Walt Disney Struggles

“I’ve always been bored with just making money. I’ve wanted to do things, I wanted to build things, or get something going.” (LeeBron) Disney stated that when he realized that he wanted to make a difference in people’s lives. Disney never wanted to be boring or be known as the man who did not have a childhood and was always pushed around by his father. Disney wanted to be successful in life, he wanted the name ‘Walt Disney’ to be remembered, and it will be forever. Disney has achieved many important and exciting accomplishments within his life. He created “full length animated films, short films, live-action features, and television shows” (LeeBron) Disney also introduced theme parks. He created Disneyland in Anaheim, California. He also developed Epcot which stands for “Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow”, and Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida. Walt Disney was an important figure in the 1920s American History because he made a change to the world with the idea of bringing inanimate objects to life with cartoons and created all new kinds of happiness.

Walt Disney once said, “All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me… You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you” (brainyquote.com). A successful person is defined as someone who as attained wealth, position, honor, or the like. Walt Disney is someone that falls into that category. Disney had to overcome quite a few obstacles to reach the success that he is known for today.

| In 1955, Disneyland was introduced to the American public by creator Walt Disney. It was one of the first theme parks offered in America and attracted crowds of young children and families. The theme park was inspired by many of Walt Disney’s animated features as well as historical figures like Mark Twain and Abraham Lincoln.

     Along with his serious Down to earth side Disney also lived part of his life in the realms of fantasy and imagination. His great love of fantasy and the great lack of family entertainment in America inspired Walt to build a theme park of his own. All of America thought that this time Disney had really gone crazy. As Disney once said about the reactions to his ideas for a park "Almost everyone warned us that Disneyland would be a Hollywood spectacular - a spectacular failure. But they were thinking about an amusement park, and we believe in our idea - a family park where parents and children could have

Disneyland, Walt Disney’s metropolis of nostalgia, fantasy, and futurism, opens on July 17, 1955. The $17 million theme park was built on 160 acres of former orange groves in Anaheim, California, and soon brought in staggering profits. Today, Disneyland hosts more than 14 million visitors a year, who spend close to $3 billion.

To start with, Disney turned his TV series into a theme park. Disney's TV series was so popular that it ran for 29 seasons and because it was so popular Disneyland opened. Disneyland was a huge success. Disneyland the series became a theme park because it was so popular and millions of people loved the characters. People wanted to go see the characters and interact with them. So Disney created a place where it was possible for people to do that (Beattie). This suggests that viewers wanted to spend time with the characters they watched at home. Disney had a great idea to turn his shows into an amusement park, which attracted a lot of people. At the same time, Disney used his T.V. show to advertise his amusement park. “By 1954, Disney had recognized the growing popularity of television and produced a series called Disneyland, which he initially used to promote his new Disneyland theme park in California” (Lackmann). This maintains that Disney was a smart and bright person who knew how to be successful. Additionally, Disney wanted to create a homelike atmosphere at his park. “Disneyland put a new spin on amusement parks when its gates opened in Anaheim, California, on July 17, 1955. Before deciding whether to enter Disney's Adventureland, Frontierland, Tomorrowland, or Fantasyland, all visitors to Disneyland passed through Main Street, which attempted to recapture the

Walt made Disneyland his life and tried to be at the park as much as possible. He built a secret apartment and created his own VIP lounge to stay involved with his more affluent guests.

They've gotten so honky tonk with a lot of questionable characters running around, and they're not to safe. They're not well kept. I want to have a place that's as clean as anything could ever be, and all the people in it [his park] are first-class citizens, and treated like guests.”(Disneyland History) He put a lot of thought into Disneyland and focused on the people’s best interest. He studied people’s reactions and even asked his daughters on what they thought it needed. He chose the location carefully. Originally he was going to make it on an eight acre lot next to the studio for the employees and their families to relax, but that idea soon changed(Disneyland History). His vision was a magical place where children and parents could have fun together. So instead, in 1953, Disney had researchers from Stanford survey a 100-acre lot, because he knew that he wanted enough space for flying elephants, spinning teacups, mountains, and a railway(Disneyland History) The funding aspect was the most difficult part for him, he had to take many financial risks but as he once said, “fear too often spells failure” so he did things such as selling his vacation home and took loans off of his life insurance(Merlock Jackson 47). It was a small struggle for Walt to convince people that this project would be a success, “I could never convince the financiers that Disneyland was feasible, because dreams offer too little collateral”(Disneyland History). Because of this he made up two television series one called, Walt Disney’s Disneyland, to display the future project in hopes to gain financial support and the other called, The Mickey Mouse Club(Orr 38). It obviously worked because the construction of Disneyland started in July of 1954, which was only one year from the

