Hello guys!!
Today I'm going to talk about Disneyland and how Walt Disney created all this amazing world....and yes, also how he designed how to keep people inside their doors expending money
For start this post, did you ever visit a Disneyland theme park?, but before everything, do you know how many Disneyland are around the world?...if you come from the promise land, American will say...mmm I think just 2. If we ask the same question to a guy from Europe will answer you:...mmm three, one in France and other two in America...well guys, in total there are 6 Disneyland parks all around the world: two in America, and one in Paris, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong.
The first Disneyland was created in 1955 by Walt Disney, many people still asking then self how he could design all the amazing complex and the best question....How could after such a long time be a massive tourist attraction?
Walt Disney came out to the idea of create a place where his movies will be a reality after visit many amusement places with his family during the 30's and the 40's (If you ask in Argentina, the Argentinian will tell you that this idea came out after Walt Disney visited "La Republica de los Niños" or "The Republic of the Children", this is just a theory, but I will let you pictures and a link just in case you want to investigate more). Disney decided to create his first park after all the viewers demanded him to built a studio to see how he made his movies and how he created the "Magic of Disney" ( in film and tv tourism we call this a off location, talking clearly a "studio").
Disney went further, he realized that creating just a studio will not give him a long term benefits, people will get tired of those studios and to see how he spent a whole day for create 10 seconds of movie. Instead he recognize the need of the people, they wanted to be part of the movies, fell the colours, touch the characters, walk in those magic film places. In terms of marketing, we could say that he identify those people's needs and he positioned very well his product, because by this time he was the only one capable to create this: overlay the needs created by his own movies, creating a new type of tourist attraction, we can say that his marketing plan was absolutely brilliant and taking in consideration than by this time he had the monopoly of animation movies. Also every new film will bring a new character to the park and more visitors (therefore the life cycle of the park was ensured to keep going for long time). Also if is possible to keep the families the whole day inside the park expending money with their children being persuaded by all the visual and promotional attack to beg their parents to buy everything they need for recreate their fantasies.....THEN WE CAN SAY THE BUSINESS WAS DEFINITELY BRILLIANT.....The only negative point was how to find the financial support for his idea, and the solution rise even higher his project: Disney created a partnership with ABC Television Corporation creating the Mikey Club, the benefits from this club helped Disney in the construction and publicity of his park and helped the ABC tv channel to rise his audiences.
Talking about Disneyland, one of the controversial point is the authenticity of this places, many people think that those parks contain a lack of authenticity, in my opinion this is a kind of "Disney authenticity",
if we have a look to the theory of Postmodernism, the idea of Disney could fits into one of the three types of authenticity: experimental. If something got experimental authenticity means if you feel something is real then is real, but then if we follow this theory, the first Disneyland will be the only authentic, due to the rest were copies of the first one. Also Umberto Eco (1986) talked about Disney's parks as a simulation or Hyper-reality, and how sometimes this could be better than the real thing of live.
Finishing this post just to say that Disneyland was the first them park inspire in movies, after it will came the Universal Studios, Warnerbros park, etc, but none of them has had or will have as much success as it did and does Disneyland.
Please guys let me know your ideas about Disneyland and how the films supported this project. Also, Do you think is an authentic place?is what the tourists want to see? do you agree with this kind of tourism bubble?
Thanks for your time
PS:I leave you some pictures of the Disneyland's parks all around the world, some youtube links, as I've promised before the link and pictures about La Republica de los Niños.
LA REPUBLICA DE LOS NIÑOS:
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g312747-d1977033-Reviews-Republica_de_los_Ninos-La_Plata_Province_of_Buenos_Aires_Central_Argentina.html
http://www.fundacionvalorar.org.ar/republica2008/
Have fun
REFERENCES:
Breetton.S(2005) FILM-INDUCED TOURISM, Channel View Publications,Cevedon, United Kingdom.
Richards,G.(ed) (2007) Cultural Tourism - Global & Local Perspectives, Hawoth.
McLeod,N (2013), Lectures for: Film and TV tourism; Theoretical perspectives on cultural tourism.
