Talk:Disneyland

donald duck in red sailor suit

I have a rubber toy donald duck from disney mark on back of neck he is wearing a red sailor suit and has a long removable sqeaker in his foot! I know he is at least 50 years or older he has been in the family a long time! i can not locate another one anywhere on the internet! could you help me figure out when this donald duck was made and when did he stop wearing the red sailor suit? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.86.170.74 (talk) 23:20, 28 February 2011 (UTC)

Try searching on Google. StormContent (talk) 14:15, 17 July 2011 (UTC)

Opening Day References in regard to the July 18th, 1955 date

From the Disneyland "Discussion" archives.....

References in regards to Opening Day, July 18th, 1955Somebody asked on April 21st, 2010 for references in regards to what Disneyland called Opening day when the parked opened in 1955.

There are many official Disneyland documents available on-line that show that Disney did call Opening Day Monday, July 18th, 1955.

The best one is an ad that ran in local Southern California Newspapers that stated that Disneyland was opening at 10 AM on Monday, July 18th.

http://matterhorn1959.blogspot.com/2009/09/souvenir-friday-disneyland-opening-day.html

Then there are multiple Press Releases and other Disney documents that refer to Opening Day as July 18th when Walt Disney was still alive. (Through 1967).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/miehana/2678889709/

http://www.yesterland.com/oneyear.html

http://darkbeer.smugmug.com/Theme-Parks/Disneyland-Historical/6484647_BQxJP

http://darkbeer.smugmug.com/Theme-Parks-2006-Photos/Disneyland-Opening-Day-July/1677032_r7DT8

Now, while the Disney Marketing Department likes to call opening day July 17th, 1955 currently. It is clear that July 17th was a "Press Preview", and was not considered Opening Day by the people who built the park. It also matches up with every other Disney built park, all of which had preview events, but has called the first day that tickets were sold to the general public and could enter the park that day as "Opening Day". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.90.65.194 (talk) 06:41, 22 April 2010 (UTC)

Actually, none of the citations given above are reliable sources. There have been enough books written about Disneyland that a reference from a book should be available. Thanks, Alanraywiki (talk) 14:03, 22 April 2010 (UTC) I disagree, first off, there are many news articles from the Anaheim Bulletin, the newspaper of record for the area at the time (since has merged with the Orange County Register, the current main newspaper of the area). There are multiple links at the Smugmug links above showing the actual articles. Also, the Long Beach Press-Telegram, another Main Newspaper of the time has published articles with the July 18th, 1955 date, including a special 16 page section that was designed by Disney, but also featured many park sponsors. (Note, on page one, it claims "Copyright 1955, Walt Disney Productions"

http://www.scribd.com/doc/21569119/1955-July-15-Independent-Press-Telegram-Disneyland-Paleo-Future

Page 16 of the link states "Disneyland, Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom, will officially open at 10 A.M. on Monday, July 18th..." Here is "Walt Disney Productions" calling July 18th opening day (multiple times), what more do you want?

Let me quote from the Wikipedia link mentioned above "Identifying reliable sources".

>>The term "published" is most commonly associated with text materials, either in traditional printed format or on-line. However, audio, video, and multimedia materials that have been recorded then broadcast, distributed, or archived by a reputable third-party may also meet the necessary criteria to be considered reliable source. Like text sources, media sources must be produced by a reliable third-party and be properly cited. Additionally, an archived copy of the media must exist. It is useful but by no means necessary for the archived copy to be accessible via the Internet.<<

Also, there are many PRIMARY Sources, which are documents issued by Disneyland during the 1950's-1960's time frame that show that it clearly thought that Opening Day was July 18th, they are sourced to the Anaheim Library archives (mainly the Museo). Also, a book published by Disneyland that shows the date as July 18th, 1955. Let me quote another Wikipedia section, this time, " No original research".

