Disney Quote Weekends

"Why do I have to paint? Painting is for babies and beatniks!"

Disney Quote Weekends

"No, no, I'm not trying to be a hero. I'm just a guy that got fed up with men like you and I decided to do something about it."

The Story of DISNEYLAND: Ticket Books to Paradise

In the early days of DISNEYLAND, adult admission was $1. For that price, guests got admission to the park, entrance to all shows, entertainment and parades. The ticket did not include attractions.

Guests had to purchase separate tickets for the attractions. Each ride was given a ranking from A to E. A rides were the simplest attractions. E rides were the biggest and best attractions. Kids hoarded the E tickets like precious jewels. A tickets were typically plentiful and left over at the end of the day.

This ticketing system served the park well in its earliest days. To a financial whiz like Roy Disney, the ticket system was a great encouragement to approve new attractions and adventures since each expenditure would return tangible funds back to the company. More attractions found within the park meant more tickets sold.

At some point, Roy Disney did try to reign in his brother's spending. Regardless of the extra tickets sold, Roy thought some attractions were too expensive to build, like the Matterhorn. There was one attraction that Walt Disney had full control over- the Santa Fe and DISNEYLAND Railroad, which was personally owned and operated by him.

40 Years of Adventures

In 1995, DISNEYLAND was celebrating 40 Years of Adventures. On July 17, 1995, it decided to get one of the biggest singers in country music to help celebrate. There he is at the top of the Matterhorn.

Who braved the mighty Matterhorn to sing Happy Birthday to DISNEYLAND? It was Randy Travis!

Playing Walt Disney

Only three people have officially portrayed Walt Disney in filmed productions. The first person to do so was Roy E. Disney, Walt's nephew. He played his uncle in an internal film used at the studio in the late 1980's.

In 1993, Walt Disney Television produced a biopic based on Annette Funicello's life. This time, Len Cariou played Walt Disney.

The most recent actor to portray Mr. Disney was Tom Hanks, who put his spin on the world famous entertainer in Saving Mr. Banks.

Two lesser known films recently portrayed Walt Disney as a young man. In As Dreamers Do, he was portrayed by Olan Rogers.

While the other film entitled Walt Before Mickey features Eddie Kaye Thomas as Walt.

Of course, nobody can quite replace the "Mousetro" himself.

Disney Legend #27: Fess Parker

The 27th inducted Disney Legend was Fess Parker. Mr. Parker was just about ready to give up his acting career when he was asked to audition for the role of a lifetime- Davy Crockett.

Walt Disney enthusiastically chose Mr. Parker for the role, which catapulted Fess to superstardom. Every young boy in the 1950's wanted to be just like Fess Parker and he decided to be a role model of the highest order. His appearances at DISNEYLAND and personal attention to his fans made him a favorite of kids everywhere.

After his Disney career ended, Fess took a similar role as Daniel Boone. When his Hollywood career began winding down, Mr. Parker began investing in real estate, buying a winery, which he ran until he passed away in 2010. He also began the development of a theme park in Santa Clara that eventually opened as Marriott's Great America in 1976.

In 2005, Fess was honored with a window in Frontierland at DISNEYLAND, a rare and exclusive honor.

A Practically Perfect Judge of Talent

In 1963, Walt Disney asked his new Mary Poppins to perform at his Magic Kingdom to both promote the park and the film. Ms. Julie Andrews was overjoyed by the opportunity and wished to perform with The Golden Horseshoe's very own Wally Boag. They sang "By the Light of the Silvery Moon" and it was a memorable moment for everyone who was lucky enough to be present.

But why would Julie choose Wally Boag to sing with? As you may remember from other articles about The Golden Horseshoe, Walt Disney didn't hire the sort of amateur singers and performers that are synonymous with theme parks these days. His original performers in DISNEYLAND were all well-known singers who had illustrious careers prior to their time at DISNEYLAND and Wally was no exception. He had performed around the world in huge stage productions on prestigious stages. One of these productions was in England's storied East End, where he performed in a variety show. One of his acts was to invite children on the stage and make amazing balloon animals while he told jokes and sang songs.

During one fateful performance, he invited a young girl onto the stage- 12 year old "Julie" who he joked around with, assuming she was a regular kid like the others who would nervously stutter their names before rushing off the stage, never to be seen or heard from again. This 12 year old girl was no regular child- it was Julie Andrews, who seemed different from the normal kids. Wally chose to have her sing along with him and she literally had the audience on their knees. They couldn't believe that this young girl could sing so beautifully. She was offered a job on the show and was charming audiences from then on.

So when her fame led her to DISNEYLAND, there was only one person she was interested in singing with- the man who gave her the chance to show off her talent and begin her amazing career.

Disney Quote Weekends

"Who wants Stan-cakes? They're like pancakes, but they've probably got some of my hair in them."

Disney Quote Weekends

“Disneyland will be a place for California to call home, to bring its guests, to demonstrate its faith in the future.”

-Walt Disney

The Story of DISNEYLAND: Bigger and Better

After the huge success of DISNEYLAND, Roy Disney finally felt like he could exhale. While he eventually took charge of finding cash to fund his kid brother's crazy dream, he wasn't fully onboard with the idea. Once he saw the cash rolling in, however, he became one of DISNEYLAND's biggest boosters. While he had a different philosophy than Walt's when it came to expansion, he did see the benefit in spending money to spruce up some of the park's rougher edges. And no edge was rougher than the Canal Boats of the World.

Having run out of cash, the park opened the attraction without any corresponding scenery. Guests traveled through barely landscaped berms with nothing to see. The park needed the capacity, however, so the attraction opened despite the lack of visuals. Roy quickly allocated funding to finish the boat ride as his brother originally dreamed it. The attraction closed at the end of DISNEYLAND's first summer.

Storybook Land began construction that Fall. This enchanted miniature kingdom would feature the homes of the fairy tale characters that Walt Disney Productions had brought to life over the years. Armed with a much larger budget this time, Walt lavished attention on the re-imagining of the ride, often clashing with his own staff. When he insisted that they craft real stained glass for the tiny houses, they protested. After all, who would notice the different between expensive stained glass and cheaper colored glass? Walt's response? "I'll notice."

The steady stream of cash coming into the park each day meant that Roy was willing to let his brother's free-spending slide. He wasn't ready to reign him in. Yet. In 1956, the greatly enhanced Storybook Land finally opened, delighting DISNEYLAND guests and becoming a classic attraction that still enchants children to this very day. The bigger statement to DISNEYLAND guests was that the park would always have something new for them, even though the park was still quite young.