1953
July, 1953
1954
April 2, 1954
May 9, 1954
October 27, 1954
1955
July 13, 1955
July 17, 1955
September 14, 1955
October 3, 1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
May 10, 1959
June, 1959
1959-1960
April 25th, 1961
September 24th, 1961
November 14th, 1961
December 5th, 1961
1963
August 27, 1964
September 14, 1964
Walt's vision of an amusement park begins. He visits fairs, carnivals, circuses and parks to study the attractions and the people. He borrows on his life insurance and starts to assemble a staff to help plan the park.
He decides that the name of the park would be called Disneyland.
Walt creates WED Enterprises to organize the project. Walt and Herb Ryman, who had worked for Disney in the 1940's, draws out the plans for the park in one weekend. The plans were drawn as an aerial view of the park and colored.
Roy visits New York to seek a contract with a television network. After negotiations with NBC fail, Roy turns his attention to ABC. Roy & Leonard Goldman come to an agreement where ABC would give Disney a $500,000 investment in Disneyland in exchange for Disney's supplying a one-hour tv series. ABC would become a 35% owner of Disneyland and would guarantee loans up to $4.5 million. It is a great fit as Disney receives much needed cash and ABC is able to compete in the ratings with NBC & CBS.
Roy Edward Disney, Roy's son, begins work at the studio as an apprentice film editor for outside producers who rented space at the studio. He continues on and becomes as assistant in the production of television shows. He eventually produces some shows by himself.
Walt commisions the Stanford Research Institute to find the ideal location for Disneyland. Anaheim, California is selected as the place. Other amusement park owners don't believe that Walt should spend the money on the park and that too much of the park would not produce revenue. They felt that the park would not work.
Original plans for the park are altered. "Lillipution Land" is put aside and the jungle ride, originally planned with live animals, is to be made with mechanical animals. Walk-through attractions are dropped from the plans.
Walt designed the park with one entrance gate, reasoning that people, when entering by different gates, become disoriented. Walt also designs the park to have "Main Street" with the idea of it being the hub, stating that it would lead to different areas of interest and not cause people to become tired from "museum feet."
Walt designs the park with "wienies", which are lures that draw people into different parts of the park. The lure of Main Street would be a castle.
"Davy Crockett" is the hit of the inaugural Disneyland season and "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" is #1 for 13 weeks, selling over 10 million records. More than 10 million Davy Crockett racoon skin hats are sold.
"Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier" profits almost $2.5 million.
Ronald Miller works for Disney as a liason between WED and Disneyland before he is inducted for the draft.
Previous movie profits were not enough to cover the cost of building Disneyland. Roy Disney makes numerous visits to the Bank of America's headquarters to get more funding. The bank enlists the help of another bank in Bankers Trust Company of New York.
Walt is concerned about meeting the deadline he set for the opening of Disneyland.
Plans for Disneyland park and tv show are announced. Walt states that the tv series would begin in October, 1954 and the park would open in July, 1955. The tv show would be paterned after the different "lands" of Disneyland.
Diane Disney marries Ronald Miller.
The television series opens with "The Disneyland Story" describing coming attractions of the park and tv show. The tv shows are introduced by Walt himself.
"Lady and the Tramp" is released.
Walt agrees to staff's suggestion to board up Tomorrowland, then opposes the idea, asking the staff to do the best they can and if necessary, to fix it up after the opening.
Problems occur with the Orange County building inspectors as they have no experience with theme park structures. The inspectors' doubts are eased through Walt's concern for safety. Water is piped in to supply pressure for sprinklers and hydrants.
Walt always wanted trees to be big and to fit the "land." Many tours were done to find trees for the park.
Walt, having a great interest in trains, wants to buy an existing railroad from a hobbyist but decides to have the machine shop build one that would be new, fresh and his own. The railroad is built to 5/8 scale and is one of the easiest projects at Disneyland. It is also one of the first features to be completed at the park. The engine and cars are built at the studio, as well as the Snow White, Mr.Toad and Peter Pan rides. Scale is everything in regards to the park. The steamboat, Mark Twain, is mainly constructed at the studio. Only the hull is constructed elsewhere.
