Hey, gang!
As most of you already know, I’m in the middle of writing an unauthorized history of Disneyland. A tell-all book that (If the Good Lord’s willing and the creek don’t rise & there ain’t no meltdown) will hopefully be out in the Summer of 2005. Just in time to capitalize on all the hoopla that the Mouse’s marketing staff will be stirring up. All in an effort to promote “Disney’s Golden Celebration.” AKA Disneyland’s 50th anniversary.
Well, in the research phase of this project, I’ve been lucky enough to gain access to some pretty extraordinary material. Stuff like C.V. Wood (AKA The “Master Builder of Disneyland”) ‘s personal papers. Reports and invoices from 1953 – 1955 that really give you an insight into what it must have been like to try & pull to a never-before-attempted project like the world’s first theme park out of this empty orange grove in Anaheim, CA.
Speaking of Anaheim … Over the years, many Disneyana fans have wondered: Why did Walt ultimately decide to build “the Happiest Place on Earth” there? Was it really because the land was so cheap out in Orange County? Or because the California Highway system was headed out that-a-way? What was really the deciding factor here?
Well, one of the real deciding factors was a report that the Stanford Research Institute prepared for Walt Disney Productions. A nifty little document entitled “An Analysis of Location Factors for Disneyland.”
Now — normally — only folks who have access to the Disney Archives on the main lot in Burbank are allowed to take a peek at this report. But — seeing as JHM readers are so nice & supportive — I thought that I might share a brief excerpt from this over-50-year-old document with you guys today:
Introduction
Walt Disney Productions is planning the development of an extensive recreational and educational enterprise to be known as Disneyland. It is the desire of the Disneyland management to provide a wide variety of entertainment activities and exhibits, designed and constructed to afford maximum pleasure and comfort for the people who will (visit) the facility. Stanford Research Institute was asked to assist the Disneyland management by conducting research on the basis of which the most suitable site could be selected. Location criteria were set out in broad terms to allow maximum flexibility in arriving at the best site.
Total area requirements were established at approximately 100 acres. The Disneyland management wanted the facility to be located somewhere somewhere in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, in the section bounded by Chatsworth and Pomona to the north and Tustin and Balboa to the south.
Okay. That’s the initial criteria that the folks at the Stanford Research Institute used at the beginning of their search for an appropriate site for Disneyland. Care to guess how many places they found to be potentially great places to build a theme park during their first pass? Would you believe 71?!
Mind you, over 30 of these potential Disneyland construction sites were rather quickly eliminated. Owning to intriguing sounding factors like “build-up” and/or “lack of desirable sites.” Then — when Walt asked Stanford Research to further narrow its focus to the Orange County & the Whittier-Norwalk area — those remaining 40 sites were swiftly whittled away to 24 possible locations that were deemed:
” … worthy of further investigation. A tour was then made of each of these sites with Disneyland representatives, and the choice was further narrowed down to four sites.”
“Which four sites?” you ask.
- The Ball Road Subdivision — A site that was ” … adjacent to the city of Anaheim. (This potential Disneyland construction site) was not found in the search of Orange County records because there were seventeen parcels involving as many owners. Mr. Fred R. Wallich, knowing that several owners were considering converting the site to a housing subdivision, brought it to the attention of (the) Stanford Research Institute.”
- The Willowick Country Club — which was located ” … just beyond the western limits of the City of Santa Ana” was another site that was considered as possibly suitable for Walt’s family fun park.
- La Mirada — Made up of 2300 acres in Los Angeles County, the unincorporated city of La Mirada actually featured five different parcels of land that were of interest to the Disneyland team. Several of which supposedly featured excellent access to the Santa Ana Freeway and the Imperial Highway.
- The Leo Harvey property — A 160 acre plot of land that sat on the boundary of Los Angeles & Orange Counties, near the intersection of Valley View Avenue and the Santa Ana Freeway.
All four of these parcels were each given very careful consideration by both Walt & the folks from the Stanford Research Institute. But — in the end — the Ball Road Subdivision was determined to be the most suitable site for the project and an option was eventually taken on the property.
Still … Hearing about those three other possible locations for Disneyland kind of makes you wonder, doesn’t it? I mean, if just one of those 17 people who owned individual pieces of the Ball Road Subdivision property had just said “No” … Would Disneyland still have been just as successful if it had been built out in Santa Ana or over in La Mirada?
Maybe the next time I’m out in Southern California (possibly next month), I should take a drive out to what used to be Leo Harvey’s property, the old Willowick Country Club and/or those five areas with La Mirada … just to see what actually wound up being built there. INSTEAD OF “The Happiest Place on Earth.”
I mean, does that sound like a worthwhile project to you folks? Finding out what actually became of the pieces of property that Disneyland ALMOST got built on? If so, let me know, okay?
Your thoughts?