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Walt Disney comes up with idea for Disneyland
Sitting on a bench in Griffith Park watching his daughters on the carousel, he wondered, why isn’t there some sort of amusement experience that the entire family can enjoy together? When he looked around for inspiration, he found nothing that met his standards.
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Creation of Disneyland, Inc.
Entry into the theme park and travel business was a side project of Walt Disney himself. As the Disneylandia project started to become a reality, Walt Disney Productions at Walt's request set up Disneyland, Inc. (DLI) in 1951. -
Design deal for Disneyland Park is established
DLI agreed to a design deal in March 1953 with WED Enterprises (WED), Walt's personal corporation, which then included what would now be called Disney Imagineering. -
Disneyland Park is announced
Disneyland, changed from Disneylandia, was announced in April 1954 by Walt to be opened in July 1955. -
Disneyland Park opens it's doors
On July 17, 1955, the Disneyland park with five themed "lands" containing eighteen attractions with double the expected guests. WED owned Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad opened, too -
Disney searches for a new location
Beginning in 1958 with the contracting of Economics Research Associates (ERA) to find a location for another Disney resort, Disney Productions moved beyond a single park. ERA recommended Florida; another study in 1961 named Ocala or Orlando in Florida as possible locations. -
International plans begin
Disneyland International was incorporated on November 20, 1961. The next year, The Oriental Land Company contacted Disney about building a theme park. -
Plans for Florida is announced
Plans for the Florida project that would eventually become Walt Disney World were announced to the public in November 1965 -
Walt Elias Disney dies
On December 15, 1966 Walt Disney dies without seeing the completion of several of the projects he began at the Disneyland Property. His brother Roy took over as CEO and named the new park Walt Disney World in memory of his late brother. -
Ground breaking Occurs
Legislation forming the Reedy Creek Improvement District was signed into law by Florida Governor Claude R. Kirk, Jr. on May 12, 1967, allowing Disney to build the infrastructure for the second park. Ground breaking followed for the future Reedy Creek park on May 30. -
Walt Disney World Opens
Walt Disney World began operation on October 1, 1971, with the Magic Kingdom which had seven themed lands: Main Street, Adventureland, Bear Country, Fantasyland, Frontierland, Liberty Square, and Tomorrowland. -
Plans for European Disney parks begin
Plans to build a Disney theme park in Europe emerged in 1972. Tokyo Disneyland opened in 1983 in Japan with great success, forming a catalyst for international expansion. In late 1984 the heads of Disney's theme park division presented a list of approximately 1,200 possible European locations for the park. By March 1985, the number of possible locations for the park had been reduced to two in France and two in Spain. Both nations saw the potential economic advantages of a Disney theme park. -
Tokyo Disneyland opens
The initial contract for the construction of Disneyland in Tokyo was signed in April 1979. Japanese engineers and architects visited California to tour Disneyland and prepare to construct the new park. The construction of the park began a year later and was covered by hundreds of reporters as an indication of the high expectations for the park in the future. It was the first Disney park to be built outside the United States, and it opened on 15 April 1983. -
Letter of agreement with France is signed
Disney's CEO at the time, signed the first letter of agreement with the French government on 18 December 1985, and the first financial contracts were drawn up during the following spring. The final contract was signed by the leaders of the Walt Disney Company and the French government and territorial collectivities on 24 March 1987. Construction began in August 1988, and in December 1990, an information centre named "Espace Euro Disney" was opened to show the public what was being constructed. -
Disneyland Paris opens
Disneyland Paris, Disney's second resort complex outside the United States, opened on April 12, 1992, as the Euro Disney Resort. Located in Marne-la-Vallée in the suburbs of Paris, France, it features two theme parks, a golf course, an entertainment complex, and seven Disney resort hotels. It is owned by Euro Disney S.C.A. -
French farmers protest Euro Disney
The prospect of a Disney park in France was a subject of debate and controversy. Critics, who included prominent French intellectuals, denounced what they considered to be the cultural imperialism of Euro Disney and felt it would encourage an unhealthy American type of consumerism in France. For others, Euro Disney became a symbol of America within France. On 28 June 1992, a group of French farmers blockaded Euro Disney in protest of farm policies supported at the time by the United States. -
Disney California Adventure Park opens
Disney California Adventure Park, commonly referred to as Disney California Adventure, California Adventure, or DCA, is a theme park located in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks and Resorts division. It's themed after the history and culture of California. The park opened in 2001 as Disney's California Adventure Park, and it is the second of two theme parks built at the Disneyland Resort complex, after Disneyland Park. -
Tokyo DisneySea opens
Tokyo DisneySea is a theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort located in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan, just outside Tokyo. It opened on September 4, 2001. Owned by The Oriental Land Company, which licenses Disney characters and themes from The Walt Disney Company. -
Construction on Hong Kong Disneyland begins
Penny's Bay was filled in to provide land for the construction of Hong Kong Disneyland. The bay was previously undeveloped except for the Cheoy Lee Shipyard, which opened in the 1960s.
Chief Executive of Hong Kong Tung Chee Hwa was instrumental in introducing the Disneyland project to Hong Kong. When the SARS epidemic devastated the city's economy in 2003, it was hoped that the new Disneyland would help boost confidence in Hong Kong's tourism industry. -
Hong Kong Disneyland opens
Hong Kong Disneyland is a theme park located on reclaimed land in Penny's Bay, Lantau Island. It opened to visitors on Monday, 12 September 2005. Disney attempted to avoid problems of cultural backlash by incorporating Chinese culture, customs, and traditions when designing and building the resort, including adherence to the rules of feng shui. For instance, a bend was put in a walkway near the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort entrance so good qi energy wouldn't flow into the South China Sea. -
Groundbreaking begins at the Shanghai Disneyland Resort
Negotiation for Shanghai Disney Resort began around 2001. However, in order to help Hong Kong Disneyland grow, the Chinese national government deliberately slowed down the development of Shanghai Disney. On November 4, 2009, it was announced that the Shanghai Disney project had been approved by the national government. Land near the production site increased in value dramatically after the announcement was made. On 7 April 2011, groundbreaking began at the Shanghai Disneyland Resort site. -
Shanghai Disneyland opens and Hong Kong Disneyland suffers
In 2016 it was rumored that the resort was behind schedule and over budget, causing the United States resorts to make budget cuts. Disney announced that Hong Kong Disneyland Resort reported its first loss in four years, losing HK$148,000,000, and falling 9.3% in annual attendance. Analysts attributed this to fewer mainland Chinese tourists visit, hurt by a combination of China’s slowdown, political unrest, and a weak yuan relative to the Hong Kong dollar. The resort opened on June 16, 2016. -
Disney begins to buyout Disneyland Paris
On February 10, 2017, Disney revealed a deal to purchase Kingdom Holding Co.'s shares of Euro Disney S.C.A. as first step in purchasing the remaining shares held by others. The company expects the buyout and delisting to be finished by June. Plans are for the company to invest another $1.4 billion into Disneyland Paris after the buyout to counteract the recent Paris terrorist attack, which hurt a previous 2014 park hotel investment.