The completion of Disneyland seems to be far from the deadline as the Orange County plumbers and asphalt workers go on strike. The plumbers return to work after a settlement is arranged while asphalt is trucked in. Money is becoming very short and Tomorrowland remains the least finished area.
The Santa Fe and Disneyland Railway makes it's first trip around the park as a boy, stricken with leukemia, has a wish - to ride on Walt Disney's train. Walt invites the boy and his family during the final days of construction, then takes the boy to the cab for a trip around Disneyland.
A circus is present at Disneyland but is shut down due to non-interest. Walt feels that guests do not come to Disneyland to see a circus.
The stagecaoch ride becomes a safety problem as a few horses get loose and the coach spills. Walt, feeling that it wouldn't be a show if guests could not ride atop of the coach, requests that the ride be discontinued.
One million people visit Disneyland within the first seven weeks.
The Disney's, celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary, send out invitations to 300 people, friends & co-workers for the opening of Disneyland.
Disneyland opens as invitation only, given to studio workers, construction workers, the press and officials of company sponsors. Tickets to the grand opening are counterfeited and 30,000 people enter the park. Rides break down and park stands run out of food & drink. Fantasyland is closed due to a gas leak. Walt is unaware of all the opening day problems because he is part of a television show being filmed at all parts of the park. Walt reads about all the problems the next day and refers to it as "Black Sunday."
Walt has his staff resolve the problems of opening day and invites newspaper, wire service and magazine staffs & family to Disneyland to repair press relations.
Disneyland television series opens its second season on ABC with "Dumbo."
Walt introduces "The Mickey Mouse Club" program, the first he ever designs strictly for children. The show is on between 5pm and 6pm every weekday with ¾ of the Unites States' tv sets tuned in to watch the show. Mouse ear caps, worn by the Mouseketeers, sell at a rate of 24,000 per day with 200 other Mickey Mouse Club items merchandised. Annette Funicello, the most popular of the Mouseketeers, receives as many as 6,000 letters per month.
"Sleeping Beauty" is put into production but without Walt's full attention due to his engrossment with Disneyland, live-action films and television. It continues in production for three years, costing $6 million.
Disney introduces a third television series named "Zorro", a half-hour adventure on ABC network. It lasts for two seasons before ABC declines renewal.
The second season of "The Mickey Mouse Club" is more successful than the first but due to ABC's lack of finding sponsors who would appeal to the juvenile audience, the show is cut to a half-hour for the 3rd season, then discontinued. Walt feels that the network overloaded on commercials, causing viewers to lose interest.
ABC contends that Disney is barred from offering both television series to other networks but after a legal settlement, Disney is able to take "Walt Disney Presents" to the networks for a tv deal. Also, Disney will buy out ABC's interest in Disneyland for $7.5 million in 1960, giving Walt Disney Productions total ownership of Disneyland.
Two WED engineers travel to Germany to view a monorail prototype, which rides piggyback on a concrete platform. The engineers explain to Walt how the monorails work. As a result, Walt decides that he wants this monorail design for Disneyland.
An underwater ride at Disneyland is planned. Walt wants the ride to give guests a realistic submarine feel with the attraction submerging in water.
"Bambi" is re-released in theaters and earns $2 million. Walt feels gratified that the film finally made it after the movie's 1942 release was a disappointment.
Buena Vista begins the practice of re-releasing the Disney Classics after seven years into theaters.
"Old Yeller" is released and makes a big profit.
"The Shaggy Dog" is released and is a surprising success, earning over $9.5 million in North America.
Tomorrowland is improved. It was neglected in the original planning because of lack of money and time. Improvements cost $6 million.
Sharon Disney marries Bob Brown, a designer with an architectural firm.
The Matterhorn, a bobsled racing ride, is opened, as well as the Submarine Voyage and the Disneyland-Alweg Monorail System. A Motor Boat cruise and a
revamp of the Autopia is also opened.
"Sleeping Beauty" is released but loses money.
