Walt Disney's Dream

Walt Disney, a talented cartoobnist, however most people think of him as an animator, an the "inventor" of Mickey Mouse. Later became more known as the entertainer because he wanted to create something that would excite an audience and make them laugh. He was so talented and had developed a keen commercial sense of what would appeal to people. This combination enabked him to parlay $40 a few drawing tools into a film studio producing propular cartoons, featur length animated features, and line action movies; later called Disney studios.

Being a parent himself in the 1930's, he would take his own children to amusement parks. Disney never felt amused and insisted he could build an amusement park bigger and much better. 1937 telling his friend, Wilfred Jackson athe the premier of Snow White that he would someday "make a paerk for kids, a place scaled down to kid size". 1940 he revealed a plan to showcase Disney charcaters in the fantasy surroundings at a park across the stree from Disney studio in Burbank.

Disney traveled through the United States and Europe visiting attractions of all kinds; fairs both county and State, circuses, carnivals, and parks. He was discusated with the attitudes of the ride operators and how run down they were. Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen was very impressive to Disney, he loved the upbeat music, excellent food and drink and the warm and friendly employees. These experiences convience him that buildidng an amusement park would be successful in the United States if it offered a "Good Show" which families will enjoy together, being clean and friendly, with courtesy employees.

1948 after sharing his concept with his most trusted friends and sharing his ides of a modest amusement park with a central village, small park, railroad station, movie theater, and small stores. Other outlaying areas would include a carnival area and a western area. Soon he would add submarines and spaceship rides, a steamboat and exhibit halls.

1952 he decided on "Disneyland" for the name and formed a company to develope the park called Disneyland, Inc. Although his brother, Roy, finance officer, was against Disneyland and bankers and the amusment industry experts forcast doom. Disney decided to sstep outside the studio organization to develope the idea.

Eventually in July 1954 they broke ground on Disneyland and in July 17, 1955 Disneyland opened and withinbg 7 weeks, a million vistors visted Disneyland the biggest tourist attraction in the United States. In 1959, Walt Disney Productions began looking for kland for a second park after surveys revealed that only 2% of their vistors came east of the Mississippi, where 75% of the population of the United States lived. After Walt Disney himself once encountered a family who left Disneyland early because they saw congestion building on the Santa Ana Freeway from the Skyride, this convienced him to build a bigger and better amusement park. Creating dummy corporations, they