Walt Disney didn’t come up with the amusement park concept, but he certainly perfected it. Completed in 1955 for $17 million, on what was 160 acres of orange groves and walnut trees, Disneyland in Anaheim (just south of Los Angeles) became his masterpiece. Over decades, major renovations and expansions, Disneyland amassed a larger cumulative attendance than any other theme park in the world (attendance of 18 million per year makes it the second most-visited annually). So what’s all the fuss about? That is what we were there to figure out.
We headed straight to Critter Country, one of the eight “lands” in the park, and straight onto Splash Mountain. As the name suggests – we got soaked. Its a classic flume ride, a little tame but it had good energy. Try and spot Ella:
My good university friend, who is now based in LA, had a free morning and joined Ella and myself for about half the time we were exploring the park.
Our next stop was Frontierland and its Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. The classic runaway train-style roller coaster was pretty quick and good fun.
We next found ourselves drifting towards Tomorrowland and onto Space Mountain. This was the ride that I most wanted to experience and it was by far the most exhilarating. You’re in pitch black for about half the ride, twisting and turning at random, and for the rest of the time you’re being bombarded by flashing lights and lasers as you race off on some weird cosmic journey. It’s awesome. We rode it three times.
When we bought our tickets, it cost a mere $10 extra each to add this ‘fast-pass’-type feature that allowed us to book a spot on rides in advance using our phones. It’s quite clever – you can only book one ride ahead and sometimes you can only book a slot for the next ride up to 40 minutes later. This gave us time to wander around the park in between rides (rather than queue) but stopped people abusing the fast-pass. With the fast-pass, we didn’t wait longer than 10 minutes for a ride, which is unheard of at large amusement parks. What a deal.
While in Tomorrowland, we checked out a few Star Wars-related attractions. We smashed a Mickey Mouse-shaped pretzel while watching some youngsters trying to strike down Darth Vader. We then hopped on a very cool 4-D Star Wars ride called “The Adventure Continues”. In 2019, Disneyland will open up its ninth “land” dedicated to Star Wars (“The Galaxy’s Edge”) – perhaps we’ll have to make another visit soon.
We continued hopping on all sorts of rides – some good, some very underwhelming. “It’s A Small World”, a well known attraction with singing miniature mechanical figures representing a range of cultures, fell squarely in the latter category. It just seemed a bit dated, as did the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.
We stopped for a meal with some mad-hatters…
Next was a fairly lame Jungle Cruise in Adventureland.
But the Indiana Jones Adventure ride was absolutely top-notch. It’s an amazingly fast-paced and bumpy indoor “land rover” ride following the cowboy archaeologist on an adventure through tombs and caves and cobwebbed corridors. It’s a fun, fun ride, and rivals Space Mountain for entertainment. We went for a victory lap. No pictures, unfortunately.
With my uni mate heading home, Ella and I explored the park for the rest of the day. “Toon Town”, a ‘land’ for youngsters, was brilliantly decorated. The attention to detail was incredible.
Of course, it wouldn’t be Disneyland without a street parade. When we visited, the theme was Pixar, and we were treated to a display of characters from the animation studio’s stable of films. Here are a few of the best:
Another land called “New Orleans Square” was also impressively designed.
Next was the Haunted Mansion themed on A Nightmare Before Christmas (the film is linked to Disney). It was part scary tale and part underground ride through haunted halls. It was not particularly scary, but extremely detailed and enthralling.
.With the sun having set, we wandered around neon-lit festive streets, enjoying the last few hours at the park.
Reflecting on the day, Disneyland is a highly-entertaining and smooth operation. It’s certainly worth the $110 ticket price. It’s also as American as any place – Khrushchev, on a short trip to the US in 1959 had two requests: to meet John Wayne and visit Disneyland (he was denied). For me, the most impressive feature was how well designed and decorated everything was – that sort of emphasis meant that you couldn’t help yourself being swept up in the fun of it. A lot of the rides were a bit tame and the food was a mixed bag, but the entertainment value was incredible.
We celebrated the day with a late-night In-N-Out burger, a Californian classic.
A quick note on Disney, the company: Disney’s “Parks & Resorts” business segment only makes up about 28% of the company’s profits – cable television networks like ESPN and the Disney channels are far more significant contributors, as are the film and other television assets. Having said that, the segment is a unique animal. It includes Disneyland (in California), Disney World in Florida (the big one – 25,000 acres of land compared to 550 acres in California), Disneyland resorts in Paris, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Tokyo (licensed), as well as a cruise line and other properties. Put together, that’s $20 billion of revenue generating a 22% operating profit margin. Not too shabby, Walt.