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"Disneyland Park, originally Disneyland, is the first of two theme parks built at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, opened on July 17, 1955. It is the only theme park designed and built to completion under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. It was originally the only attraction on the property; its official name was changed to Disneyland Park to distinguish it from the expanding complex in the 1990s. It was the first Disney theme park.
Walt Disney came up with the concept of Disneyland after visiting various amusement parks with his daughters in the 1930s and 1940s. He initially envisioned building a tourist attraction adjacent to his studios in Burbank to entertain fans who wished to visit; however, he soon realized that the proposed site was too small. After hiring a consultant to help him determine an appropriate site for his project, Disney bought a 160-acre (65 ha) site near Anaheim in 1953. Construction began in 1954 and the park was unveiled during a special televised press event on the ABC Television Network on July 17, 1955.
Since its opening, Disneyland has undergone expansions and major renovations, including the addition of New Orleans Square in 1966, Bear Country (now Critter Country) in 1972, Mickey's Toontown in 1993, and Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge in 2019.[2] Opened in 2001, Disney California Adventure Park was built on the site of Disneyland's original parking lot.
Disneyland has a larger cumulative attendance than any other theme park in the world, with 726 million visits since it opened (as of December 2018). In 2018, the park had approximately 18.6 million visits, making it the second most visited amusement park in the world that year, behind only Magic Kingdom, the very park it inspired.[3] According to a March 2005 Disney report, 65,700 jobs are supported by the Disneyland Resort, including about 20,000 direct Disney employees and 3,800 third-party employees (independent contractors or their employees).[4] Disney announced "Project Stardust" in 2019, which included major structural renovations to the park to account for higher attendance numbers....
History
Original dedication
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.
Walter E. Disney, July 17, 1955[6][7][8][9]
20th century
Origins
Walt Disney with Orange County officials
Walt Disney (center) showing Orange County officials plans for Disneyland's layout, December 1954
The concept for Disneyland began when Walt Disney was visiting Griffith Park in Los Angeles with his daughters Diane and Sharon. While watching them ride the merry-go-round, he came up with the idea of a place where adults and their children could go and have fun together, though his dream lay dormant for many years.[10][11] The earliest documented draft of Disney's plans was sent as a memo to studio production designer Dick Kelsey on August 31, 1948, where it was referred to as a "Mickey Mouse Park", based on notes Disney made during his and Ward Kimball's trip to the Chicago Railroad Fair the same month, with a two-day stop in Henry Ford's Museum and Greenfield Village, a place with attractions like a Main Street and steamboat rides, which he had visited eight years earlier.[12][13][14][15]
When people wrote letters to Disney to inquire about visiting the Walt Disney Studios, he realized that a functional movie studio had little to offer to visiting fans, and began to foster various ideas about building a site near the Burbank studios for tourists to visit. His ideas evolved to a small play park with a boat ride and other themed areas. The initial park concept, the Mickey Mouse Park, was originally planned for an eight-acre (3.2 ha) plot to the south, across Riverside Drive from the studio. Besides Greenfield Village and the Chicago Railroad Fair, Disney was also inspired by Tivoli Gardens in Denmark, Knott's Berry Farm, Colonial Williamsburg, the Century of Progress in Chicago, and the New York's World Fair of 1939.[16]
His designers began working on concepts, though the project grew much larger than the land could hold.[17] Disney hired Harrison Price from Stanford Research Institute to identify the proper area in which to position the planned theme park based on expected future growth. Based on Price's analysis (for which he would be recognized as a Disney Legend in 2003), Disney acquired 160 acres (65 ha) of orange groves and walnut trees in Anaheim, southeast of Los Angeles in neighboring Orange County.[17][18] The small Burbank site originally considered by Disney is now home to Walt Disney Animation Studios and ABC Studios.
Difficulties in obtaining funding prompted Disney to investigate new methods of fundraising, and he decided to create a show named Disneyland. It was broadcast on then-fledgling ABC. In return, the network agreed to help finance the park. For its first five years of operation, Disneyland was owned by Disneyland, Inc., which was jointly owned by Walt Disney Productions, Walt Disney, Western Publishing and ABC.[19] In addition, Disney rented out many of the shops on Main Street, U.S.A. to outside companies. By 1960, Walt Disney Productions bought out all other shares, a partnership which would eventually lead to the Walt Disney Corporation's acquisition of ABC in the mid-1990s. Construction began on July 16, 1954, and cost $17 million to complete (equivalent to $131 million in 2019[20]). The park was opened one year and one day later.[21] U.S. Route 101 (later Interstate 5) was under construction at the same time just north of the site; in preparation for the traffic Disneyland was expected to bring, two more lanes were added to the freeway before the park was finished.[18]
Opening day
Disneyland was dedicated at an "International Press Preview" event held on Sunday, July 17, 1955, which was open only to invited guests and the media. Although 28,000 people attended the event, only about half of those were invitees, the rest having purchased counterfeit tickets,[22] or even sneaked into the park by climbing over the fence.[23] The following day, it opened to the public, featuring twenty attractions. The Special Sunday events, including the dedication, were televised nationwide and anchored by three of Walt Disney's friends from Hollywood: Art Linkletter, Bob Cummings, and Ronald Reagan.[24] ABC broadcast the event live, during which many guests tripped over the television camera cables.[25][page needed] In Frontierland, a camera caught Cummings kissing a dancer. When Disney started to read the plaque for Tomorrowland, he read partway then stopped when a technician off-camera said something to him, and after realizing he was on-air, said, "I thought I got a signal",[25][page needed] and began the dedication from the start. At one point, while in Fantasyland, Linkletter tried to give coverage to Cummings, who was on the pirate ship. He was not ready, and tried to give the coverage back to Linkletter, who had lost his microphone. Cummings then did a play-by-play of him trying to find it in front of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.[25][page needed]
Traffic was delayed on the two-lane Harbor Boulevard.[25][page needed] Famous figures who were scheduled to show up every two hours showed up all at once. The temperature was an unusually high 101 °F (38 °C), and because of a local plumbers' strike, Disney was given a choice of having working drinking fountains or running toilets. He chose the latter, leaving many drinking fountains dry. This generated negative publicity since Pepsi sponsored the park's opening; disappointed guests believed the inoperable fountains were a cynical way to sell soda, while other vendors ran out of food. The asphalt that had been poured that morning was soft enough to let women's high-heeled shoes sink into it. Some parents threw their children over the crowd's shoulders to get them onto rides, such as the King Arthur Carrousel.[26] In later years, Disney and his 1955 executives referred to July 17, 1955, as "Black Sunday". After the extremely negative press from the preview opening, Walt Disney invited attendees back for a private "second day" to experience Disneyland properly.
At the time, and during the lifetimes of Walt and Roy Disney, July 17 was considered merely a preview, with July 18 the official opening day.[23] Since then, aided by memories of the television broadcast, the company has adopted July 17 as the official date, the one commemorated every year as Disneyland's birthday.[23]
1950s and 1960s
Disneyland aerial view, 1963, which includes the new Melody Land Theater at the top of the photo
In September 1959, Soviet First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev spent thirteen days in the United States, with two requests: to visit Disneyland and to meet John Wayne, Hollywood's top box-office draw. Due to the Cold War tension and security concerns, he was famously denied an excursion to Disneyland.[27] The Shah of Iran and Empress Farah were invited to Disneyland by Walt Disney in the early 1960s.[28] There was moderate controversy over the lack of African American employees. As late as 1963, civil rights activists were pressuring Disneyland to hire black people,[29] with executives responding that they would "consider" the requests.[citation needed] The park did however hire people of Asian descent, such as Ty Wong and Bob Kuwahara.[30]
As part of the Casa de Fritos operation at Disneyland, "Doritos" (Spanish for "little golden things") were created at the park to recycle old tortillas that would have been discarded. The Frito-Lay Company saw the popularity of the item and began selling them regionally in 1964, and then nationwide in 1966.[31]
1980s
Fantasyland was closed for refurbishment in 1982 and reopened to the public in 1983 as "New Fantasyland."
On December 5, 1985, to celebrate Disneyland's 30th year in operation, one million balloons were launched along the streets bordering Disneyland as part of the Skyfest Celebration.[32]
1990s
In the late 1990s, work began to expand the one-park, one-hotel property. Disneyland Park, the Disneyland Hotel, the site of the original parking lot, and acquired surrounding properties were earmarked to become part of the Disneyland Resort. At that time, the property saw the addition of the Disney California Adventure theme park, a shopping, dining and entertainment complex named Downtown Disney, a remodeled Disneyland Hotel, the construction of Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, and the acquisition and re-branding of the Pan Pacific Hotel as Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel. The park was renamed "Disneyland Park" to distinguish it from the larger complex under construction. Because the existing parking lot (south of Disneyland) was repurposed by these projects, the six-level, 10,250-space Mickey and Friends parking structure was constructed in the northwest corner. Upon completion in 2000, it was the largest parking structure in the United States.[33]
The park's management team during the mid-1990s was a source of controversy among fans and employees. In an effort to boost profits, various changes were begun by then-executives Cynthia Harriss and Paul Pressler. While their initiatives provided a short-term increase in shareholder returns, they drew widespread criticism for their lack of foresight. The retail backgrounds of Harriss and Pressler led to a gradual shift in Disneyland's focus from attractions to merchandising. Outside consultants McKinsey & Company were brought in to help streamline operations, resulting in many changes and cutbacks. After nearly a decade of deferred maintenance, the original park was showing signs of neglect. Fans of the park decried the perceived decline in customer value and park quality and rallied for the dismissal of the management team.[34]
21st century
Disneyland in 2005
An aerial view of Disneyland in 2004
Matt Ouimet, the former president of the Disney Cruise Line, was promoted to assume leadership of the Disneyland Resort in late 2003. Shortly afterward, he selected Greg Emmer as Senior Vice President of Operations. Emmer was a long-time Disney cast member who had worked at Disneyland in his youth prior to moving to Florida and held multiple executive leadership positions at the Walt Disney World Resort. Ouimet quickly set about reversing certain trends, especially concerning cosmetic maintenance and a return to the original infrastructure maintenance schedule, in hopes of restoring Disneyland's former safety record. Similarly to Disney himself, Ouimet and Emmer could often be seen walking the park during business hours with members of their respective staff, wearing cast member name badges, standing in line for attractions, and welcoming guests' comments. In July 2006, Ouimet left The Walt Disney Company to become president of Starwood. Soon after, Ed Grier, executive managing director of Walt Disney Attractions Japan, was named president of the resort. In October 2009, Grier announced his retirement, and was replaced by George Kalogridis.
The "Happiest Homecoming on Earth" was an eighteen-month-long celebration (held through 2005 and 2006) of the fiftieth anniversary of the Disneyland Park, also celebrating Disneyland's milestone throughout Disney parks worldwide. In 2004, the park underwent major renovations in preparation, restoring many attractions, notably Space Mountain, Jungle Cruise, the Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room. Attractions that had been in the park on opening day had one ride vehicle painted gold, and the park was decorated with fifty Golden Mickey Ears. The celebration started on May 5, 2005, and ended on September 30, 2006, and was followed by the "Year of a Million Dreams" celebration, lasting twenty-seven months and ending on December 31, 2008.
Beginning on January 1, 2010, Disney Parks hosted the Give a Day, Get a Disney Day volunteer program, in which Disney encouraged people to volunteer with a participating charity and receive a free Disney Day at either a Disneyland Resort or Walt Disney World park. On March 9, 2010, Disney announced that it had reached its goal of one million volunteers and ended the promotion to anyone who had not yet registered and signed up for a specific volunteer situation.
In July 2015, Disneyland celebrated its 60th Diamond Celebration anniversary.[35] Disneyland Park introduced the Paint the Night parade and Disneyland Forever fireworks show, and Sleeping Beauty Castle is decorated in diamonds with a large "60" logo. The Diamond Celebration concluded in September 2016 and the whole decoration of the anniversary was removed around Halloween 2016.