>>Primary sources are very close to an event, often accounts written by people who are directly involved, offering an insider's view of an event, a period of history, a work of art, a political decision, and so on. An account of a traffic accident written by a witness is a primary source of information about the accident; similarly, a scientific paper is a primary source about the experiments performed by the authors. Historical documents such as diaries are primary sources.[2] Our policy: Primary sources that have been reliably published may be used in Wikipedia, but only with care, because it is easy to misuse them. Any interpretation of primary source material requires a reliable secondary source for that interpretation. A primary source can be used only to make descriptive statements that can be verified by any educated person without specialist knowledge. For example, an article about a novel may cite passages to describe the plot, but any interpretation needs a secondary source. Do not make analytic, synthetic, interpretive, explanatory, or evaluative claims about material found in a primary source. Do not base articles entirely on primary sources. Do not add unsourced material from your personal experience, as that would make Wikipedia a primary source of that material.<<

Between the Primary Sources, coming directly from Disneyland, plus the Major Newspaper articles, it is clear what the opening date was when the park opened. Alas, most current books are written with the permission of Disney, usually to allow access to some of their archives. One of their rules is to call July 17th as opening day,which is based on the decision to move the date from the 18th to the 17th. around 1970. But it is clear that when the park opened, the date was the 18th, especially when you can see ads that Disney bought in mid-July, 1955, plus all the other "primary sources" directly from Disney, and the Main News Media of the area at the time that confirm those dates.

Since there is no verifiable sources from the time period when Disneyland opened that claims that "Opening Day" was the 17th, it is clear that the Opening Day date is July 18th, 1955. And as mentioned earlier, the "Opening Date" of Disneyland matches up with every other Disney owned park, which is the first day that the general public could buy tickets, and not a "preview" date.

Also, I should note, Wikipedia is a historical site, and not a marketing site.76.90.65.213 (talk) 09:27, 30 April 2010 (UTC)

Here is a book that can be viewed by the Internet "Anaheim 1940-2007" that states that Opening Day was on July 18th, 1955 (page 26).

http://books.google.com/books?id=24zzSmn0wukC&pg=PA26&lpg=PA26&dq=disneyland+opening+day+july+18+1955&source=bl&ots=UocuO4xsM-&sig=KOS_vciR1a2B6bGxV1xqhrRAVuo&hl=en&ei=pgjlS-LGOZLUtgPFz4nSCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CCYQ6AEwBDjwAQ#v=onepage&q=disneyland%20opening%20day%20july%2018%201955&f=false

One more, another third-party site.

http://inangeling.net/knottsberryfarm/timeline.html

76.90.65.213 (talk) 07:02, 8 May 2010 (UTC)

And an official Press Release from The Walt Disney Company dated April 19th, 2010 in regards to the Major League Baseball All-Star game being held in Anaheim, California in July of 2010.

http://corporate.disney.go.com/corporate/moreinfo/mickey_mlb_allstar_game.html

>>Mantle, naturally, was the greatest All-Star of all Mickeys. He was an All-Star in all but two of his 18 Major League seasons. Disneyland opened to the general public on July 18, 1955. That was six days after The Mick, batting cleanup for the AL in the All-Star Game, crushed a three-run homer in the first inning to deep center off Robin Roberts at County Stadium in Milwaukee.<<

Hopefully this will end the debate, as The Walt Disney Company is now using the original date stated back when the park opened in 1955. 76.90.65.213 (talk) 04:41, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Note, July 17th, 1955 is Preview Day or Dedication Day, not "Opening Day". The first link in this discussion section clearly shows that Disney called Sunday the 17th a "Live TV Preview". http://www.matterhorn1959.com/blog1/openingday1.jpg This matches with all the other documentation from 1955, including the special tickets to enter, labeled "International Press Preview" of Disneyland on July 17th 76.90.65.213 (talk) 19:20, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

