Thursday Thoughts

Well, we knew the streak was too good to last! hehe..Welcome back to the Drill. Today is Thursday, or as I like to call it "Tease Day". Why is it "Tease Day" you ask? Because its one more day til Friday. Such a tease!! Today is all about baseball, so if you dont think it would interest you feel free to pass. ;-) OK, on with the show..

World Series Wrap up

 

After 88 years, the Chicago White Sox are champions of baseball

 

OK, before I admit how wrong I was about this series, let me point out that I did predict the White Sox to win the whole thing. I didnt get the number of games correct however. Oh well. I guess I gave Houston too much credit. It was a good (albeit, short) series with drama in each game. The White Sox basically wore the Astros down in the four games. Add to that, the fact that the Houston offense pretty much fizzled out and its no wonder they were sent packing quickly.

Wow, I didnt do well at all in this postseason. I had the Boston Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals going all the way to end with the Cardinals winning the series. Well, Boston was bounced in the first round and the Cardinals were taken care of by the Astros in the NLCS. Then again I also thought for sure the Dodgers would repeat as NL West champs. Heck, after they started 12-2 all of us in Dodger Nation were talking World Series appearance. Then injuries took their toll and my beloved Dodgers finished a distant 4th. Oh well.

 

"The Thrill of victory..the agony of defeat"

 

So the Red Sox ended their curse last year. (More on curses later) The White Sox ended their World Series drought this year. So now it falls on the Chicago Cubs to end 97 years of World Series heartbreak. The last time the Cubs won it all was 1908!!! Is anyone still alive that saw them win it all? Those are some hardcore fans in Chicago's northside of town.

Curses!!

For those of you that dont know, baseball is quite possibly the most superstitious sport of them all. What with curses and lucky charms and omens and such. Here are some of the more well known "curses" in baseball

The Curse of the Bambino....Team: Boston Red Sox

What it is: After the 1919 baseball season Boston owner Harry Frazee sold baseball legend Babe "the Great Bambino" Ruth to the Yankees for a large sum of cash. Frazee believed Ruth wasnt worth the money he was paying him anymore. Low and behold the Yankees suddenly became the mighty powerhouse in the American League during the 1920's (Thanks in large part to Ruth) making six world series appearances and winning 3 of them. The Red Sox? After winning 4 titles with Ruth, never even made it back to the Series until 1946. But then it was just heartbreak and misery usually inflicted on them by their rivals in New York. Finally, in 2004 the Red Sox got the better of the Yankees by becoming the first team to rally back from an 0-3 deficit in the ALCS and then rode that momentum to their first title in 86 years. The curse is now over, but maybe a new one is starting since they got bounced so quickly in this years playoffs. ;-)

The Billy Goat Curse......Team: Chicago Cubs

What it is: This actually is the funniest just because its so outrageous. In 1945, a bar owner by the name of Billy Goat Sianis tried to bring his pet goat "Murphy", into Wrigley Field before Game 4 of the World Series. Cubs owner P.K. Wrigley denied Murphy a seat saying "The goat stinks". An angry Sianis replied, "The Cubs, they aint gonna win again." And of course, they havent. For years Cubs fans have tried to remove the curse, even allowing Sianis' nephew to bring in a goat before Opening Day in 1984. It didnt work obviously. The curse lives to this day.

The Black Sox Curse......Team: Chicago White Sox

What it is: Probably the most scandalous of the curses, in 1919 the White Sox had the most powerful team in the league. They were heavy favorites going into the World Series that year against the Cincinnati Reds. But something was wrong when that series started. White Sox ace Eddie Cicotte hit the very first batter he faced and never really seemed into the game. They lost that game 9-1. Game 2 saw the White Sox fall 4-2. Could the Reds really be handling the mighty Sox that easily? It turned out that nine White Sox players had agreed to "throw" the World Series in exchange for large amounts of money. By the time the players involved realized the wrong they were commiting it was too late. The Reds won the series and the "fix" was revealed to the public about a year later. All nine of the White Sox players were banned for life from baseball. The White Sox (until yesterday) never won another World Series title and the 1919 team were forever known as "The Black Sox"

The West Coast Curse.....Team: San Francisco Giants

What it is: Not so much a curse as it is a theory. Before moving to San Francisco the Giants were National League powerhouses in New York winning 4 World Series titles and 13 National League Titles. That string of success ended when they joined the Dodgers in California before the 1958 season. Since moving west the Giants have been to the World Series only two times and none of those appearances resulted in a title. With an aging team in San Francisco right now, it doesnt seem likely this "curse" will end anytime soon.

