Maggie Corrigan Mr.

Beyrouty College Writing 12 A1 11 December 2012 From a Mouse to an Empire

Walt Elias Disney was an inspiration to many, especially to his theme park goers. Walt Disney always said, If you can dream it you can do it, remember this all started with a mouse. He inspired people because of his ability to turn his dreams into a reality. Walt Disney turned his dreams into theme parks all around the world including: California, Florida, Tokyo, Paris, and Hong Kong. His park Disney World in Orlando, Florida was by far his most popular park. The park came equip with four theme parks, nineteen hotels, two water parks, and the Downtown Disney Area. Disney World is the largest Disney Park, and one of the largest theme parks in the world. The first of the parks was Disneyland in Anaheim, California, and had about six million park goers in the first year. After its massive success, the creative thinkers at Walt Disney Productions felt that it was necessary to expand their empire and open another park. The 1964 New York Worlds Fair provided opportunities to experiment and then Walt turned his attention to production on the new theme park in Orlando (Finch 404). The goal of the park was for it to become a magnet for the east coast like what Disneyland was to the west coast. One of the problems of the park in California was all of the urban developments in the area, so Disney purchased a large tract of land that could hold the Magic Kingdom and all other upcoming

Corrigan 2 projects. By October 1965 they had out together 27,443 acres or 43 square miles, approximately the size of San Francisco, and twice the size of the island of Manhattan, (Finch 405). The project to put Walt Disney World in development was officially launched at a press conference with Roy Disney and the Florida governor Haydon Burnes. Walt Elias Disney had deceased that same year and the production of Walt Disney World was taken over by Walts younger brother, Roy Disney (Finch 406). The park officially opened in October of 1971, six years after Disneyland had opened. After months of the park being open the turnout was very underwhelming, they came to the conclusion that people did not attend because they thought the crowds would be to great. By Christmas the crowds filled the parks and a record ten million people had come to the park in the first year, four million more than Disneyland. Walt Disney World exceeded the expectations of many and was left in shock and awe of the park. An inspirational plaque was put into the Town Square, written by Walt Disney himself it reads: To all who come to this happy place: welcome Disney World is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disney World is dedicated to the ideals, dreams, and the hard facts that have created the United States of America with hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world, October 17, 1971 (398). In the early stages of Walt Disney World it was very underdeveloped for adults and teenagers because there were no thrill rides. There was a very scarce Tomorrowland, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom. The lack of thrill rides was caused because filling the park to capacity was a full time job so there was no time for new projects, (Finch 412). By 1975 most of the thrill rides such as Space Moutnain, Splash Mountain, and the Big Thunder Railroad had opened, four years after the park had originally opened. Disney World also

Corrigan 3 included several of Disneyland's excellent attractions. Some, like the Hall of Presidents, were expanded from their California counterparts. Others, like Pirates of the Caribbean, were cut back leaving just a flavor of their west coast cousins. Also, several new attractions, like the Country Bear Jamboree and Space Mountain were included...and eventually versions were built in Disney World as well, (Bennett). Today the Magic Kingdom incudes a record forty-two attractions, and they are still expanding. The newest addition to the Magic Kingdom is the new Fantasyland. After seeing immense success of the Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney Productions announce the original project to open Epcot. Walt always said that his main reasoning for expanding into Orlando was to open Epcot, (Finch 420). Epcot stands for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, and it was said to be a medium sized town of what the future holds for Americans. The project was announced in 1966 and led by Disneys protg, Card Walker, who today is the president of Walt Disney Productions. The park was put in and out of production until 1975 till the production company really started to focus on the ne project. The park officially opened in October of 1982 almost eleven years after the Walt Disney World officially opened, and again the early crowds were disappointing. Epcot was also the largest of all of the parks in Disney World. Epcot was to be like the Magic Kingdom in only one way, which was that it was to have a focal point for people to immediately see when they entered the park. The focal point of the Magic Kingdom was Cinderellas Castle and the focal point for the Epcot Center was to be Spaceship Earth, based on the Worlds Fair (Finch 424). Epcot originally had two pavilions, Future World, which was to showcase mans technological advantages, and the World Showcase that presented the cultures of various nations. Both the pavilions were meant to complement each other and show the new and old advancements of the world. Future World today, is not what it

Corrigan 4 was when Epcot opened in 1982, and there have been various changes and upgrades to various attractions that were here when the park opened, while some have been totally removed (Epcot History). World Showcase. There were eleven countries originally, however, the Norway and Morocco pavilions were not opened until after Epcot was opened to the public (Epcot History). In 2007, Epcot celebrated its 25th Anniversary and was rededicated using parts from the original dedication ceremony. The idea of MGM originally stemmed from the creators of Epcot wanting to create the Arts Pavilion but the idea was too broad. They began production on a park based on a working motion picture studio, and they wanted to give access to what the Disney studio in Burbank looked like. The project was announced to start production in the Spring of April 1985 and the project was estimated at three hundred million dollars for the Hollywood theme park (Finch 435). The park has a working studio with a complete back lot, and reconstructions of the Sunset Strip and Graumans Chinese Theatre. The park showcased a library of films and Disney gained temporary rights to MGM and UA films which, included films like the Wizard of Oz and Star Wars (Finch 423). Rod Sterlings also gave rights of the Twilight Zone that was turned into one of the most popular rides, The Tower of Terror. Other movies incorporated into some of the rides are Indiana Jones, The Muppets, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, and Armageddon. After the contract between MGM and Disney had dissolved the parks name was changed to Disneys Hollywood Studios. The last of the four parks to be put into production was the Animal Kingdom. The Animal Kingdom is Walt Disney Worlds newest theme park designed around a vast assortment of animals but its so much more than a traditional zoo. Its a beautiful 500-acre themed park made up of seven different attractions centered on live animals and extinct dinosaurs (Florida

Corrigan 5 Theme Parks). The park comes complete with over one thousand animals and a fully functioning safari. The park opened on Earth Day, April 22, 1998 and the theme of the park is conservation and preservation, and is based on a quote by Walt Disney, I have learned from the animal world, and what everyone will learn who studies it is, a renewed sense of kinship with the earth and all its inhabitants. The park has a huge emphasize on it being more than just a zoo it is also a fully functioning wildlife preserve. The newest advancement of the parks is located in Asia and it is a roller coaster called Expedition Everest and is one of the most popular rides at that park (Florida Theme Parks). Walt Disney World is the highest grossing theme park in the world and is evolving everyday with new ideas from the studio. It is amazing that Walt Disney has expanded his emprie from cartoons to movies to themeparks and everything in bewtween. This shows how one idea can be turned into many sub ideas. Walt Disney Productions is creating and strating new projects everyday with its most recent one being in the Magic Kingdom, and it is the new Fantasyland. Walt Disney is and will always be an inspiration to many just as his theme parks and ventures will always be evolving.

Corrigan 6 Works Cited Finch, Christopher. The Art of Walt Disney. New York: A Times Mirror Company, 1995. Print. Bennett, Brian. A Brief History of the Disney Parks. Mouse Planet. Available: 5 December 2012. <http://www.mouseplanet.com/dtp/archive/other/history.htm> Epcot History. Illuminating Epcot. Available: 6 December 2012. <http://www.illuminatingepcot.com/epcot-history/> The Animal Kingdom. Florida Theme Parks. Available: 4 December 2012. <http://www.floridathemeparks.com/resources/Animal-Kingdom.html>

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