Walt’s desire for his theme park was for it to be a safe, clean, educational, and fun place for children of all ages to experience magic, joy, and inspiration. He saw his $17 million dream become a reality when the park opened in 1955. After seeing the astounding success of Disneyland, Walt began planning for a second park in Orlando, Florida. He would never get to see that dream become a reality, because in 1966, Walt was diagnosed with lung cancer, and at the age of sixty-five, died on December 15. His brother, Roy, took over the construction of the new park, which opened in 1971 with the name Walt Disney

When Walt Disney opened Disneyland July 17th 1955 it was culmanation of ideas he had been formulating for ten years. Walt had a specific vision of what the park should be and how it should look, but also left the park open to the interpretation and ideas that each child who visited left with in thier memories. The idea of a place to welcome all and have no credance on who a person is but of the value of thier imagination and heart is an astounding thought, not only for the mid 1950s, but for today also. Disneyland has never been limited by what people believe are normal limitations but has strived to always shock and inspire with each visit to the park. Walt had been using this same formula of groundbreaking inoventions and a never

One day, while at an amusement park watching his daughters ride the Ferris wheel an idea was born. He decided he would open his own amusement park. Disney says he wanted to create a place for families to have fun. He named the amusement park, Disneyland and located it in Anaheim,California. When Disneyland first opened, it did not open on good terms. The water fountains were not working and the employees were not friendly at all. Also there was overcrowding because the park was so small. To advertise Disneyland Walt created used television and ad campaigns. Fifty years later, Walt Disney came up with his biggest idea ever and created another amusement park called Disney World located in Kissimmee, Florida. Disney World is one of the most popular family amusement parks in the world. Each year over 52 million people visit Disney World (

Before the opening of the Disney parks, theme parks were not as elaborate as they are today. Prior to Disney’s innovation, what was known as a theme park was simply a few rides set up next to a lake (The Evolution of Theme Parks p11). In 1955 when The Disney Company opened Disneyland, it forever changed the definition of what it meant to be a theme park (The Evolution of Theme Parks p11). Walt Disney came up with the idea to make his theme park feel like a whole new world. In making Disneyland, he wanted his guests to feel like they were entering a land they had never been to before. Once in the park, Disney's goal was to make visitors feel as if they were no longer in California, but as if they walked into one of his

of Disneyland’s attractions had a rigid limit on the number of visitors that could be

The Walt Disney Company is one of the largest media and entertainment corporations in the world. Disney is able to create sustainable profits due to its heterogeneity, inimitability, co-specialization and immense foresight. During the late twentieth century, Michael Eisner founded and gave a rebirth to Walt Disney Company. Eisner revitalize TV and movies, Themes Park and new businesses. Eisner's takeover for fifteen years had climbed the revenues and net earnings of the company. It also successfully uses synergy to create value across its many business units. After its founder Walter Disney's death, the company started to lose its ground and performance declined. Michael Eisner became CEO

Walter Elias "Walt" Disney (December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966) was an American entrepreneur, cartoonist,animator, voice actor, and film producer. He and his staff created numerous famous fictional characters including Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy. These cartoon characters became so famous that he designed theme park for the entertainment of children and family in U.S.A. Disney then thought to spread the theme parks around the world. Therefore Disney theme parks were opened first in Tokyo, Japan called "Disney Resort" which became sucuessful by luck. The second theme park was opened in Paris called " Disneyland Paris” which became unsuccessful because of the cultural differences between U.S and Paris. Keeping this problem in mind, Disney opened third theme park in Hong Kong called Hong Kond Disneyland which became successful.