Project Space: Disneyland

Leslie Moreno                                                                                                      Moreno 1

English 114B

Professor Macklin

March 28, 2012

Disneyland, the happiest place on earth

            Walt Disney once said, “That’s the real trouble with the world, too many people grow up.” Walt Disney believed that happiness and laughter was the best thing in the world. He created Disneyland for that very purpose, to make people happy. It is a theme park that was created to remind society that there is a child in every human being. Disneyland has an influences society that, “Dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” (Walt Disney) Millions of people go every year to Disneyland to enjoy an entire day of happiness with their families and friends. Although many people enjoy the happiness of the park, there are people who wonder about the happiness of their wallets. Disneyland has a power that not many places can compete with; it has the power to fill people with joy and laughter. “Laughter is America’s most important export.” (Walt Disney)

            Walt Disney created a very clever mouse known as the famous Mickey Mouse in 1927, in 1928 he released the film of “Steamboat Willie” which made both of them famous. During the 1940s and 1950s Disney had made films which had captured the attention of society. One day he had decided to build America’s first ever theme park. Disney wanted to build the park at Burbank, California, but local officials voted against the building of the park because at that time carnivals had a bad reputation, and they

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believed a theme park would be the same. Later in 1954 Disney chose Anaheim as the chosen site to build the park and so construction started, and the parked opened on July 17, 1955. The day of its opening only six thousand guests were invited to attend the opening of the park, unfortunately for Disney there were twenty-two thousand counterfeit tickets. People were so desperate to get in that they made tickets just to be at the opening.  The entry fee was a dollar each; over the next three months Disneyland had received one million guests. Walt Disney said at the opening ceremony, “To all who come to this happy place - welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams, and the hard facts that have created America... with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world.” (Walt Disney)

            When Disneyland opened there were eighteen attractions distributes over five lands, Adventureland, Fronteirland, Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, and Main street USA. Throughout the years Disneyland has added many new attractions and new lands such as New Orleans square, Critter country, and Mickey’s Toon Town. One of the most popular lands is Fantasyland, it is famous for its Sleeping Beauty walk through castle. As DIS says, “This enchanting land brings the magic and wonder of famous childhood stories to life. Located just beyond Sleeping Beauty Castle, Fantasyland brings out the child in all of us with its imaginative rides, unforgettable characters and striking architecture.” (DIS) Fantasyland is the land that makes all of the people feel like children again, when you walk under the princess castle women feel that little princess inside

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them waiting for their prince charming to come for them. As men walk under the castle it brings that inner prince come out, fighting dragons to rescue the beautiful princess. The three most visited attractions in Fantasyland would be the peter pan ride, where you hop into the magic ship that flies over London to Neverland on the second star to the right and straight on til morning. People complain that the line is so long to get into the ride which is about a minute and thirty seconds, yet they still wait in line because even though the ride is about one minute it is the best, happy minute of our lives. In the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique little girls over the age of three can become a real princess. They go and get a complete princess transformation, it is a little expensive, but the little girls feel like the princess they know that they are. Even women that are a little older get a princess transformation because they finally can be the princess they always wished they could be. The last main attraction is the Disney Princess Fantasy Faire, which is the one place in the entire world where little girls and women get to visit their favorite Disney Princesses! The girls have to wait in line but to see their favorite princesses, that they admire so much, and see the smiles on their faces are priceless.

There are people who say that the Disney princesses show little girls to just wait for their prince charming, and that they will live happily ever after they get married. This is not entirely true, the Disney princesses followed their heart to what they knew was the right thing to do. Princess Aurora learned that even though things were tough she had to have faith that the one she loved was going to help her. Princess Cinderella didn’t wait for her prince, “She believed in dreams, all right, but she also believed in doing something about them. When Prince Charming didn't come along, she went over to the

