Pop Culture Retrospective Episode #15- Disneyland: a history of how America's most beloved theme park came to be and the challenges and mishaps that occurred early on!

When Disneyland opened on July 17, 1955, Walt Disney had this to say about the park:

“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, the 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.”

The first time my sister and I ever went to Disneyland was in the late 1990s, I believe it was 1998 or 1999 and we both immediately fell in love with both the park and the blueberry muffins that could be found at the Main Street Bakery.  This was also the first time that my sister had been to California and from that point on, she was determined to one day live there. And as I’ve mentioned in a few shows, her dream did come true and she lived in California for several years and at one time was an annual passholder at Disneyland.  I had the opportunity to return to Disneyland in 2008 while visiting my sister and I can easily say that was one of my favorite memories with her.  

So with the emotional connection I have to Disneyland both as an extreme Disney enthusiast and because my sister, a show focused on the history of Disneyland seemed appropriate.  And since Disneyland has been closed for 6 months due to the pandemic that just solidified my desire to focus on one of the most iconic theme parks the world has ever seen.  Although the Pop Culture Retrospective focuses on pop culture in the 80s, 90s and early 2000s, because Disney World (and Disneyland as well) has been such a lifelong passion of mine, I was excited to delve into it’s history despite the show’s main decades of focus.  

On today’s show, you will learn all about the happiest place on earth, Disneyland, the iconic and original magic kingdom park in Anaheim, California.  You will learn how the dream became a reality and at what cost, the disastrous first day that had many critics anticipating failure and what risque items Disneyland sold in it’s early days.  

So put on your Mickey ears, grab your camera and comfortable walking shoes, here we go!

Hello and thank you so very much for tuning in to the Pop Culture Retrospective Podcast, a show inspired by, and in memory of, my big sister Rebecca and her love for all things pop-culture, especially the people, places and things of the 80s, 90s and early 00s.  My name is Amy Lewis and I am your captain aboard this pop culture time machine.  You are tuning in to Episode #15, Disneyland.  Although this park has been around for 65 years, it is still relevant, still incredibly popular and unquestionably a very, very special place for those of us who have been lucky enough to visit it.  

I am hoping to do justice to this magical place as anyone who talks to me for longer than 5 minutes knows that I live, eat and breathe Disney, most notably Walt Disney World and Disneyland.  Before I came up with the idea for this particular podcast, there was always a part of me that wanted to do a Disney podcast as I have a plethora of knowledge as well as a bookshelves filled with books about Disney World and Disneyland, but anyways, let’s get on with the show! 

As the story goes, it all started with a mouse.  Okay, maybe that’s how the Walt Disney Company started, but the dream of Disneyland all started with Walt Disney and his daughters.  By the time he became a parent, Walt Disney was incredibly busy with his entertainment powerhouse company and he wanted to make sure he spent Saturdays with his daughters- Diane who was born in 1933 and Sharon who was born in 1936.  They would often go to Griffith Park together which is located in the Los Angeles area.  While his daughters would go on the rides there (like the Merry-Go-Round) Walt would think to himself, how nice would it be if there was a park we could all go to together, where not only can the children have fun but the parents can as well?  So while sitting on a bench, eating popcorn and watching his children, Walt came up with the idea of a park, later to be named Disneyland.  Further adding to this inspiration from going to parks with his children, Walt Disney was often sent letters from children inquiring as to where Mickey lived.  Without question, Disneyland would be Mickey’s home. 

In addition to wanting to develop a place where parents and children could have fun together, Walt wanted to build a park that was the opposite of amusement parks and carnivals found in the US in the 1930’s and 1940’s.  Carnivals were often seedy, dangerous and dirty and Walt didn’t want that for his park.  Walt’s distaste for sketchy amusement parks is apparent in the 1940 animated classic film (that is a bit creepy in hindsight), Pinochio.  In one of the more terrifying scenes in the movie, Pinochio finds himself on Pleasure Island with a group of manipulative humans and sly foxes who had tricked them into going to the island.  While there, we see that the island is a dark and foreboding amusement park where the brainwashed children are handed cigars by mechanical Native Americans and are encouraged to destroy property with the help of bricks and axes.  I re-watched some of this film recently and as much as I am a huge Disney fan, this movie is hard to watch at times, even more so during this particular scene, especially as an adult.  

Walt Disney had once visited a park in Denmark called Tivoli Gardens, he was inspired by the park’s cleanliness and layout.  Tivoli Gardens in case you are not familiar, has been in operation since 1843 and is one of the most popular theme parks in all of Europe.  

