Anaheim: Fantasy and Reality
When Walt Disney opened his dream park in Disneyland in 1955, he said it would never be finished. He was right, as the newest additions to the original site in Anaheim attest.
Earlier this month, Downtown Anaheim opened its public plaza with shopping, dining and entertainment that resembles some of the other outdoor gathering places to appear in Orange County in recent years, such as the Irvine Spectrum and the Block at Orange. Anaheim, which previously has gone through its own downtown redevelopment, now has one of these destinations of its own, adjacent to Disneyland. Further, on Feb. 8 the new $1.4-billion second theme park, the California Adventure, formally opens after being previewed this month for Disneyland pass holders and others.
The additions are part not only of the continuing legacy of Walt Disney but also of the growth and development of Anaheim, Orange County and Southern California. The launching of Disneyland 46 years ago also inaugurated one of the leading industries in the county--tourism. Moreover, the fate of the city of Anaheim long has had a big stake in what would be done to bring the aging environs of Disneyland into the 21st century.
In recent years, a Disney “figure-it-out-as-you-go-along” approach has led to a mix of tourism and sports entertainment linking Disneyland, the theme park expansion and sports venues at the Pond and Edison International Field. The city has focused on the core infrastructure, first with ambitious dreams for a transportation system to link various destinations, and finally with a big cash layout on improving the area around the park in a way that would complement development. For its troubles, and for the construction inconveniences residents have suffered, there remains a need to improve the quality of life for industry workers. While the Disneyland expansion already has proved a jobs boon for the Anaheim area, these workers generally are making low wages in an expensive area, and there is not enough low-income housing to serve them. Meeting these economic and social needs is part of the challenge awaiting the attention of community leaders once the new park is opened.
The new theme park pays testimony to some of the state’s enduring dreams through its inspiring Soarin’ Over California ride, its creation of a beachfront amusement park, a replica of the Golden Gate Bridge and a Hollywood back lot. The new park is a result of a lot of thinking aloud over a decade by Disney. The DisneySea theme park envisioned for the Long Beach Port area was jettisoned and followed in 1991 by the $3-billion Epcot-style project idea. It was floated in the depths of the recession and later rejected in favor of the California Adventure.
How well the new park and entertainment center play over time in Orange County remains to be seen. But viewed in these bright, crisp California winter days of the park’s opening period, when clear views of distant, snow-capped peaks replace a smoggy landscape if only for a time, the park expansion emphatically has spruced up a once-shabby neighborhood. In light of recent accidents at Disneyland, this also provides an occasion for the Disney people to resolve to do better on general safety oversight and incident reporting at its Anaheim sites.
There long has been a gap between the dream qualities of the Disneyland area and the realities of life in the rest of the city, whose fortunes have been tied to it. Walking through the new shopping and dining area and the park, one is presented with bridges and links from one part of the expanded park to another, all a distance from the residential areas where the real life of the city is lived. But those bridges are a reminder of the inevitable ties between a fantasy world and the one inhabited by the people who serve it. The challenge will be to make all these visual improvements spreading along the palm-lined Disneyland Drive a catalyst for further renewal in a city closely linked with the county’s earliest history, Anaheim.