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How Disneyland Came to Be

70 points| well_i_never | 6 years ago |airmail.news | reply

43 comments

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[+] dawnerd|6 years ago|reply
The Disney+ show The Imagineering Story does a pretty decent job going over the history. https://www.disneyplus.com/series/the-imagineering-story/6ry...
[+] pharaohgeek|6 years ago|reply
It's an outstanding show. It's quickly become my favorite content on Disney+. They could triple the amount of episodes and it wouldn't be enough. It's produced and directed really well with tons of great content.
[+] parliament32|6 years ago|reply
Meta but what's with this recent trend of taking quotes from two-paragraphs-ago and inserting them into the middle of the text in a big font? How is that useful to me as a reader? I already read that part... is it for the benefit of people scrolling through quickly?
[+] 333c|6 years ago|reply
The advertising in this page is strange. At first I thought it was part of the article.
[+] skratchpixels|6 years ago|reply
This is the future of advertisements on the web.

The ads are integrated to the page so it doesn't look or feel like an advertisement. The code doesn't specify it as an ad.

The ads do directly advertise, they do so subtly.

The advertisement image and video are hosted on the main same domain.

All of this is to prevent browser ad blockers and our own ad blocking instincts.

[+] JadoJodo|6 years ago|reply
Agreed. It made me wonder if sites should blacklist certain ad categories based on the article content.
[+] WalterBright|6 years ago|reply
Disneyland has been undergoing endless improvement. My parents visited there in the 1950s and it's fun looking at the photos and seeing how primitive it looked then.
[+] sizzzzlerz|6 years ago|reply
I have vague memories of my first visit which must of been in 1961 or 1962 and I was 6/7. This was back when they sold ticket packs containing some number of "A" through "E" tickets. The "E" tickets were the coveted ones as they were the big rides. The "A" tickets were things like the Main Street trolley. We always ended the day with only "A" and "B" tickets. Of course, crowds weren't insane like today and we didn't have to wait more than 20-30 minutes.
[+] machello13|6 years ago|reply
On the other hand, Disney World at least seems to be losing a lot of the inspired, imaginative ideas it once had, in favor of synergizing the whole experience with other Disney IPs like Marvel, Star Wars, Frozen, etc.
[+] beowulfey|6 years ago|reply
Great article but way too short. Could have read much more for sure. Will have to check out the book.
[+] gaogao|6 years ago|reply
I found "Walt Disney - The Triumph of the American Imagination," a fairly thick biography on Disney, to handle Disneyland's creation pretty well.
[+] sizzzzlerz|6 years ago|reply
They could also provide a larger image of that sketch. I can make out the larger features but it would be nice to compare it against what was actually built.
[+] 50208|6 years ago|reply
Kinda interesting ... I'd be really interested in an exploration about how a sizable number of American adults have become Disney(land/world) fanatics. It strikes me as very strange and regressive behavior.
[+] armadsen|6 years ago|reply
I'll bite. I think "fanatic" is too strong a word, but I enjoy going to Disneyland, and have occasionally bought an annual pass despite living a day or two drive from Disneyland. I've also made a point to visit other Disney parks when I've been near them (Florida, Paris, Tokyo).

Fundamentally, it's fun escapism. You go spend a few days enjoying some of the same stuff you enjoyed as a kid. My wife enjoys going too, so it's something we can do together. For those of us with kids, it's a fun family activity. Walt Disney was explicit about making a place that was fun for both kids and adults when he conceived of the park. I'd say Disney has succeeded. I enjoyed going before having kids too, though. We don't take every vacation there by any means, but a couple times a year we go and have a blast.

Personally, as an engineer, I really enjoy the work of the imagineers. It's engineering and art combined to bring joy to people, which to me is a pretty pure expression of my own reasons for being an engineer. Incidentally, I started my career doing engineering for effects for live theater, and I also spent time at a company that at one time was a major robotics subcontractor for Disney parks. So there's a component that is admiration for people that do the things I do, but are the best in the world at it.

Beyond that, Disney(land/world) is unquestionably the highest-tier theme park in terms of quality. Everything is just top notch: customer service, theming, ride quality, immersion, cleanliness, etc. So, if the question is why Disneyland instead of Six Flags or even Universal, part of it has to be that Disney is the best in the category they're competing in.

[+] analog31|6 years ago|reply
My experience with Disney resorts is limited to an evening spent on my company's nickel while at a conference. With that said, I could see that Disney sweats the details of entertainment in myriad ways to make the visit easy and pleasant for people. I left my jacket in one of their restaurants, called them when I got back home, and they had an entire streamlined system just for dealing with lost items. My jacket was at my doorstep the next day.
[+] fortran77|6 years ago|reply
I worked as a Disney "Imagineer" for several years. Don't underestimate the sophistication of Disney fans.

I've met many elitists who look down upon anything that's popular. These people miss out on many great things, from profound art to good clean fun. Disney has both.

[+] majormajor|6 years ago|reply
Do you think it has a different underlying root than being a [whatever else] fanatic?

There's been some research done into sports, for instance.

[+] knolax|6 years ago|reply
> sizable number of American adults

How much is sizable? Can you give an example of a specific Disneyland fanatic? Why only American adults?