Walt Disney traveled to Copenhagen with his wife, Lillian as well as radio star and actor Art Linkletter and his wife.

(Coincidentally, Linkletter would later host the opening of DL but more on that later).  Apparently, Walt was taking a lot of notes while they were visiting the park because he was so impressed.  When Linkletter asked him why he was doing that he said:  “Someday I am going to build a family entertainment center and this place is more like what I envision than anything I have seen.  It’s clean, it’s directed to the entire family and is a mix of fun, entertainment and education.”  He wrote down how park maintenance was always looking for what needed to be fixed or replaced, how there were a lot of places to sit down and how the park had many restaurants with good food.  

In 1939, Disney asked 2 animators at the movie studio to work on a plan for an amusement park.  They spent the next several weeks traveling to amusement parks all over the US and drafted a proposal that included items that did end up in DL including a Main Street Promenade, a Snow White Attraction and a train that would circumnavigate the park.  

World War II put plans on hold for a bit, as it ran from 1939-1945.  However, the dream for the park never faded away. In 1947, following the war and the paring down of some staff, the Walt Disney company started to actually make some money for once- 6 million dollars, the most they had earned thus far.   

In 1948, Walt Disney sent a memo to a Studio Production Designer named Dick Kelsey, in the memo he described his ideas for a Mickey Mouse Park.  The plan included the park having a fire station, a city hall, a musical theatre and opera house as well as old-fashioned vehicles.  The hope was to build a theme park near the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, ideally across the street on a few acres, 8 acres to be exact.  At first the park was going to include a boat ride and a few themed areas.  Like previously mentioned, at one point the park was going to be called the Mickey Mouse Park, then Disneylandia and then finally, Disneyland.  

In March of 1952, Disney received zoning permission to build a park in Burbank. On March 27th, the headline of the Burbank Daily Review read:  “Walt Disney make-belief land project planned here.” However, he would soon realize he needed not only more than just a few acres of land, but also more people to make the dream a reality.  In December of that same year, WED was assembled by Walt Disney using his own money.  He wanted to separate the park’s development from the studio so as to not upset stockholders.  WED stood for Walter Elias Disney (WED was essentially the precursor to Imagineering).  WED was composed of designers and artists who were going to work on plans for the park.  They too would travel the country to study theme parks- noting what their strengths and weaknesses were. They took up some space in the Burbank Studio Lot, planning for Disney’s first ever theme park had officially begun.  

The Burbank City Council rejected the eventual proposal set forth by Disney and his team, they didn’t want a carnival-like atmosphere.  

Even though Disney was planning something far from a carnival, the rejection didn’t matter all that much because his plans had grown much too big for the small parcel of land by the Walt Disney studios.  

In July of 1953, Disney hired the Stanford research institute to scout a Southern California location that would be suitable for Disneyland.  By August of 1953, they selected an area in Anaheim which was the site of acres and acres of orange groves.  In order to cover the cost of the initial acerage in Anaheim, Disney borrowed on his life insurance and sold his vacation home.  Art Linkletter was again a part of this important adventure, he wasn’t sure why Disney wanted to build his park in an area of California that was so isolated it seemed (at the time).  I’m sure he changed his tune after the park opened.  

When Disney realized his growing dreams for a park required even more space, that also meant they were going to need more funding for their project.  Just before Walt’s older brother Roy, the financial genius as well as his business partner headed to New York to pursue a 9 million dollar loan.  Walt Disney asked his friend and artist, Herb Ryman to sketch a drawing of Disneyland which ended up being 14 feet by 16 feet to help persuade bankers to invest in Disneyland.  Thankfully, Disney was able to secure bank funding, the excitement was starting to build.  In addition to the funds provided by Disney and banks, Roy Disney also had the brilliant idea to also solicit financial support from televisions stations as this was an up and coming medium with which companies could advertise.  First, they approached NBC and CBS about doing a television show connected to Disneyland, but both networks rejected the idea when they heard about the specifics around the park.  They didn’t understand why it was being designed and organized in such a unique manner.  They couldn’t get past that the park was going to have a main street area and a hub for different “lands” of the park to branch off from.  They couldn’t understand why there wasn’t going to be traditional rollercoasters and why the park wouldn’t be serving alcohol.  Disney was incredibly ahead of his time, but they didn’t buy it. Further, Disney wanted the park to feature what would later be dubbed “Edu-tainment”:  attractions and experiences that were fun, but also educational. Thankfully, the floundering television network, ABC decided to take a chance on Disneyland.  They agreed to loan Disney 500k and guaranteed 4.5 million in loans for partial ownership in the park as well as a weekly TV show.  They agreed to this after seeing the impressive artwork of Herb Ryman.  I’ll post a link to the concept art, it really does make Disneyland look like a magical place, even decades and decades later.  

