| It is very much the American dream to set your | | | | Fantasyland, Tomorrowland and Frontierland - the park |
| ambitions high no matter how great they are, and one | | | | was a lot more manageable than it is today; but that |
| man did just that to become a worldwide synonym for | | | | didn't stop the opening day being dubbed 'Black |
| a magical, fantasy-world adventure for children. In 1950, | | | | Sunday'. Everything that could go wrong went wrong, |
| Walt Disney first got the idea to create a wonderland | | | | from an unexpected heat wave clashing with a |
| theme park where all the characters in his cartoons | | | | plumber strike, to counterfeit tickets flooding the local |
| and movies actually lived. Today, there are many | | | | area so the vendors ran out of food and many rides |
| Disneyland theme parks around the globe, but the | | | | were shut due to overcrowding. With the reviewers |
| original, in California, is where Disney's dream begun | | | | predicting Disneyland to be bankrupt and boarded-up |
| and a worldwide brand was successfully born. | | | | within the year, this was undoubtedly the park's worst |
| Hiring a research team to source and survey the best | | | | day ever. |
| possible land to build his fantasy theme park, Walt | | | | However, the Disneyland's management team came |
| eventually found a huge 160-acre plot in a Californian | | | | back stronger than ever and listened to all of the |
| orange grove and began the construction of | | | | criticism constructively. Within the first ten years, the |
| Disneyland in 1954. The ambitious plans and scope of | | | | park saw about 50 million visitors pass through its |
| the project meant that finding finance was tough, | | | | gates, and, with the many subsequent parks that |
| especially as fairyland-style dreams offer little collateral | | | | opened during the 80s and 90s, the brand's success |
| to eager financiers, but once ABC TV offered $6 | | | | was unquestionable. |
| million in exchange for part of the company, the building | | | | Inspired in part by their own childhood dreams and also |
| got underway. It was at this turning point that it was | | | | by the world's other successful family theme parks of |
| obvious that the park had to appeal to everybody, not | | | | the time, like Children's Fairland in Oakland and Tivoli |
| just children, so the plans were reconsidered to | | | | Gardens in Denmark, Walt Disney and his brother |
| maximise the compelling and 'once-in-a-lifetime' | | | | went from already being heads of a successful |
| potential of the theme park. | | | | Hollywood film studio to running what was fast |
| After only one year of non-stop construction, and | | | | becoming the ultimate family holiday destination. |
| several unexpected setbacks, the original Disneyland | | | | Nowadays Disneyworld and Disneyland Paris Holidays |
| threw open its doors on 17 July 1955 to a very select | | | | are just as popular, as the brand still goes from |
| group of invited guests. With only five areas planned | | | | strength to strength. |
| and built at that stage - Main Street, Adventureland, | | | | |