Recently, I talked to the esteemed Chris Merritt about his magnum opus, "Marc Davis in His Own Words: Imagineering the Disney Theme Parks" and I asked him about Marc's supposed involvement in the never-built, but nonetheless storied Riverfront Square concept at WED in the early 1960's. He told me that he was not able to find any art Marc did for the idea and it's more than likely that he never contributed to it. So as someone who has chronicled the history of the Western River Expedition, or at least, talked about it from a historical perspective, I have to correct what I feel is a valuable piece of information.
The Western River Expedition was something that began its life sometime in 1967 as a replacement for the Pirates when it came to the Florida Park. It had nothing to do with the Lewis and Clark Expedition boat ride that was planned in 1963 from our new understanding. It's understandable, however, in a previous age of relative "ignorance" that we believed they were part of the same idea and had a common history that strengthened its timeframe by adding four years of gestation as a concept. Notably, the same was suggested about other attractions. For example, the past understanding that Marc was consulted by Walt in 1962 to visit Disneyland to improve the Jungle Cruise, Santa Fe-Disneyland Railroad, or Nature's Wonderland had betrayed two years of improvements that were made to the park. Oddly enough, I encountered the same trap while chronicling the history of Disney World's Pirates of the Caribbean.
So we probably knew that WDW Pirates had a distinct identity in its architectural form, one that led to the insertion of a classic Marc Davis gag. Well, my understanding and the understanding of many of us, including those who worked at the park in the 70's, was that the chess scene was inserted into the queue in late 1973 and was a fixture of the environment since, but now we know that memory plays tricks on us and that it was installed in 1977.
Instead of going back and changing the past, I'm putting it out that "WRE did not come from RFS."
Monday, September 16, 2019
Amusement or Theme?
One of my biggest pet-peeves is to hear someone say that Disneyland is an amusement park. What an insult to Walt Disney, who intended Disneyland to be a departure from seedy amusement parks like Coney Island. The difference between a theme park and an amusement park is in its theming, the scope of the park, and the attractions. A typical amusement park has minimal-to-no-theming and typically smaller (but not always) with generic rides whereas a theme park is, well, themed and designed to convey an experience. This brings me to the debate over the very first theme park.
So Santa Claus, Indiana, was arguably one of the closest manifestations of a "theme park" before Disneyland opened in 1955. Santa Claus was a themed tourist attraction that opened in 1935 as Santa Claus Town before becoming Santa Claus Land eleven years later.
A closer proto-theme park is Knott's Berry Farm, which infamously prides itself on being America's first theme park. As with Santa Claus Land, I would consider Knott's to be a themed tourist attraction until June 1968 when it was enclosed and admission was charged for the first time, thus becoming a bona fide theme park.
Disneyland was marketed as a "brand-new concept in family entertainment", certainly one that proved popular enough that dozens of imitations were made over the following years.
However, there is a curious case of a themed "amusement" park, or hey, at least a family entertainment center. It's Castles-n-Coasters in north Phoenix, Arizona, and while it's a blend of Arabian and Wild Western motifs, it is still one of the places where theming is key to the experience, but it has the atmosphere of an urban amusement park with roller coasters, a log flume, and a dozen other rides in addition to the gaming arcade and mini-golf course. Ultimately, this was marketed as Phoenix's only theme park, despite the feel of the place reflecting a spiced-up Dave and Busters. Heck, Phoenix's only actual theme park, Legend City, was closed down thirty-six years ago after twenty years of operation. As someone who grew up in Phoenix to parents who also grew up in Phoenix, I heard stories about it.
So Santa Claus, Indiana, was arguably one of the closest manifestations of a "theme park" before Disneyland opened in 1955. Santa Claus was a themed tourist attraction that opened in 1935 as Santa Claus Town before becoming Santa Claus Land eleven years later.
A closer proto-theme park is Knott's Berry Farm, which infamously prides itself on being America's first theme park. As with Santa Claus Land, I would consider Knott's to be a themed tourist attraction until June 1968 when it was enclosed and admission was charged for the first time, thus becoming a bona fide theme park.
Disneyland was marketed as a "brand-new concept in family entertainment", certainly one that proved popular enough that dozens of imitations were made over the following years.
However, there is a curious case of a themed "amusement" park, or hey, at least a family entertainment center. It's Castles-n-Coasters in north Phoenix, Arizona, and while it's a blend of Arabian and Wild Western motifs, it is still one of the places where theming is key to the experience, but it has the atmosphere of an urban amusement park with roller coasters, a log flume, and a dozen other rides in addition to the gaming arcade and mini-golf course. Ultimately, this was marketed as Phoenix's only theme park, despite the feel of the place reflecting a spiced-up Dave and Busters. Heck, Phoenix's only actual theme park, Legend City, was closed down thirty-six years ago after twenty years of operation. As someone who grew up in Phoenix to parents who also grew up in Phoenix, I heard stories about it.
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