Disneyland in Burbank?

James122

James122

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
This may only be interesting to a Disney history nerd like me, but I find it intriguing that Walt Disney's early plans for what would become Disneyland called for the park to be located close to the studio in Burbank. However several factors, one of which was the fierce opposition from the locals, caused the plans to be altered which led to Disney hiring researchers to find the best available spot in Southern California for a theme park.

If Walt had gone through with building the park in the San Fernando Valley, I think the location would have severely hindered the growth of the park much more than its current location in Anaheim. I personally can't really picture a theme park smack dab in the middle of the valley anyway.

But it is interesting to think about! :happy:
 
Figments Friend

Figments Friend

Well-Known Member
The concept artwork that was done for that original proposed site is even more interesting.

It has been reproduced over the years in some Imagineering-related books, but the best spread is in the large format *Imagineering - A Behind The Dreams Look at Making the Magic Real* that came out several years ago.

In this volume, there is four to five concept pieces grouped together on a two page spread showing the proposed layout of the *little park*.

What is particularly interesting is viewing all four/five of these early concepts together and note how the idea grows right before your eyes.
The small vacant lot directly across the street from the Studio expands in two different drawings, and then an even larger lot is hypothetically designed long before the actual non-Studio property was chosen.

It is a neat time capsule...and the end result, Disneyland, has features that harken back to those very early concepts.

A book well worth searching out, by the way, if you do not already have a copy.
Lots of great eye candy in there....and some fabulous art and photos.
 
Cosmic Commando

Cosmic Commando

Well-Known Member
Never a bad time to talk early Disneyland history! I honestly think it's the most fascinating time in the whole company's history. The earliest ideas were for a pretty simple park, but it grew and grew over time. You have this constant tug-of-war between the money and the creative side of things... between Walt and Walt Disney Productions, even! It's almost bizarre now to think of a Disney company that didn't just have the cash on hand to build whatever it felt like, but that's where they were back then. I don't know how grandiose the plans got for the Burbank lot, but things must have really been kicking into gear by the time that Walt hired Buzz Price to scout locations in 1953. Buzz Price is a great guy to learn more about if you are into Disney history... he picked the locations for Disneyland, WDW, and Tokyo Disneyland!

My favorite story from those early times is "The Lost Weekend". Early on a Saturday morning, Walt called a friend, Herb Ryman, down to the studio. Roy was going to New York on Monday to secure financing for Disneyland, but Walt thought they needed something visual to show them. Walt begged. They spent the weekend holed up in a trailer on the studio lot, ideas flowing right from Walt's mind to Herb's pencil. That weekend not only got us one of the earliest ever drawings of what Disneyland would actually look like, but it got the money from ABC.

6.jpg
 
Cosmic Commando

Cosmic Commando

Well-Known Member
James122 said:
Cosmic Commando, that's absolutely fantastic bit of information. Figment's Friend, thanks for the suggestion. I'm looking the book up on Amazon as we speak!
Click to expand...
Thanks. There are so many cool stories surrounding the construction of Disneyland: Buzz Price correctly seeing that the new freeways would drive the population down towards Orange County, Walt turning around Sleeping Beauty Castle on the model (which is how it got the way it is today), etc. This is apocryphal, but supposedly there was a desk full of unpaid bills that was found months after the park opened... someone had just stuffed them all in there because they were so overwhelmed or they didn't want Walt to see. I think doing something new and pushing everyone to their financial and/or creative limits provides fruitful ground for cool stories.

We should probably have a Disneyland history thread.
 
Cosmic Commando

Cosmic Commando

Well-Known Member
This is the most amazing piece of Disneyland history that nobody knows or talks about if they do know it. Our former imagineer-in-residence called it "the Zapruder film of Disneyana". I couldn't find a good picture (that's how secret it is!), but it was a paper shown at one of the D23 Expos, dated a month or two before opening with Walt's handwritten notes about the Disneyland dedication plaque that hangs over the underpass under the train tracks. There's notes in Walt's own hand about the proportions it should have, the order of the words, etc. It is amazingly cool. I would pay a terrible amount of money to have a reproduction of it framed alongside a mini-plaque or at least a photo of the plaque.

IMAG0013-179x300.jpg

disneyland-3.jpg
 
James122

James122

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I would love to know what some of the other possible locations were being considered after they had decided that they weren't going to build the park in Burbank.
 
Cosmic Commando

Cosmic Commando

Well-Known Member
James122 said:
I would love to know what some of the other possible locations were being considered after they had decided that they weren't going to build the park in Burbank.
Click to expand...
"Buzz started his search for the perfect spot by analyzing all of Southern California. He eliminated Burbank, where the Disney studios were located, because the city's Parks and Recreation Department had balked at an earlier Disney amusement park idea.
He considered a pistol range in Chatsworth, a coastal spot in Palos Verdes, a huge 440-acre plot in La Cañada and a parcel near Walt's brother Roy's home in Calabasas. But each of those sites had problems. Disney didn't want his park near the beach because he thought the beach attracted a seedy clientele.
Buzz considered Riverside and San Diego counties. But, in the end, all his indicators pointed to Orange County.
Between 1940 and 1950, the Orange County population had grown 65 percent. Then, between 1950 and 1953, it grew another 30 percent. Plus, the Santa Ana (5) Freeway had just been extended south. And Orange County offered the least rainfall, least humidity and least extreme temperatures of any of the other options."

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/buzz-503129-disney-price.html
 
James122

James122

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Interesting that Palos Verdes was considered as a possible site. It would have been intriguing to see how that area would have developed had Disney decided to build there. La Cañada is a bit isolated from the rest of the region since it's partially behind the Verdugo Mountains.

Disneyland's location in Anaheim is actually kind of brilliant because not only is it close to Los Angeles, but it's also within an hour and a half drive from San Diego, so they're able to draw from the population of two major cities.
 
Cosmic Commando

Cosmic Commando

Well-Known Member
James122 said:
Interesting that Palos Verdes was considered as a possible site. It would have been intriguing to see how that area would have developed had Disney decided to build there. La Cañada is a bit isolated from the rest of the region since it's partially behind the Verdugo Mountains.

Disneyland's location in Anaheim is actually kind of brilliant because not only is it close to Los Angeles, but it's also within an hour and a half drive from San Diego, so they're able to draw from the population of two major cities.
Click to expand...
The man knew what he was doing. ;)
 
BubbaQuest

BubbaQuest

Well-Known Member
Thanks for such great info Cosmic Commando. From what little I have read, I find it amazing how quickly the concept went from a little studio park with a train to a full blown entity.

It's amazing that the company was able to take such a huge risk.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom