It’s a bit of an understatement to say this has been a rough year for Disney…
The Walt Disney Company is facing the most difficult setback in the company’s history—the extended closure of their theme parks around the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the opening of Disneyland in 1955 and the opening of Walt Disney World in 1971, the company has never faced a challenge like they are during this strange season. Disney has already had to adapt to the changing times by announcing delays and cancellations for numerous projects, as well as cutting expenses anywhere they can. The situation looks so grim that people might question how Disney will ever bounce back from it…
Despite the severity of the present crisis, it is not the Walt Disney Company’s first setback. The road to the Disney parks we know today was actually beset by multiple obstacles that the minds behind the House of Mouse had to navigate. Looking at how Disney recovered from past snafus can actually give us some clues how they will persevere through this present crisis… perhaps even to the point that a better future for Disney parks will emerge.
Read on for some of the biggest setbacks in Disney parks’ history, and how they overcame them!
1. Black Sunday: The messy opening of Disneyland
People were highly skeptical when Walt Disney said he planned to open a theme park. Indeed, theme parks as a concept really didn’t exist as we know them in 1955 (the closest thing would have been something like Santa Claus Land in Indiana). Amusement parks were known for being dirty, scary, and sketchy across the board—not the type of place where families wanted to vacation. A lifelong visionary and pioneer, Walt Disney decided he wanted to change that. He intended to make a park where guests could interact with his characters in real life, where the entire family could laugh, play, and imagine together in a wholesome environment that celebrated the past, present, and future at its best.
Nobody believed he could pull it off. Critics called Disneyland Walt’s Folly, and they questioned literally everything he was doing from his strange choice to locate the park in the rural orange groves of Anaheim to his commitment to theming, unlike most disjointed amusement parks. The project even led to a painful split between Walt and his brother, Roy, who wasn’t interested in the project.
Despite the opposition, Disneyland opened its doors on July 17, 1955. It’s important to note that this wasn’t supposed to be an official opening to the park but rather a sort of soft opening for press, VIP’s and specially selected guests to generate interest in the project.
The day was a disaster that would go down in infamy, to the point it is now known as Black Sunday.
Black Sunday was a disaster of comical proportions. The biggest issue appeared when something around 28,000 people showed up with tickets to visit the park. This was a problem since Disney only distributed 15,000 tickets—the other 12,000 were counterfeits. Guests went to such ridiculous lengths to huckster their way in that one fellow propped a ladder up against the fence and started charging people $5 a climb to hop the fence and skip the turnstiles entirely.
Needless to say, this influx of extra people caused huge infrastructure problems. Anaheim only had one major highway, and the crowds caused a seven mile traffic jam so bad that guests decided to use the side of the road and the parking lot as a bathroom. The park itself felt painfully crowded—it wasn’t designed for those numbers yet. An unexpected plumber’s strike left Walt with the option to offer guests bathrooms or drinking fountains. He wisely chose bathrooms, but extreme heat left guests ravenous for beverages and food. Vendors across the park completely ran out of food and refreshments. The scorching temperatures prevented the asphalt in the ground from fully setting, and women found their high-heeled shoes occasionally sinking into the melting stone and getting stuck.
That’s not even half of the madness that took place. Tomorrowland was unfinished, and multiple attractions including Peter Pan’s Flight, Dumbo, and Rocket to the Moon were closed. Thick weeds had sprouted along the route of the canal boats, so Walt sent cast members scurrying in with signs bearing fancy Latin names to make the foliage appear purposeful. The Mark Twain almost capsized, Sleeping Beauty Castle caught fire, and a gas leak shut down half the park. To make matters worse, TV crews cordoned off large sections of the park for broadcasting, confusing crowds even more.
Oh, and Walt got locked in his apartment above Main Street and couldn’t get out for a time. Perhaps he just didn’t want to?
The press were not kind to Disneyland, and they suffered a number of further issues in the following weeks including flipping stagecoach carriages, damaged Autopia cars, and even a panther vs. tiger fight during a parade. Despite the harried start, however, the public was captivated by Walt’s vision for Disneyland, and he persevered, maintaining a commitment to excellence as they addressed problem areas one day at a time. People kept coming, and Disney found their stride along the way. Within two months, the park had drawn a million visitors, and the rest is history.
2. The death of Walt Disney
Walt Disney took on and succeeded in many pursuits during his lifetime, but the one project that eluded him even to the end of his days was his Florida project. EPCOT—his Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow—was to be his greatest achievement, not just a park but a contribution to the human race. Walt’s vision for EPCOT was lofty to say the least—even a little disturbing in some of the more Big Brother-like ideas he had to maintain that utopian society. EPCOT would become a prototype where guests could visit, learn about other cultures, discover new technologies, and more. He was so committed to the project that he only caved and agreed to build a Disneyland West in order to provide a surefire financial draw to support EPCOT.
The problem was that Walt was really the only person who understood how the whole thing was supposed to work, especially in regards to critical infrastructure… and when Walt Disney died of lung cancer on December 15, 1966, his plans for EPCOT suddenly stretched into the realm of the impossible.
Walt’s older brother, Roy Disney, ended up inheriting the reins to the company, and despite great optimism in the ranks, Roy was more of a realist. He had to find a way to preserve his brother’s legacy in a manner that would ensure their success, and that meant adapting Walt’s plans the best he could. The first shift came in admitting that EPCOT would have to go on hold, and that it would likely not be achievable in the form Walt desired as a living city. He turned his focus, instead, to the Magic Kingdom.
It turns out that Roy knew what he was doing. In opening Walt Disney World with the Magic Kingdom first, improving on Disneyland wherever he could (such as in making sure the park was built above a series of corridors so cast members could move about unseen—a hugely important detail to Walt), he laid the groundwork to ensure the rest of Walt Disney World would become possible. EPCOT Center was adapted from a prototype city to a park unlike any other celebrating history, technology, culture, and communication. He sprinkled in Walt’s most beloved elements wherever he could (such as in use of the monorail and PeopleMover), and balanced love for his brother’s legacy with savvy business-mindedness.
3. The death of Frank Wells
In 1984, a changing of the guard took place. The Walt Disney Company had nearly been toppled by aggressive takeovers, and it became clear that a business-minded CEO was needed to take the helm of the ship. The role ultimately went to the President of Paramount Studios, Michael Eisner. However, Eisner wasn’t the only important key play of this era—Disney also hired Warner Bros. chief, Frank Wells, to fill the role of President.
Eisner and Wells became something of an unstoppable team, and their partnership led to a golden age of revitalization for Disney. The company’s animation department kicked off the Disney Renaissance era of films, and the parks themselves underwent explosive growth with the completion of Disney-MGM Studios, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and a number of successful resorts. Fans still remember the 90’s fondly as one of the greatest decades in Disney history. Unfortunately, the tide turned when the unthinkable happened…
Frank Wells died in a helicopter crash in 1994.
It was a heartbreaking loss for the company, particularly for Michael Eisner and the Disney Imagineers. Frank balanced out Michael Eisner in so many ways, particularly in offering a keen eye for business to Eisner’s creativity. Frank’s death threw off that equilibrium and led both to political and personal problems within the company. Eisner loved the parks, but without someone with Wells’ keen perspective, he made a number of questionable calls that would ultimately put strain on the park’s creative teams. To make matters worse, Eisner developed severe health problems surrounding his heart.
Frank Wells’ death came at a pretty critical time, one that would lead to a chain reaction of setbacks. The company had just taken a hit in 1992 with the flubbed opening of EuroDisney (later to be renamed Disneyland Paris). The French seemed to despise the park, particularly citing that Disney didn’t seem to understand Parisian culture. The company took a financial hit as well as criticism from the press, and the changing of landscape for the company’s leadership steered the company towards micromanagement, belt-tightening, and some distinct creative misses.
Indeed, we can’t fully examine how Disney escaped the shadow of Frank Wells’ death without digging into the series of snafus that followed…
4. The Losing Streak
Disney bounced back for a time with the successful opening of the Disney Cruise Line as well as Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Michael Eisner may have had his issues, but the man loved the parks, respected Walt’s legacy (even if he didn’t know what the heck to do with Epcot), and he knew how to stay within a budget. It wasn’t long, though before trouble became apparent in the waters. The first major project to go under was Disney’s planned sixth gate on US soil—Disney’s America. The concept was to build a park that celebrated American history and brought it to vivid life for guests, apparently inspired after Eisner visited Colonial Williamsburg.
The planned location would have been in Virginia, not far from Washington D.C, and while Disney’s America initially had great support, in a situation eerily similar to EuroDisney, locals and politicians quickly turned against the project. Virginians didn’t want Disney poaching business from historic tourist sites, and historians were especially uncomfortable with the idea of Disney scrubbing history to fit commercial aims. Everything from the land’s location to its concept were criticized, and even when Disney tried to retool the concept to simply focus on celebrating what made America great, they just couldn’t win. The financial risk was too great, so the project was scrapped. Later, the project was almost revived when Disney had the chance to buy Knott’s Berry Farm, but that deal never panned out.
Imagineers quickly began feeling the constraints of budget cuts, and this became apparent when Disney’s California Adventure opened in 2001. The park was widely criticized as a lackluster successor to Disney’s other gates, and all the issues seemed to stem from obvious corner-cutting. Disney’s California Adventure lacked the immersiveness, continuity of theming, and charm people expected from Disney parks. It didn’t even include a berm to block out downtown Anaheim. It felt like an amusement park more than a theme park, and slapdash attractions like Superstar Limo only worsened the blow.
