Disneyland Doesn’t Take Shots at Its Profits

Re “Disneyland Hanging Up Its Gun Belt,” Sept. 3:

Funny that Disney chooses to eliminate guns sold at Frontierland and certain guns on the amusement park rides. But Disney does not choose to eradicate the rifles at the coin-operated Shooting Exposition.

There must be a good reason why the shooting gallery was not eliminated. Ray Gomez, spokesperson for Disneyland states that Disney chooses to keepthe shooting gallery “based on guest feedback.” Try dollar feedback.

Based on Amusement Business Magazine’s estimates, Disneyland’s attendance was up 3% to 13.9 million for the year 2000. Here are some low-ball figures based on Amusement Business’ estimates: Assuming that on average Disneyland admits only 30,000 people per day (13 million people divided by 12 months); and only one-tenth of them play at the Shooting Exposition Gallery (3,000 people), and play only $2 worth of games (four games at 50 cents each), Disney would then take in $6,000 in a single day, which results in a gross of $2.1 million for the year. Not bad for a visit to the old shootin’ gallery.

Disney states that they find shooting hippos “out of date.” But it is certainly all right to shoot an owl, a bird, a bear and every other animal at the shooting gallery because it is economically feasible for Disney. Isn’t this also “really a form of animal cruelty”?

Gregory Diamond

Newport Beach

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As a former skipper of the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland, I can only say that it is about time they’ve eliminated the practice of firing blanks into the air to scare off the hippos. However, as a card-carrying member of the “PC Police,” that is only a small first step if Disneyland plans to win our approval. Other demands include:

Removing all references to Dumbo, Pinocchio and the seven dwarfs, as they are known primarily for their physical abnormalities.

Changing the audioanimatronic figures in “It’s a Small World” to reflect the global economic injustice of Third World countries. For example, Southeast Asian countries must be represented by audioanimatronic sweatshop workers. The song should be changed to “It’s an Economically Imbalanced, Ecologically Imperiled, Racially Unjust World After All.” The name must be changed from “Fantasyland” to “Realityland.”

Removing the horse-drawn trolleys from Main Street and releasing the enslaved horses to roam free in the wild of Anaheim.

Brian Lochrie

Orange