the summer of 1999. 2000 and beyond introduced fireworks presentations that have become more elaborate, featuring new pyrotechnics, launch locations, and storylines, such as the show Believe... There's Magic in the Stars and the current 50th anniversary celebration fireworks presentation Remember... Dreams Come True.
• Fantasmic! in Frontierland, a popular nighttime show with Mickey Mouse, special effects, floating barges, fountains, lasers, a pirate ship, a forty-five foot fire-breathing dragon, fireworks, and thirty-foot-tall "mist screens," upon which animated scenes are projected.
• The Disneyland Band, which has been part of the park since its opening. They play the role of the Town Band on Main Street U.S.A. but also breakout into smaller groups like the Main Street Merchants Band, the Firehouse Sax Quartet and a variety of groups in New Orleans Square. The Disneyland Band is traditionally all male.
• The Golden Horseshoe Saloon offers a live stage show with a frontier or old-west feel. The Golden Horseshoe Revue—an old-west Vaudeville type of show starring Slue Foot (or Sluefoot) Sue and Pecos Bill—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.
• The Dapper Dans barbershop quartet often sings on Main Street.
• Rod Miller is a ragtime pianist who has played at Corner Cafe on Main Street since October 1969.
• The Laughing Stock Co. in Frontierland provide small humorous skits with an old-west theme.
• Disney characters greet visitors, talk with children, and pose for photos. Besides greeting visitors in regular places, they often participate in Disneyland parades.
• Merlin appears in Fantasyland several times a day to help some lucky child pull a sword from an anvil and stone.

Tickets

From Disneyland's opening until 1982, the price of attractions was in addition to the price of park admission. Park-goers paid a small sum to get into the park, then bought coupons (also called tickets), individually or in booklets, that allowed them access to rides and attractions. The least-expensive "A" tickets gave access to the smaller attractions, while the most-expensive "E" tickets gave access to the newest thrill rides or the most interesting and unusual attractions. This led to the still-popular term "E ticket ride" for any particularly outstanding, special, or thrilling experience.

In the 1970s, nearby Magic Mountain introduced a one-price admission ticket which allowed free access to all attractions within the park. 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.

In 1999, in an effort to offset the long waits for the most popular attractions, Disney implemented a new service named FASTPASS [4]. At attractions featuring FASTPASS, a guest can use his 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 comes back to the attraction at his return time, he will get to 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 ensured its spread to many of the park's attractions.

Deaths

Over the half century that Disneyland Park has been in operation, nine Guests and one Cast Member have died inside the park. A greater number of guests have been injured.

Seven of the deaths were the result of negligence on the Guests' part rather than the park's:

• In 1964, 15-year-old Mark Maples of Long Beach, California died after he stood up in the Matterhorn Bobsleds and fell out.
• In 1966, Thomas Guy Cleveland, 19, of Northridge, California was crushed by the Monorail during a Grad Nite celebration while trying to sneak into the park by climbing its track.
• In 1967, Ricky Lee Yama, 17, of Hawthorne, California was crushed while jumping between two moving PeopleMover cars.
• In 1973, Bogden Delaurot, 18, of Brooklyn, New York drowned while trying to carry his little brother swimming across the Rivers of America.
• In 1980, Gerrardo Gonzales, 18, of San Diego, California was crushed by the PeopleMover while jumping between moving cars.
• In 1983, Philip Straughan, 18, of Albuquerque, New Mexico drowned in the Rivers of America while trying to pilot a rubber emergency boat from Tom Sawyer's Island.
• In 1984, Dolly Regene Young, 48, of Fremont, California unbuckled her seatbelt and was thrown from a Matterhorn Bobsleds car and struck by the next oncoming bobsled.

Two of the deaths were ruled by CalOSHA to be the result of negligence on the park's part rather than misbehavior by guests:

• On December 24, 1998, a heavy metal cleat fastened to the hull of the sailing ship "Columbia" tore loose, striking one cast member and two park guests. Of the guests, Luan Phi Dawson, 33, of Duvall, Washington, died of a head injury. The normal non-elastic rope (designed to break easily) used to tie the boat off was improperly replaced by an elastic rope which stretched and tore the cleat from the ship's wooden hull. The park received much criticism for this incident due to its policy of restricting outside medical personnel in the park to avoid frightening visitors, as well as for the fact that the Cast Member in charge of the ship at the time was a novice.
• On September 5, 2003, 22-year-old Marcelo Torres of nearby Gardena, California died after suffering injuries in a derailment of the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster. The cause of the accident was determined to be improper maintenance.