Disneyland Park, along with Disney California Adventure, Downtown Disney, and the resort hotels, closed indefinitely starting March 14, 2020, in response to pandemic.[36][37] After nearly four months of closure, Downtown Disney reopened on July 9, 2020.[38] The parks had been scheduled to reopen on Disneyland's 65th anniversary on July 17, 2020, but due to rising cases in California, the parks' reopening was once again postponed.[39] It was expected to stay closed until at least December 31, 2020.[40] In February 2021, Disneyland announced a limited-capacity ticketed event called “A Touch of Disney”, which will offer guests to shop at stores and enjoy eateries around the park from March 18 through April 19, 2021.[41][42] On March 5, 2021, it was announced by the California Department of Public Health that Disneyland could reopen with capacity restrictions beginning April 1, 2021.[43][44] The following week, Disney CEO Bob Chapek said that the company is planning on officially reopening the park in late April 2021.[45] On March 17, 2021, it was then announced by Disney Parks, Experiences and Products that Disneyland along with Disney California Adventure would officially reopen on April 30, 2021 with limited capacity and social distancing/mask guidelines in effect.[46][47]
Lands
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Main articles: List of Disneyland attractions and List of former Disneyland attractions
Disneyland Park consists of nine themed "lands" and a number of concealed backstage areas, and occupies over 100 acres (40 ha) with the new addition of Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway that's coming to Mickeys Toontown in 2022.[17] The park opened with Main Street, U.S.A., Adventureland, Frontierland, Fantasyland, and Tomorrowland, and has since added New Orleans Square in 1966, Bear Country (now known as Critter Country) in 1972, and Mickey's Toontown in 1993, and Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge in 2019.[48] In 1957, Holidayland opened to the public with a nine-acre (3.6 ha) recreation area including a circus and baseball diamond, but was closed in late 1961. It is often referred to as the "lost" land of Disneyland. Throughout the park are "Hidden Mickeys", representations of Mickey Mouse heads inserted subtly into the design of attractions and environmental decor. An elevated berm supports the 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge Disneyland Railroad that circumnavigates the park.
Lands of Disneyland
Main Street, U.S.A.
(2010)
Adventureland
(themed for a 1950s view of adventure, capitalizing on the post-war Tiki craze)
Frontierland
(Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in 2008)
New Orleans Square
(the Haunted Mansion and Fantasmic! viewing area in 2010)
Critter Country
(Splash Mountain in 2010)
Fantasyland
(Peter Pan's Flight and the Matterhorn Bobsleds)
Mickey's Toontown
(2010)
Tomorrowland
(Space Mountain in 2010)
Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge
(2019)
Main Street, U.S.A.
Main article: Main Street, U.S.A. § Disneyland
Main Street, U.S.A. is patterned after a typical Midwest town of the early 20th century, and took much inspiration from Walt Disney's hometown, Marceline, Missouri.[49] Main Street, U.S.A. has a train station, town square, movie theater, city hall, firehouse with a steam-powered pump engine, emporium, shops, arcades, double-decker bus, horse-drawn streetcar, and jitneys.[50] Main Street is also home to the Disney Art Gallery and the Opera House which showcases Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, a show featuring an Audio-Animatronic version of the president. At the far end of Main Street, U.S.A. is Sleeping Beauty Castle, the Partners statue, and the Central Plaza (also known as the Hub), which is a portal to most of the themed lands: the entrance to Fantasyland is by way of a drawbridge across a moat and through the castle.[51] Adventureland, Frontierland, and Tomorrowland are on both sides of the castle. Several lands are not directly connected to the Central Plaza—namely, New Orleans Square, Critter Country, Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge and Mickey's Toontown.
The design of Main Street, U.S.A. uses the technique of forced perspective to create an illusion of height.[52] Buildings along Main Street are built at 3⁄4 scale on the first level, then 5⁄8 on the second story, and 1⁄2 scale on the third—reducing the scale by 1⁄8 each level up.
Adventureland
Main article: Adventureland (Disney) § Disneyland
Adventureland is designed to recreate the feel of an exotic tropical place in a far-off region of the world. "To create a land that would make this dream reality", said Walt Disney, "we pictured ourselves far from civilization, in the remote jungles of Asia and Africa." Attractions include opening day's Jungle Cruise, the Indiana Jones Adventure, and Tarzan's Treehouse, which is a conversion of Swiss Family Treehouse from the Walt Disney film Swiss Family Robinson. Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room which is located at the entrance to Adventureland was the first feature attraction to employ Audio-Animatronics, a computer synchronization of sound and robotics.
New Orleans Square
Main article: New Orleans Square
New Orleans Square is based on 19th-century New Orleans, opened on July 24, 1966. It is home to Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion, with nighttime entertainment Fantasmic!. This area is the home of the private Club 33.
Frontierland
Main article: Frontierland § Disneyland
Frontierland recreates the setting of pioneer days along the American frontier. According to Walt Disney, "All of us have cause to be proud of our country's history, shaped by the pioneering spirit of our forefathers. Our adventures are designed to give you the feeling of having lived, even for a short while, during our country's pioneer days." Frontierland is home to the Pinewood Indians band of animatronic Native Americans, who live on the banks of the Rivers of America. Entertainment and attractions include Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, the Mark Twain Riverboat, the Sailing Ship Columbia, Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island, and Frontierland Shootin' Exposition. Frontierland is also home to the Golden Horseshoe Saloon, an Old West-style show palace.
Critter Country
Main article: Critter Country § Disneyland
Critter Country opened in 1972 as "Bear Country", and was renamed in 1988. Formerly the area was home to Indian Village, where indigenous tribespeople demonstrated their dances and other customs. Today, the main draw of the area is Splash Mountain, a log-flume journey based on the animated segments of Disney's 1946 film Song of the South. In 2003, a dark ride called The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh replaced the Country Bear Jamboree, which closed in 2001.
Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge
Main article: Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge § Disneyland Park
Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge is set within the Star Wars universe, in the Black Spire Outpost village on the remote frontier planet of Batuu. Attractions include the Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.[53] The land opened in 2019, replacing Big Thunder Ranch and former backstage areas.[54][55]
Fantasyland
Main article: Fantasyland § Disneyland
Fantasyland is the area of Disneyland of which Walt Disney said, "What youngster has not dreamed of flying with Peter Pan over moonlit London, or tumbling into Alice's nonsensical Wonderland? In Fantasyland, these classic stories of everyone's youth have become realities for youngsters – of all ages – to participate in." Fantasyland was originally styled in a medieval European fairground fashion, but its 1983 refurbishment turned it into a Bavarian village. Attractions include several dark rides, the King Arthur Carrousel, and various family attractions. Fantasyland has the most fiber optics in the park; more than half of them are in Peter Pan's Flight.[56] Sleeping Beauty's Castle features a walk-through story telling of Briar Rose's adventure as Sleeping Beauty. The attraction opened in 1959, was redesigned in 1972, closed in 1992 for reasons of security and the new installation of pneumatic ram firework shell mortars for "Believe, There's Magic in the Stars", and reopened 2008 with new renditions and methods of storytelling and the restored work of Eyvind Earle.
Mickey's Toontown
Main article: Mickey's Toontown § Disneyland
Mickey's Toontown opened in 1993 and was partly inspired by the fictional Los Angeles suburb of Toontown in the Touchstone Pictures 1988 release Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Mickey's Toontown is based on a 1930s cartoon aesthetic and is home to Disney's most popular cartoon characters. Toontown features two main attractions: Gadget's Go Coaster and Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin. The "city" is also home to cartoon character's houses such as the house of Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Goofy, as well as Donald Duck's boat. The 3 ft (914 mm) gauge Jolly Trolley can also be found in this area, though it closed as an attraction in 2003 and is now present only for display purposes. In 2023 Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway will open at Mickey's Toontown. The new family friendly dark ride will increase the size of Toontown as well as the size of Disneyland from 99 to 101 acres (40 to 41 ha).
Tomorrowland
Main article: Tomorrowland § Disneyland
During the 1955 inauguration Walt Disney dedicated Tomorrowland with these words: "Tomorrow can be a wonderful age. Our scientists today are opening the doors of the Space Age to achievements that will benefit our children and generations to come. The Tomorrowland attractions have been designed to give you an opportunity to participate in adventures that are a living blueprint of our future."
Disneyland producer Ward Kimball had rocket scientists Wernher von Braun, Willy Ley, and Heinz Haber serve as technical consultants during the original design of Tomorrowland.[57] Initial attractions included Rocket to the Moon, Astro-Jets and Autopia; later, the first incarnation of the Submarine Voyage was added. The area underwent a major transformation in 1967 to become New Tomorrowland, and then again in 1998 when its focus was changed to present a "retro-future" theme reminiscent of the illustrations of Jules Verne.
Current attractions include Space Mountain, Star Wars Launch Bay, Autopia, Jedi Training: Trials of the Temple, the Disneyland Monorail Tomorrowland Station, Astro Orbitor, and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage opened on June 11, 2007, resurrecting the original Submarine Voyage which closed in 1998. Star Tours was closed in July 2010 and replaced with Star Tours–The Adventures Continue in June 2011.
Operations
Backstage
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Major buildings backstage include the Frank Gehry-designed Team Disney Anaheim,[58] where most of the division's administration currently works, as well as the Old Administration Building, behind Tomorrowland.
Photography is forbidden in these areas, both inside and outside, although some photos have found their way to a variety of web sites. Guests who attempt to explore backstage are warned and often escorted from the property.[59]
Transportation
Disneyland Railroad
Disneyland Railroad Engine 2
Walt Disney had a longtime interest in transportation, and trains in particular. Disney's passion for the "iron horse" led to him building a miniature live steam backyard railroad—the "Carolwood Pacific Railroad"—on the grounds of his Holmby Hills estate. Throughout all the iterations of Disneyland during the 17 or so years when Disney was conceiving it, one element remained constant: a train encircling the park.[11] The primary designer for the park transportation vehicles was Bob Gurr who gave himself the title of Director of Special Vehicle Design in 1954.[60]
Encircling Disneyland and providing a grand circle tour is the Disneyland Railroad (DRR), a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge short-line railway consisting of five oil-fired and steam-powered locomotives, in addition to three passenger trains and one passenger-carrying freight train. Originally known as the Disneyland and Santa Fe Railroad, the DRR was presented by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway until 1974. From 1955 to 1974, the Santa Fe Rail Pass was accepted in lieu of a Disneyland "D" coupon. With a 3 ft (914 mm) gauge, the most common narrow track gauge used in North America, the track runs in a continuous loop around Disneyland through each of its realms. Each 1900s-era train departs Main Street Station on an excursion that includes scheduled station stops at: New Orleans Square Station; Toontown Depot; and Tomorrowland Station. The Grand Circle Tour then concludes with a visit to the "Grand Canyon/Primeval World" dioramas before returning passengers to Main Street, U.S.A.[61]
photo of new Monorail
Monorail Red travels over the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage in Tomorrowland.
One of Disneyland's signature attractions is its Disneyland Monorail System monorail service, which opened in Tomorrowland in 1959 as the first daily-operating monorail train system in the Western Hemisphere. The monorail guideway has remained almost exactly the same since 1961, aside from small alterations while Indiana Jones Adventure was being built. Five generations of monorail trains have been used in the park, since their lightweight construction means they wear out quickly. The most recent operating generation, the Mark VII, was installed in 2008. The monorail shuttles visitors between two stations, one inside the park in Tomorrowland and one in Downtown Disney. It follows a 2.5-mile-long (4.0 km) route designed to show the park from above. Currently, the Mark VII is running with the colors red, blue and orange. The monorail was originally a loop built with just one station in Tomorrowland. Its track was extended and a second station opened at the Disneyland Hotel in 1961. With the creation of Downtown Disney in 2001, the new destination is Downtown Disney, instead of the Disneyland Hotel. The physical location of the monorail station did not change, but the original station building was demolished as part of the hotel downsizing, and the new station is now separated from the hotel by several Downtown Disney buildings, including ESPN Zone and the Rainforest Café.[62]
Horseless carriage
Main Street at Disneyland, as seen from a horseless carriage
All of the vehicles found on Main Street, U.S.A., grouped together as the Main Street Vehicles attraction, were designed to accurately reflect turn-of-the-century vehicles, including a 3 ft (914 mm) gauge[63] tramway featuring horse-drawn streetcars, a double-decker bus, a fire engine, and an automobile.[64] They are available for one-way rides along Main Street, U.S.A. The horse-drawn streetcars are also used by the park entertainment, including The Dapper Dans. The horseless carriages are modeled after cars built in 1903, and are two-cylinder, four-horsepower (3 kW) engines with manual transmission and steering. Walt Disney used to drive the fire engine around the park before it opened, and it has been used to host celebrity guests and in the parades. Most of the original main street vehicles were designed by Bob Gurr.
From the late 1950s to 1968, Los Angeles Airways provided regularly scheduled helicopter passenger service between Disneyland and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and other cities in the area. The helicopters initially operated from Anaheim/Disneyland Heliport, located behind Tomorrowland. Service later moved, in 1960, to a new heliport north of the Disneyland Hotel.[65] Arriving guests were transported to the Disneyland Hotel via tram. The service ended after two fatal crashes in 1968: The crash in Paramount, California, on May 22, 1968, killed 23 (the worst helicopter accident in aviation history at that time). The second crash in Compton, California, on August 14, 1968, killed 21.[66]
Live entertainment
Disneyland Musical Chairs
Alice and characters from her movie host "Disneyland Musical Chairs" at Coca-Cola Refreshment Corner, accompanied by a ragtime pianist.
Fantasmic
Fantasmic! finale on July 4, 2010
In addition to the attractions, Disneyland provides live entertainment throughout the park. Most of the mentioned entertainment is not offered daily, but only on selected days of the week, or selected periods of the year.
