【Disneyland】Disneyland (3/3) - The Ideal State of Florida and Tokyo-

In a nutshell

1. Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, is the ideal state of Disney, completed by his older brother Roy after Walt Disney's death.
2. Tokyo Disneyland was built by Oriental Land, a joint venture established by Mitsui Fudosan and Keisei Electric Railway, which was in charge of the land reclamation project in Maihama, Chiba Prefecture, by inviting the Disney Company. It continues to be popular as a place for cross-cultural experiences that satisfies Japan's interest in overseas countries, which was heading toward the bubble economy at the time.
3. gonjitti's consideration. The source of Disneyland's competitiveness lies in its clever and deep devices, which are typical of a movie studio, and its system of continuing to provide satisfaction that exceeds what consumers expect. Its origin seems to be a reaction to the unfulfilled delusions of Walt Disney's boyhood. The muddy road led to the land of dreams.

Preface

Here is the first article. It talks about the hardships of fundraising for Disneyland, which was met with a total rejection. 【Disneyland】Disneyland (1/3) - The Muddy Road to the Magic Kingdom-

Here is the second article. It writes about the tricks of the attractions and the story of how Disneyland became a sacred place for Americans. Disneyland】Disneyland (2/3) -The Secrets of the Attractions-

The reference book is still "Disneyland as a Sacred Place" (by Masako Notoro/Iwanami Shinsho). Utilizing her knowledge of cultural anthropology, she unravels the sacred structure that Disneyland has for Americans.

Disney's Ideal State

Orlando, Florida. Florida is located in a warm region called the "Sun Belt," and is home to pine forests, orange groves, and grapefruit orchards. Although the inland is hot and humid in the summer, it prospered mainly due to the citrus industry.

In November 1965, Walt Disney announced his plan to expand to Florida at the Cherry Plaza Hotel in Orlando. This was based on the success of Disneyland in Southern California, but he had one major complaint about the first Disneyland.

That was that he had no authority over the land use around Disneyland. When Anaheim opened in 1955, there were only 5 hotels and 1 motel, but with the drawing power of Disneyland, they were fully booked year-round in just 10 years, the number of hotel rooms increased from 100 to 4,300, and 250 restaurants, sports facilities, and convention centers were born in the surrounding area. Tourists spent $270 million at Disneyland in 10 years, but they spent twice that amount at the surrounding facilities. He couldn't forgive the people who were making money around his paradise.

Walt Disney passed away the year after the construction was announced, but his older brother Roy, who inherited his wishes, obtained the privilege of independently managing what should have been public works, such as electricity, gas, water, firefighting, building codes, and road construction in Orlando, Florida, and launched the super-giant utopia, "Walt Disney World." It is 27,000 acres, twice the size of Manhattan Island and 1.5 times the size of the Yamanote Line. However, the "Magic Kingdom," which is equivalent to Disneyland, occupies only 0.4% of the total site. This vast land is the result of trying to independently obtain all the profits from the surrounding facilities.

The Magic Kingdom itself is 1.4 times the area and 3 times the investment of Disneyland in California. The scale of everything is 2-3 times larger, and Cinderella's Castle in Florida, which is equivalent to Sleeping Beauty's Castle in California, is twice the size.

There is a 1.4-kilometer underground passage, and as of 1990, 7,000 cast members were working underground. The transportation of food and other items within the park, the computers for the electric dolls, the firefighting equipment, and the security equipment are all underground.

Walt Disney World in Orlando was a magnificent embodiment of Walt Disney's ideal state ideology, EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow).

Tokyo Disneyland

On April 15, 1983, Tokyo Disneyland opened in Maihama, Chiba Prefecture. From the mid-1970s, the Disney Company had been targeting private companies that were conducting land reclamation projects in Maihama, Chiba Prefecture. In partnership with Oriental Land, a joint venture established by Keisei Electric Railway and Mitsui Fudosan, Oriental Land obtained the right to operate Disneyland in exchange for paying a license fee to the Disney Company. At a total construction cost of 150 billion yen, it opened as Tokyo Disneyland, even though it is in Chiba Prefecture.

In the early 1980s, Japan was experiencing a baby boom of the baby boomer generation, and the market for children-related products was booming. Furthermore, it was a transitional period to the bubble economy, and the construction of Disneyland was welcomed as one of the symbols of America. For the Japanese people, who had a strong admiration for America at the time, Disneyland was a perfect spot to experience a pseudo-American world.

The Source of Disneyland's Competitiveness

To conclude this series, I will state gonjitti's considerations. The source of Disneyland's competitiveness lies in the following two points.

- Clever and deep devices typical of a movie studio
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- A system that continues to provide satisfaction that exceeds what consumers expect

The former is where the stage-building power typical of a movie studio is effectively at work. As I wrote in the previous article, It's a Small World and Pirates of the Caribbean are where the competitive power of the stage art that has been built up over a long period of time is strongly at work.

Disneyland's electric dolls are called "Audio-Animatronics" and are extremely clever. This is a coined word from audio, animation, and electronics, and it controls the sound and movement of the dolls with electronic control, making them move as if they were alive. Furthermore, various productions are made with the knowledge of movie production, and it undoubtedly has a production power that other companies cannot imitate.

The latter is Walt Disney's philosophy. The basic policy is not to satisfy people, but to give people more than satisfaction. In the evening at Disneyland, when the audience is feeling a certain amount of satisfaction and a little fatigue, the Electrical Parade begins as if to say, "The party's not over yet." This is done by Disney at dusk with a specific aim, and while other amusement parks have a parade time of about 20 minutes, the Electrical Parade is 40 minutes, twice as long. The system of continuing to provide more than satisfaction invites people to that dream country again.

If you ask where Disneyland came from, it is from the chaotic delusions of Walt Disney. From the misfortune of his own childhood, a place was born where you can enjoy your childhood to the fullest forever. The muddy road of Missouri had surely led to the land of dreams.

Aside (Recommended Book)

A recommended design book. It's packed with design tips that you can use forever. I use it often myself.