
How Disneyland Came to Be - well_i_never
https://airmail.news/issues/2019-11-23/dream-come-true
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dawnerd
The Disney+ show The Imagineering Story does a pretty decent job going over
the history. [https://www.disneyplus.com/series/the-imagineering-
story/6ry...](https://www.disneyplus.com/series/the-imagineering-
story/6ryoXv1e1rWW)

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pharaohgeek
It's an outstanding show. It's quickly become my favorite content on Disney+.
They could triple the amount of episodes and it wouldn't be enough. It's
produced and directed really well with tons of great content.

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WorldMaker
Fun fact that's clear in the credits but not necessarily in the show itself:
the Director Leslie Iwerks is the daughter of (several times interviewed)
Imagineer Don Iwerks and granddaughter of classic Disney animator Ub Iwerks.
Kind of neat the family connections embedded in the show (as is the story of
the Art Director and her mother from one of the episodes).

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parliament32
Meta but what's with this recent trend of taking quotes from two-paragraphs-
ago and inserting them into the middle of the text in a big font? How is that
useful to me as a reader? I already read that part... is it for the benefit of
people scrolling through quickly?

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333c
The advertising in this page is strange. At first I thought it was part of the
article.

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skratchpixels
This is the future of advertisements on the web.

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

The ads do directly advertise, they do so subtly.

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

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

~~~
parliament32
>the code doesn't specify it as an ad

For me at least, the video was inside "player_advertising_unit_365"...

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WalterBright
Disneyland has been undergoing endless improvement. My parents visited there
in the 1950s and it's fun looking at the photos and seeing how primitive it
looked then.

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sizzzzlerz
I have vague memories of my first visit which must of been in 1961 or 1962 and
I was 6/7\. This was back when they sold ticket packs containing some number
of "A" through "E" tickets. The "E" tickets were the coveted ones as they were
the big rides. The "A" tickets were things like the Main Street trolley. We
always ended the day with only "A" and "B" tickets. Of course, crowds weren't
insane like today and we didn't have to wait more than 20-30 minutes.

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WalterBright
My first visit was in 1966. I remember being quite enchanted with it, having
had no idea such a place existed.

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beowulfey
Great article but way too short. Could have read much more for sure. Will have
to check out the book.

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sizzzzlerz
They could also provide a larger image of that sketch. I can make out the
larger features but it would be nice to compare it against what was actually
built.

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taborj
A wee bit of searching, and I managed to find a pretty good sized version[0]
from a twitter account. There's another that has a close-up of the castle[1].

Side note: that castle looks a whole bunch like Hogwarts, or more accurately
Hogwarts looks a whole lot like the original idea for Sleeping Beauty Castle.

[0]
[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DBXNLlgUIAQvMG_.jpg:large](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DBXNLlgUIAQvMG_.jpg:large)

[1]
[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DBZwfkVUIAEZz7i.jpg:large](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DBZwfkVUIAEZz7i.jpg:large)

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achow
All these book publications seems to be orchestrated around starting of
Disney+.

Recently Bob Iger (Disney CEO) published his autobiography..

Ride of a lifetime

[https://www.amazon.com/Ride-Lifetime-Lessons-Learned-
Company...](https://www.amazon.com/Ride-Lifetime-Lessons-Learned-
Company/dp/B07QW2LHN4)

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50208
Kinda interesting ... I'd be really interested in an exploration about how a
sizable number of American adults have become Disney(land/world) fanatics. It
strikes me as very strange and regressive behavior.

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armadsen
I'll bite. I think "fanatic" is too strong a word, but I enjoy going to
Disneyland, and have occasionally bought an annual pass despite living a day
or two drive from Disneyland. I've also made a point to visit other Disney
parks when I've been near them (Florida, Paris, Tokyo).

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

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

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

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prawn
What makes you return there each year over other things you could reach with
the same amount of driving? If you're near California or Florida, you are a
day or so from a huge range of amazing places. Is it ease and familiarity?

I'm Australian but have been to Disneyland (CA) twice and Disney World (FL)
once; twice with kids, once without. It's a polished experience for sure, but
we spent a lot of time baffled by people in themed t-shirts, spending days
there or returning year after year in place of other holiday options.

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chrisseaton
> If you're near California or Florida, you are a day or so from a huge range
> of amazing places.

What makes you think they don’t go to those places as well?

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prawn
Personal experience talking to Americans who particularly like Disney
properties. Obviously no drama either way, just curious to hear what drives
it.

Some people wondered why we were only there for the day rather than a full
week.

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jedieaston
I think that's because at Disney World, it's somewhat impossible to see
everything in one day, even if you were to filter the list of attractions to
things that you wanted to do. There's simply too much to see.

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prawn
Same applies almost anywhere I guess. I didn't get to every US state on that
trip or every national park or every hike in each park. In one day at Disney
World's main area, we knocked off a fair few rides - from opening, until late
at night with shattered kids. If I'm choosing between seeing the highlights of
a whole new place, or getting to a few extra things that I didn't prioritise
and missed at Disney, I'll usually take the former. The queueing to thrills
ratios tips the scales too even with Fast Pass and Rider Share.

A few weeks after blowing $1k on a day at Disney World, we visited the Amazeum
in Bentonville, Arkansas, to the tune of about $40 and my 7yo preferred that.
Amazeum and Crystal Bridges as a day out was excellent, for anyone ever in the
area.

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mirimir
FYI: [https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1802/do-disney-
mov...](https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1802/do-disney-movies-
contain-subliminal-erotica/)