Many Disney characters can be found throughout the park, greeting visitors, interacting with children, and posing for photos. Some characters have specific areas where they are scheduled to appear, but can be found wandering as well. Some of the rarest are characters like Rabbit (from Winnie-the-Pooh), Max, Mushu, and Agent P.[67] Periodically through recent decades (and most recently during the summers of 2005 and 2006), Mickey Mouse would climb the Matterhorn attraction several times a day with the support of Minnie, Goofy, and other performers. Other mountain climbers could also be seen on the Matterhorn from time to time. As of March 2007, Mickey and his "toon" friends no longer climb the Matterhorn but the climbing program continues. Every evening at dusk, there is a military-style flag retreat to lower the U.S. Flag by a ceremonial detail of Disneyland's Security staff. The ceremony is usually held between 4:00 and 5:00 pm, depending on the entertainment being offered on Main Street, U.S.A., to prevent conflicts with crowds and music. Disney does report the time the Flag Retreat is scheduled on its Times Guide, offered at the entrance turnstiles and other locations. The Disneyland Band, which has been part of the park since its opening, plays the role of the Town Band on Main Street, U.S.A. It also breaks out into smaller groups like the Main Street Strawhatters, the Hook and Ladder Co., and the Pearly Band in Fantasyland. However, on March 31, 2015, the Disneyland Resort notified the band members of an "end of run". The reason for doing so is that they would start a new higher energy band. The veteran band members were invited to audition for the new Disneyland band, and were told that even if they did not make the new band or audition, they would still play in small groups around the park. This sparked some controversy with supporters of the traditional band.[68]
Parades
Disneyland has featured a number of different parades traveling down the park's central Main Street – Fantasyland corridor. There have been daytime and nighttime parades that celebrated Disney films or seasonal holidays with characters, music, and large floats. One of the most popular parades was the Main Street Electrical Parade, which recently ended a limited-time return engagement after an extended run at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. From May 5, 2005, through November 7, 2008, as part of Disneyland's 50th anniversary, Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams was presented, celebrating several Disney films including The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Alice in Wonderland, and Pinocchio. In 2009, Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams was replaced by Celebrate! A Street Party, which premiered on March 27, 2009. Disney did not call Celebrate! A Street Party a parade, but rather a "street event." During the Christmas season, Disneyland presents "A Christmas Fantasy" Parade. Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams was replaced by Mickey's Soundsational Parade, which debuted on May 27, 2011.[69] Disneyland debuted a new nighttime parade called "Paint the Night", on May 22, 2015, as part of the park's 60th anniversary.[70]
Fireworks shows
Disneyland fireworks
Disneyland fireworks from Sleeping Beauty Castle
Elaborate fireworks shows synchronized with Disney songs and often have appearances from Tinker Bell (and other characters) flying in the sky above Sleeping Beauty Castle. Since 2000, presentations have become more elaborate, featuring new pyrotechnics, launch techniques, and story lines. In 2004, Disneyland introduced a new air launch pyrotechnics system, reducing ground level smoke and noise and decreasing negative environmental impacts. At the time the technology debuted, Disney announced it would donate the patents to a non-profit organization for use throughout the industry.[71] Projection mapping technology debuted on It's a Small World with the creation of The Magic, the Memories and You in 2011, and expanded to Main Street and Sleeping Beauty Castle in 2015 with the premiere of Disneyland Forever.
Regular fireworks shows:
1958–1999 & 2015: Fantasy in the Sky
2000–2004: Believe... There's Magic in the Stars
2004–2005: Imagine... A Fantasy in the Sky
2005–2014; 2017–2019: Remember... Dreams Come True
2009–2014 (summer): Magical: Disney's New Nighttime Spectacular of Magical Celebrations
2019 (summer): Disneyland Forever
Seasonal fireworks shows:
September–October Halloween Screams
Independence Day Week: Disney's Celebrate America: A 4th of July Concert in the Sky
November–January: Believe... In Holiday Magic
Limited edition fireworks shows
60th Anniversary: Disneyland Forever
Pixar Fest: Together Forever
Get Your Ears On – A Mickey and Minnie Celebration: Mickey's Mix Magic
Since 2009, Disneyland has moved to a rotating repertoire of firework spectaculars.
Scheduling of fireworks shows depends on the time of year. During the slower off-season periods, the fireworks are only offered on weekends. During the busier times, Disney offers additional nights. The park offers fireworks nightly during its busy periods, which include Easter/Spring Break, Summer and Christmas time. Disneyland spends about $41,000 per night on the fireworks show. The show is normally offered at 8:45 or 9:30 pm if the park is scheduled to close at 10 pm or later, but shows have started as early as 5:45 pm. A major consideration is weather/winds, especially at higher elevations, which can, and often will, force the delay or cancellation of the show. In response to this, alternate versions of the fireworks spectaculars have been created in recent years, solely using the projections and lighting effects. With a few minor exceptions, such as July 4 and New Year's Eve, shows must finish by 10:00 pm due to the conditions of the permit issued by the City of Anaheim.
In recent years, Disneyland uses smaller and mid-sized fireworks shells and more low-level pyrotechnics on the castle to allow guests to enjoy the fireworks spectaculars even if there is a weather issue such as high wind. This precedent is known as B-show. The first fireworks show to have this format was Believe... In Holiday Magic from the 2018 holiday season.
Attendance
Disneyland park attendance
Annual attendance at Disneyland Park
Annual attendance at Disneyland Park (in millions) 1950s
Year 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
Attendance 1 4 4.5 4.6 5.1
1960s
Year 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
Attendance 5 5.3 5.5 5.7 6 6.5 6.7 7.8 9.2 9.1
1970s
Year 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
Attendance 10 9.3 9.4 9.8 9.5 9.8 9.8 10.9 11 11
1980s
Year 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
Attendance 11.5 11.3 10.4 9.9 9.8 12 12 13.5 13 14.4
1990s
Year 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Attendance 12.9 11.6 11.6 11.4 10.3 14.1 15 14.2 13.7 13.5
2000s
Year 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Attendance 13.9 12.3 12.7 12.7 13.3 14.26 14.73 14.87 14.72 15.9
2010s
Year 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Attendance 15.98 16.14 15.96 16.20 16.77 18.28 17.94 18.30 18.66 18.66
References
[72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81][82][83][84]
Tickets
old Disneyland ticket book
Disneyland ticket book circa 1975–1977. The tickets were printed as "coupons".
From Disneyland's opening day until 1982, the price of the attractions was in addition to the price of park admission.[85] Guests paid a small admission fee to get into the park, but admission to most of the rides and attractions required guests to purchase tickets, either individually or in a book, that consisted of several coupons, initially labeled "A" through "C".[86] "A" coupons allowed admission to the smaller rides and attractions such as the Main Street Vehicles, whereas "C" coupons were used for the most common attractions like Peter Pan's Flight, or the Mad Tea Party. As more thrilling rides were introduced, such as the Disneyland Monorail or the Matterhorn Bobsleds, "D" and then eventually "E" coupons were introduced. Coupons could be combined to equal the equivalent of another ticket (e.g., two "A" tickets equal one "B" ticket). The term E ticket attraction is still used to refer to these most in-demand attractions, even though the coupons themselves are long consigned to history.
Disneyland later featured a "Keys to the Kingdom" booklet of tickets, which consisted of 10 unvalued coupons sold for a single flat rate. These coupons could be used for any attraction regardless of its regular value.
In 1982, Disney dropped the idea for individual ride tickets, replacing them with "passports", charging a single admission price with unlimited access to all attractions, "except shooting galleries".[87] While this idea was not original to Disney, it had business advantages: in addition to guaranteeing that everyone paid the same entry amount regardless of their length of stay or number of rides ridden, the park no longer had to print ride tickets, provide staff for ticket booths, nor provide staff to collect tickets or monitor attractions for people sneaking on without tickets. Later, Disney introduced other entry options such as multi-day passes, Annual Passes (which allow unlimited entry to the Park for an annual fee), and Southern California residents' discounts.
On February 28, 2016, Disneyland adopted a demand-based pricing system for single-day admission, charging different prices for "value", "regular", and "peak" days, based on projected attendance. Approximately 30% of days will be designated as "value", mainly weekdays when school is in session, 44% will be designated as "regular", and 26% will be designated as "peak", mostly during holidays and weekends in July.[88][89]
One-day, one-park, adult admission prices over time[90][91][92] Date 1981* June 1982 October 1983 May 1984 January 1985 May 1985 March 1986
Price US$ $10.75 $12.00 $13.00 $14.00 $15.00 $16.50 $17.95
Date January 1987 September 1987 December 1988 December 1989 November 1990 June 1992 May 1993
Price US$ $20.00 $21.50 $23.50 $25.50 $27.50 $28.75 $30.00
Date May 1994 January 1995 January 1996 March 1997 January 1998 January 5, 1999 January 5, 2000
Price US$ $31.00 $33.00 $34.00 $36.00 $38.00 $39.00 $41.00
Date November 6, 2000 March 19, 2002 January 6, 2003 March 28, 2004 January 10, 2005 June 20, 2005 January 4, 2006
Price US$ $43.00 $45.00 $47.00 $49.75 $53.00 $56.00 $59.00
Date September 20, 2006 September 21, 2007 August 3, 2008 August 2, 2009 August 8, 2010 June 12, 2011 May 20, 2012
Price US$ $63.00 $66.00 $69.00 $72.00 $76.00 $80.00 $87.00
Date June 18, 2013 May 18, 2014 February 22, 2015 February 28, 2016 February 12, 2017 February 11, 2018 January 6, 2019
Price $92.00 $96.00 $99.00 $95/$105/$119 $97/$110/$124 $97/$117/$135 $104/$129/$149
^* Before 1982, passport tickets were available to groups only.[93]
See or edit raw graph data.
Closures
Disneyland has had six unscheduled closures:
In 1963, following the assassination of John F. Kennedy.[94]
In 1970, due to an anti-Vietnam riot instigated by the Youth International Party.
In 1987, on December 16 due to a winter storm.[95]
In 1994, for inspection after the Northridge earthquake.
In 2001, after the September 11 attacks.
In 2020, in response to the. The park closed on March 14, 2020.[37][96][40]. On March 17, 2021, the Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Chapek announced that Disneyland would reopen on April 30, 2021, after more than one year of closure.[97]
Additionally, Disneyland has had numerous planned closures:
In the early years, the park was often scheduled to be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays during the off-season.[98] This was in conjunction with nearby Knott's Berry Farm, which closed on Wednesdays and Thursdays to keep costs down for both parks, while offering Orange County visitors a place to go seven days a week.
On May 4, 2005, for the 50th Anniversary Celebration media event.[99]
The park has closed early to accommodate various special events, such as special press events, tour groups, VIP groups, and private parties. It is common for a corporation to rent the entire park for the evening. In such cases, special passes are issued which are valid for admission to all rides and attractions. At the ticket booths and on published schedules, regular guests are notified of the early closures. In the late afternoon, cast members announce that the park is closing, then clear the park of everyone without the special passes.
Promotions
Every year in October, Disneyland has a Halloween promotion. During this promotion, or as Disneyland calls it a "party", areas in the park are decorated in a Halloween theme. Space Mountain and the Haunted Mansion are temporarily re-themed as part of the promotion. A Halloween party is offered on selected nights in late September and October for a separate fee, with a special fireworks show that is only shown at the party.
From early November until the beginning of January, the park is decorated for the holidays. Seasonal entertainment includes the Believe... In Holiday Magic firework show and A Christmas Fantasy Parade, while the Haunted Mansion and It's a Small World are temporarily redecorated in a holiday theme. The Sleeping Beauty Castle is snow-capped and decorated with colorful lights during the holidays." (wikipdia.org)
"The Disneyland Resort, commonly known as Disneyland, is an entertainment resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division and is home to two theme parks (Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure), three hotels, and a shopping, dining, and entertainment district known as Downtown Disney.
The resort was developed by Walt Disney in the 1950s. When it opened to guests on July 17, 1955, the property consisted of Disneyland, its 100-acre parking lot (which had 15,167 spaces),[1] and the Disneyland Hotel, owned and operated by Disney's business partner Jack Wrather. After the success with the multi-park, multi-hotel business model at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, Disney acquired large parcels of land adjacent to Disneyland to apply the same business model in Anaheim.
During the expansion, the property was named the Disneyland Resort to encompass the entire complex, while the original theme park was named Disneyland Park. The company purchased the Disneyland Hotel from the Wrather Company and the Pan Pacific Hotel from the Tokyu Group. The Pan Pacific Hotel became Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel in 2000. In 2001 the property saw the addition of Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, a second theme park, named Disney California Adventure, and the Downtown Disney shopping, dining, and entertainment district....