Hello, my edit was not in dispute of the names of those two days that weekend in 1955. Any Disneyland nut knows about the debate over what's the "correct" thing to call the 17th V the 18th. My point is that the section talks about BOTH the 17th (the press event) and the 18th (the public opening day), with a majority of the prose talking about the 17th. So the section's title should reflect that content, not just the 18th. The reason I renamed the section was because of a previous editor who blanked a lot of referenced prose. I also sub-headed that part to satisfy the reason why they blanked it. So in the interest of coming to a consensus: What would you consider a better heading for that section that best reflects the content of the section? --Monotonehell 10:04, 5 July 2010 (UTC) How About "July, 1955: Dedication Day and Opening Day" It describes the 2 days talked about in the section? 76.90.65.213 (talk) 15:41, 5 July 2010 (UTC) Sounds good - updated. --Monotonehell 19:04, 6 July 2010 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.90.71.13 (talk)

The Walt Disney Company considers July 17, 1955 the day Disneyland opened. People trying to obfuscate the issue by claiming that only "the Disney Marketing Department" wants to promote July 17 as the opening date. That is not true and muddies the water. There is no entity called "the Disney Marketing Department", each division has its own marketing department and the overall head for communications is Corporate Communications. currently headed by Zenia Mucha.

Looking at what Disney called the days in 1955 is irrelevant. Looking at what newspapers called the days is irrelevant. What is relevant is what TWDC considers to have been the opening day and that day is July 17, 1955. All of the birthday celebrations for Disneyland have centered on that date. July 17, 1955. That is the day Disneyland opened.

The quote above from 2010 about the MLB All Star game does not say "Disneyland opened July 18, 1955", it says "Disneyland opened to the general public on July 18, 1955" and those are two very different statements.

Look at what date the 20th, 25th, 30th, 35th, 40th, 45th, 50th and 55th birthday celebration have been. They have all been July 17, not July 18. Look at the plaque placed in Main Street with Walt Disney's "To all who come to this happy place" speech, it is dated July 17, 1955.

Why there is this bizarre obsession to change the date that is clearly recognized by The Walt Disney Company is beyond me, but it only hurts Wikipedia's credibility as a source of accurate information. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Scottca075 (talk • contribs) 13:16, 5 July 2011 (UTC)

OK, just walk inside the Disneyland Opera House and look at the large blow up of "The Disneyland News", Volume 1, Number 1. It states "More than 50,000 visitors were attracted to Disneyland on Monday, July 18th, when the Park officially opened its gates".. And within the same paragraph (and the first part of the second)... "official dedication ceremonies of Disneyland on the preceding day, Sunday, July 17. The Preview of Disneyland"...

And of course, the 1st, 5th and 10th Anniversaries were celebrated on July 18th of the appropriate year.

Why is the date that was "originally" used irrelevant? That is the date that was used when the park opened, and remained the date until sometime around the year 1970, when it somehow it got changed... As mentioned on the main page, there is a large amount of significance about Dedication Day on the 17th, but it is NOT opening day.

It is very clear from all the information above that "Opening Day" was July 18th to Walt Disney and the company at the time "Walt Disney Productions", which did become "The Walt Disney Company (TWDC) in the future.

And the secondary issue that helps make July 18th the opening day is the fact that every other Disney owned park calls "Opening Day" the day that tickets were available for purchase to enter the park, and not any "preview" date. (Also the standard that non-Disney Theme/Amusement parks use as the official date of opening).

To me, if Wikipedia did NOT recognize July 18th as the official opening date would hurt its creditability!

76.166.134.154 (talk) 14:00, 10 July 2011 (UTC)

Not sure why this is an issue now ... the current revision of the article (as of the time of this posting) indicates that the park opened to the public on July 18, after a media preview event on July 17, and says so rather clearly. --McDoobAU93 01:48, 11 July 2011 (UTC)

OK, came across this today, which is a clear reason why Wikipedia should reconginize July 18th, 1955 as opening day. Charlie Ridgway, which worked for Disneyland from 1963 to the mid-1990's, and retired as "Director of Press and Publicity" stated this earlier this year. (FYI, Charlie Ridgway has been honored with a Window on Main Street, which is one of the highest honors for a Disneyland Cast Member).

http://www.disneydispatch.com/content/columns/no-event-too-small/2011/05-disneyland-day-1-crowds-crashes-chaos/

>>For months leading up to the grand opening of Disneyland on July 18, 1955, people were talking about it. Everyone wanted to be the first ones inside.