Sorry, just had to throw this in there! ;-)

OK, that will do it for now. Sorry for the "baseball history lesson". Be back tommorrow to wrap it up for the week! Before I go, here's a comic I found online. It made me smile.

Amen

 

DQ

 

Taboo Tuesday

Back to back updates! I cant remember the last time that happened!! ;-)

Welcome back to the drill. No time for monologues today, lets just get to it

 

Death of a Pioneer

 

Last night, a true American icon and hero passed away. Rosa Parks, who many considered the "Mother" of the Civil Rights movement, passed away at age 92. Parks had been in ill health as of late, but her death was nonetheless shocking to those who knew her and those close to her. Parks' story of how she refused to give up her seat for a white passenger on segregated bus is legendary. Her refusal landed her in jail and sparked a national boycott of buses by colored people everywhere. This event also allowed a relatively uknown activist at the time to rise up and help lead the civil rights movement. That person of course was Martin Luther King, Jr. Its important to realize the impact that her stand made that day. For too long, colored people had been oppressed and ridiculed by the very country they were citizens of. Parks' "Enough is Enough" stance that day became a rallying cry for the oppressed and discriminated. She took a stand, while sitting. All people of color, minorities,etc, owe her a debt of gratitude. Her actions made the country realize "Hey, this isnt right". RIP Ms. Parks, the world is a better place because of you

 

While on the topic of inequality, i know that I often joke alot about stereotypes and what not. I've always said that if we can't laugh at each other, who can we laugh at? But I've always been bothered by racisim and ignorance. Have we come a long way as a society? yes. Could we do better. YES. But its going to take everyone coming together to end it once and for all. Mr. King's dream of a color blind society may come true one day. But only if we as people work towards that dream

 

OK, so people were asking me why I was gone for so long and what happened to me during the time off. In a homage to "The Late Show" I present my own top 5 (yeah i'm too lazy for 10!!) list which I call:

TOP 5 Reasons Doug Didnt Upate his Blog

 

5. Never returned from trip to Disneyland on July 17th

 

4. The Dodgers continued struggles forced him to spend more time at Stadium with the Rally Homer

 

3. Pin induced stab wounds kept him in bed all this time.

 

2. Myspace, myspace, myspace!

 

1. Was too busy camping out a spot for Disneylands 75th Anniversary.

 

yeah that was horrible. i know. ;-)

 

Game 3 of the World Series is tonight on FOX. Can the Astros bounce back and make this a series again? Or will the White Sox take a near insurmountable 3-0 lead in the best of 7 series? Should be a good one tonight. Already some controversy to go with the game. Apparently the Commissioners office has ordered that the roof at Minute Maid Park in Houston remain open for the game. The impact this will have on the teams remains to be seen, but theres no doubt that opponents have had a much tougher time of it playing in the noise/mad house that is Minute Maid Park with a closed roof.

 

I'm still saying Sox in 6!

 

OK, short one I know. Still trying to shake the cobwebs so to speak. Til the next time.

 

DQ

The Return

Its been a LLOONNNNGGGG time coming. But after a lenghty lay off, I'm happy to say this little piece of the internet I call "The Two Minute Drill" is back! Alot has happened since I last updated this blog. Lots of worlds events and such. It may take a while to get back into the groove of things, but bear with me and I'll make it worth your while. So once again join me and see whats inside..its what happens when boredom and creative writing collide!

 

World Series thoughts

The White Sox celebrate winning Game 2 of the World Series after Scott Podsednik's walk off HR in the bottom of the 9th.

Naturally I'm going to start off with something I am most familar with (not including Disneyland which I'll get to later). I'm talkin bout baseball of course.

So it came down to the Chicago White Sox and Houston Astros. Two teams built on strong pitching and solid defense. Houston, despite having arguably the best trio of starting pitchers going (Roger Clemens, Roy Oswalt and Andy Pettite) find themselves down 2 games to none after the first two games. Not to make excuses, but the White Sox were more than likely energized by playing in front of an electric crowd that hasnt seen a World Series played before them since 1959. That and yet another questionable call went their way in Game 2 which turned the momentum of the game in their favor. The next 3 games are being played in Houston and if you think the Chicago fans were crazy, wait til Houston fans get to expereince their FIRST EVER World Series game(s). While I would like the Astros to win their first title ever, I think they've got a huge task ahead of them. I want to say the White Sox will win it in 5, but you can never count out the Astros. Not after the year they had. Still, the White Sox have caught all the breaks so far. OK, here it is..My PREDICTION: White Sox in 6. If I'm wrong, I'll be right here to face the music.

