Amusement Parks- “You reach a point where you don't work for money.”
-Walt Disney
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Disneyland Resort
Includes Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Park.
Reviews and visitor opinions
"To all that 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 hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world."-Walt Disney
Reviews and visitor opinions
"To all that 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 hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world."-Walt Disney
According to the JustDisney biography, Walt Disney conjured up the idea of Disneyland while sitting at a dirty amusement park bench watching his two daughters ride the merry-go-round. He wanted to design a clean and safe park in which both parents and their children can have fun (Aldridge, “Walt Disney Biography”). Disneyland Park consists of eight different sections: Main Street, U.S.A., New Orleans Square, Critter Country, Mickey’s Toontown, Adventureland, Frontierland, Fantasyland, and Tomorrowland. According to journalist Bosley Crowther, Main street was said to be modeled after Disney’s childhood home Marceline, Missouri (Crowther, “Walt Disney”). Disneyland Resort’s official website describes New Orleans Square as a jazz filled Mardi Gras celebrated all year round, Critter Country as a woodland quest and Mickey’s Toontown as a step into a Toon world. Adventureland is described as a jungle themed section that was inspired by Walt Disney’s love of wild-life and adventure into the amusement park, Frontierland as a design based off the old American pioneer days, and Fantasyland as a place where your imagination becomes a reality (Disney, “Disneyland Park”). Walt Disney described Tomorrowland as a design that will “give you an opportunity to participate in adventures that are a living blueprint of our future" (wikipedia, “Disneyland Resort”).
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Moving into the 21st century, Disneyland opened another theme park called California Adventures. Disneyland Resort became the new name for the entire complex, which now includes Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park. Disney California Adventure is divided into eight districts: Buena Vista Street, Hollywood Land, Grizzly Peak, Pacific Wharf, "A Bugs Land," Cars Land, Condor Flats, and Paradise Pier (wikipedia, “Disney California Adventure”). I see this new addition to Disneyland Resort as a way to educate the public of Californian culture, both modern and historical views.
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Walt Disney World Resort
Includes Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney's Hollywood Studios, and Disney's Animal Kingdom
Reviews and visitor opinions
"I don't believe there is a challenge anywhere in the world that is more important to people everywhere than finding the solutions to the problems of our cities. But where do we begin? Well, we're convinced we must start with the public need. And the need is not just for curing the old ills of old cities. We think the need is for starting from scratch on virgin land and building a community that will become a prototype for the future."-Walt Disney
Reviews and visitor opinions
"I don't believe there is a challenge anywhere in the world that is more important to people everywhere than finding the solutions to the problems of our cities. But where do we begin? Well, we're convinced we must start with the public need. And the need is not just for curing the old ills of old cities. We think the need is for starting from scratch on virgin land and building a community that will become a prototype for the future."-Walt Disney
After Disneyland proved to be a success, Disney realized that with more land he could let his imagination run wild. So he purchased 43 square miles of land in the state of Florida (Aldridge, “Walt Disney Biography”). Walt Disney World Resort was still under construction when Disney died. It wasn’t until 1971, five years after his death, that it was open to the public (Crowther, “Walt Disney”).
Walt Disney World Resort’s official website says this creation consists of four theme parks, Magic Kingdom Park, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park, and EPCOT and two water parks Disney’s Blizzard Beach and Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon. Magic Kingdom Park has similar features as the Disneyland Park in California” (Disney, “Theme Parks & Water Parks”). Disney’s Hollywood Studios presents the visitors with “Shows, attractions and tours offering behind-the-scenes glimpses of Hollywood-style action” (Disney, “Theme Parks & Water Parks”). Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park “is the largest animal-themed park in the world” (Disney, “Theme Parks & Water Parks”). Walt Disney’s personal favorite addition to the park is Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (EPCOT), which was directed “toward the problem of improving the quality of urban life in America” (Aldridge, “Walt Disney Biography”). At Disney Blizzard Beach features “one of the world’s tallest and fastest waterslides” and at Disney Typhoon Lagoon you can your family can “snorkel Shark Reef—with real sharks” (Disney, “Theme Parks & Water Parks”). |
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International Disney Parks
Even though these projects were thought of long after Walt Disney, it goes to show that his influence never dies. I believe that Walt Disney has made just as big as an influence on other cultures as he has on American culture.
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Tokyo Disney Resort
Includes Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea
Reviews and visitor opinions
“Located just outside the city of Tokyo, Japan, Tokyo Disneyland is the third most popular travel resort in the world after—you guessed it—Walt Disney World in Florida and Disneyland in California” (O’Brien, “10 Reasons to Visit Tokyo”).
Reviews and visitor opinions
“Located just outside the city of Tokyo, Japan, Tokyo Disneyland is the third most popular travel resort in the world after—you guessed it—Walt Disney World in Florida and Disneyland in California” (O’Brien, “10 Reasons to Visit Tokyo”).
This park opened on April 15, 1983, it was the first of the international Disney parks to be built (wikipedia, “Tokyo Disneyland Resort”). Tokyo Disneyland Resort seems to function well; however the biggest obstruction it has to deal with is Mother Nature. According to an article from the Disney Blog the March 11, 2011 8.9 magnitude earthquake and tsunami didn’t hit the park but structural damage and “The 69,000 guests in park were evacuated to safe areas and given supplies to shelter in place over night as transportation options were affected by the quake” (Frost, “Japan Earthquake strands tourists at Tokyo Disneyland, damage reports coming in”).
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Disneyland ParisIncludes Disneyland Park (Paris) and Walt Disney Studios Park
Reviews and Visitor opinions Disneyland Paris open to the public on April 12, 1992. It is located in a region of France called Marne-la-VallŽe, which is “located in an ideal geographic location since it is 20 miles (32 kilometers) due east of the center of Paris and is halfway between the two international airports of Orly and Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle” and other methods of transportation are just as convenient (Burgoyne, “Walt Disney Company's Euro Disneyland Venture”). This particular project looked promising but many problems and miscalculations were overlooked. According to a paper by Lyn Burgoyne, some of the problems that erupted in the beginning was failing “to see the signs of the approaching European recession”, communication, cultural issues, and cultural operational errors, such as the no alcohol policy. Fortunately, Disneyland Paris has found a way to survive and is working towards success (Burgoyne, “Walt Disney Company's Euro Disneyland Venture”). |
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Hong Kong Disneyland ResortIncludes Hong Kong Disneyland
Reviews and visitor opinions Hong Kong Disneyland Resort was opened on September 12, 2005. Since it is still new it is small and doesn’t have as much to offer as the other parks, but “The World Tourism Organization predicts that the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort will become one of the world's largest tourist destinations within the next fifteen years” (wikipedia, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort). There were a few controversies that erupted with health and food issues, such as when animal rights groups protested the park serving its costumers shark fin soup (wikipedia, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort). |
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Shanghai Disney Resort
Includes Shanghai Disneyland Park
The Shanghai Disney Resort park hasn't been open yet, but an update of the construction can be seen here.
The Shanghai Disney Resort park hasn't been open yet, but an update of the construction can be seen here.