Hope and Change

“I love the nostalgic myself. I hope we never lose some of the things of the past.”

Whenever something at Disneyland is altered, there are people who say that Walt would be rolling in his grave. First off, he was cremated, so it would be difficult. 

There are two camps in this argument. The first are the ones who quote Michael Eisner's infamous "Disneyland is not a museum" line in response to any suggestion that a change may be too hasty. They also employ Walt's promise that Disneyland will never be complete to justify every change, no matter how detrimental such a change will pose. The opposite camp will suggest that Walt always wanted it a certain way without alteration, but I believe that is also foolhardy to suggest that he was one to retain things wholesale from 1955. The stagecoach country from 1955 was later improved with a mine train experience and detailed scenery. In fact, this area alone was changed about three times in five years with the addition of the mine train, desert, caverns, and mining town, another rehab, and then a dash of humor. Then again, the area would change once again with the closure of the ride in 1977 and the opening of its replacement in 1979. That alone is a great example of how Disney saw change. However, he did admit a longing for the nostalgic and that is why he said that he didn't want certain things to change. Overall, he had the same opinion I have. I personally fall in the middle between those two camps as I can recognize the need for change and yet retaining the past simultaneously. I can see that replacing the Viewliner with the Monorail was a good decision as I can see that changing the character of Main Street or New Orleans Square will only tarnish it. I can respect the decision of replacing the Adventureland patio of the Plaza Pavilion.


Let's acknowledge that some changes are good and enhance the theme park experience. For example, New Orleans Square replaced Magnolia Park and the Chicken Plantation into a total environment where themed experiences predominated on a scale far greater than what could've imagined. This would set a high standard for thematic design, notably seen in Liberty Square (1971), Bear Country (1972), Caribbean Plaza (1973), and the World Showcase (1982).

The replacement of the Viewliner trains with the Monorail is a noted change that has proven beneficial.

A Disney historian from the Disney History Institute said the following with regards to the 2019 Adventureland Sign controversy:

"Change at Disneyland is always an emotionally mixed thing. On the one hand, we've always known that change would be constant at the Park - Walt told us so from the very beginning, and it's always happened, in one way or another, ever since. Some changes have been major, some minor, but they always happen. And yet, every time something about Disneyland changes, we have mixed feelings, those of us who care about the Park and about Walt's legacy. We want to hold onto the past, and we have good reason to want to maintain that connection, but at the same time, we recognize the need to change with the times and bring in fresh, new ideas as well. It's hard. Being a Disneyland enthusiast means constantly dealing with both heartache and hope."

In essence, I couldn't have said it better because Disneyland, like every other theme park in the brand, is a historical place which has that need to adapt to new audiences. In the case of the parks that were developed after Disneyland, the local culture, climate, and history. For example, the Magic Kingdom in Florida was never meant to be an exact duplicate of the original. It was designed to be unique and yet reminiscent of the Disneyland experience.

In fact, I believe that the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World is more of "Walt's Park" than the current Disneyland. While he died five months or so before ground broke on the project, the Magic Kingdom has more of the classic attractions. They still have the WED-Way People-Mover, the Carousel of Progress, the Swiss Family Treehouse, and Tom Sawyer's Island whereas Disneyland replaced their People-Mover with a sub-par thrill ride that ruined the tracks, the Carousel Theatre with a Star Wars exhibit, a Tarzan tie-in, and a Pirate's Lair. Some of the concepts that were developed for Disneyland or similar projects in the 1950's and 1960's were initially exclusive to the Florida Park, such as Space Mountain, the Country Bear Jamboree, and Liberty Square.

Let's talk briefly about each of those for a minute. Walt died in December 1966 and his final concerns were on a handful of projects: Pirates of the Caribbean, New Tomorrowland, Mineral King, and EPCOT. However, the genesis concerning the "classics" I had mentioned are simpler. Space Mountain was meant to be a major "theme center" (think of New Orleans Square meets Tomorrowland), the Country Bear Jamboree was slated to be an after-hours show for Mineral King, and Liberty Square was planned as early as 1957 to be a side street off of Main Street with a show called the Hall of Presidents (think of the current Liberty Square and cut it down to fit within the area between Main Street, the Opera House, and Space Mountain). The only major of the classics personally designed by Walt Disney (or at least said to be) was the original Tom Sawyer's Island at Disneyland, which was brought along to the design stage for Florida (albeit with Dorothea Redmond and Marc Davis drawing up the initial plans). In Florida, their Island opened to the public in April 1973 and it remains intact with the Tom Sawyer motif whereas the original from 1956 was given a Pirates theme to tie it in with the New Orleans Square area.