 

Disneyland notes and news

Now, no update would be complete without a Disneyland update. Not a whole lot going on right now, but I'll see what I can dredge up. For starters, attendance continues to surpass all expectations @ Disneyland, thanks in large part to the ongoing 50th Anniversary celebration. The usual "off season" slowdown has not happened and Disneyland was actually forced to expand operating hours. October has brought with it a bit of a slowdown, but even weekdays are crowded. All this means is that the already busy Holiday Season is going to be nuts. For the record, there will be no new attractions or events scheduled for the holidays. The Christmas Parade will indeed be returning to Disneyland (After initially being banished to California Adventure) but the "Believe..in Holiday Magic" fireworks show will NOT.

"Believe, in Holiday Magic"

Instead they will be running the regular "Remember, Dreams Come True" show and tacking on the snow effect at the end. However, public reaction to this may force them to change plans. They also will continue to run "Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams" during the holiday season so that parade route down Main St. USA is going to be super busy come December. I'm wondering how they're going to deal with the crowd control problems that will no doubt spring up during this time. If you've been in the hub area after the "Remember..." fireworks show you know just how JAMMED those walkways become. Add the extra crunch of people waiting for the snow and its going to get ugly out. If you're planning on visiting Disneyland during the holiday's, be prepared to deal with huge crowds and long lines for everything. Off record, TDA (Team Disney Anaheiem, the management at Disneyland) is expecting the largest crowds in recent history this Christmas season.

Box Office Report

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in "Doom"

1) Doom, $15.3 Mil: Yet another movie based on a video game. I think this movie may have been a little too late. I mean "Doom" was at its peak in the mid to late 90's. Now its sort of outdated, but I guess the game still has its fans. One interesting thing they did with this film was replicate the "First Person" view of the game for the shooting scenes. According to The Rock, they wanted to stay as true to the game as possible. Sometimes it works (Like in this film and the Mortal Kombat series) sometimes it doesnt (The disaster that was "House of the Dead" and "Super Mario Bros: The Movie). I dont see this movie hanging around for too long though.

2) Dreamer, $9.3 Mil: Family films usually do well in October because of the fact that every other movie that comes out is a slasher/gore fest. A good move putting this movie opposite "Doom". It gave the family set out there something fresh to choose.

3) Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were Rabbit, $8.7 Mil: See above. To that I'll also add that this has been a relatively strong franchise for years. Its no surprise its doing well.

4) The Fog, $7.3 Mil: Last weeks number 1 plummets 3 slots. It should take a bigger hit next week when "Saw II" opens and takes away alot of that horror movie crowd.

5) North Country, $6.4 Mil: The weeks other big opener didnt fare that well. Its being hyped as an Oscar contender, but so far its not much of a box office one. Lets see if word of mouth helps this one along.

 

OK, that will do it for now. Not a bad little way to start things back up I think. If you're new to the site, feel free to browse through the archives (Dating back to Dec 2004) and see my earlier work. Til the next time.

DQ

Once Upon A Time..In Anahiem V

Part V: The Grand Opening

Our Story So Far: After countless construction mishaps and budget crunching, Disneyland is now ready to open. Walt's dream of a theme park celebrating family and fun are about to become reality.

Its late Saturday night July 16th, 1955. Walt Disney, after a long day of final preperations and meetings finally retires to his apartment above Main Street, for some much needed R & R. As more problems came up during the night, he was continually having to wake up to deal with those looking for solutions to the problems. Fed up, he angirly slammed his apartment door shut and locked it. When he awoke the morning of July 17, he walked over to the door and found that the lock was stuck! After yelling out for help, workers were able to let him out and thus Walt's big day began.

The gates to Disneyland were set to open at 10 am. Much like today however, guests began arriving EARLY. Roy Disney himself, was caught in the huge traffic jam that was being caused by so many guests driving down to get to the park. As Roy arrived he was shocked to see the LLOONGG line of cars already in the parking lot. An attendant, who recoginized him, ran over and explained to Roy that the kids that were cooped up in their cars for so long, had begun to relieve themselves right there in the parking lot!! Roy's repsonse to that? "God bless em, let them pee."