With funding secured, Disney could really start to move forward!  In April of 1954, Disney hired Admiral Joe Fowler, a military retiree, to supervise the project.  

Initially he was hired to help build the Mark Twain Riverboat, but his responsibilities were soon expanded.  The timeline was incredibly short for Disneyland to be built, just over 1 year.  

They needed someone disciplined and knowledgeable to help ensure the project was done safely and on time.  He was just the man for the job. 

Because of the rush to get the park built, sometimes mistakes were made.  One example of this occurred when it came to the horticulture department.  A worker who was actually color blind was put in charge of bulldozing trees during construction.  The tags for which trees needed to come down were color-coded.  Not being able to tell the difference, he ended up bulldozing every tree in sight.  

On October 27, 1954 the Disneyland series debuted on ABC.  The show featured cartoons, live actions features and footage of the park being built called “progress reports.”  They also highlighted the areas of the park:  Adventureland, Frontierland, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland and Main Street USA.  The show’s ratings were excellent, it even won an Emmy for Outstanding Variety Series.  It also generated a lot of interest for the park.  Families were glued to their televisions, captivated by the magical world that Disney and his team were creating.  The anticipation was building.  The show was so popular that it ran until 1958, 3 years after the park opened.  

Several offshoots from the Disneyland program became successful television shows- the Mickey Mouse Club and Davy Crockett.  Davy Crockett became an overnight sensation in every sense of the word.  For example, the theme song to the show was ‘The Ballad of Davy Crockett” which was released on record, it would go on to sell over 10 million copies.  Also, 300 million dollars worth of merchandise adorned with the likes of DC was sold during the height of the character’s popularity.  

The cost for the park kept increasing, so Disney had to start getting creative with how to cut costs without cutting quality.  One progressive method they utilized was recycling- for example when they were building the carousel, they found horses they could use at Coney Park and other amusements that didn’t need them anymore.  They were sanded and repainted, but the horses got a second life at Disney’s park.  72 horses literally did not have to go out to pasture.  They also saved some trees from the chopping block, taking some that were going to be destroyed in order to build the new LA freeway and replanting them in various areas throughout the park.  

Walt Disney walked the building site practically every day, checking in with the construction crews and looking at his passion project’s progress.  He often spent the night in an apartment that was built for his family above the fire station on Main Street. 

The Main Street area of the park was partially based off of Walt Disney’s hometown of Marceline, MO. The apartment was a modest 500 square feet and was decorated with the past and present in mind including a victrola and candlestick phone, but also modern features like a TV.  

After a breakneck schedule of just 1 year of construction and 17 million dollars, Disneyland opened to the world on July 17, 1955.  Because it cost so much to open, park operators thought Disney was absolutely crazy.  They anticipated the park would be a failure. The opening was broadcasted on ABC and approximately 90 million tuned in to the 90-minute show, which was more than ½ of the US population at that time.  Up until that point, it was the most viewed live event on television in TV history.  The show was co-hosted by 3 well-known names at the time:  Bob Cummings, Art Linkletter and future US President:  Ronald Regan.  While I am of course familiar with Ronald Regan, I didn’t know as much about Bob Cummings or Art Linkletter so I decided to find more information about them.  Bob Cummings was born in 1910 and lived until 1990.  He was an actor, who starred primarily in comedy films like ‘The Devil and Mrs. Jones’ but also took on more serious roles like ‘Dial M for Murder.’ Despite Cummings having so much success as an actor, he actually developed an unfortunate addiction to methamphetamines.  He had apparently told some friends he was dealing with exhaustion and they connected with him to a doctor named Max Jacobson who was referred to as “Dr. Feel Good.”  Although the doctor assured him what he was giving him was safe, he was giving him methamphetamines and he developed an addiction that lasted throughout his life.  His good friend, Art Linkletter tried to stage an intervention when he saw how much his good friend was struggling, but unfortunately, he was never able to cease his substance use problem.  Despite this addiction though, he obviously enjoyed acting but was also an avid pilot- he owned several planes which were all named Spinach.  Art Linkletter was also a famous radio personality and actor, he was born in 1912 and lived until 2010, he was 97 years old when he passed away.  Originally, he was going to be a teacher but discovered he really enjoyed being a radio host and it paid more than teaching.  His radio show included audience participation and gags which soon became standard in many radio shows.  Further, Linkletter was an early investor in the hula hoop and also was a spokesperson for the board game, the Game of Life.  Linkletter had such a diverse and unique career. He was incredibly charismatic and it’s easy to see why he was selected to co-host this opening event.  