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palace and got him." (Walt Disney) Princess Ariel wanted to learn about a new place, and fall in love with her prince, she had to work to get to her prince she didn’t just wait for him. Princess Jasmine fought for her freedom and for what she knew was right for her. The Disney princesses teach girls to not be afraid to work hard for what they want. Princess Tiana worked her whole life to make her dream a reality, and Princess Rapunzel never stopped believing that she was meant for greater things. Princess Belle showed girls that there is nothing wrong with being a girl with a brain.  Disneyland appeals to the little girls dreams and brings them to life; it’s what makes Fantasyland so successful with girls and women. Disney said, “It’s kind of fun to do the impossible,” (Walt Disney)

            Disneyland is extremely successful, and the main problem that people have is the prices of the tickets and the merchandise. The prices skyrocketed within the last few years, around 2000 tickets were forty-five dollars and by 2010 the tickets are about eighty to ninety dollars each. Disney’s original merchandise are above the roof, a jacket can be up to one hundred dollars. When you enter the park the first place you have to pass to get to the main attractions is Main Street USA, which are the shopping areas at Disneyland. Even though society says that Disneyland became too expensive it still gets

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packed. In 2012 leap year February 24^th, the park was going to stay open for 24hrs, the parked opened at 8am, and within the first hour the parked opened it had reached its capacity levels. They had to send people over to Disney’s California adventure and within another two hours they had to close both parks because it had reached the capacity levels of both parks. People still want to pay to go to the park, the one extra day that comes every four years people had decided to go to Disneyland instead of somewhere else. “All right -- I'm corny. But I think there's just about a hundred and forty million people in this country that are just as corny as I am.” (Walt Disney)

            “Disneyland is something that will never be finished. It's something that I can keep developing. It will be a live, breathing thing that will need change. A picture is a thing once you wrap it up and turn it over to Technicolor, you're through. Snow White is a dead issue with me. But I can change the park, because it's alive.” (Walt Disney) No matter how many people say that Disneyland is too expensive or the lines are too long, it is the only place that makes you feel happy. People can criticize and say that the movies are bad values or that they don’t teach the right things but if it was really bad why do people still watch them? They watch them because these movies are an escaped to a world that only is yours. Disneyland is that escape, it is the escape from reality and the stress free place, the one place where magic does indeed exist. It is the one place on earth that lets adults be kids again, and reminds them that dreams are real you just have to make them real. Disney said, “Life is composed of lights and shadows, and we would be untruthful, insincere, and saccharine if we tried to pretend there were no shadows. Most things are good, and they are the strongest things; but there are evil

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things too, and you are not doing a child a favor by trying to shield him from reality. The important thing is to teach a child that good can always triumph over evil.” (Walt Disney)

                                                            

                                                           References:

·         Heather, Potter. "The History of Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California." USA Today. Travel . USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc., n.d. Web. 29 Mar 2012. <http://traveltips.usatoday.com/history-disneyland-park-anaheim-california-40569.html>.

·         . "Disne'ys Inspirational (and often very funny) quotes! ." Angelfire. Amgelfire, n.d. Web. 29 Mar 2012. <http://www.angelfire.com/movies/disneybroadway/quotes.html>.

·         "Disneyland." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 29 Mar. 2012. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/165726/Disneyland>.

·         . "Walt Disney Quotes." Notable Quotes. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Mar 2012. <http://www.notable-quotes.com/d/disney_walt.html>.

·         Rosenberg, Jennifer. "1995-Disneyland Opens." About.com 20th Century History. About.com, n.d. Web. 29 Mar 2012. <http://history1900s.about.com/od/1950s/qt/disneyland.htm>.

·         . "Disneyland Park ." DIS. Werner Technologies, LLC, n.d. Web. 29 Mar 2012. <http://www.wdwinfo.com/disneyland-california/disneyland-fantasyland.htm>.