History of Disneyland
Concept and construction
See also: Disneyland § History
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Walt Disney's early concepts for an amusement park called for a "Mickey Mouse Park" located adjacent to the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank (presently the site of the West Coast headquarters of ABC). As new ideas emerged, Walt and his brother Roy realized that the Burbank location would be too small for the project, and hired a consultant from Stanford Research Institute to provide them with information on locations and economic feasibility. The consultant recommended a remote location in Anaheim, adjacent to the then-under-construction Santa Ana Freeway. The consultant correctly predicted that the location – covered by orange groves at the time – would become the population center of Southern California. Since the location was far from Southern California population centers in the 1950s, Walt Disney wanted to build a hotel so that Disneyland visitors traveling long distances could stay overnight. However, the park had depleted his financial resources, so he negotiated a deal with Hollywood producer Jack Wrather in which he would build and operate a hotel called the Disneyland Hotel across the street from Disneyland.
1955–1998: one park, one hotel
Disneyland opened on July 17, 1955, with a televised press preview event on ABC. Despite the disastrous event, later dubbed "Black Sunday", during which several rides broke down and other mishaps occurred, Disneyland became a huge success in its first year of operation. The hotel, which opened three months after the park, enjoyed similar success. Walt Disney wanted to build more facilities for Disneyland visitors to stay in Anaheim, but since his financial resources were drained, entrepreneurs established their own hotels in the area surrounding the park and hotel to capitalize on Disneyland's success.[2]
Topographical map of Disneyland from 1965
To Walt Disney's dismay, the city of Anaheim was lax in restricting their construction, eager for the tax revenue generated by more hotels in the city. The area surrounding Disneyland became the atmosphere of colorful lights, flashy neon signs, and then-popular Googie architecture that he wanted to avoid (and which years earlier had caused the city of Burbank to deny his initial request to build his project in Burbank).[3] The Anaheim Convention Center was built across the street from Disneyland's original parking lot, and residences were constructed in the area as part of the city's growth in the late 20th century. Eventually, Disneyland was "boxed in", a factor which would later lead Walt Disney to acquire a significantly larger parcel of land for the construction of Walt Disney World. The Walt Disney Company gradually acquired the land west of the park, notably the Disneyland Hotel in 1989 following Jack Wrather's death in 1984, the Pan Pacific Hotel (now Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel) in 1995, and several properties north of the Disneyland Hotel in the mid to late 1990s.[citation needed]
1990s: planning an expansion
After Walt's and Roy's deaths in 1966 and 1971, respectively, the Walt Disney Company would go on to achieve success with the multi-park, multi-hotel resort complex business model of Walt Disney World in Florida, which opened in 1971. In the 1990s, Disney decided to turn Disneyland into a similar multi-park, multi-hotel resort destination. In 1991, Disney announced plans to build WestCOT, a theme park based on Walt Disney World's EPCOT Center, on the site of the original Disneyland parking lot.[4] Its estimated cost was US$3 billion, largely due to the cost of land that Disney would need to acquire. With the new Euro Disney Resort, which opened in 1992, becoming a financial and public relations albatross for the company, Disney was unable to finance the project, and cancelled WestCOT in 1995. That summer, Disney executives gathered in Aspen, Colorado for a 3-day retreat, where they came up with the idea for a California-themed park, dubbed Disney's California Adventure Park, to be built on the same site slated for WestCOT. $1.4 billion was budgeted to build the park, a retail district, and hotels.[4]
2001–2019: Disneyland Resort complex
Grizzly Peak at Disney California Adventure
In January 2015, Tom Staggs, Disney Parks chair, and Steve Davison, VP of Park Entertainment, announced upcoming changes to the park to celebrate the park's 60th anniversary. The changes began on May 22, 2015, and ran for sixteen months.[5] The updates included an updated World of Color water show, Paint the Night parade, and a new fireworks show titled Disneyland Forever. Disney California Adventure also received a makeover, with Condor Flats remade into Grizzly Peak Airfield and Soarin' Over California equipped with a new laser projection system. Peter Pan's Flight reopened on July 1.
In October 2017, Disney announced a new Pixar Pals parking structure for the resort, which includes a 6,500-space parking structure, and a new transportation hub, which opened in July 2019.[6] The parking structure opened in June 2019 and is now used daily.
In August 2015, it was announced that Disneyland Park would receive a 14-acre Star Wars-themed land scheduled to open in 2019.[7] It opened on May 31, 2019. Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge is home of two attractions, Millennium Falcon – Smugglers Run, and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.
Future expansion
In March 2018, it was announced that A Bug's Land would close in September 2018. It will be replaced by Avengers Campus which was set to open July 18, 2020, but has now been delayed indefinitely due to pandemic.[8][9]
Disney announced plans to build a fourth hotel at the resort in 2016, slated for an opening in 2021.[10] In August 2018, the hotel was placed on hold indefinitely because of a dispute with the city of Anaheim, which concerned a tax rebate that would have subsidized the hotel's construction.[11][12] Later, the hotel was cancelled as Disney and Anaheim could not come to an agreement on the tax rebate.
In April 2019, Disneyland announced that Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway would be coming to Disneyland in 2022. The attraction will go behind Mickey's Toontown in a former backstage area.[13]
Location
Map of Disneyland Resort in 2012
The Disneyland Resort is located several miles south of downtown Anaheim, in an area branded by the city as the Anaheim Resort near the border of neighboring Garden Grove. The resort is generally bounded by Harbor Boulevard to the east, Katella Avenue to the south, Walnut Street to the west and Ball Road to the north. Interstate 5 borders the resort at an angle on the northeastern corner.
Not all land bordered by these streets is part of the Disneyland Resort, particularly near the intersection of Harbor Boulevard and Katella Avenue, and along Ball Road between Disneyland Drive and Walnut Street. Disneyland Drive cuts through the resort on a north–south route and provides access to the Mickey & Friends Parking Structure, Downtown Disney, and the three hotels. Magic Way connects Walnut Street to Disneyland Drive just south of the Mickey & Friends Parking Structure and provides access to the parking structure, Disneyland Hotel, and Downtown Disney.
Special offramps from Interstate 5 combined with a reversible flyover over the intersection of Ball Road and Disneyland Drive permit access into and out of the Mickey & Friends parking garage during peak morning and evening traffic times. The official address of the resort is 1313 South Harbor Boulevard; the address number is a Hidden Mickey.[14]
Attractions
This section is in list format, but may read better as prose. You can help by converting this section, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (February 2016)
Parks
Disneyland Park, the original theme park built by Walt Disney, which opened on July 17, 1955.
Disney California Adventure Park, a theme park based on the history and culture of California, which opened on February 8, 2001.
Shopping, Dining, and Entertainment
Downtown Disney, an outdoor retail, dining, and entertainment district located between the entrance promenade of the Disneyland Resort theme parks and the Disneyland Hotel.
Hotels
Disneyland Hotel, the original hotel built by Jack Wrather which opened on October 5, 1955, and was acquired by Disney in 1988.
Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, based on the craftsman style of architecture of the early 1900s, which opened on January 2, 2001.
Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel, a hotel themed after the section of Disney California Adventure it overlooks. Formerly operated by the Tokyu Group (opening in 1984 under the name Emerald of Anaheim),[15] the hotel was purchased by Disney in December 1995, for a reported US$36 million, and renamed the Disneyland Pacific Hotel.[16] As part of the 1998-2001 expansion of the resort, it was re-branded as Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel.[17] The lobby and convention/banquet facilities have undergone several renovations since the re-branding, most notably in 2004 and 2005.
Attendance
The 2019 issue of "TEA/AECOM 2018 Theme Index and Museum Index: The Global Attractions Attendance Report" reported the following attendance estimates for 2018 compiled by the Themed Entertainment Association:
Disneyland: 18,666,000 visits (No. 2 worldwide/in the US, up 2% from 2017)[18]
Disney's California Adventure: 9,861,000 visits (No. 11 worldwide/No. 7 in the US, up 3% from 2017)[18]
Ticket prices
Approximately 60,000 people visited the park on Disneyland's opening day, July 17, 1955,[19] when park admission was priced at $1 for adults and $0.5 for children. This did not include access to rides and other individual attractions; attraction tickets could be purchased separately for $0.1 to $0.35.[20] Single attraction tickets were permanently eliminated in June 1982;[20] access to all the park's attractions was henceforth included in the price of park admission tickets.
Admission prices have greatly increased since the gates first opened, due in part to inflation, the continuing construction and renovation of attractions, and the addition of a second theme park, Disney California Adventure. As of 17 January 2020, one-day "Park Hopper" tickets, allowing entry to both Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure, are priced between $154 (on "Value" days) & $199 (on "Peak" days) for adults, and between $148 ("Value") & $191 ("Peak") for children.[21] Visitors can also purchase one-park tickets and multi-day tickets.
In addition to daily tickets, in 1984 the Premium Annual Passport was introduced to the public. The Premium Annual Passport granted daily entry for a year at a time for $65 for adults and $49 for children. There were five different types of Annual Passports available for purchase, which are the Disney Signature Plus Passport ($1,449), the Disney Signature Passport ($1,199), the Disney Deluxe Passport ($829), the Disney Flex Passport ($649), and the Disney Southern California Select Passport ($399).[22]
On January 14, 2021, Disneyland announced that they would be canceling the annual passport program.[23] Disneyland Resort president Ken Potrock stated, "Due to the continued uncertainty of the pandemic and limitations around the reopening of our California theme parks, we will be issuing appropriate refunds for eligible Disneyland resort Annual Passports and sunsetting the current program." A replacement program has yet to be announced.[24]
Management
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Executives
The president of Disneyland Resort is Ken Potrock. Potrock reports to Josh D'Amaro, Chairman of Parks, Experiences and Consumer Products.
Current management
President, Disneyland Resort – Ken Potrock
Senior Vice President, Experience Development & Integration Disneyland Resort – Mary Niven
Vice President, Disneyland Park – Kris Thieler
Vice President, Disney California Adventure Park & Downtown Disney District – Patrick Finnegan
Vice President, Disneyland Resort Hotels & Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa – Elliot Mills
Past management:
President, Disneyland Resort – Rebecca Campbell (2019–2020)
President, Disneyland Resort – Josh D'Amaro (2018–2019)
President, Disneyland Resort – Michael Colglazier (2013–2018)
President, Disneyland Resort – George Kalogridis (2009–2013)
President, Disneyland Resort – Ed Grier (2006–2009)
President, Disneyland Resort – Matt Ouimet (2003–2006)
President, Disneyland Resort – Cynthia Harriss (1999–2003)
President, Disneyland Resort – Paul Pressler (1994–1999; Chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, 1999–2002)
President, Disneyland Resort – Jack Lindquist (1990–1994)
Former Senior Vice President, Operations – Greg Emmer
Former Vice President, Downtown Disney and Disneyland Resort Hotels 1998–2012 - Tony Bruno
Former Executive Vice President – Dick Nunis (1972–1980)
Operations
The day-to-day operations of the resort are overseen by a hierarchy of operations managers or "stage managers", who change with each shift. They are colloquially known by their radio call signs, which usually contain the manager's department name (e.g., "Merch", "Foods") and an identifying number. Usually "One" denotes the manager in charge of that department for Disneyland Park, "Two" denotes the same for Disney California Adventure, "Three" denotes the same for the resort hotels, and "Four" denotes the same for Downtown Disney." (wikipedia.org)
"The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (/ˈdɪzni/),[3] is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California.
Disney was originally founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt and Roy O. Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio; it also operated under the names The Walt Disney Studio and Walt Disney Productions before officially changing its name to The Walt Disney Company in 1986. The company established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into live-action film production, television, and theme parks.
Since the 1980s, Disney has created and acquired corporate divisions in order to market more mature content than is typically associated with its flagship family-oriented brands. The company is known for its film studio division, The Walt Disney Studios, which includes Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Studios, Searchlight Pictures, and Blue Sky Studios. Disney's other main business units include divisions in television, broadcasting, streaming media, theme park resorts, consumer products, publishing, and international operations. Through these various segments, Disney owns and operates the ABC broadcast network; cable television networks such as Disney Channel, ESPN, Freeform, FX, and National Geographic; publishing, merchandising, music, and theater divisions; direct-to-consumer streaming services such as Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+, and Hotstar; and Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, a group of 14 theme parks, resort hotels, and cruise lines around the world.[4][5] Cartoon character Mickey Mouse, created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks, is one of the world's most recognizable characters and serves as the company's official mascot.[citation needed]
The company, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under DIS stock symbol,[6] has been a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average since 1991.[7] In August 2020, just under two-thirds of the stock was owned by large financial institutions....
