Disney Parks
Famously, Disneyland opened in 1956 and is currently celebrating it's diamond anniversary. The thought came when Walt was sitting on a dirty park bench watching his daughter ride the carousel. A place where families can have fun together, what a revolutionary idea! Disneyland was heavily criticized since it's development. The park was not predicted to survive nearly as long as it has. On Media Day, thousands of tickets were counter fitted but were still allowed entry, overcrowding the park. Construction had been conducted practically right up until opening. Ladies High Heels were sinking into the freshly laid Asphalt, soft drinks were selling out because the fountains were off in an attempt to maintain plumbing in the restrooms. As Disney created new films, new attractions would be built. Also the demand was still huge, but Disneyland alone could not meet these needs with it's flaws. With this in mind, Walt scoped out new land to build another park.Using a different name to keep a low profile, Walt picked out some swamp land in Central Florida. Unfortunately, Walter Elias Disney would pass on December 15th, 1966. The good thing is Walt's brother, Roy would follow out the plans and opened the Magic Kingdom in 1971. Being 57 acres larger than Disneyland, this would be the start of an entire Walt Disney World Resort, complete with Hotels. EPCOT is an acronym for Experimental Prototype Community of Tommorow. This was Walt's vision for a futuristic city that would be enclosed and have lower crime rates. These visions would come true in 1982 when EPCOT Opened, but it was far from the original thought. Instead, it was the second Theme Park in the expansion of the Walt Disney World. Just seven years later, a real life film studio/lot would open as Disney's MGM Studios. Now, Disney's Hollywood Studios is more family oriented, and has dropped the contract with MGM. However, many MGM Films are still used in attractions throughout the park. Disney's largest park, Animal Kingdom opened in 1999. This park is still the largest Disney has ever built, being 500 acres, all of the other parks in WDW can fit comfortably inside Disney's Animal Kingdom. With all these expansions of Walt Disney World, Disneyland was due for some expansion. New Lucas Films attractions opened in the 80s and 90s but was not enough to draw the type of crowds, Disney was looking for. Thus, Disney's California Adventure opened in 2001. The whole park was not received well. It struggled to compete with Disneyland, just across the entryway. The draw quickly wore away. In the early 2010s, Disney started revamping DCA with the announcement of Cars Land. This new land opened in 2012, and brought a whole new attitude along with it. While Disneyland Park still reigned supreme, DCA drew marvelous crowds and still continues to do so.