The Opening Day festivities were to be broadcast live by ABC. This was the largest live broadcast of its time. There were 29 cameras set up around the park and hundreds upon hundreds of yards of tv wire everywhere. The show itself was hosted by Art Linkletter along with his friends Bob Cummings and future US President Ronald Reagan. Because live tv was so unreliable at the time, Linkletter cautioned viewers at home that they may expereince some difficulties during the course of the broadcast, but to sit tight and they would be in for a treat.

There were about 10,000 invitations made up for guests to arrive to Disneyland. But as people lined up, it was apparent that there would be FAR more people that that in the park. There were many people who jumped the perimeter fences and others who presented forged invitations. The official park tally put the number of guests at 28,154, but unofficial numbers put that number at closer to 30,000.The small park was in no way ready to handle that amount of people and the walkways were JAMMED with guests looking for something to do.

Roy Disney actually purchased the first ticket to Disneyland at a cost of $1. (Wouldnt that be nice now?) The ticket stub is locked away in the Disney archives in Burbank.

At 4:30pm, the live broadcast began and Linkletter introduced Disneyland to the viewers in front of the Main Street Railroad Station. He introduced his co-hosts for the afternoon and then attention turned to a train arriving at the station. The train was carrying Walt Disney, Governor of California Goodwin Knight and president of Santa Fe Railroads (Co-Owners of the Disneyland Railroad) Fred Gurley. After stoping to chat with Linkletter, the three proceeded to the Town Square for the dedication ceremonies.

Ronald Reagan introduced the ceremony to the viewers at home and cued Walt to walk up to the microphone to deliver his famous dedication speech. A hush fell over the crowd as he Walt spoke:

The Speech

"To all who come to this happy place...Welcome! Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past and here youth may savor the promise and challenge of the futre. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams and the hard facts which have created America. With the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration, to all the world."

After the ceremony, Walt and co. were wisked away in a car and drove down Main St. as part of the opening day parade. Walt himself would only be seen during the different dedications of each land. Because of this, he was completely unaware of the chaos that was taking place around Disneyland.

Dedicating Fantasyland

The first issue arouse on Main Street itself. Because of construction delays, the asphault on Main Street had been poured earlier in the morning and had not yet set when the first guests came in. Ladies who were dressed in their best clothes, soon found that their high heel shoes had actually sunk into the ground and stuck there. There many female guests forced to leave behind shoes that day. All the crowds descending on the park that day overwhelmed the few rides that were operating and many broke down. The concession stands ran out of food and beverages and Fantasyland was forced to close early because of a gas leak.

Oops

The live broadcast didnt help matters either. At one point during Walt's dedication of Tommorrowland, the director interupts Walt because the show had not come back from commerical break. "I thought I got a signal", groaned a annoyed Walt. While in Fantasyland, Art Linkletter had trouble finding his microphone as Bob Cummings was gettnig set to send the broadcast back to him. An amused Linkletter begins to laugh as he searches for his microphone while Cummings adds commentary "He's looking for his microphone, he looks all confused.." Finally the microphone was found under a pile of lumber.

End of a long day

It was truly a chaotic day, but at the end of the show Walt and Linketter are shown standing in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle. "Walt, you've made a bum out of Barnum", Linkletter remarked, as the two men stood there. Walt quickly thanked everyone that helped make his dream a reality and both men walked towards the castle (But not before Linkletter stumbled over the microphone wire) and brought the show to a close.

What was the media's reaction to Disneyland? They hated it! While some members of the press liked it, most reviews were unfavorable. The headlines the next day screamed "Disney's Folly" and "A Hollywood Spectacular-A Spectacular Failure". The public on the other hand, LOVED the place. As word spread, Disneyland's attendance numbers swelled and on Sept 8, 1955 justseven weeks after opening day, Disneyland celebrated its one millionth guest.

Over the years Disneyland continued to grow and prosper. Walt himself once said "Disneyland will never be complete, as long as there is imagination left in the world." That promise came true, as mega attractions such as the Matterhorn, Submarines and Monorail were added within 4 years of the parks opening. Walt wanted to keep pushing the boundries of theme park entertainment and he strived to make his park the best and encouraged his design teams to push along with him. It was this determination that led to some of the most beloved attractions of all time such as Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion and Its A Small World.