The Disney Store

Leslie Moreno

English 114B

Professor Macklin

March 28, 2012

The Disney Store

Ethnography is when you observe a certain place or institute to provide evidence for a study you are conducting. At first I wanted to observe Disneyland, but because I was too far away and the tickets were of high price, I decided to do a study on a "Disney" closer to me...the Disney Store! I had gone home during the weekend so I decided to do my study at the Disney store located at Montebello in the Montebello mall. I arrived at the Montebello mall around 12:30pm on Sunday March 25,2012 and marched straight for the Disney store. As soon as I reached my destination I could tell right of the bat that the store was packed. There were a couple of parents, mostly dads, waiting outside with the baby strollers an purchases from other stores waiting for their children and wives to come out of the store. As I walked into the store the first thing I noticed were the many people in that store. I have heard people say that no one goes to the Disney store and yet when I went there were so many people. When you first walk into the store you see that on your right side they have the toys for boys and on your left is the section with all the toys for girls. The little boys were with their fathers choosing a toy while some mothers were telling them no because it is too expensive. When you turn to your right the first thing you see is the miniature princess castle. They have the princesses section where all the little girls are with their mothers trying to find their favorite Disney princess. I saw a couple of mothers going around with their sons trying to find that perfect gift. As I am observing something catches my attention, I hear the song from the best movie in the world. I heard the song "kiss the girl" from the Little Mermaid, playing from a section on the left middle of the store. There was an area where adults were sitting around or standing watching a big screen television playing scenes from Disney movies. The little kids are sitting around giggling and chatting about the scenes that are passing on the screen. I get so caught up in the screen that I wasn't even noticing I was being bumped by other people. At one moment I got bumped and I turned around to say I was sorry when I noticed the most beautiful tree ever! There was a cut out display of a tree with projections of different lights and Disney characters playing in the tree. They were displayed all around the store which made it seem like a magical forest. As I was observing the tree I noticed on the back wall something interesting. On the top of the wall there was a projection of the famous flying scene from Peter Pan. I noticed that all around the room there were projections from scene of Disney movies. The projection also shows Disney characters fly across the store or Disney characters float on balloons. While I am watching the projections my attention comes to the walls where there are shelves stacked with Disney merchandise. All around the store there are furniture filled with Disney things. There are shirts in one and ceramic cups on another, collectables on display and stuff animals stacked together. Throughout the whole store there wasn't a single place that was empty; when a shelf was almost empty the employees would restock it with more.

During my observations of Disney store I started to think about Disneyland and how it is the same as the Disney store. The both appeal to our emotions of happiness, we feel happy when we are at both places. Society enjoys being happy and stress free, and what better way to do it than spend an entire day with your family and having fun. Most parents save up and work hard to take their family to Disneyland, they see the smiles on their children’s faces and they can’t help but to be happy. Disney has a power that society can’t help but get lost in it, because now a day’s people are miserable with how the world it turning, if there is even an ounce of happiness what can be better. Walt Disney once said, “Laughter is timeless, Imagination has no age, and dreams are forever.” I believe they are all true, there is nothing better in the world than laughter and I am eighteen and I love Disney with all my heart. I think it is Disney strong belief of in joy and happiness that we love it so much and are willing to pay all of that money to get in and enjoy it. Disney has a power that is indescribable, even in the Disney store you feel that magic of happiness. Then again not all Disney stores are the same, there are a few that are not as “magical” as the one in the Montebello mall. I had gone to the Disney store in the Northridge fashion center and it was plain. I have been told when I moved to Northridge that no one ever goes to the store so I decided to check it out myself. It was a really plain store, the only thing I liked about the store was where the paying table was under it was sketches from famous Disney movies, and it light up! That was the only thing I liked from the store, I didn’t even feel like buying anything, which makes me to believe that first impressions are everything. Disneyland and the Disney store at the Montebello mall had exactly that, they both had great first impressions, the impressions of happiness.   

FW: 3/20

I have an idea on what i want to write about, but im trying to analyze more on the concept, like the power source. Im also trying to figure out how to analyze my space, because i chose disneyland its a huge space and im trying to see where i should start. My goals is to finish the essay first of all, but to figure out how im going to be writing my essay, the structure and what are my main points. My main goal is trying to get a thesis statment, that is always difficult for me.

From a Cat to a Lion

In From a cat to a lion she writes about how community colleges are worth less than a four year university. I agree with her because my twin sister, Jacqueline, is going to a community college. I don't believe that community colleges are less of a value than four year universities, they are actually cheaper. I didn't go to community college because i was accepted at CSUN, my sister wasn't accepted and was forced to go to a community college. I personally have been to one of her classes and I have to say that her class may be harder than my class here at CSUN.