“What if there were a place, where the parents and kids, could have fun together?” – Walt Disney



Disneyland has often been credited with the reinvention of the modern amusement park. As the story goes, Walt Disney took his daughters to a local amusement park one weekend. While there, he noticed how unkempt the park was, with dirty path and unclean rides. In addition, most of the rides were only for children, while the adults were forced to wait at the exit.
Originally conceived as a small amusement park for Disney Studios employees and their families, the park was to be located on an eight acre plot of land across from the studio lot. Designs started with just a few rides, surrounded by a train, reflecting Walt’s love of trains. He gathered some of his best artists to work on the project, under a new company, WED Enterprises (WED stands for Walter Elias Disney). Quite soon, it became obvious that the eight acre plot would not hold all the ideas that they had, so they were forced to search for a new, larger land plot that was economical, after all, Walt only had so much money. He found that plot of land in Anaheim, where orange groves grew.
During its planning stages, the idea of the park hub and its surrounding “spokes” was developed by Imagineer Marvin Davis. Several themed “lands” were developed, some used, others left on the cutting room floor. Among these proposed lands were Holiday Park, Lilliputian Land, and the Mickey Mouse Club (though a Mickey Mouse Club Circus attraction was made later). Plenty of promotional artwork was created by now-famous imagineers including Harper Goff, Herb Ryman, Marvin Davis, Sam McKim, among others. Walt used these to approach companies for funding. Never before had he had to search for so much collateral before, so he turned to television. “Walt Disney’s Disneyland” offered Americans a glimpse into the future project.
Construction began in July of 1954 on the five lands of Disneyland. Main Street U.S.A. was based on Walt’s romanticized memory of his hometown of Marceline, Missouri. Main Street U.S. A. lead to the “weenie” of the park, or the main focus, that being Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. Adventureland¸ originally True-Life Adventureland, was to be based on the series of films Walt had produced known as True-Life Adventures. Frontierland was created to relive the “pioneer days” of the American West. In Fantasyland young dreams came true as fairy tales came to life, notably ones that Disney had recently made into films. Tomorrowland was not finished when the park opened in June of 1955, but it was designed to showcase “marvels of the future.”