Its been 50 years since the Magic Kingdon openend its gates, but its enchantment has been timeless. Whether its walking through those train tunnles for the first time, or setting eyes on Sleeping Beauty Castle, there's always something magical about it. Here's hoping that the next 50 years are just as magical and full of joy and memories for everyone.

Coming Soon: Some Final Facts and Words from Walt

Once Upon A Time..in Anahiem IV

 

Part IV: Building the Dream

 

Our Story So Far: Now that ABC has jumped in to help cover some of the construction costs of the park, Disneyland can now jump from the drawing board and start taking shape in that Anahiem Orange Grove. In exchange for the money, Walt has agreed to produce television shows for the network. The first series, titled "Disneyland", has just premiered and has people clamoring over what Disneyland will turn out to be.

When construction crews began working on Disneyland, they faced many daunting challenges and questions. Walt wanted to find the perfect crew for the job, but according to him, none existed. Instead the crews working in that orange grove found out how to make things work, by trial and error. This way led to many interesting mishaps that occured during initial construction of the park.

Take for example the Rivers of America in Frontierland

River under construction

After the riverbed had been dug out and ready to be filled the crews opened the water pipes and let the water flow. Unfortunatley, when the water rushed into the riverbed, it was quickly soaked up by the soil! The construction crew was shocked. How would they keep a river from "runnning away?" Luckily the problem was solved when the workers lined the riverbed and shore with clay. The water was once again released and this time it stayed put. This same method was used around the park in The Jungle Cruise riverbeds and the moat outside Sleeping Beauty Castle.

Another issue arose when it came time to clear the orange groove of trees. Because landscaping was expensive, Walt wanted to save some of the older trees that were already there. Jack and Morgan Evan, who were put in charge of the landscaping of the park, went tree to tree tagging which trees were to be saved and which trees were to be bulldozed. Green tags signified the tree would stay and red tags signified the trees would go. The bulldozer operator got to work and began destroying EVERY TREE in his path, with no regards to the ribbons. When asked why he would do such a thing, the operator responded that he was colorblind.Makes you wonder why he didnt ask what the ribbons were for before he started destroying everything!

The Grove Before...

and after!!

 

When buildings first began to rise over the site, Walt learned a new lesson about building construction. He initially wanted to use exterior set type buildings for the park such as the ones you see on studio backlots. He felt that this was cheaper and would save valuable construction time. However, he was in a for a shock when he was told he would have to build complete buildings and not just facade's. Walt didnt like the idea of using more of the already limited funds to construct the buildings but he had no choice.

Of all the lands, Adventureland was the one that had little to no issues in the construction process. Because of this, Walt would showcase this land mroe than others during future broadcasts of "Disneyland".

The jungle cruise..by car!

Because it was being completed so quickly, Walt was able to show an almost completey built Jungle Cruise ride and took viewers on a "dry run" of the ride during a later broadcast of the show.

 

One of the lands that proved to be the most difficult was "Fantasyland". The most challenging rides proved to be the dark rides (Peter Pan, Snow White, Mr Toad). The track layouts proved simple enough, but because of labor shortages, some of the same animators that worked on the cartoons that inspired the rides, were forced to work on the rides themselves! The animators became painters and setbuilders! Some would argue though that having workers so closely attatched to the products, helped the overall quality of the finished ride. I mean anyone can draw Peter Pan, but someone who actually worked on Peter Pan the movie, is going to do a better job overall.

Dumbo also had its share of problems. The original motor was not powerful enough to make the fiberglass elephants go round and round. They were simply too heavy for the machine to take. After some reworking, the ride opened one month after the grand opening.

Disneyland under construction

But by far the most troubled land was "Tommorrowland". Construction on that part of the park didnt begin until six months before opening!! It was part of the original plan to have Tommorrowland in the park, but as the money for the park grew tighter and tighter, Tommorrowland was scratched off the list. The original plan was to build Tommorrowland AFTER the park had opened and became profitable. However, Walt and his team soon realized that the concept of Disneyland, would not work without Tommorrowland there, so after more budget slashing it was rescued and put on the fast track for opening day.

Besides the different construction issues with the lands, there were other issues that sprang up as well. Take for instance that in 1955 Anahiem was going through one of its wettest rainy seasons ever. With the rain pouring constantly, there were fears that construction would be delayed and the opening pushed further back.

Another pressing issue was the strike involving local plumbers. With so few plumbers available, Walt would have to decide whether or not to have more water fountains or more bathrooms. He choose bathrooms and at opening was accused of trying to get more Pepsi and Coke sales out of the paying public by offerring less water fountains.

