Get to the Childhood World in Disneyland Resorts
"We believed in our idea - a family park where parents and children could
have fun- together," said the famous Walt Disney about his great creation which made grown-ups believe that there was a way to turn back time and gave children an opportunity to experience in reality the things they could have only imagined.
The idea to build "a magical world" occurred to the cartoonist before the Second World War. The difficult times were an obstacle to its realization. Meanwhile, Walt worked it out so much as to make it possible in peaceful years. He had to overcome a lot of problems to persuade people that it was not as absurd as they thought to build a park for both children and their parents with rivers, waterfalls, mountains, flying elephants, giant teacups, moon rockets, a fairy-tale castle, and a scenic railway. Finally, in 1955 the opening day of "the little magical world" that cost $17,000,000 came, when 28,000 ticket holders were looking forward to seeing the wonders of the incredible park in Anaheim, California. It was divided into several lands. Main Street was to recreate the typical Main Street of the turn of the century, Adventureland placed the visitors in the jungles of Asia and Africa, far from civilization, Frontierland reminded of the pioneer days of American forefathers, Fantasyland inhabited with heroes from fairytales had the purpose of making dreams come true and in Tomorrowland the guests could imagine themselves in the wonderful future with its marvelous inventions.
In the 1990s the territory of Disneyland was expanded, and in 2001 it became the Disneyland Resort. Now it consists of two theme parks (Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure), three hotels (the Disneyland Hotel, Disney's Grand Californian Hotel, and Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel) and Downtown Disney, a shopping and entertainment mall.
After building Disneyland Walt wanted to realize another project - to found a bigger entertainment park in Orlando, Florida. It was to have a number of advantages: beside warm weather characteristic of the place, it concerned the idea of making people forget about the real world while they are in the park. Walt decided to include there the Magic Kingdom (as in Disneyworld) and a city of tomorrow - EPCOT - and call it Disneyworld. Unfortunately, he could not see all this done - on December, 15, 1966 Walt Disney passed away. However, his brother Roy set his mind on the completion of the great dreams. He renamed Disneyworld to Walt Disney World so that the name of the park included his creator's name. Walt Disney World opened in October, 1971. Today it's made up of four main theme parks: the Magic Kingdom,
EPCOT, Disney's MGM Studios, and Disney's Animal Kingdom. There are also two water parks - Typhoon Lagoon with one of the world's largest inland wave pools and a white, sandy beach in a blue lagoon, and Blizzard Beach, Disney's coolest water park. Downtown Disney and Disney's Boardwalk offer the guests a lot of entertainment, shopping and dining. Besides, there are twenty-one Disney resorts.
Americans are not the only ones to host the world famous entertainment complexes. Another one is located in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan, east of Tokyo. The Tokyo Disney Resort was the first Disneyland opened outside the USA on April 15, 1983. It includes two theme parks, two hotels and two shopping complexes. There are three main parts: Tokyo Disneyland Based on the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, Florida.; Tokyo DisneySea with AquaSphere (a water fountain with a large model of the earth) near the entrance, and the gigantic volcano called the volcano Prometheus; and Ikspiari, an entertaining and shopping complex. Besides, the resort contains Bon Voyage - the official Disney goods specialty shop.
On April 12, 1992, Euro Disney was opened in Marne-la-Vallée, near Paris. At first it wasn't very popular because critics called it an intervention of American culture and many of the attractions copied those of the American Disneyland. In October 1994, Euro Disney was renamed to Disneyland Paris (later to Disneyland Resort Paris). Moreover, more attractions were added and the designers managed to adopt the complex to the tastes of the French. So, since 1995 the resort has been a success.
The resort consists of two theme parks - Disneyland Park modeled on the original Disneyland park of Anaheim, California, and Walt Disney Studios Park opened in 2002 and exhibiting works on how Disney animated movies are made. There are five themed lands, and the majestic Castle of the Sleeping Beauty at the center. Disney Village, a popular shopping complex south of
the two parks is the European equivalent of the American Downtown Disney complexes. It includes high-quality restaurants, shops and nightclubs. Several new constructions are being planned to build in Disneyland Paris: Buzz Lightyear's Laser Blast will open in Disneyland Park in 2006; a new land, Toon Studios will open in Walt Disney Studios park in 2007; and the long-awaited Tower of Terror will open in Walt Disney Studios in 2008.
The construction of Hong Kong Disneyland Resort is underway beside Penny's Bay, Lantau Island, Hong Kong. The park will open to the public on Monday, September 12, 2005. Hopefully, it will be an interesting alternative to the already existing Disney resorts.
Childhood is a restless time which passes too quickly for us to appreciate it. Disneyland resorts make it brighter and unforgettable, and those unfortunate who are not already children can thanks to them relive their childhood and, perhaps, become kinder and happier.
References:
www.disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/index
www.disneyworld.disney.go.com/waltdisneyworld/index
www.disney.co.uk/usa_resorts/waltdisneyworld/
www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/resorts/resortmain.htm
www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/resorts/contemp.htm
www.disneylandparis.com
www.familytravelguides.com/articles/southcaststates/Orlando/disworld.html
www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/disnryland_Resorts_Paris
www.users2.ev1.net/~disneyelvis/Disney/WDW/WDWHistory.htm
www.justdisney.com/walt_disney/
www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Walt_Disney_World