2016年6月16日，上海迪士尼乐园盛大开园。它和已经问世的所有迪士尼乐园一样，吸引了成千上万的游客蜂拥而入，在这个梦幻的童话王国中尽情玩乐。那你知道第一座迪士尼乐园是如何建成的吗？你又知道迪士尼乐园为何会在全球不计其数的游乐园中脱颖而出、拥有独一无二的地位吗？

Until the 1940s， the American amusement park was limited to merry-go-rounds1）， Ferris wheels2） and carnival games3）. All that changed when Walt Elias Disney envisioned4） a new amusement park called a theme park. Disney&apos；s innovations reenergized amusement parks in the United States and created an entirely new approach to the real estate development and commercial construction of theme parks and the areas surrounding those attractions.

直到20世纪40年代，美国的游乐园里都只有旋转木马、摩天轮和摊位游戏。当华特·埃利亚斯·迪士尼设想出名为“主题乐园”的一种新型游乐园之后，所有这一切都发生了改变。迪士尼的革新重新激发了美国游乐场的活力，也首创了房地产开发和主题乐园及景点周边地区商业建设的一种全新方法。

An Amusement Park Started with a Problem

Walt Disney once said， "It was all started by a mouse"， but in reality， Disneyland started with a problem. Sitting on a bench in Griffith Park watching his daughters on the carousel5）， he wondered， why isn&apos；t there some sort of amusement experience that the entire family can enjoy together？

His idea for displaying Disney characters in a fantasy setting was a bold departure from amusement parks and carnivals that offered rides， games and inexpensive food. Instead Disneyland was conceived as an extension of the Disney brand， and would be the first "theme park" built in the United States.

When Disney decided that he would be building a place that told a story， he knew that he would need people and technology to help create the magic and tell the stories. In 1952， Disney assembled6） a staff of designers， planners and artists and formed WED Enterprises7）， standing for Walter Elias Disney. The WED group began a long process of creative brainstorming. Its members conceptualized8）， designed and reworked Walt&apos；s broad ideas. They visited other amusement attractions around the country to gather data and impressions and flesh out9） development plans， and with the help of commercial contractors10） created a rough construction timetable.

A New Paradigm11） in the Construction

of Amusement Parks

With financing in place and a location secured， the construction companies began in the summer of 1953.

Disneyland was designed in a wheel-shaped configuration12）. The idea was to provide a fun entrance area with a long walkway where visitors would wander through， led by a grand visual attraction， to the park&apos；s center. From there， visitors could branch off13） to the rest of the park on paths that radiated outward like spokes14） on a wheel.

This became the design for Disneyland. Visitors entered the park through Mainstreet U.S.A. and made their way to the center part of the wheel， where they found the park&apos；s majestic centerpiece， Sleeping Beauty&apos；s Castle and Fantasyland. Winding "spokes" led from the castle through the rest of the park， guiding visitors to other different themed "lands"， including Adventureland， Frontierland and Tomorrowland. This wheel design layout with an iconic centerpiece has become the standard approach for designing theme parks and has been adopted by the majority of theme parks constructed since that time.

Construction for Disneyland began on July 21， 1954， just 12 months before the park was scheduled to open. Construction companies worked frantically15） to meet the tight schedule and completed the project on time. Disneyland was formally opened a year later， on July 17， 1955， to glowing16） reviews. Unlike other amusement parks of the day， Disneyland was developed and constructed to be instantly recognizable as an extension of the Disney brand and the Disney philosophy. The rides used an array of Disney motifs17）， costumed Disney characters roamed18） the park， and Sleeping Beauty Castle， the attraction at the heart of the park， was instantly recognizable to millions of people since it was seen every Sunday night on ABC television. Disneyland became， in a sense， the capstone19） of Walt Disney&apos；s career.

The capstone of his career also quickly became the cornerstone of an empire. In its first six months， one million people visited the Disneyland； in its first full year， three million people passed through its gates. The park quickly generated capital to finance a vast expansion， and in subsequent years， each time the park expanded its capacity， revenues increased more than proportionately20） to the added capital. In spite of his lack of real estate development experience， Disney had created park plans that allowed for expansion and resulting construction that would not interfere with ongoing park operations.

Cinderella&apos；s Castle is a masterpiece of design and construction. Standing 189 feet tall， the Castle is made of fiberglass21） veneer22） crafted23） around a 600-ton steel framework. It features ten spires24）； portions of the castle are finished to look like solid granite25） and other parts look like brick. The fa?ade26） bricks nearer the top of the Castle are actually smaller than the ones closer to the ground. This technique of designing higher features to be disproportionately small makes the Castle look taller than it actually is.

From Walt Disney&apos；s unpleasant experience as a father taking his daughters to an amusement park has emerged the multi-billion dollar industry of modern theme parks. Disney&apos；s theme parks dominate tourism on both coasts， as well as in Paris and in Tokyo. Disney&apos；s diversification from cartoons and movies into vacation environments even includes a Disney cruise line as well. In fact， Disneyland and Disney World signaled a major shift in amusement and theme park development and construction. Almost every major amusement park in the U.S. today is a descendant27） of and aspires to the Disney model： a focus on convenience， a superior guest experience， development planning allowing easy and seamless28） expansion， innovative construction techniques and most importantly a "theme" that gives a park a sense of identity and uniqueness. While Walt Disney is best remembered for creating ageless cartoon characters like Mickey Mouse， Goofy and Donald Duck， his impact on commercial real estate development and the construction of major entertainment venues is just as historically significant for the entertainment and the construction industries.

始于一个问题的游乐园

华特·迪士尼曾说，“一切都始于一只老鼠”，但实际上，迪士尼乐园却是始于一个问题。当年迪士尼坐在格里菲斯公园的长椅上看着玩旋转木马的女儿们，不禁产生了一个疑惑：为什么没有全家人可以一起尽情享受的某种游乐体验呢？

他想到的是在一个奇幻的场景中展示迪士尼的那些卡通形象，这一想法大胆地背离了提供游乐设施、游戏和廉价食物的游乐园和露天游乐场。迪士尼乐园反而被构想为迪士尼品牌的一种延伸，并将成为在美国建立的第一家“主题乐园”。

当迪士尼决定自己将建造一个有故事的地方时，他知道自己将会需要人才和技术来帮忙创造魔法、讲述故事。1952年，迪士尼召集起了一队设计师、规划师和艺术家，成立了WED公司（WED是他姓名首字母的缩写）。……