Disney scheduled a Press Preview on July 17, with the park open by invitation to journalists, celebrities, and many, many other people who were asked to come for one reason or another.<<

It also addresses the issue of "extra" tickets on Dedication day (July 17th, 1955) whcih might require some editing of the main page, as the issue of "counterfeit tickets" might be wrong, and should be changed. 76.166.134.154 (talk) 07:32, 17 July 2011 (UTC)

I'll ask again ... why are you suggesting that Wikipedia "should" note July 18 when Wikipedia already does note July 18? If there was a revert war in progress over this right now (and there has been in the past), I could understand it, but this appears to have been settled to at least a point of consensus. As to the ticket issue, I read the source you provided, and Mr. Ridgway himself states that it's his belief, not a proven fact, and that's not enough for inclusion necessarily. --McDoobAU93 14:06, 17 July 2011 (UTC)

"W. Disney visited the Efteling"... no evidence of that.

Please check sources !! They are available.

(1) It seems to be an urban legend he visited the Efteling (The Netherlands), while all sources FROM the Efteling contradict it.

(2) It seems to be correct however, he did visit Madurodam (The Netherlands), which is not mentioned in the article. It is very interesting to study the intricate concepts from Madurodam (1952), that influenced Disneyland, and are not mentioned.
Just a few :
- concept of walling off the park (a high dam build around Madurodam) so that visitors inside the park could not see the outside world.
- concept of actually planning a coherent "world"
- concept of trains running completely around the park
- concept of pain stakingly lifelike detail
- concept of having different time periods on show (historic and contemporary were present in Madurodam, only future was not on show) as well as different activity sections (Lands? ... the city center, the peasant countryside, the wild nature,...)

Even when Madurodam is a miniature town, scale 1:25, the concepts as such coincide.
I believe it inspired W.Disney on general concept brainstorming level, and it also inspired again, more directly, on the "Storybook Canal Boats + Casey Jr. Circus Train" park-in-the-park, where the concept repeats itself. The original attraction was called Canal Boats of The World, and build as completely high dammed park, train circling, minitature buildings representing places from all over the world (never build, theme changed to fairy tales in the 2nd year after opening). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.23.18.173 (talk) 10:47, 23 June 2011 (UTC)

Controversies

I know Disneyland has their fare share of controversies. For instance, a woman who wished to wear her religious hijab to work was denied by Disneyland due to uniform standards.

This is just one that I can think of off the top of my head.

Why aren't any controversies that Disneyland Resort, Anaheim listed in the article? I'm just curious. I know a simple google search could list them.

Thanks. --99.108.248.29 (talk) 04:13, 14 August 2011 (UTC)HypoAllergenicJin

Park Layout, New Orleans Square

The following statement is incorrect:

"Also included are the Mark Twain Riverboat, the Sailing Ship Columbia, and Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island. The above-mentioned attractions are sometimes mistakenly placed as Frontierland attractions."

According to Disney's website (http://disneyland.disney.go.com/disneyland/new-orleans-square/ and http://disneyland.disney.go.com/disneyland/frontierland/) the Mark Twain Riverboad, Sailing Ship Columbia, and Pirates Lair on Tom Sawyer island are in Frontier Land and not in New Orleans Square, as state. Park maps also verify this. 72.200.119.4 (talk) 03:28, 17 August 2011 (UTC)

You are correct. Disney's website does indeed describe these attractions as being in Frontierland, not New Orleans Square. I corrected the article. Primogen (talk) 04:38, 22 November 2011 (UTC)