"Pollyana" is released but is a disappointment at the box office, earning less than $1 million. Walt feels that he should have named the film differently because the male part of the audience apparently balked at seeing a movie with such a title.
Walt Disney Productions suffers it's first annual loss in a decade, largely in part because of the cost of "Sleeping Beauty."
"Swiss Family Robinson", "101 Dalmatians", "The Parent Trap" and "The Absent-Minded Professor" are produced.
The loan from the Bank of America is finally paid off. Revenue from movies now goes directly to Walt Disney Productions.
"Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color" makes its debut on NBC with a new character, Ludwig Von Drake.
Diane & Ron Miller's 5th child is born and is named Walter Elias Disney Miller. Walt had complained to Diane that she had not named any of her four children after her father or mother. Walt's wish comes true.
Walt celebrates his 60th birthday.
Enchanted Tiki Room opens at Disneyland. It is originally planned as a restaurant but Walt feels that there wouldn't be enough time to serve meals and perform a show.
Audio-Animatronics is developed by WED. Walt challenges WED to create figures that would talk and move. It is first applied to the mechanical birds of the Enchanted Tiki Room.
Walt plans a Disneyland exhibit regarding American hostory. It would be called the Hall of Presidents, displaying all of the American Presidents. Walt again challenges WED to create the figures for the attraction.
Walt requests that a group visits the nation's top corporations and offer services to help build and design exhibits for the 1964-65 New York World's Fair. General Motors considers a Disney operation but decides to build an exhibit of their own. They recommend approacing Ford to Walt.
Walt proposes an attraction that would carry four visitors in Ford cars through depictions of man's development from the Stone Age to modern day.
General Electric hires Disney to develop an exhibit. WED develops a theater in which spectator's seats would revolve around a series of stationary stages, depicting progress regarding American home & electrical appliances.
The president of the New York World's Fair visits Disneyland and is shown slides of the Hall of Presidents and a working model of Abraham Lincoln. The president states in joy that he wouldn't even think about opening the fair without this exhibit. Walt explains that Disney would not be able to assemble the entire Hall of Presidents but they might be able to finish Abraham Lincoln.
"It's a Small World" is the last World's Fair attraction undertaken and is created for Pepsi-Cola. Workers have less than a year before the opening of the fair to build this attraction. WED crew works day & night to complete all four projects. The attractions are built in mock-ups at the studio and shipped to New York piece by piece. 200 WED workers head to the fair to assemble and test the exhibits.
With a week before the opening of the fair, WED has constant problems with Mr. Lincoln. It passes it's test at WED headquarters and is shipped to New York but delivered late due to traffic for the opening of Shea Stadium. WED sets up the controls for Mr. Lincoln but discovers that it does not work. Throughout the week leading up to the opening, non-stop problems arise. A preview was scheduled two days before the opening. The Govenor, 200 Illinois dignataries and the press arrive in the Lincoln Theater. Mr.Lincoln still was not right so Walt appears on stage to announce that the preview will not take place but assures everyone that "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln" would be presented as soon as it works. A week later, Mr.Lincoln works to perfection and the attraction becomes one of the most popular of the fair. General Electric & Ford's exhibits are rated # 2 and #3 attractions in attendance for the first year of the fair. "It's a Small World" is rated the most charming attraction by most critics.
General Electric agrees to sponsor "Progressland" at Disneyland after the fair closes in 1965. Ford decides not to move their exhibit to Disneyland. As a result, "Magic Skyway" is scrapped with the exception of some figures that are placed for the Disneyland train ride. Both "It's a Small World" and "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln" are moved to Disneyland after the fair closes.
"Mary Poppins" premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood and gavets rave reviews. Walt had know that this story was Disney material back in the 1940's when his daughter explained what the book was about. The author did not relinquish the movie rights until 1960 after many years of visits by Walt & Roy.
"Mary Poppins" is nominated for 13 Academy Awards. It does not win for best picture but Julie Andrews wins for best actress.
President Johnson presents Walt with the Medal of Freedom at the White House, the nation's highest civil honor.
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