Opening day would prove to be well, interesting to say the least.  Disney executives would go on to refer to this day as “Black Sunday” and the press would refer to it as Disney’s folly.  In a moment, you will find out why.

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Special invitations were given out for the opening day, but unfortunately the design of said invitation was easily duplicated and 1000s of people showed up with counterfeit tickets and not being able to tell the difference, they were allowed in.  A crafty gentleman set up a ladder in the back of the park and charged people 5 dollars to use the ladder and hop the fence.  Disney was worried that not many people would show up, but he was quickly proven wrong. They were expecting 11,000 but with the counterfeit tickets and that jerk/genius with the ladder, the official head count ended up being 28,154. From this experience Disneyland established limits for what max capacity would be which is still in effect to this day.  With the swelling of crowds came a lack of rations- food and drink ran out quickly.  The asphalt had been spread just prior to the opening of the park and because it was so hot on opening day (101 degrees to be exact), it didn’t get a chance to fully dry.  As a result, women’s heels kept getting stuck in the pavement. Further, because the park was over the expected capacity, so too, were some of the attractions.  Too many guests boarded the Mark Twain Riverboat and it started to sink.   Further, there was a plumber’s strike so Disney had to decide which was more important- having operating toilets or water fountains.  They opted for toilets but some people thought this was merely a selfish tactic assuming Disney just wanted people to empty their pockets to buy Pepsi products.  Walt Disney had a good comeback to this criticism when he said:  “People can buy Pepsi-Cola, but they can’t pee in the streets.”   Further, attractions broke down left and right and there was even a gas leak which led to temporary evacuations in various parts of the park.  Traffic was back up for miles and miles on the freeway.  Also, because the cost to open the park was so high, some of the highly anticipated attractions were not able to open on time including:  Dumbo and Rocket to the Moon.   

Despite all of these setbacks, Disneyland was unlike the world had ever seen and the company would quickly learn and thus recover from their mistakes.  After Disneyland opened, the Minneapolis Tribune said quote:  “If it’s an amusement park, it’s the gosh darned, happily inspired, most carefully planned, most adventure-filled park ever conceived.  No ride or concession in it is like any other amusement park anywhere.”  

When Disneyland opened, there were 5 “lands” so to speak:  Adventureland, Frontierland, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland and Main Street, USA. As you enter the park, there is a plaque that reads:  “Here you leave today and enter the world of Yesterday, Tomorrow and Fantasy.”  The park was intentionally laid out like the scenes of a movie going from scene to scene.  Main Street USA was like scene one, where the red carpet (aka the bricks and sidewalks which are red in color) is rolled out for you.  After strolling down Main Street you reach the “hub” so to speak and each spoke of the hub is a land.  

According to the Disney A-Z Encyclopedia, there were 20 attractions on opening day:  King Arthur Carousel, Peter Pan Flight, Mad Tea Party, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, Canal Boats of the World, Snow White’s Adventures, Autopia, Space Station X-1, Sante Fe and Disneyland Railroad, Circarama, Horse-Drawn Streetcars, Fire Wagon, Main Street Cinema, Surreys, Jungle Cruise, Stage Coach, Mule Pack (yes, at one point you could ride a mule through Frontierland, Disney insisted on keeping them for many years despite their agitated nature and the occasional nip at a guest), Mark Twain Steamboat, Penny Arcade and the Golden Horseshoe Review.   

