The Happiest Place on Earth

When you see a picture of Mickey Mouse, what do you think of ? For most, the answer to this question is easy. This mouse face is still the most iconic symbol of all of Disney’s work and at Disney’s theme parks, Mickey Mouse represents it all. Walt Disney’s animation is obviously one of the biggest advances to ever come across our television screens, but his dream went way beyond that.

Sitting on a bench at a local amusement park, Disney watched from afar as his two daughters enjoyed the rides. He took in the parks sights and sounds as he began formulating his thoughts. As the park was crowded and not properly well kept, he noticed the parents seemed pretty bored and eager to go home. Right then and there, Disney knew of his next big project. He so desperately wanted to create a place where children and adults could have fun together. He wanted a clean and well kept place where people who entered through the gates were suddenly greeted as guests and amazed at all of the great sights. He knew he also wanted a place to represent his animation, characters and famous stories that everyone had come to love. It was a huge and costly investment, but Disney’s determination could have never been doubted.

After working hard to find the right land in California large enough to build all that he envisioned, the construction of “Disneyland” began. Purchasing a 160 acre orange grove in the middle of Anaheim, California, Walt still needed financial support and could not convince the bank that his dream really would come true. To keep the project going, Walt turned to television and his show “Walt Disney’s Disneyland” financially supported his big projects as well as giving the people a first hand glimpse into the magical world.

The Disneyland design was something no creator had ever done before. Creating giant castles and elephants that flew in a series of different “lands” was something totally new and astounding to all those working on the project. Disney created five different lands at which guest could explore. These lands represented his different movies, cartoons and famous icons including "Davie Crockett". Adventure land, Frontierland, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland would all branch off of the famous Sleeping Beauty’s Castle and Main Street USA, which was modeled after his hometown of Marceline, Missouri. Walt, with his fascination with trains, included them in the park as well.

As opening day came on July, 17^th, 1955, Disney opened the 17,000,000 dollar “Magic Kingdom” for selected friends and family. As he dedicated the park to his guests in an opening ceremony, Walt at age 52 was able to look around and visualize his great accomplishments. Later he realized that his purchased land just wasn’t enough to expand on the park. His now famous Disneyland started to be smothered by many cheap resorts and California businesses. Walt still dreamed of a place where he would have land to expand forever and would be remote enough to support his magical theme.

Walt decided to create “Walt Disney World”, in Orlando, Florida on 43 miles of land where his dream could forever be carried out. His next big project was the construction of “Progress City” now known as "EPCOT" where guest could explore the future world along with the cultures of the current world.

As Walt passed away before the creation of EPCOT was completed, his brother Roy took over to make sure all of Walt’s dreams came true. Walt had no idea at the time that he was building what was soon to be the most visited theme park and vacation destination in the world. Today millions of people come through the gates and are still revisited by most of Walt Disney’s earliest work. Walt knew he had a dream and knew he could make it happen. From past, present and future generations to come, Disney’s parks will forever be a childhood staple and a lifelong dream.

"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

Resources:

Disney Mouse Links. (2004) History of Disneyland. Retrieved from http://www.disneymouselinks.com/DisneyLandHistory.aspx

Just Disney.com. (2002) History of Disneyland. Retrieved from http://www.justdisney.com/walt_disney/biography/long_bio.html