| abstract | - The five (soon to be six) Theme Park resorts owned and operated by the Disney Company. Their best known attractions include state-of-the-art rides and shows based upon the Disney films, as well as spectacular parades, fireworks and other live performances. You want to make sure everyone knows you're going there. Walt Disney came up with the idea for his original park when he took his children to a park and noticed the parents just hanging off to the side while the children played. He decided to build a place where the entire family could have fun and enjoy themselves. While the idea was met with some skepticism, the execution was resoundingly successful. The resorts include:
* Disneyland: Opened July 17, 1955 by invitation only, and the following day to the general public. The original and the only park Walt saw built within his lifetime. Serves as the template for most of the parks worldwide, though fans praise the fact that Disneyland is the only park that had Walt's personal touch. Its companion park, California Adventure, opened in 2001. During his visit to the United States, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev's biggest disappointment was the fact that he couldn't visit Disneyland due to security concerns (he publicly wondered if there were missiles hidden there). That the leader of the largest Communist state wanted to go to one of the greatest successes for capitalism ever should say something about A: the Cold War at that point, and B: how much everybody wanted to go to Disneyland. It's important to note that there are not as many resorts around the parks because Disney did not have a lot of money at the time. This is also why many attractions were and still are sponsored. For example, Dole Pineapple sponsored the Tiki Room, Mattel sponsored It's a Small World, and Honda now sponsors Innoventions (where you can see an ASIMO demonstration).
* The primary reason was that the KGB told the U.S. Secret Service that if anything happened to Khrushchev during the visit it would mean war. And even though Walt was very anti-communist, he enjoyed having foreign dignitaries and looked forward to showing Krushchev his submarines.
* Walt Disney World: The largest and most popular of the resorts opened in 1971. Includes four parks: Magic Kingdom, EPCOT (opened in 1982), Disney's MGM Hollywood Studios (1989) and Animal Kingdom (1998), as well as two (formerly three) water parks: Typhoon Lagoon (1989) and Blizzard Beach (1995). Fans constantly debate which of the four parks is the best, whether they were better in the old days, and so on. Disney World also includes many hotels, an all-purpose sports complex, golf courses, and a few shopping/dining/entertainment complexes like Downtown Disney. The actual "Reedy Creek" property upon which Disney World sits is huge, and many guests are surprised to learn that it consists mostly of wildlife preserves and undeveloped natural Florida habitat. This "breathing space" is deliberate, as Walt Disney was particularly upset when the popularity of Disneyland sparked a development frenzy back in Anaheim. (Disney couldn't do this in Anaheim because other businesses got to the surrounding land first) The property on which the resort sits on was bought by Roy O. Disney, Walt's older brother. Fittingly, there is a statue of him sitting with Minnie Mouse just past the entrance of the Magic Kingdom, to complement the famous "Partners' statue at the main hub.
* Tokyo Disney Resort: Opened in 1983 and run by the Oriental Land Company rather than Disney itself. Some recent additions such as Pooh's Honey Hunt and the Tokyo DisneySea park have become some of Disney Imagineering's most lavishly praised creations.
* Disneyland Resort Paris (formerly known as Euro Disney Resort): Opened in 1992, and going for an even more elaborate look (as well as Darker and Edgier for some attractions). Urban Legend has it that this park was planned and built because Michael Eisner's wife, Jane, liked to shop in Paris and wanted someplace she could stay without paying for it. It bombed spectacularly at first, though it eventually gained some legs. Recently, though, its ticket sales have been cannibalized by nearby Walt Disney Studios Paris. Both parks are hated by the French people, who oppose the poor (by French standards, anyway) working conditions there and view them as examples of American cultural imperialism. Still has some of the largest attendance numbers for a European tourist attraction though.
* Hong Kong Disneyland: The newest of the resorts, opened in 2005. It's very close in design to the original Disneyland, though it's much smaller and only has a few of the iconic Disney attractions. Nonetheless, it's gained notoriety for, in essence, having the exact opposite problems that Euro-Disney did. However, Disney has announced plans for a large expansion that brings unique attractions to the park, some being new twists on old favorites.
* Shanghai Disneyland: After years of planning for a resort in mainland China, the project was approved by the Chinese government in November 2009. Ground was broken in April 2011 and is currently scheduled to open in 2016. The resort will be 2-3 times the size of the Hong Kong Resort with room for up to 3 parks. The first of which will of course be a version of the Magic Kingdom with the other two expected to be ports of EPCOT and Animal Kingdom. Some attractions have so many tropes, they have their own pages:
* Captain EO
* The Haunted Mansion
* Doug Live
* Muppet*Vision 3D
* World of Color
* Fantasmic In addition to the main theme park resorts, Disney also runs several additional vacation and leisure ventures that spread their influence to just about every corner of the globe and give guests access to more vacation options outside the parks while still maintaining that "Disney feeling":
* Disney Cruise Line: Well, it's a cruise line...from Disney. Currently has a fleet of four ships: Disney Magic, Disney Wonder, Disney Dream, and the newest, Disney Fantasy which entered service in 2012. Originally based out of Port Canaveral, FL the ships now sail from various ports in the US for cruises to the Caribbean, Europe, Mexico, and Alaska. Caribbean cruises all feature a stop at Castaway Cay, Disney's own private island in the Bahamas. Yes, Disney bought their own island just for cruise guests. Should this really surprise you?
* Disney Vacation Club: Disney's take on timeshare ownership, and as you might hear about it while staying at WDW, The Best Kept Disney Secret. Members buy into a share of a DVC resort and get an annual alotment of points based on the size of their investment. These points can be put towards a trip, as well as banked year to year or borrowed against the next year depending on the type of trip wanted. For most people, the initial investment pays for itself after a few years. Resorts feature ammenities above and beyond those of the Deluxe resorts including Villa style rooms with full kitchens. Members get priority access to their "home" resort when booking, but can also use their points to stay at any resort they choose. Disney also owns three off-site resorts in Hilton Head, SC, Vero Beach, FL, and the recently opened Aulani in Hawaii, and contracts with hundreds of hotels around the world that members can visit as part of DVC.
* Adventures by Disney: Runs guided vacations to various destinations in the US and around the world ranging from Yellowstone Park to the French Riviera, each coordinated by Disney "Adventure Guides" who serve as personal tour guides as well as concierges, giving guests the opportunity to see the wonders of the world while still retaining trademark Disney hospitality. Cirque Du Soleil has mounted two non-touring shows on Disney resort property, though they charge separate admission and are not beholden to the Mouse in terms of content, etc.: La Nouba at Walt Disney World and the now-closed ZED at Tokyo Disneyland. A rich well of Affectionate (or not) Parody Fuel, often in the form of Souvenir Land. Some of the most popular attractions have been adapted into movies, with Pirates of the Caribbean being the most successful of them, but also including Tower of Terror, The Haunted Mansion, and The Country Bears. There's also Kingdom Keepers, a series of books by Ridley Pearson, that take place at Walt Disney World; and the Wasteland of the Epic Mickey video game is based on the "Magic Kingdom" parks. Also, two DVD sets in the Walt Disney Treasures line have been dedicated to the parks: "Disneyland, USA" and "Disneyland: Secrets, Stories, and Magic".
|
