There is a famous story about how Walt Disney got the idea of building Disneyland. The story goes that during an afternoon visit to Griffith Park located near the Burbank Studios, Walt took a seat while his two young daughters rode the merry-go-round (旋转木马). Walt thought there should be a wonderful place for both children and their parents so that they could enjoy spending some time together. So the idea for Disneyland came.
At first, Walt planned to build an eight-acre park near the Burbank Studios. Because of the start of World War l1, he had to drop his plan. By 1952, Walt had created a special department (部门)to develop his dream.
In 1953, todeterminethe best possible location for the future park, Walt worked with the Stanford Research Institute. Thinking about population growth and the future traffic construction (建设), they finally found a location in Anaheim in California and bought160 acres of land for the site of the new park.
The building of the park was very expensive. To raise money for the project, Walt thought up the idea of the" Walt Disney's Disneyland"television show. Through the show, Walt not only got the money to build the park but also presented the park to the American public.
Construction began on July 21, 1954. And finally, the park was ready for the Opening Day on July 17, 1955.
