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The Disney Dish with Jim Hill
The Disney Dish with Jim Hill
Learn more about the latest doings at Disney with TouringPlan's Len Testa & Jim Hill of JimHillMedia.com as they talk about upcoming projects as well as look back at Mouse House history.
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Feb. 14, 2015

How Disneyland Found Its Footing: The Growing Pains of 1955-1959 (Ep. 73)

How Disneyland Found Its Footing: The Growing Pains of 1955-1959 (Ep. 73)

Len Testa and Jim Hill trace Disneyland's early growing pains, financial gambles, and competitive expansion from 1955 through 1959.

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Opening Disneyland was only the beginning of Walt Disney's problems. Len Testa and Jim Hill continue their Disneyland history series with the park's first growing pains, from its frantic 1955 debut through the ambitious expansion of 1959. Along the way, they explore the television deals, unlikely sponsors, operational improvisations, and rival parks that helped turn Walt's experiment into a lasting success.

Original Air Date: February 15, 2015
Original Title: The History of Disneyland from 1955 to 1959

HIGHLIGHTS

  • How ABC's investment and television agreement helped finance Disneyland while giving the network a substantial stake in the park.
  • Why C. V. Wood recruited everyone from railroad operators to lingerie manufacturers to help fund Walt's increasingly expensive project.
  • How the Davy Crockett phenomenon brought in badly needed revenue as Disneyland raced toward opening day.
  • The opening-week shortcuts, early ticket books, and improvised queues that reveal how Disney learned to operate a theme park.
  • How television props became the Mike Fink Keel Boats, and why Walt kept adding capacity and new experiences.
  • The unbuilt International Street and Liberty Street concepts, plus the unusual vision behind Tomorrowland's domestic exhibits.
  • How C. V. Wood's competing parks and Pacific Ocean Park helped spur Disneyland's push toward the Matterhorn, Monorail, and Submarine Voyage.
  • Why Walt's growing frustration with ABC and outside concession operators set up his next battle for control of Disneyland.

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