Corporate history
See also: Timeline of The Walt Disney Company
1923–1928: Founding and silent film era
The building in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Los Feliz which was home to the studio from 1923 to 1926.[9]
In early 1923, Kansas City, Missouri, animator Walt Disney created a short film entitled Alice's Wonderland, which featured child actress Virginia Davis interacting with animated characters. After the bankruptcy in 1923 of his previous firm, Laugh-O-Gram Studio,[ChWDC 1] Disney moved to Hollywood to join his brother, Roy O. Disney. Film distributor Margaret J. Winkler of M.J. Winkler Productions contacted Disney with plans to distribute a whole series of Alice Comedies purchased for $1,500 per reel with Disney as a production partner. Walt and Roy Disney formed Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio that same year. More animated films followed after Alice.[10] In January 1926, with the completion of the Disney studio on Hyperion Street, the Disney Brothers Studio's name was changed to the Walt Disney Studio.[ChWDC 2]
After the demise of the Alice comedies, Disney developed an all-cartoon series starring a character named Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.[10] The series was produced by Winkler Pictures and distributed by Universal Pictures.[ChWDC 2] Universal owned Oswald, so Disney only made a few hundred dollars.[10] Disney completed 27 Oswald shorts before losing the contract in March 1928, when Winkler head Charles Mintz hired away four of Disney's primary animators (the exception being Ub Iwerks) to start his own animation studio, Snappy Comedies.[ChWDC 3]
1928–1934: Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphonies
In 1928, to recover from the loss of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Disney came up with the idea of a mouse character named Mortimer while on a train headed to California, drawing up a few simple drawings. The mouse was later renamed Mickey Mouse (Disney's wife, Lillian, disliked the sound of 'Mortimer Mouse') and starred in several Disney produced films. Ub Iwerks refined Disney's initial design of Mickey Mouse.[10] Disney's first sound film Steamboat Willie, a cartoon starring Mickey, was released on November 18, 1928[ChWDC 3] through Pat Powers' distribution company.[10] It was the first Mickey Mouse sound cartoon released, but the third to be created, behind Plane Crazy and The Gallopin' Gaucho.[ChWDC 4] Steamboat Willie was an immediate smash hit, and its initial success was attributed not just to Mickey's appeal as a character, but to the fact that it was the first cartoon to feature synchronized sound.[10] Disney used Pat Powers' Cinephone system, created by Powers using Lee de Forest's Phonofilm system.[ChWDC 4] Steamboat Willie premiered at B. S. Moss's Colony Theater in New York City, now The Broadway Theatre.[11] Disney's Plane Crazy and The Gallopin' Gaucho were then retrofitted with synchronized sound tracks and re-released successfully in 1929.[ChWDC 4]
Disney continued to produce cartoons with Mickey Mouse and other characters,[10] and began the Silly Symphony series with Columbia Pictures signing on as Symphonies distributor in August 1929. In September 1929, theater manager Harry Woodin requested permission to start a Mickey Mouse Club, which Walt approved. In November, test comics strips were sent to King Features, who requested additional samples to show to the publisher, William Randolph Hearst. On December 16, the Walt Disney Studios partnership was reorganized as a corporation with the name of Walt Disney Productions, Limited, with a merchandising division – Walt Disney Enterprises, and two subsidiaries – Disney Film Recording Company, Limited; and Liled Realty and Investment Company, for real estate holdings. Walt and his wife held 60 percent (6,000 shares) and Roy owned 40 percent of WD Productions. On December 30, King Features signed its first newspaper, New York Mirror, to publish the Mickey Mouse comic strip with Walt's permission.[ChWDC 5]
In 1932, Disney signed an exclusive contract with Technicolor (through the end of 1935) to produce cartoons in color, beginning with Flowers and Trees (1932). Disney released cartoons through Powers' Celebrity Pictures (1928–1930), Columbia Pictures (1930–1932), and United Artists (1932–1937).[12] The popularity of the Mickey Mouse series allowed Disney to plan for his first feature-length animation.[10] The feature film Walt Before Mickey, based on the book by Diane Disney Miller, featured these moments in the studio's history.[13]
1934–1950: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, World War II, and package films
The original Animation Building at the Walt Disney Studios.
Deciding to push the boundaries of animation even further, Disney began production of his first feature-length animated film in 1934. Taking three years to complete, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, premiered in December 1937 and by 1939 became the highest-grossing film of that time.[14] Snow White was released through RKO Radio Pictures, which had assumed distribution of Disney's product in July 1937,[ChWDC 6] after United Artists attempted to attain future television rights to the Disney shorts.[15] Using the profits from Snow White, Disney financed the construction of a new 51-acre (210,000 m2) studio complex in Burbank, California. The new Walt Disney Studios, in which the company is headquartered to this day, was completed and open for business by the end of 1939.[ChWDC 7] The following year on April 2, Walt Disney Productions had its initial public offering.[ChWDC 8][16]
The studio continued releasing animated shorts and features, such as Pinocchio (1940), Fantasia (1940), Dumbo (1941), and Bambi (1942).[10] After World War II began, box office profits declined. When the United States entered the war after the attack on Pearl Harbor, many of Disney's animators were drafted into the armed forces. The U.S. and Canadian governments commissioned the studio to produce training and propaganda films. By 1942, 90 percent of its 550 employees were working on war-related films.[17] Films such as the feature Victory Through Air Power and the short Education for Death (both 1943) were meant to increase public support for the war effort. Even the studio's characters joined the effort, as Donald Duck appeared in a number of comical propaganda shorts, including the Academy Award-winning Der Fuehrer's Face (1943).
With limited staff and little operating capital during and after the war, Disney's feature films during much of the 1940s were "package films", or collections of shorts, such as The Three Caballeros (1944) and Melody Time (1948), which performed poorly at the box office. At the same time, the studio began producing live-action films and documentaries. Song of the South (1946) and So Dear to My Heart (1948) featured animated segments, while the True-Life Adventures series, which included such films as Seal Island (1948) and The Vanishing Prairie (1954), were also popular. Eight of the films in the series won Academy Awards.[18]
1950–1966: Television, Disneyland, and Walt Disney's death
The release of Cinderella in 1950 proved that feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace. Other releases of the period included Alice in Wonderland (1951) and Peter Pan (1953), both in production before the war began, and Disney's first all-live action feature, Treasure Island (1950). Other early all-live-action Disney films included The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952), The Sword and the Rose (1953), and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954). Disney ended its distribution contract with RKO in 1953, forming its own distribution arm, Buena Vista Distribution.[19]
Walt Disney at the grand opening of Disneyland, July 1955.
In December 1950, Walt Disney Productions and the Coca-Cola Company teamed up for Disney's first venture into television, the NBC television network special One Hour in Wonderland. In October 1954, the ABC network launched Disney's first regular television series. In 1954, Walt Disney used his Disneyland series to unveil what would become Disneyland, an idea conceived out of a desire for a place where parents and children could both have fun at the same time. On July 18, 1955, Walt Disney opened Disneyland to the general public. On July 17, 1955, Disneyland was previewed with a live television broadcast hosted by Robert Cummings, Art Linkletter, and Ronald Reagan. After a shaky start, Disneyland continued to grow and attract visitors from across the country and around the world. A major expansion in 1959 included the addition of America's first monorail system. For the 1964 New York World's Fair, Disney prepared four separate attractions for various sponsors, each of which would find its way to Disneyland in one form or another. During this time, Walt Disney was also secretly scouting out new sites for a second Disney theme park. In November 1965, "Disney World" was announced, with plans for theme parks, hotels, and even a model city on thousands of acres of land purchased outside of Orlando, Florida.[20]
Disney continued to focus its talents on television throughout the 1950s. Its weekday afternoon children's television program The Mickey Mouse Club, featuring its roster of young "Mouseketeers", premiered in 1955 to great success, as did the Davy Crockett miniseries, starring Fess Parker and broadcast on the Disneyland anthology show.[10] Two years later, the Zorro series would prove just as popular, running for two seasons on ABC.[21] Despite such success, Walt Disney Productions invested little into television ventures in the 1960s,[citation needed] with the exception of the long-running anthology series, later known as The Wonderful World of Disney.[10]
Disney's film studios stayed busy as well, averaging five or six releases per year during this period. While the production of shorts slowed significantly during the 1950s and 1960s, the studio released a number of popular animated features, like Lady and the Tramp (1955), Sleeping Beauty (1959) and One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), which introduced a new xerography process to transfer the drawings to animation cels.[22] Disney's live-action releases were spread across a number of genres, including historical fiction (Johnny Tremain, 1957), adaptations of children's books (Pollyanna, 1960) and modern-day comedies (The Shaggy Dog, 1959). Disney's most successful film of the 1960s was a live action/animated musical adaptation of Mary Poppins, which was one of the all-time highest-grossing movies[10] and received five Academy Awards, including Best Actress for Julie Andrews and Best Song for Robert B. Sherman & Richard M. Sherman for "Chim Chim Cher-ee".[23] The theme park design and architectural group became so integral to the Disney studio's operations that the studio bought it on February 5, 1965, along with the WED Enterprises name.[24][25][26][27] On December 15, 1966, Walt Disney died of complications relating to lung cancer,[10] marking the end of an era for the company.
1966–1984: Roy O. Disney's leadership and death, Walt Disney World, new leadership, theatrical malaise
Following Walt's death, Roy O. Disney took over as chairman, CEO, and president of the company. One of his first acts was to rename Disney World as "Walt Disney World" in honor of his brother and his vision.[28] In 1967, the last two films Walt actively supervised were released, the animated feature The Jungle Book[10] and the musical The Happiest Millionaire.[29] The studio released a number of comedies in the late 1960s, including The Love Bug (1969's highest-grossing film)[10] and The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969), which starred another young Disney discovery, Kurt Russell. The 1970s opened with the release of Disney's first "post-Walt" animated feature, The Aristocats, followed by a return to fantasy musicals in 1971's Bedknobs and Broomsticks.[10] Blackbeard's Ghost was another successful film during this period.[10] On October 1, 1971, Walt Disney World opened to the public, with Roy Disney dedicating the facility in person later that month.
On December 20, 1971, Roy O. Disney died of a stroke. He left the company under the control of Donn Tatum, Card Walker, and Walt's son-in-law Ron Miller, each trained by Walt and Roy. While Walt Disney Productions continued releasing family-friendly films throughout the 1970s, such as Escape to Witch Mountain (1975)[10] and Freaky Friday (1976), the films did not fare as well at the box office as earlier material. However, the animation studio saw success with Robin Hood (1973), The Rescuers (1977), and The Fox and the Hound (1981). As head of the studio, Miller attempted to make films to drive the profitable teenage market who generally passed on seeing Disney films.[30] Inspired by the popularity of Star Wars, Disney produced the science-fiction adventure The Black Hole in 1979; it cost $20 million to make, but was lost in Star Wars' wake.[10] The Black Hole was the first Disney film to carry a PG rating in the United States.[30][N 1] Disney dabbled in the horror genre with The Watcher in the Woods, and financed the boldly innovative Tron; both films were released to minimal success.[10]
Disney also hired outside producers for film projects, which had never been done before in the studio's history.[30] In 1979, Disney entered a joint venture with Paramount Pictures on the production of the 1980 film adaptation of Popeye and Dragonslayer (1981); the first time Disney collaborated with another studio. Paramount distributed Disney films in Canada at the time, and it was hoped that Disney's marketing prestige would help sell the two films.[30] Finally, in 1982, the Disney family sold the naming rights and rail-based attractions to the Disney film studio for 818,461 shares of Disney stock then worth $42.6 million none of which went to Retlaw. Also, Roy E. Disney objected to the overvalued purchase price of the naming right and voted against the purchase as a Disney board director.[31]
The 1983 release of Mickey's Christmas Carol began a string of successful movies, starting with Never Cry Wolf and the Ray Bradbury adaptation Something Wicked This Way Comes.[10] The Walt Disney Productions film division was incorporated on April 1, 1983 as Walt Disney Pictures.[32] In 1984, Disney CEO Ron Miller created Touchstone Films as a brand for Disney to release more major motion pictures. Touchstone's first release was the comedy Splash (1984), which was a box office success.[33] With The Wonderful World of Disney remaining a prime-time staple, Disney returned to television in the 1970s with syndicated programming such as the anthology series The Mouse Factory and a brief revival of the Mickey Mouse Club. In 1980, Disney launched Walt Disney Home Video to take advantage of the newly emerging videocassette market. On April 18, 1983, The Disney Channel debuted as a subscription-level channel on cable systems nationwide, featuring its large library of classic films and TV series, along with original programming and family-friendly third-party offerings.
Epcot opened in October 1982.