• In 1974, Cast Member Deborah Gail Stone, 19, of nearby Santa Ana, California was crushed to death between a revolving wall and a stationary platform inside the now-closed "America Sings" attraction. She was in the wrong place during a ride intermission; it was unclear whether this was due to inadequate training or a misstep. The attraction was subsequently refitted with breakaway walls. [5]

• In 1979, Sherrill Anne Hoffman, ignoring the signs posted outside Space Mountain warning guests with any medical conditions to bypass such tumultous rides, boarded Space Mountain and started to ride through it. During the ride, she got sick and when her ride vehicle reached the unload area, she couldn't get out of the rocket. Employees told her to stay in her rocket and that rocket would be removed from the track. But the attendants didn't understand and sent Hoffman's vehicle on another three-minute go-round. By the end of the second trip, she was almost unconscious. She got carried to a bench and was then wheeled in a wheelchair to First Aid. They told her husband not to worry; she only fainted. But then he insisted that she be sent to the hospital after her condition didn't improve. She was taken to the hospital where she remained in a coma for a week and then passed away. It was later revealed that she had a tumor in her heart. It was possible that the ride removed it. Pieces of it got in her brain and killed her. Her husband tried to sue the park, convinced that the second Space Mountain trip broke the tumor free and that the park declined to properly or quickly care for her. The case was eventually dismissed.

Incidents

In August 1970, Disneyland Park was literally invaded by several Yippies who planned the stunt as an attack on what they saw as bloated establishment decadence. In their leaflets, they stated they would help "liberate" Minnie Mouse, arrange a Black Panther Breakfast at the now-closed Aunt Jemima Pancake House, and attack the Bank of America on Main Street, USA and the attraction it's a small world, which Bank of America sponsored. They wanted to attack Bank of America because the Bank was supposedly financing the Vietnam War. They raised a Viet Cong flag on Tom Sawyer's Island chanting "Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh", filled the now-closed Inner Space dark ride with marijuana smoke, displayed the Yippie flag (which had on it an image of a marijuana leaf in a red star on a black background).

With memories of this event in mind, in May 1989, park security personnel were prepared for rumors of an invasion of the park by neo-Nazis, in honor of the birth of an obscure Nazi leader named Gregor Strasser. Although several leaflets were published announcing this, only one car of neo-Nazis was seen in the parking lot before the park opened, and none entered. They approached the gates, only to be dismissed at the gates.

Closures

Disneyland Park has only been forced to close twice in its history.

The first occurrence was due to President Kennedy's assassination, yet urban legends have circulated that Walt Disney refused to heed orders from Under Secretary of State George Ball to lower the US Flag in Town Square - although Disney and his brother were on the other side of the country surveying land for the future site of the Walt Disney World Resort.

Disneyland Park stayed closed during the attacks of September 11, 2001, out of respect for the time of national mourning and out of fear of further attacks directed at high-profile targets such as the park.

A scheduled closure occurred on May 4, 2005. Though the original stated reason was to put the finishing touches on the 50th Anniversary Celebration, Disneyland Park also played host to a large media event designed to generate interest in the 50th anniversary celebration. The celebration began on May 5.

An additional restriction was imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration after September 11, a temporary flight restriction, which forbids civilian and media aircraft from flying over the park. Although called "temporary," this restriction is still in place as of May, 2005, however it has since been weakened, only creating the "No-Fly Zone" when the Terror Alert Level is Orange or higher.

Disneyland in fiction

Disneyland Park, and a learned discussion of its social function, occurs with deliberate incongruity in the closing pages of E. L. Doctorow's novel The Book of Daniel.

In the 1962 movie The Three Stooges in Orbit, Larry, Moe and Curly Joe prevent Martians from attacking Disneyland from a flying submarine.

The 1962 movie 40 Pounds Of Trouble starring Tony Curtis and Suzanne Pleshette culminates in a madcap chase through Disneyland's various realms.

In The Doctor Who serial "The Delta and the Bannermen", Sylvester McCoy's Doctor takes a bus tour supposedly going to Disneyland. This trip goes awry and chaos ensues.

In Kim Stanley Robinson's novel The Gold Coast (set in a dystopian Orange County of 2030), the core characters mention a perverse game where the person who has to wait the longest for the least thrilling ride at Disneyland wins.

In Eric Wilson's young adult novel Disneyland Hostage (which is part of the Canadian mystery series featuring Liz Austen) terrorists take over Disneyland and hold guests hostage on Tom Sawyer's Island.

Management

The operations of Disneyland are mostly merged with that of its sister park, Disney's California Adventure (DCA), so both parks, as well as the other Disneyland Resort properties, are managed by one team of senior executives.

Matt Ouimet is the president of the Disneyland Resort. (He reports to Jay Rasulo, the chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, who in turn reports to Bob Iger, the president and chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company.) Ouimet, who previously ran Disney's cruise ship operations, 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 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 callsigns such as River One (the manager in charge of the Critter Country and New Orleans Square rides).

References

• ¹Disneyland: The First Quarter Century (1979). Walt Disney Productions.
• Yesterland.
• Daily park brochures from Summer 1981, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2002.

Notes

1. ^  Although most people refer to the park as simply "Disneyland", the official name is "Disneyland Park". United States trademark practice specifies that a trademark such as "Disneyland" is always used as an adjective and never as a noun or verb. Therefore, "Xerox copier" and "Disneyland Park" are correct usage, while "use a Xerox" or "come to Disneyland" are not technically correct.

Books

Disneyland: Inside Story by Randy Bright. New York: Harry N Abrams, 1987.

Window on Main Street by Van Arsdale France. ?: Stabur, 1991.