The company flubbed again a year later with the opening of Walt Disney Studios Park in 2002, a second gate Disney was contractually obliged to add to Disneyland Paris. Even worse than Disney’s California Adventure, the park utterly lacked immersive theming, settling for a vague semblance of an American studio with rides tucked in beige studio buildings. Like Disney’s California Adventure, the park was not well-received. The streak continued with the opening of Hong Kong Disneyland in 2005. The park was too small to keep guests in all day, and once again, Disney missed the mark by not understanding Chinese culture or what the Chinese valued in a theme park experience.
These flubs had grim effects on Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Epcot struggled to maintain sponsors and was left hanging in the 80’s. Disney’s Animal Kingdom lost one of its best concepts when the Beastly Kingdom land was shelved in favor of Camp Minnie-Mickey and Dinoland U.S.A. Imagineers felt stifled, and whispers in the company resounded that the course was no longer sustainable.
In 2005, Michael Eisner stepped down as CEO and was succeeded by Bob Iger. While Iger has definitely faced his own share of criticism, his arrival triggered a number of important events that ultimately led Disney out of the lurch.
Disney made an important shift back towards creativity, bolstering their theme parks, and acquiring new intellectual properties like Star Wars and Marvel to draw a new generation of guests to the Disney legacy. Iger quickly revealed that he was willing to take risks, but he hedged his bets on pushing Disney’s well-known intellectual properties. While this strategy proved controversial at times, there’s no question that Disney parks ultimately saw a marked improvement in quality and drawing new guests.
Disneyland Paris found that key sweet spot of adaptation to local culture. Walt Disney Studios Park developed new rides and theming to draw guests in. Disney’s California Adventure evolved into a true celebration of California’s beauty and charm, particularly in the arrival of Cars Land. Where Hong Kong Disneyland fell short, Shanghai Disneyland corrected those mistakes with a beautiful park that uniquely celebrated Chinese culture. A combination of good business sense and bold creativity saw Disney through to a new era of explosive growth across the 2010’s.
5. The dodgy opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge
I mention this one because it’s an important example of a setback in more recent years—bear with me if you’re a Galaxy’s Edge fan.
When Disney announced that Star Wars Land was finally going to become a reality at Disney parks, fans lost it. This was the land Star Wars fans had been waiting for. It quickly became clear that Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge would prove one of Disney’s most highly anticipated projects to date.
Despite an excellent concept and insane hype, a number of factors set the tide against Disney well before the land opened its doors in May 2019. Questionable management of the new Star Wars trilogy resulted in sharp divides between fans. Some loathed the new content and wouldn’t have been happy with anything but a tribute to the original trilogy. Other liked the new trilogy for its edgy decisions and new dimensions added to the Star Wars canon. Some Disney purists didn’t like the idea of a Star Wars land taking up space in the parks at all. The tide of the press turned against Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge as a project. Why did it only have two attractions, with only one opening with the park? Why was the land set on a new world instead of somewhere familiar? Why did the land need to be ultra-immersive—couldn’t it just be a, you know, normal theme park land?
Things got even more confusing when Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opened its gates in Disneyland. Despite critical acclaim for the land’s quality, the press accused the project of being a failure because the land felt so empty. Why didn’t Disney have 12 hour lines like Universal Studios? In truth, the land’s virtual queue and excellent crowd control measures worked a little too well. While the opening at Walt Disney World appeared more successful (indeed, they had to open the park early to accommodate the huge crowds on opening day), no one could figure out if the project was a success or not.
The opening of Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance proved the crucial turning point.
It’s arguable whether Disney made the right call opening Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge when they did or if they should have waited until Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance was ready. Considering some of the operational challenges the ride had early on, it’s reasonable to say they made the right call waiting to get the incredible attraction right. Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance proved exactly the draw that Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge needed—a cutting edge, bold attraction unlike anything else available in theme parks. Rise of the Resistance drew such crowds at Walt Disney World that it essentially broke established crowd calendars. Disney had to scramble to fine tune an entirely new virtual queue system just to accommodate guests.
If you’re wondering if that success was short-lived, just consider this: when reservations opened for the post COVID-19 reopening of Walt Disney World became available, the first park to reach capacity for opening week wasn’t Magic Kingdom—it was Disney’s Hollywood Studios, the park fans for years had written off as the resort’s weakest gate. It’s reasonable to say that despite a bumpy start, Disney ultimately knocked the ball out of the park by doing what they had to to bring fans the best attraction they’ve developed to date.
How will Disney overcome the setbacks of COVID-19? It will certainly prove a challenge greater than any they have faced before, but we are hopeful that these same ingredients that saw the company through so many trials will see them through again. If Disney continues in their long tradition of commitment to excellence, savvy adaptability and business sense, creativity and perseverance, they could emerge from this season with an even stronger legacy for Disney parks.
Enjoy this article? Keep reading to learn about 10 More Disney Parks Recipes You Can Shamelessly Make at Home or discover why fireworks have become such an integral part of Disney history.
