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The House the Mouse Built--Part 1

© Meg Greene Malvasi

"I don't want the public to see the world they live in while they're in the Park," Walt Disney said to his designers, "I want them to feel they are in another world." When Disneyland Park opened on July 15, 1955, the American public was introduced to something entirely new. A new word,"Imagineering"--a combination of imagination and engineering--described what was an old-fashioned amusement park that employed the latest in modern technology and special effects. It was all the result of one man's vision, with a little help from a mouse.

From the very beginning Walt Disney wanted a park where people could get away from the troubles of the real world. He had already built an empire based on that very principle. Aided by the immense popularity of his cartoon character, Mickey Mouse, Disney had become the symbol of wholesome family entertainment. Quite simply, Disney and Mickey stood for good, clean fun.

Disney first got the idea for Disneyland in the 1930s, while taking his two young daughters to a local amusement park. All around him was a dirty, disorganized, and garish place that had little of interest to adults. It was then that Disney hit upon the idea of a theme park--a park that was clean, well-laid out, and provided plenty of entertainment for children and adults alike. Hearing of his idea, many couldn't understand why Disney would want to waste his time building another Coney Island. It would take almost two decades before Disney saw his dream become a reality.

By 1954, with the help of his brother Roy Disney and the up-and-coming broadcast network, ABC, Walt Disney secured the money needed to build his park. With a targeted date of July 17, 1955, Disney and company feverishly went to work. He had exactly one year to transform seventeen tracts of orange groves near the city of Anaheim, California into an amusement park.

Nurseries from San Diego to Santa Barbara were emptied to fill the new park with every imaginable type of plant, shrub, and tree. Even weeds were pulled and transplanted to fill any bare spots in the park! The entire area was enclosed by a thickly forested berm, or mound of earth, ranging from twelve to twenty feet high that would isolate the park from the outside world. Disney got the city of Anaheim to ban the construction of high-rise buildings that might threaten the view from "Disneyland."

The copyright of the article The House the Mouse Built--Part 1 in History For Children is owned by Mary M. Alward. Permission to republish The House the Mouse Built--Part 1 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.