But as Walt explained, "People can buy Pepsi, but they cant pee in the street!"

Despite all these issues and many more, Disneyland's construction sped along. Walt was almost always seen walking around the construction site and making sure things were being built to his satisfaction. When he wasnt in Anahiem, he was at the Disney Studio Lot in Burbank, checking out the construction of the trains, ride vehicles and the Mark Twain Riverboat. After the ride vehicles and trains and yes even the Mark Twain were completed, they were all driven down the I-5 to Disneyland. (Which I'm sure freaked out the SoCal drivers of that era!)

Finally, on July 13, 1955 after many a mishap and running through $17 million a nearly complete Disneyland opened for its first special event. On this day, Walt and Lillian Disney would celebrate their 30th Wedding Anniversary inside the park. After taking their guests on a trip around the Rivers of America in the just completed Mark Twain, they were all ushered into the Frontierland Theater for a dinner and reception. Afterwards, Walt stood up on stage and was just beaming. He couldnt believe that his dream had finally become a reality. Disneyland was set to open in two days and he couldnt wait. With all the issues and problems that arouse during its construction, opening day would be a breeze right? Right???

Coming Up Next: Showtime At Disneyland

Once Upon A Time...In Anahiem III

 

Part III: TV Saves Disneyland

Our Story So Far: A site has been selected for Disneyland and we now know what the place is going to look like. Depsite his best efforts, Walt Disney has been unable to secure enough financing to begin serious construction of Disneyland. Now, help will come from an unlikely source.

Walt Disney was in trouble. His funds for the building of Disneyland were quickly dwindiling away. Unless he came up with some serious backing, his park would never see the light of day. The banks had all refused to help Walt so where was he going to get it? Luckily for him there was one company that was just dying to get into business with Disney and would do just about anything to do it.

The ABC Network had long been after Walt Disney to produce programs for its network. Desperate to win ratings, ABC offered to help with the costs of the park in exchange for a weekly program. Keep in mind that in this era, TV was still a relatively new technology.The networks were all looking for some sort of outstanding content and programs to keep people watching. Many Hollywood filmmakers were strongly opposed to television because they feared it would keep people from going out to the movies and watching their films. However, Walt was the first producer to see the possiblities in television as far as adverstising and creating public awareness. Walt quickly agreed to the deal and he would soon have some serious funds at his disposal.

In exchange for the weekly program, ABC agreed to invest $500,000 for a 34.5% interest in the park. The company also agreed to loan Walt up to $4.5 million to cover costs of the park. Each television show would be one hour and would be hosted by Walt Disney himself. The first show put out was all about creating awareness for Disneyland. The episodes would be built around providing a different story from one of the themed lands in Disneyland (Adventureland,Tommorrowland, Fantasyland and Frontierland). Naturally the show was titled "Walt Disney's Disneyland".

The Premier Episode

The premier episode of "Disneyland" debuted on ABC Sunday, October 27, 1954. This was the public's first real look at Disneyland the place. People around Southern California had been hearing for months how Walt Disney was planning on building an "amusment park" in Anahiem, but now they would actually get to see the place. Walt was about to take them on a little journey.

The show opened with Walt in the "Disneyland Planning Room" at the Disney Studio's in Burbank. After a brief intro, Walt Disney unvieled Disneyland to the American public. Using a beautifly drawn map of Disneyland by Disney artist Peter Ellenshaw, Walt described what the park was to be.

Walt Disney presents Disneyland to the world

Aerial footage of the Anahiem site was shown along with a huge model of Disneyland that Walt used to describe the layouts of the park.

Walt describes the different lands in Disneyland

The show also included a promise by Walt that the park would be open in approximatley one year. Pretty bold statement, considering that much of the park was still just orange groves.

Reaction to the show was overwhelmingly positive and the public wanted more.

Meanwhile, down in Anahiem, construction of the park was proving to be more difficult and costly than they thought it would. No one had ever attempted anything quite like Disneyland before and crews were begining to realize why. Would Walt's team of construction men and artists be able to pull this project off? The story continues..

Up Next: Building the Dream

Delayed

Hello out there

For those of you tuning in to see Part III of the "Once Upon A Time..In Anahiem" series, I'm sorry to say I've been having some problems uploading. I will have it up either later today or tommorrow. My apologies for the delay

 

DQ