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Disneyland
 DISNEYLAND
Disneyland Park is a theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, USA, 28 miles from downtown Los Angeles, and is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company.
Disneyland Park has become one of the world's most famous locations and also one of the most visited sites. An estimated 515 million visitors have visited the park since its opening on July 17, 1955. A worldwide celebration in commemoration of Disneyland's 50th anniversary began on May 5, 2005.
 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 mē) 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 mē) of orange groves and walnut trees in Anaheim, south of Los Angeles in neighboring Orange County.
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. 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.
PARK LAYOUT
The park is divided into public areas, consisting of themed lands, and the well-concealed "backstage" area, which normally only cast members can enter. The themed lands and other public areas occupy 85 acres (344,000 mē).
The themed lands branch out in many directions from the "Central Plaza" end of Main Street, similar to the way spokes on a wheel lead away from a wheel's hub. At the center of the park stands Sleeping Beauty Castle.
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.
- Main Street, USA
Based on the stereotypical turn-of-the-20th-century city Main Street, specifically Disney's boyhood home of Marceline, Missouri, Main Street, USA is home to many shops but is the only land in all of Disneyland without a permanent ride. 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."
• Adventureland
This land 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
This land 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. Attractions include several dark rides, the King Arthur Carrousel (spelled this way by Disney), and various children's rides.
• Tomorrowland
View of the "new" Tomorrowland as seen from 1998-2005In 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."
Disneyland producer Ward Kimball had Rocket scientist Wernher von Braun, Willy Ley, and Heinz Haber as technical consultants during the original design of Tomorrowland. 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 and Star Tours, among others.
• 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, and a private club and restaurant, Club 33.
• 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
Toontown opened in 1993 and was 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.
TRANSPORTATION IN DISNEYLAND
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 track runs in a continuous loop around the park. The train stops at stations in New Orleans Square, Toontown, Tomorrowland, and Main Street. The train passes the "Grand Canyon/Primeval World" diorama in a tunnel between the Tomorrowland and Main Street stations. Between the New Orleans Square station and Toontown, it passes an audioanimatronic scene in Splash Mountain.
• 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. 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 and Show Entertainment 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.
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.
Disneyland had a contract with Alweg 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, USA
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.
• Disneyland 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 on the exact date that Disneyland removed theirs. No Skyways are left at any Disney park (Disneyland Park in Paris never had a Skyway attraction).
The Tomorrowland station in Disneyland 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 in Disneyland remains but is closed to the public.
• 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, and Dusty, an S.U.V.
Retrieved from Wikipedia.org, the Free Encyclopedia
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DISNEYLAND 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, 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."
Walter E. Disney, July 17, 1955
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