Walt Disney World received much of the company's attention through the 1970s and into the 1980s. In 1978, Disney executives announced plans for the second Walt Disney World theme park, EPCOT Center, which would open in October 1982. Inspired by Walt Disney's dream of a futuristic model city, EPCOT Center was built as a "permanent World's Fair", complete with exhibits sponsored by major American corporations, as well as pavilions based on the cultures of other nations. In Japan, The Oriental Land Company partnered with Walt Disney Productions to build the first Disney theme park outside of the United States, Tokyo Disneyland, which opened in April 1983. Despite the success of the Disney Channel and its new theme park creations, Walt Disney Productions was financially vulnerable. Its film library was valuable but offered few current successes, and its leadership team was unable to keep up with other studios, particularly the works of Don Bluth, who defected from Disney in 1979. By the early 1980s, the parks were generating 70 percent of Disney's income.[10]
In 1984, financier Saul Steinberg's Reliance Group Holdings launched a hostile takeover bid for Walt Disney Productions,[10] with the intent of selling off some of its operations.[34] Disney bought out Reliance's 11.1% stake in the company. However, another shareholder filed suit claiming the deal devaluated Disney's stock and for Disney management to retain their positions. The shareholder lawsuit was settled in 1989 for a total of $45 million from Disney and Reliance.[10] Likewise in 1984, MCA (then-parent company of Universal Studios) actually struck a deal with Disney to purchase the company on the condition insisted by the Disney family that Disney CEO Ron W. Miller be MCA president, but disagreements between MCA chairman Lew Wasserman and Disney over the condition caused the agreement to fall through completely.[35]
1984–2005: Michael Eisner's leadership, Disney Renaissance, and "Save Disney" campaign
See also: Timeline of The Walt Disney Company § 1984–2004
With the Sid Bass family purchase of 18.7 percent of Disney, Bass and the board brought in Michael Eisner from Paramount as CEO and Frank Wells from Warner Bros. as president. Eisner emphasized Touchstone, with Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1985) leading to increased output with Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), Dead Poets Society (1989), Pretty Woman (1990) and additional hits. Eisner used expanding cable and home video markets to sign deals using Disney shows and films, making a long-term deal with Showtime Networks for Disney/Touchstone releases through 1996 and entering television with syndication and distribution for TV series such as The Golden Girls and Home Improvement. Disney began limited releases of its previous films on videotapes in the late 1980s. Eisner's Disney purchased KHJ, an independent Los Angeles TV station.[10] Organized in 1985, Silver Screen Partners II, LP financed films for Disney with $193 million. In January 1987, Silver Screen III began financing movies for Disney with $300 million raised, the largest amount raised for a film financing limited partnership by E.F. Hutton.[36] Silver Screen IV was also set up to finance Disney's studios.[37]
Buoyed by the success of Who Framed Roger Rabbit in 1988, Disney's flagship animation studio enjoyed a series of commercial and critical successes known as the Disney Renaissance, with such films as The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), and The Lion King (1994). In addition, the company successfully entered the field of television animation with a number of lavishly-budgeted and acclaimed series such as Adventures of the Gummi Bears, DuckTales, Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers, Darkwing Duck, TaleSpin, Bonkers and Gargoyles.[38] Disney moved to first place in box office receipts by 1988 and had increased revenues by 20 percent every year.[10]
In 1989, Disney signed an agreement-in-principle to acquire Jim Henson Productions from its founder, Muppet creator Jim Henson. The deal included Henson's programming library and Muppet characters (excluding the Muppets created for Sesame Street), as well as Jim Henson's personal creative services. However, Henson died suddenly in May 1990 before the deal was completed, resulting in the two companies terminating merger negotiations the following December.[39] Named the "Disney Decade" by the company, the executive talent attempted to move the company to new heights in the 1990s with huge changes and accomplishments.[10] In September 1990, Disney arranged for financing up to $200 million by a unit of Nomura Securities for Interscope films made for Disney. On October 23, Disney formed Touchwood Pacific Partners which would supplant the Silver Screen Partnership series as their movie studios' primary source of funding.[37]
In 1991, hotels, home video distribution, and Disney merchandising became 28 percent of total company revenues while international revenues contributed 22 percent of total revenues. The company committed its studios in the first quarter of 1991 to produce 25 films in 1992. However, 1991 saw net income drop by 23 percent and had no growth for the year, but saw the release of Beauty and the Beast, winner of two Academy Awards and top-grossing film in the genre. Disney next moved into publishing with Hyperion Books and adult music with Hollywood Records while Walt Disney Imagineering was laying off 400 employees.[10] Disney also broadened its adult offerings in film when then-Disney Studio Chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg acquired Miramax Films in 1993. That same year Disney created the NHL team the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, named after the 1992 hit film of the same name. Disney purchased a minority stake in the Anaheim Angels baseball team around the same time.[10]
Wells was killed in a helicopter crash in 1994.[10] Shortly thereafter, Katzenberg resigned and formed DreamWorks SKG because Eisner would not appoint Katzenberg to Wells' now-available post (Katzenberg had also sued over the terms of his contract).[10] Instead, Eisner recruited his friend Michael Ovitz, one of the founders of the Creative Artists Agency, to be President, with minimal involvement from Disney's board of directors (which at the time included Oscar-winning actor Sidney Poitier, Hilton Hotels Corporation CEO Stephen Bollenbach, former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, Yale dean Robert A. M. Stern, and Eisner's predecessors Raymond Watson and Card Walker). Ovitz lasted only 14 months and left Disney in December 1996 via a "no fault termination" with a severance package of $38 million in cash and 3 million stock options worth roughly $100 million at the time of Ovitz's departure. The Ovitz episode engendered a long-running derivative suit, which finally concluded in June 2006, almost 10 years later. Chancellor William B. Chandler III of the Delaware Court of Chancery, despite describing Eisner's behavior as falling "far short of what shareholders expect and demand from those entrusted with a fiduciary position..." found in favor of Eisner and the rest of the Disney board because they had not violated the letter of the law (namely, the duty of care owed by a corporation's officers and board to its shareholders).[40] Eisner later said, in a 2016 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, that he regretted letting Ovitz go.[41]
Celebration Florida
A view of downtown Celebration, Florida, a community that was planned by the Walt Disney Company.
In 1994, Eisner attempted to purchase NBC from General Electric (GE), but the deal failed due to GE wanting to keep 51 percent ownership of the network. On August 1, 1995, Disney announced they would acquire and merge with Capital Cities/ABC Inc. for $19 billion, which at the time was the second largest corporate takeover. The merger would bring broadcast network ABC and its assets, including a 37.5% minority stake in A&E Television Networks, an 80 percent majority stake in ESPN and the Limited Partnership-ran DIC Productions into the Disney umbrella.[10] The deal was closed on February 10, 1996, and Eisner felt that the purchase of ABC was an important investment to keep Disney surviving and allowing it to compete with international multimedia conglomerates.[42] Disney lost a $10.4 million lawsuit in September 1997 to Marsu B.V. over Disney's failure to produce as contracted 13 half-hour Marsupilami cartoon shows. Instead, Disney felt other internal "hot properties" deserved the company's attention.[43]
Disney, which had taken control of the Anaheim Angels in 1996, purchased a majority stake in the team in 1998. That same year, Disney began a move into the Internet field with the purchase of Starwave and 43 percent of Infoseek. In 1999, Disney purchased the remaining shares of Infoseek and launched the Go Network portal in January. Disney also launched its cruise line with the christening of Disney Magic and a sister ship, Disney Wonder.[10] The Katzenberg case dragged on as his contract included a portion of the film revenue from ancillary markets forever. Katzenberg had offered $100 million to settle the case, but Eisner felt the original claim amount of about half a billion too much, but then the ancillary market clause was found. Disney lawyers tried to indicate a decline situation which reveal some of the problems in the company. ABC had declining rating and increasing costs while the film segment had two film failures. While neither party revealed the settlement amount, it is estimated at $200 million.[10]
The Disney Magic of the Disney Cruise Line at Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
Eisner's controlling style inhibited efficiency and progress according to some critics, while other industry experts indicated that "age compression" theory led to a decline in the company's target market due to youth copying teenage behavior earlier.[10] The year 2000 brought an increase in revenue of 9 percent and net income of 39 percent with ABC and ESPN leading the way and Parks and Resorts marking its sixth consecutive year of growth. In November 2000, Andy Heyward purchased back DIC Entertainment from Disney (through investment by Bain Capital and Chase Capital Partners) and making the studio re-independent.[44] On July 23, 2001, Disney announced to purchase Fox Family Worldwide for $2.9 billion cash plus $2.3 billion in debt assumption, which would include ownership in the Fox Family channel alongside other assets including the Saban Entertainment library and Fox Kids channels in Europe and Latin America.[45] The purchase was completed on October 24, 2001 and Fox Family would be renamed to ABC Family in November.
The year 2001 was one of cost-cutting, laying off 4,000 employees, Disney parks operations decreased, slashing annual live-action film investment, and minimizing Internet operations, mainly due to the September 11 attacks, which led to a decline in vacation travel and the early 2000s recession led to a decrease in ABC revenue. While 2002 revenue had a small decrease from 2001 with the cost-cutting, net income rose to $1.2 billion with two creative film releases. In 2003, Disney became the first studio to record over $3 billion in worldwide box office receipts.[10] Eisner did not want the board to renominate Roy E. Disney, the son of Disney co-founder Roy O. Disney, as a board director citing his age of 72 as a required retirement age. Stanley Gold responded by resigning from the board and requesting the other board members oust Eisner.[10] On November 30, 2003, Disney resigned from his positions as the company's vice chairman and chairman of Walt Disney Feature Animation,[ChWDC 9] accusing Eisner of micromanagement, failures with the ABC television network, timidity in the theme park business, turning The Walt Disney Company into a "rapacious, soul-less" company, and refusing to establish a clear succession plan, as well as a string of box office film flops starting in the year 2000.
