Wars with Native Americans went on until the early 1920s. Walt’s generation grew up with Western movies and stories. TV was in it’s infancy, the civil rights movement was about to become front page news, the youngest president in our short history would be elected and by the end of the decade, the space race would be in high gear. In retrospect, the mid to late 1950s was one of those historical eras on the cusp of major cultural, social, political and technological change. All of the changes to the Magic Kingdom and Disneyland have been within the existing footprint of Walt’s original 1955 Lands. There have been many changes to Disneyland and Disney World since they were opened. He always said that Disneyland would never be finished as long as there was imagination to fuel ideas. Walt also knew time wouldn’t stand still while he thought up new attractions. ![]() But, with a little thought, some story telling and a bit of cleverness, he made us feel as if we had. He couldn’t really send us to Mars or have us ride a flying elephant. Walt made Disneyland more than just an amusement park by offering guests the chance to make some of our fantasies come true. But, I will get back to that challenge later. ![]() Yes, I know that everything is comparatively more expensive and complicated than it was 60 years ago. And if there was someone around who had just a bit of Walt’s forward thinking creativity, perhaps they would have made some changes already. I think Walt would have seen the cultural and scientific changes that continue to happen and he might have though about thematically and artistically swapped them around.
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