For the first few years of operation to help cover expenses, Disney rented out shops to outside vendors on Main Street USA.  Some of those shops, were unique and intriguing to say the least.  First, there once was a tobacco shop where you could purchase cigars, cigarettes, pipes, tobacco or pick up some matchbooks.  And at one time, you could smoke anywhere in the park, ashtrays were located at the entrance to attraction queues.  The store remained until 1990 when it was finally closed and subsequently replaced.  That’s a pretty long tenure considering Walt Disney died at age 65 from lung cancer, 24 years earlier.  There was also a glass blower shop where guests could view creations being made right in front of their eyes, Grandma’s baby shop where you could purchase baby clothes for just 2 months before it closed, a short lived Jemrock shop and a pen shop.  Also, if you were interested in purchasing property while visiting Disneyland, you could visit Town Square Realty.  It was owned by an actual real estate agent who was selling land in an area called Apple Valley which was about 80 miles from Anaheim.  Further, at one time you could visit the UpJohn Pharmacy, and that’s UpJohn, not UpChuck in case you were wondering.  UpJohn pharmacy at one time was a chain (they were eventually bought out by Pfizer).  Inside you could see a recreation of an apothecary circa turn of the century.  And finally, it what was probably the most bizarre of all of the early shops, at one time, you could purchase women’s undergarments at Disneyland.  The signage read:  “brassieres and torsolettes” sponsored by the Hollywood-Maxwell Brassiere Company aka the “Wizard of Bras.”  The company created and sold what was the called the “Whirpool bra” that quote “makes the most of you.”  They also had a small section detailing the history of women’s undergarments.  It only lasted one year and was replaced by the Ruggles China and Glass Shop. If you are interested in learning more specifics around the early shops of Main Street USA , I definitely suggest you check out WedWay radio which is a Disney podcast that has been around for over 10 years and one that I have always admire because the two original hosts are 2 brothers from the MidWest aka MidBest.  On Episode #132 I believe it is, they take a deep dive into the stores and it’s a hilarious episode because you can tell one of the hosts is a bit uncomfortable discussing the intimate apparel shop.  That episode is great and so is the show in general. 

The immediate success was evident as just 7 weeks after Disneyland opened, on September 8, 1955, the 1 millionth guest was welcomed through the park’s gates, her name was Elsa Marquez.  The park averaged about 20,000 visitors per day within a few weeks of the parks opening and by the end of the year, 3 ½ million guests had come through the gates.  

10 million guests had visited by the end of 1957, 100 million in June of 1971 and 300 million by the fall of 1989.  And more recent statistics:  about 18 million people visit Disneyland annually and 2019 marked 700 million people visiting since the park opened.  

The website, DisneylandChris.com does an excellent job describing Disneyland, he writes:

“Odd question, but what exactly is Disneyland? The definitive way to describe it is with two words… Walt Disney. How can a place be defined by a man? 

Well this particular man was the sole visionary who would mold Disneyland into being. His ambition alone made it turn from a dream into a reality, and he oversaw every detail of its operation during its first eleven years. Walt Disney has been gone for over five decades now, but his spirit is still felt in every corner of Disneyland to this day.  Walt Disney’s kingdom is a magical mixture of the old and the new. On the one hand it is an icon of our popular culture and an American institution, and at the same time it is one of the most remarkable examples of modern design and planned urban development ever to be conceived and realized. Disneyland is a land apart from the real, a romantic journey into the historic past, a footstep into the remarkable worlds of our collective childhood imagination, a living showcase of mankind’s greatest scientific discoveries, a celebration of nature’s wonders and an entertainment enterprise like no other place in the entire world. In short, Disneyland is nothing less than The Happiest Place on Earth.”  End quote.  I couldn’t have said it better myself.  

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I hope you have enjoyed this look back at Disneyland, a theme park unlike any other the world had ever seen, a park that laid the groundwork for everything else that came after it. I have a lot of emotional memories from Disneyland and I hope to get back in the next few years, hopefully my family and I will go there when I reach a certain milestone in 2 ½ years.  Some may argue that Disneyland is so much smaller that Walt Disney World and that the castle is so much smaller, but I would challenge that and remind them that Disneyland is the only Disney park that was designed and built while Walt Disney was still alive and that is extremely special and you can feel a different vibe there compared to it’s Florida counterpart.  It’s smaller, sure, but it’s just as magical and more intimate.  Both Walt Disney World and Disneyland are ever evolving and changing and Walt had this to say about Disneyland:  “Disneyland will never be completed, it will continue to grow as long as there is imagination in the world.”  

If you are enjoying the PCRP, please consider subscribing on whichever podcast platform you use.  Please also consider rating the show on iTunes or Apple podcasts, it helps the show out a lot! Thank you so much for tuning in and for your support.  Please tell your friends and family about this show!  Recommending this podcast to people you care about would mean a lot so please spread the word!  Please feel free to contact me, my email address is:  popcultureretrospective@gmail.com or you can tweet me, I’m @popcultureretro.  I hope you will join me for my next show where we will be continuing our discussion on Disneyland, but this time we will be taking a deep dive into what has gone on behind the scenes at America’s most beloved theme park including:  secrets of Disneyland, cast member stories about working in the park, dangerous situations that have occured at the parks, fatal accidents and situations that Disney likely doesn’t want the public to know about.  You won’t want to miss this one!  Until then, be kind, be safe and hold on to your memories….