On August 9, 2002, Disney said it was expressing great interest in buying Universal Studios whose parent company Vivendi started a bidding war after inheriting $17.9 billion in debt by its purchase of the famed major film studio from Seagram for $34 billion.[46] In addition, Universal Orlando's Islands of Adventure was struggling to deal with catastrophically low attendance since the park's opening in 1999, and the September 11 attacks in 2001 caused a dip of Universal Parks and Resorts' tourism attendance worldwide. As a result, Vivendi lacked the interest in investing in the Universal parks more meaningfully and may have been one of the reasons for selling off Universal.[47] Analysts speculated that Universal would have to be available at a bargain price to justify such a deal. "Owning more theme parks could make Disney even more cyclical because that's a cyclical business," said Katherine Styponias of Prudential Securities.[46] Despite this, Disney didn't succeed in pursuing a takeover for various reasons, owing to its stock price at a 52-week-low and the likelihood of the Disney/Universal deal being blocked on antitrust grounds (e.g. less innovation in theme parks, higher prices for hotel rooms, the growing power of box office market share, etc.).[47]
On May 15, 2003, Disney sold their stake in the Anaheim Angels baseball team to Arte Moreno. Disney purchased the rights to The Muppets and the Bear in the Big Blue House franchises from The Jim Henson Company on February 17, 2004.[48] The two brands were placed under control of the Muppets Holding Company, LLC, a unit of Disney Consumer Products.[49] In 2004, Pixar Animation Studios began looking for another distributor after its 12-year contract with Disney ended, due to its strained relationship over issues of control and money with Eisner. Also that year, Comcast Corporation made an unsolicited $54 billion bid to acquire Disney. A couple of high budget films flopped at the box office. With these difficulties and with some board directors dissatisfied, Eisner ceded the board chairmanship.[10]
On March 3, 2004, at Disney's annual shareholders' meeting, a surprising 45 percent of Disney's shareholders, predominantly rallied by former board members Roy Disney and Stanley Gold, withheld their proxies to re-elect Eisner to the board. Disney's board then gave the chairmanship position to Mitchell. However, the board did not immediately remove Eisner as chief executive.[ChWDC 10] In February 2005, Disney sold the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim hockey team to Henry and Susan Samueli, who later renamed the team the Anaheim Ducks.[10] On March 13, 2005, Robert A. Iger was announced as Eisner's successor as CEO. Also that month, Miramax co-founders Bob Weinstein and Harvey Weinstein departed the company to form their own studio. On July 8, Walt Disney's nephew, Roy E. Disney, returned to the company as a consultant and as non-voting director emeritus. Walt Disney Parks and Resorts celebrated the 50th anniversary of Disneyland Park on July 17 and opened Hong Kong Disneyland on September 12. On July 25, Disney announced that it was closing DisneyToon Studios Australia in October 2006 after 17 years of existence.[50] On September 30, Eisner resigned both as an executive and as a member of the Board of Directors.[ChWDC 11]
2005–2020: Bob Iger's leadership and company expansion
See also: Acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney
Team Disney Burbank, which houses the offices of Disney's CEO and several other senior corporate officials
On October 1, 2005, Bob Iger replaced Eisner as Disney's CEO. On November 4, Walt Disney Feature Animation released Chicken Little, the company's first film using 3D animation. On January 23, 2006, it was announced that Disney would purchase Pixar in an all-stock transaction valued at $7.4 billion. The deal was finalized on May 5; Steve Jobs, who was Pixar's CEO and held a 50.1% ownership stake in the company, transitioned to Disney's board of directors as its largest individual shareholder, with a 7 percent stake.[51][52] Ed Catmull took over as President of Pixar Animation Studios. Former executive vice-president of Pixar, John Lasseter, became chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios, its division Disneytoon Studios, and Pixar Animation Studios, as well as assuming the role of principal creative advisor at Walt Disney Imagineering.[52]
In February 2006, Disney acquired the rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit from NBC Universal (including the character's intellectual property and the 27 Oswald cartoons produced by Walt Disney) as part of an exchange of minor assets. In return, Disney released sportscaster Al Michaels from his contracts with ABC Sports and ESPN, so he could join NBC Sports and his long-time partner John Madden for NBC's new NFL Sunday Night Football.[53] In April 2007, the Muppets Holding Company was moved from Disney Consumer Products to the Walt Disney Studios division and renamed The Muppets Studio, as part of efforts to re-launch the division.[54][48] In February 2007, the company was accused of human rights violations regarding the working conditions in factories that produce their merchandise.[55][56] On August 31, 2009, Disney announced a deal to acquire Marvel Entertainment for $4.24 billion, in a deal completed on December 31, 2009.[57][58]
Director Emeritus Roy E. Disney died of stomach cancer on December 16, 2009. At the time of his death, he owned roughly 1 percent of all of Disney which amounted to 16 million shares. He was the last member of the Disney family to be actively involved in the company.[59] In October 2009, Disney Channel president Rich Ross, hired by Iger, replaced Dick Cook as chairman of the company and, in November, began restructuring the company to focus more on family friendly products. Later in January 2010, Disney decided to shut down Miramax after downsizing Touchstone, but one month later, they instead began selling the Miramax brand and its 700-title film library to Filmyard Holdings. In March, ImageMovers Digital, which Disney had established as a joint venture studio with Robert Zemeckis in 2007, was shut down. In April 2010, Lyric Street, Disney's country music label in Nashville, was shut down. The following month, Haim Saban reacquired the Power Rangers franchise, including its 700-episode library.[60] In September 2012, Saban reacquired the Digimon franchise, which, like Power Rangers, was part of the Fox Kids library that Disney acquired in 2001.[61] In January 2011, Disney Interactive Studios was downsized.[62]
In April 2011, Disney broke ground on Shanghai Disney Resort. Costing $4.4 billion, the resort opened on June 16, 2016.[63] Later, in August 2011, Bob Iger stated on a conference call that after the success of the Pixar and Marvel purchases, he and the Walt Disney Company are looking to "buy either new characters or businesses that are capable of creating great characters and great stories."[64] Later, in early February 2012, Disney completed its acquisition of UTV Software Communications, expanding their market further into India and Asia.[65] On October 30, 2012, Disney announced plans to acquire Lucasfilm in a deal valued at $4.05 billion. Disney announced an intent to leverage the Star Wars franchise across its divisions, and planned to produce a seventh installment in the main film franchise for release in 2015.[66][67] The sale was completed on December 21, 2012.[68] On March 24, 2014, Disney acquired Maker Studios, an active multi-channel network on YouTube, for $500 million.[69] The company was later turned into a new venture called Disney Digital Network in May 2017.[70]
On February 5, 2015, it was announced that Tom Staggs had been promoted to COO.[71] On April 4, 2016, Disney announced that Staggs and the company had mutually agreed to part ways, effective May 2016, ending his 26-year career with the company.[72] In August 2016, Disney acquired a 33 percent stake in BAMTech, a streaming media provider spun out from Major League Baseball's media division. The company announced plans to eventually use its infrastructure for an ESPN over-the-top service.[73][74]
In September 2016, Disney considered purchasing the American online news and social networking service Twitter,[75][76] but they dropped out partly due to concerns over abuse and harassment on the service.[77][78][79]
On March 23, 2017, Disney announced that Iger had agreed to a one-year extension of his term as CEO through July 2, 2019, and had agreed to remain with the company as a consultant for three years after stepping down.[80][81] In August 2017, Disney announced that it had exercised an option to increase its stake in BAMTech to 75 percent, and would launch a subscription video-on-demand service featuring its entertainment content in 2019, which will replace Netflix as the subscription VOD rights holder of all Disney theatrical film releases.[82][83] In November 2017, Lasseter announced that he was taking a six-month leave of absence from Pixar and Disney Animation after acknowledging "missteps" in his behavior with employees in a memo to staff. According to various news outlets, Lasseter had a history of alleged sexual misconduct towards employees.[84][85]
The entrance to Fox Studios lot.
In November 2017, it was reported by CNBC that Disney had been in negotiations to acquire 21st Century Fox. The negotiations had reportedly resumed around Disney acquiring several of Fox's key media assets. Rumors of a nearing deal continued on December 5, 2017, with additional reports suggesting that the FSN regional sports networks would be included in the resulting new company (assets that would likely be aligned with Disney's ESPN division).[86][87][88][89] On December 14, Disney agreed to acquire most assets from 21st Century Fox, including 20th Century Fox, for $52.4 billion.[90] The merger included many of Fox's entertainment assets—including filmed entertainment, cable entertainment, and direct broadcast satellite divisions in the UK, Europe, and Asia[91]—but excluded divisions such as the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox Television Stations, the Fox News Channel, the Fox Business Network, Fox Sports 1 and 2, and the Big Ten Network, all of which were to be spun off into an independent company before the merger was complete (which eventually named Fox Corporation).[92] The following June, after a counter offer from Comcast worth $65 billion, Disney increased its offer to $71.3 billion.[93] The transaction officially closed on March 20, 2019.[94][95]
Beginning in March 2018, a strategic reorganization of the company saw the creation of two business segments, Disney Parks, Experiences and Products and Direct-to-Consumer & International. Parks & Consumer Products was primarily a merger of Parks & Resorts and Consumer Products & Interactive Media. While Direct-to-Consumer & International took over for Disney International and global sales, distribution and streaming units from Disney-ABC TV Group and Studios Entertainment plus Disney Digital Network.[96] Given that CEO Iger described it as "strategically positioning our businesses for the future", The New York Times considered the reorganization done in expectation of the 21st Century Fox purchase.[97]
2020–present: Leadership change and
See also: Impact of the on The Walt Disney Company
On February 25, 2020, Disney named Bob Chapek as CEO to succeed Iger, effective immediately. Iger assumed the role of Executive Chairman, under which he would oversee the creative side of the company, while also continuing to serve as Chairman of the Board during the transition period through 2021.[98][99]
In April 2020, Iger resumed operational duties of the company as executive chairman to help the company during the and Chapek was appointed to the board of directors.[100][101] Also in the month, the company announced that it would suspend pay to more than 100,000 employees ("cast members") at Disney Parks, Experiences and Products in response to recession—reportedly amounting to monthly savings of $500 million for the company—while continuing to provide full healthcare benefits. Reportedly, staff in the United States and France were affected and were encouraged to apply for government support.[102]
Due to the closure of Disney parks during the, Disney experienced a 63 percent drop in earnings for the fiscal second quarter of 2020, resulting in a loss of $1.4 billion for the company. Additionally, the Parks, Experiences, and Products division experienced a loss of $1 billion in revenue.[103] In September 2020, the company announced that it will be laying off 28,000 employees in Florida and California. According to Disney's park chairman, Josh D'Amaro, "We initially hoped that this situation would be shortlived and that we would recover quickly and return to normal. Seven months later, we find that has not been the case." According to D’Amaro, two-thirds of the employees reported to be laid off were part-time workers.[104] Then in November, Disney planned to cut 4000 jobs more than announced until the end of March 2021.[105]
In December 2020, Disney named Alan Bergman as chairman of its Disney Studios Content division to oversee its film studios.[106]
Company units
For a more comprehensive list, see List of assets owned by The Walt Disney Company.
The Walt Disney Company operates five primary business segments (two primary divisions and three content groups):[107]
Divisions
Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution (DMED)[108] is responsible for all global distribution, operations, sales, advertising, data and technology functions for the company's three content production groups (listed below), as well as management of the company’s direct-to-consumer businesses, including its multiple streaming services (Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+), theatrical exhibition unit, home media distribution, Disney Music Group, domestic television networks, and international holdings such as Star India.[107][109] The division is led by Kareem Daniel.[107]
Disney Parks, Experiences and Products (DPEP) includes the company's theme parks, cruise line, travel-related assets, consumer products, and publishing divisions. Disney's resorts and diversified related holdings include: Walt Disney World, Disneyland Resort, Tokyo Disney Resort, Disneyland Paris, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, Shanghai Disney Resort, Disney Vacation Club, Disney Cruise Line, and Adventures by Disney.[110] The division is led by Josh D'Amaro.[107]
Content groups
The Walt Disney Studios consists of the company's filmed entertainment and theatrical entertainment businesses, including Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Studios, Searchlight Pictures, Blue Sky Studios, Disneynature, and Disney Theatrical Group. The division is led by Alan Bergman.[107]
Disney General Entertainment Content (DGE)[108] consists of the company's entertainment-centric television channels and production companies in the United States, including Walt Disney Television (consisting of the ABC television network, Disney Television Studios – ABC Signature, 20th Television and 20th Animation, ABC Owned Television Stations and Freeform), Disney Branded Television, FX Networks, ABC News and 73% ownership of National Geographic Partners.[111] The division also owns 50% of A&E Networks with Hearst Communications. The division is led by Peter Rice.[107]
ESPN and Sports Content focuses on ESPN's live sports programming, as well as sports news and original and non-scripted sports-related content, for the cable channels, ESPN+, and ABC.[112] The division is led by James Pitaro.[107]
In addition, Marvel Entertainment is a business reporting directly to the CEO; its financial results are primarily divided between the Studios and Consumer Products segments.[113]
Executive management
For a more comprehensive list, see List of management of The Walt Disney Company.
Chairmen
Walt Disney stepped down as chairman in 1960 to focus more on the creative aspects of the company, becoming the "executive producer in charge of all production."[114]
After a four-year vacancy, Roy O. Disney became chairman.
Walt Disney (1945–1960)
Roy O. Disney (1964–1971)
Donn Tatum (1971–1980)
Card Walker (1980–1983)
Raymond Watson (1983–1984)
Michael Eisner (1984–2004)
George J. Mitchell (2004–2006)
John E. Pepper Jr. (2007–2012)
Bob Iger (2012–present)
Vice chairmen
Roy E. Disney (1984–2003)
Executive chairmen
Bob Iger (2020–present)
Presidents
Walt Disney (1923–1945)
Roy O. Disney (1945–1968)
Donn Tatum (1968–1971)
Card Walker (1971–1980)
Ron W. Miller (1980–1984)
Frank Wells (1984–1994)
Michael Ovitz (1995–1997)
Bob Iger (2000–2012)
Chief executive officers
Roy O. Disney (1929–1971)
Donn Tatum (1971–1976)
Card Walker (1976–1983)
Ron W. Miller (1983–1984)
Michael Eisner (1984–2005)
Bob Iger (2005–2020)
Bob Chapek (2020–present)
Chief operating officers
Card Walker (1968–1976)
Ron W. Miller (1980–1983)
Frank Wells (1984–1994)
Sanford Litvack (1997–1999)[115]
Bob Iger (2000–2005)
Thomas O. Staggs (2015–2016)" (wikipedia.org)
"Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge is a themed area inspired by the Star Wars franchise, located within Disneyland Park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, and Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida.[2] The area encompasses 14 acres (5.7 ha) at each park.[3] Galaxy's Edge is set within the village of Black Spire Outpost, on the remote frontier planet of Batuu, and features attractions, shops, restaurants, and entertainment offerings.
The lands were announced on August 15, 2015,[4] and construction at both parks began on April 14, 2016.[5] The Disneyland version opened on May 31, 2019, and Disney's Hollywood Studios' version opened on August 29, 2019.[1] Walt Disney Imagineering executive Scott Trowbridge supervised the development and construction of the new land at both parks....
