I
have this little pamphlet. It’s faded and tattered by the passing decades. The
title (“Information for Your Visit to Walt Disney’s Magic Kingdom Disneyland, Anaheim , California Disneyland , as explained on
the pamphlet’s cover, was “an entirely new concept in family entertainment.”
There are some lovely little
pictures inside (In color!). In one a four-horse team pulls a stagecoach across
the “Rainbow Desert Disneyland
once had stagecoaches and no, despite what my daughter insists, I don’t remember
them.
In another a helicopter files over
Tomorrowland’s TWA rocket (“…blueprint of things to come in the world of 1987.”).
I suspect the helicopter is an LA AIRWAYS flight about to land at the
Disneyland Hotel heliport. Yes, there was a time when commercial helicopters
whisked vacationers from Los Angeles ’ airport
directly to Disneyland .
The heliport was next to the Disneyland
Hotel’s “Magic Kingdom Golf Course.” Yes, there was a time when families could
play eighteen holes of miniature golf, each hole decorated with a scaled-down
replica of a Disneyland landmark. And no,
despite what my daughter insists, I don’t…oh never mind.
One of the most interesting things
about the pamphlet is its question & answer section. Remember Disneyland was very new and people wanted to know if
there were places inside to eat. And “Should we bring our cameras?” (“By all
means, yes.”)
And of course the all-important “How
much will it cost?” Not to worry. “Disneyland ,”
the pamphlet promises, “is designed for the enjoyment of everyone and will
always be within everyone’s budget.”
Well…maybe Paris Hilton’s budget.
For the rest of us the new $92.00 a
head adult admission is an awful lot of money. And should you go you may want
to leave the kids home with Rover and Muffin. At $86.00 a kid, well, you do the
math. And don’t forget sixteen dollars to park. And you may want to eat.
But of course you will bring the
kids. You can always figure out some other way to pay for college.
The Disney corporation maintains
that the “price hikes were brought on by a variety of factors but represent a
great value given the breath and quality of attractions and entertainment at
the parks.” (By “parks” I presume they mean CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE next to DL and
the various Walt Disney World parks in Florida.)
To an extent they have a valid point.
Bills have to be paid and a reasonable profit made. Walt Disney was a practical
man, a business man. He would understand. But I suspect he would also be
saddened to see so many families priced out of his creation.
A friend of mine put it rather well,
observing that there are children growing up within earshot of Disneyland ’s nightly fireworks who have never been
inside. And now, with the new price hikes, are even less likely to ever do so.
Dad out...
No comments:
Post a Comment