The Disneyland Story

Title: The Disneyland Story - The Unofficial Guide to the Evolution of Walt Disney's Dream

Author: Sam Gennawey

Pages: 336

Genre: Non-Fiction

Grade: A-

Synopsis: This book runs through the history of Disneyland, starting with its inception throughout Walt Disney's early life, then through design and construction of the park.  As anybody who has visited Disneyland more than once knows, the park is nearly always changing, and the book also outlines these changes and the concepts and decisions behind making them.

My Review: This book was just fascinating.  It's no secret that I'm a big fan of Disneyland and this book did not disappoint.  In Walt's early years he was obsessed with trains and Disneyland kind of grew out of that obsession.  He was very meticulous in the design and planning and to some probably came across as a micro-manager.  The speed and scope of construction was amazing.  Construction started in August of 1954 and the park opened in July of 1955.   All of that construction included a 12,000 stall parking lot, Main Street, Fantasyland, the castle and moat (even though Sleeping Beauty would not come out until 1959), Adventureland (including the Jungle Cruise and River and Frontierland (including the River of America).  I found that amazing!

From the Book: "(p. 40) Evans [the landscape architect] took a transparency of the master plan and placed it over an aerial photograph of the property at the same scale. He marked all the trees that were not in the middle of the street or in the Rivers of America and tried to work around them. Evans tagged trees that were to be saved with green ribbons, and he tagged trees to be removed with red ribbons. His efforts were futile. As it turned out, the bulldozer operator was color-blind and they lost dozens of trees that were 50-100 years old. More than 12,000 orange trees were removed."

"(p. 53) Disney archivist Dave Smith said, "Disneyland's true appeal, we admit now, is to adults. Children don't need it. Their imaginations are enough. For them, Disneyland is only another kind of reality, somewhat less marvelous than their own fantasies."

"(p. 61) Using the castle to transition between lands was a visual trick Walt called a weenie. According to Disney historian Jim Korkis, during the development of Disneyland, Walt would come home late at night and usually enter his house through the kitchen, which was closer to the garage. He would walk into the kitchen and grab two uncooked hot dogs, or wieners, one for himself and one for his dog. Korkis said, "By wiggling the treat, Walt could get his dog to go from side to side, around in a circle, jump up and more. Both Walt and the dog loved the game and she was finally rewarded with the tasty and satisfying treat."

"Each of the gateways into the lands offered weenies. The spinning carousel through the portal leading through Sleeping Beauty Castle called guests into Fantasyland. The stockade gates, the steam bellowing from the Mark Twain stern-wheeler, and the seeming infinite horizon beckoned guests to visit Frontierland. Over in Tomorrowland was the clock of the World and the TWA Moonliner ready for launch. Only Adventureland lacked a weenie. It was thought that if guests knew too much, it would not be much of an adventure."