History
Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) initially developed plans in the early 2010s for a Star Wars-themed land at Disney's Hollywood Studios.[8] Based on characters and settings from the original trilogy of Star Wars films, including Tatooine and Endor, the area would have encompassed the park's Echo Lake area, replacing the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular and Sounds Dangerous attractions and incorporating the existing Star Tours – The Adventures Continue.[9] However in 2014, after consultation with Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, The Walt Disney Company CEO and chairman Bob Iger cancelled all of WDI's development on Star Wars-themed projects, postponing any creative development until the release of the sequel trilogy and anthology films.[8]
After a creative shift in design, a Star Wars-themed land was first publicly announced by Iger for both Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disneyland at the D23 Expo on August 15, 2015. According to Iger, the unnamed land would be "occupied by many inhabitants; humanoids, aliens and droids … the attractions, the entertainment, everything we create will be part of our storytelling. Nothing will be out of character or stray from the mythology."[2] Bob Chapek, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, stated that the land "will introduce you to a Star Wars planet you've never seen before — a gateway planet located on the outer rim, full of places and characters familiar and not so familiar."[3] In an interview for the winter 2015 issue of the official Disney fan club publication Disney twenty-three, Trowbridge stated: "[O]ur intent is to make it feel as if you just walked into one of the movies... Bringing Star Wars to life in the physical world gives us the opportunity to play with a whole bunch of things we've never done before... to really engage all of the senses. What does that street feel like? What does that animal smell like? What does blue milk taste like?"[7]
Iger announced in March 2016 that construction on both versions of the land would begin in April 2016.[10] Construction began at both locations on April 14, 2016.[5] In February 2017, Iger stated that the lands are scheduled to open in 2019 at both Disneyland and Hollywood Studios.[11][12] In July 2017 at the D23 Expo, Chapek revealed that the themed lands would be called Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. Chapek also announced that the Disneyland version would open first.[13]
In November 2017, Trowbridge announced that the planet portrayed by the land is called Batuu,[14] which appears in the 2018 novel Star Wars: Thrawn: Alliances.[15]
In May 2018, Trowbridge revealed the village in which the land is set would be called Black Spire Outpost,[16] a location briefly mentioned in the 2018 film Solo: A Star Wars Story.[17] It was also announced that the Disneyland version of the land would open in summer 2019, followed by the Disney's Hollywood Studios version in late fall 2019.[11][12] The names of the two new attractions at each location were announced in November 2018 during the D23 Destination D event held at Walt Disney World.[18] A five-issue comic miniseries by Marvel Comics introduced the area's location in April 2019.[19] Iger announced the opening dates for both locations on March 7, 2019.[1]
The Disneyland version was dedicated on May 29, 2019. In attendance at the dedication ceremony were Iger, Star Wars creator George Lucas, and series actors Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Billy Dee Williams.[20] The Disneyland version opened to the public on May 31, and because of its high popularity, a virtual queuing system was implemented on June 24.[21] The land at Disney's Hollywood Studios opened on August 29, 2019.[1]
Design
Construction of the landscape at Disney's Hollywood Studios in December 2017
Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) designed the project in collaboration with the Lucasfilm Story Group, with Imagineer Scott Trowbridge supervising the project, Asa Kalama and Chris Beatty serving as executive creative directors, and Lucasfilm's Pablo Hidalgo and designer Doug Chiang of Industrial Light & Magic involved as consultants.[22] Together, the team decided to set the lands on a new planet, located within the Outer Rim of the Unknown Regions.[23] Described as a "remote frontier outpost", the planet Batuu has not previously appeared in other media, although it has existed within canon "for thousands and thousands of years."[24][23][14] The team chose to create a newly designed world instead of using an existing planet from the films such as Tatooine or Hoth, because those locations evoked a pre-existing familiarity with guests, with Trowbridge explaining, "We wanted to build new Star Wars stories, new Star Wars destinations." He says of the new planet,
This used to be a vibrant trading port back in the old sub-lightspeed days, but now with advent of hyperspace, its prominence has kind of fallen and faded a little bit which has made it a great spot for those who didn't want to be on that kind of mainstream path. The smugglers, the bounty hunters, the rogue adventurers looking to crew up, the people who don't want to be found — basically all the interesting people.[23]
The distinct rock spires found within Galaxy's Edge at Disney's Hollywood Studios
The development team drew inspiration from real-world locations, including Istanbul, Morocco, and Jerusalem, and traveled there to study the architecture, culture, and weather.[25][26] The team also cited Ralph McQuarrie's concept art for the original Star Wars trilogy as a basis for the architecture and aesthetic look of the land.[25] The landscape of Galaxy's Edge features 135 foot (41 m)-tall spires standing amongst the rockwork that are intended to be the petrified remains of massive trees of an ancient forest; Imagineers based this landscape from the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona.[27] WDI used in-house virtual reality programs to realize where to use forced perspective and place thematic details in relation to sightlines to hide the park's show buildings from guest view.[28] Disney consciously modified traditional theme park attributes throughout the lands—such as having signs written in the fictional Aurebesh language rather than English, and omitting attraction marquees and Star Wars-branded merchandise—as a way of maintaining the natural theming of the land.[29] Being located in California and Florida, both iterations of Galaxy's Edge are situated at different latitudes and also face in separate cardinal directions; Disneyland has an east-west orientation and Disney's Hollywood Studios has a north-south orientation.[30] This contrast in layout means both locations receive different amounts of sunlight at various angles throughout the seasonal year.[30] As a result, both locations were designed with distinct shades of paint and color palettes in mind.[30]
The story events are set between the films Episode VIII – The Last Jedi and Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker,[31] and depicts the presence of both the First Order and Resistance.[22][24] At the time of their openings, both locations of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge had one attraction: Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, which allows riders to control the Falcon during a "customized secret mission".[32] This would be followed by Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, that will place guests into the middle of a battle between the First Order and the Resistance.[33][34] Concept art depicted a full-size Millennium Falcon situated among alien buildings built into tall cliffs.[33] Rise of the Resistance is a 28 minute long experience with more than 300 animated objects; housed within one of the largest show buildings Disney has ever built for a dark ride.[35] Film actors Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, John Boyega, Adam Driver, Domhnall Gleeson, and Kipsang Rotich reprised their roles in the attraction as Rey, Poe Dameron, Finn, Kylo Ren, General Hux, and the voice of Nien Nunb, respectively.[36][37][38] Frank Oz also reprised the role as the voice of Yoda, for the character's vocal appearance in Savi's Workshop.[39][40]
In addition, the area features Oga's Cantina,[41] which is the first location in Disneyland Park to sell alcoholic drinks to the public.[42] Riders' performances on the Millennium Falcon influence how they are treated at the cantina, adding to the immersive experience. According to the Disney Parks Blog, "perform with skill and you may earn extra galactic credits, while bringing the ship back banged up could put you on the list of a bounty hunter. End up on Harkos' list and you may face a problem if you show up at the local cantina."[43] The cantina's music is provided by R-3X, a droid that was first seen as RX-24 (a.k.a. Captain Rex) in Star Tours, and is now the cantina's DJ.[44] Paul Reubens returned to voice the character.[37]
The Black Spire Outpost marketplace contains a toy stall run by a Toydarian, an alien species that was seen on Tatooine in Episode I – The Phantom Menace.[45] There is also a creature stall.[46] A TIE Echelon, where Kylo Ren makes his daily appearance, was developed by Colin Trevorrow during his work on Episode IX before being replaced as the film's director.[47]
Music
Longtime Star Wars composer John Williams returned to compose the main musical theme for Galaxy's Edge.[18] Williams' theme is interpolated and arranged diversely throughout the land as ambient music, instead of in its traditional symphonic format.[48] William Ross, who conducted the symphonic recording of the theme with the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) on Williams' behalf, was also responsible for arranging Williams' original composition in different musical contexts for use. Ross and the LSO recorded nearly an hour of musical material at Abbey Road Studios in November 2018.[48] The musical score for Smugglers Run and Rise of the Resistance attractions feature reprisals of previous Star Wars themes written by Williams, adapted and conducted by Ross. A five-minute symphonic suite was released digitally by Walt Disney Records on May 3, 2019.[49][18] The suite was first heard in its entirety at Star Wars Celebration Chicago in 2019. In addition to Williams's score, 29 original songs were commissioned to the music team for use as ambience as well.[40] On September 6, 2019, Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge Oga's Cantina: R-3X's Playlist #1 was released by Walt Disney Records, featuring eighteen tracks heard at Oga's Cantina inside Galaxy's Edge.[50] Music from Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge Oga's Cantina: R-3X's Playlist #1 was publicly played for the first time at Star Wars Celebration Chicago 2019.
Williams won the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition for the Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge Symphonic Suite. The suite currently has over 278,000 views on YouTube.
Locations
Disneyland Park
Oga's Cantina at Disneyland Park
At Disneyland Park, Galaxy's Edge is located in the northwest portion of the park, with three entries from Frontierland, Critter Country, and Fantasyland.[41] As a result of the expansion, Disney closed Big Thunder Ranch and adjacent backstage areas, and purchased nearby properties to relocate the office and warehouse space that was on the land.[51]
The construction of Galaxy's Edge required a reconfigured route for the Disneyland Railroad and Rivers of America. A first look at how these changes would impact the park was revealed in January 2016, when concept art was released depicting the northern bank of the river after construction was completed.[52] On January 11, 2016, several attractions in Frontierland and Critter Country were closed. Big Thunder Ranch closed permanently, including the multifunction event space, barbecue restaurant and petting zoo. Other attractions closed temporarily, including the Disneyland Railroad and Rivers of America. Tom Sawyer Island reopened on June 16, 2017, and Fantasmic! reopened on July 17, 2017. The Disneyland Railroad, Mark Twain Riverboat, Sailing Ship Columbia, and Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes reopened on July 29.[53][54][55] The land opened on May 31, 2019.[1]
Disney's Hollywood Studios
Black Spire Outpost at Disney's Hollywood Studios
At Disney's Hollywood Studios, Galaxy's Edge is located in the southwest portion of the park, with two entries from Grand Avenue and Toy Story Land. Galaxy's Edge replaced the majority of the park's former Streets of America area, including the Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: Movie Set Adventure attractions, which closed on April 2, 2016, as well as the surrounding New York-San Francisco backlot facades, restaurants, and shops.[3][56][57][58][59] The remaining operating portion of Streets of America, containing Muppet*Vision 3D and a surviving block of the New York facades, was rethemed as Grand Avenue, a Los Angeles-themed street.[60][61] An earthen berm with a Figueroa Street themed-tunnel was constructed between Galaxy's Edge and Grand Avenue to divide and connect the two lands.[62] The land opened on August 29, 2019.[1] The land will be accompanied by the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser.[13][63][64][65]
Attractions
Star Wars: Millennium Falcon – Smugglers Run – a simulator ride in which guests pilot the Millennium Falcon.[18]
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance – a dark ride in which guests are involved in a battle between the First Order and the Resistance.[18] The attraction opened at Disney's Hollywood Studios on December 5, 2019,[66] and at Disneyland Park on January 17, 2020.[67]
Restaurants and shops
Oga's Cantina[68] – a restaurant to sample custom drinks and snacks.
Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo – a restaurant inside a working hangar bay.
Ronto Roasters – a stand to purchase grilled sausage and roasted pork wraps.
Kat Saka's Kettle – a stand to purchase a sweet and savory popcorn snack.
Savi's Workshop – a shop where guests can create and purchase their own custom lightsaber.[69]
Dok-Ondar's Den of Antiquities – a store where guests can purchase Jedi or Sith Holocrons, artifacts, and lightsabers.
Mubo's Droid Depot – a shop where guests can create and purchase their own custom droid.
Bina's Creature Stall – a shop with plush creatures and critters from around the galaxy.
Toydarian Toymaker – a workshop with handcrafted toys made by local artisans.
First Order Cargo – a shop where guests can outfit themselves for their alliance to the First Order.
Resistance Supply – a shop where guests can outfit themselves to battle against the First Order.
The Milk Stand – a stand where guests can purchase blue or green milk.
Black Spire Outfitters – an apparel shop to dress like the citizens of Batuu
Reception
The Disneyland version was named one of Time magazine's "World's Greatest Places 2019".[70][71] While the themed area initially drew crowds to the point of leaving the rest of Disneyland relatively empty,[72] a drop in attendance after the first few months led to the resignation of Catherine Powell, who oversaw the U.S. and Paris themed areas.[73] However, in October 2019, some visitors reported that Disney's Hollywood Studios area was crowded during their visit.[74]
Other media
Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge
Original work Theme park land
based on
Star Wars
by George Lucas
Owned by Disney Parks
Print publications
Book(s) Black Spire
Novel(s) A Crash of Fate
Short stories Star Wars: Myths and Fables
Comics 5 issue mini-series
Audio
Original music John Williams composition
Miscellaneous
Theme park attraction(s)
Star Wars: Millennium Falcon – Smugglers Run
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
Theme parks (pending)
Disneyland
Disney's Hollywood Studios
Music:
The land's theme music was composed by John Williams and then recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios conducted by William Ross. A 5-minute symphonic suite was released digitally by Walt Disney Records on May 3, 2019.[18]
Comic books:
Batuu's Black Spire Outpost is the focus of the five-issue mini-series Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge from Marvel Comics. It was written by Ethan Sacks with art by Will Sliney, and began in April 2019.[19]
Prose books:
Black Spire (Del Rey, September 2019) by Delilah Dawson; General Leia Organa dispatches a spy to the planet Batuu looking for possible Resistance allies.
A Crash of Fate, a young-adult novel (Disney Lucasfilm Press) by Zoraida Cordova; childhood friends reunited as they are chased by the planet's smugglers.
Star Wars: Myths and Fables, a middle reader novel (Disney Lucasfilm Press) written by George Mann, with art by Grant Griffin; an anthology that includes two stories based on Batuu.[75]
TV special:
A two-hour behind-the-scenes TV special, titled Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge – Adventure Awaits, premiered on September 29, 2019.[76]
Virtual reality:
Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy's Edge, a virtual reality experience for Oculus platforms." (wikipedia.org)