The Mouse Still Roars
By SANDI CAIN
Walt Disney transformed Orange County forever when Disneyland debuted in July 1955.
For most of the world, the seminal theme park put the county and Anaheim on the map.
But you might say that the story of the past 25 years has been about Orange County growing beyond its reputation as the home of Disneyland.
Today, tourism remains a key industry for the county, but it is only one of several economic drivers; Disneyland itself was long ago eclipsed as a tourist attraction by its younger sibling in Orlando, Fla., and is now but one of many such parks run by Disney and competitors around the globe.
Yet Disneyland remains Orange County’s most recognizable feature,even if some of its U.S. and international visitors still think they’re in L.A. And Disneyland has not stood still. It has grown along with the rest of the county and adapted to changing times.
The 2001 opening of a second theme park, California Adventure, capped an expansion that also beautified what had become a seedy surrounding area. Disney spent $1.4 billion on the project, and the total public-private outlay, including freeway ramps, city improvements and convention center remodeling, was close to $5 billion. The figures dwarf the $17 million that Walt Disney spent to open the park back in 1955.
Other numbers also indicate just how much Disneyland has changed. When it opened, Disneyland had 130 acres, 18 major attractions and the Disneyland Hotel. The park drew 28,154 people on opening day and 5 million in its first 15 months of operation.
Today, what is now called the Disneyland Resort encompasses 430 acres, including two theme parks, the Downtown Disney retail and entertainment complex, three hotels, parking, offices and land for future expansion. In 2002, about 17.5 million visitors passed through the turnstiles of the two parks, roughly 12.5 million of those visiting Disneyland.
In all, about 450 million people have visited Disneyland.
Disneyland today has 57 rides and attractions, including some of the park’s originals,the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, the Jungle Cruise, Mark Twain’s Riverboat and the King Arthur Carousel.
California Adventure, set on 55 acres, has 31 rides and attractions, with the Tower of Terror set to open next spring.
Tourism hasn’t been Walt Disney Co.’s only contribution to the Orange County scene. In the 1990s it got into the sports game, starting the Anaheim Mighty Ducks and putting them in the city-built Arrowhead Pond, then buying the Angels from Gene Autry, spending $90 million to turn tired Anaheim Stadium into baseball showcase Edison Field and changing the team’s designation from “California” to “Anaheim.”
Disney is now shopping the Ducks, having already sold the Angels to billboard magnate Arte Moreno earlier this year. But before that, Disney’s Angels last year gave a prize to Anaheim and Orange County that Walt Disney himself would have been hard-pressed to top,a baseball world championship.
