History channel - "How Disney Built America"

[VILLAGERBB]

The story of Disney is amazing. I had no idea what a risk taker he was. His imagination and determination finally paid off. Sunday night 10:00 p.m. - History Channel 269. Walt's brother, Roy, deserves as much credit as Walt...Roy was the one who made Walt Disney World a reality.

[Stu from NYC]

He did have amazing accomplishments

[manaboutown]

Walt's brother Roy took care of the financial side.

[Michael G.]

For the prices they charge I think It's "How America Built Disney " :thumbup: :BigApplause:

[Stu from NYC]

For the prices they charge I think It's "How America Built Disney " :thumbup: :BigApplause:

Never used to be. Now they price to see how much they can get families to pay

[manaboutown]

Walt is probably rolling over in his grave over how his company has been operated in recent years.

[LeRoySmith]

Walt is probably rolling over in his grave over how his company has been operated in recent years.

You are correct

[Caymus]

Never used to be. Now they price to see how much they can get families to pay

The stock is down about 10% today on another bad earnings report. Maybe they need to raise prices more.:jester:

[PhilG]

Built America?

[pvetrano1]

Well, he definitely built Orlando !

[Kelevision]

399 a YEAR includes free parking at any park and 20% off all merch and some food items at all the parks and Disney Springs. How can anyone say that’s expensive?

[tvmurray]

The story of Disney is amazing. I had no idea what a risk taker he was. His imagination and determination finally paid off. Sunday night 10:00 p.m. - History Channel 269.

Walt may have been a great visionary, but that Disney no longer exists. They have completely gone to the dark side and most of my friends has nothing to do with this she'll anymore.

[airstreamingypsy]

When I as a kid I found Disney cartoons to be really disturbing. Bambi, Fantasia, Dumbo to name a few. It seems a parent dies in almost all Disney movies..... well, not Fantasia, but I still was scared to death watching it......

[PhilR]

Married to the Mouse is an excellent book chronicling Disney’s identification of then remote Orlando and subsequent development of Disneyworld.

[Stu from NYC]

399 a YEAR includes free parking at any park and 20% off all merch and some food items at all the parks and Disney Springs. How can anyone say that’s expensive?

Is that monopoly money? Asking for a friend

[Marmaduke]

The Parks have Narcon stations set up to accommodate the drug overdoses.

Nothing Mickey & Minnie needed in the Good Ole' Days.

[Regorp]

The story of Disney is amazing. I had no idea what a risk taker he was. His imagination and determination finally paid off. Sunday night 10:00 p.m. - History Channel 269.

Two amazing men and such forward thinkers were Walt Disney and Gene Roddenberry, both taken from us way too early. The ideas these two shared and what more that could have accomplished.

[sowtime444]

I'm going to guess that the documentary didn't mention the CIA connection at all.

[manaboutown]

My grandmother and an aunt took me to Disneyland the year it opened in Anaheim, 1955. I was 13 and will never forget the experience. I doubt it cost them an arm and a leg as it does now as they had little money.

[Kelevision]

Is that monopoly money? Asking for a friend

Obviously you’ve never looked into annual pass prices. :thumbup: I paid 399.00 dollars. That’s in good ‘ole American dollars. Though I do think it’s 430.00 this year but with a 20% discount for renewing, it’ll be the same for me for another year. I go all the time. I live in the southern area so I can be in the parking lot in under an hour. Some days I just go to Epcot for lunch and to walk around since parking is free for me too. Others I go to Animal Kingdom, they have one of my favorite places Nomad Lounge. I have the pixie dust pass which is only weekdays and no holidays but I’d never go then anyway so it’s perfect.

[Topspinmo]

Well, he definitely built Orlando !

Disney it’s own state…..at least it was:oops:

[Stu from NYC]

Obviously you’ve never looked into annual pass prices. :thumbup: I paid 399.00 dollars. That’s in good ‘ole American dollars. Though I do think it’s 430.00 this year but with a 20% discount for renewing, it’ll be the same for me for another year. I go all the time. I live in the southern area so I can be in the parking lot in under an hour. Some days I just go to Epcot for lunch and to walk around since parking is free for me too. Others I go to Animal Kingdom, they have one of my favorite places Nomad Lounge. I have the pixie dust pass which is only weekdays and no holidays but I’d never go then anyway so it’s perfect.

Very interesting. If we lived much closer would consider it, did especially enjoyed Epcot.

[JerryLBell]

399 a YEAR includes free parking at any park and 20% off all merch and some food items at all the parks and Disney Springs. How can anyone say that’s expensive?
When we got our first Disney annual pass six years ago, it was about $260. It was an amazing deal as that was less than going to each of the parks for a single day. Of course, it's only us Florida residents who get that deal and it has gone up by over 50% in that time and will probably go up more before long. So for us who live here and don't stay at a hotel on the grounds, Disney is pretty affordable, especially if you only go for a few hours and don't buy any of their overpriced food or any of their silly merchandise.

For an out-of-state family of four who has to fly in and then pay full fare for parking and entrance, plus meals all day plus hotels (particularly the on-grounds hotels) plus merchandise and probably photo passes and perhaps whatever they're calling the "skip the line" passes these days, it can be extraordinairily expensive to try to do all four of the parks on a family vacation. We're talking the cost of a decent used car. Much of middle class America can't do it any more.

And it's not just Disney. We had our great neice and her fiance stay with us three nights to do two days at Universal. They bought two-park passes for both days to give them flexibility and that cost them nearly $750. They had no hotel bills, ate almost nothing at the parks, bought very little merchandise and it still was expensive for a young couple.

None of these parks are exactly cheap. Well, one is that is still close to my heart. Cedar Point of Sandusky, Ohio is the roller coaster capital of the world and near to my birth state of Michigan. They are offering two days entrance for just $85 each to Michigan residents to get them to make the relatively short drive over. Now THAT is a deal!

[Stu from NYC]

When we got our first Disney annual pass six years ago, it was about $260. It was an amazing deal as that was less than going to each of the parks for a single day. Of course, it's only us Florida residents who get that deal and it has gone up by over 50% in that time and will probably go up more before long. So for us who live here and don't stay at a hotel on the grounds, Disney is pretty affordable, especially if you only go for a few hours and don't buy any of their overpriced food or any of their silly merchandise.

For an out-of-state family of four who has to fly in and then pay full fare for parking and entrance, plus meals all day plus hotels (particularly the on-grounds hotels) plus merchandise and probably photo passes and perhaps whatever they're calling the "skip the line" passes these days, it can be extraordinairily expensive to try to do all four of the parks on a family vacation. We're talking the cost of a decent used car. Much of middle class America can't do it any more.

And it's not just Disney. We had our great neice and her fiance stay with us three nights to do two days at Universal. They bought two-park passes for both days to give them flexibility and that cost them nearly $750. They had no hotel bills, ate almost nothing at the parks, bought very little merchandise and it still was expensive for a young couple.

None of these parks are exactly cheap. Well, one is that is still close to my heart. Cedar Point of Sandusky, Ohio is the roller coaster capital of the world and near to my birth state of Michigan. They are offering two days entrance for just $85 each to Michigan residents to get them to make the relatively short drive over. Now THAT is a deal!

Totally agree but they are getting lots of people coming in at these prices

[manaboutown]

As I understand it The Villages and other Florida developers have hugely benefitted from using pretty much the same structure as that which was enacted by the Florida legislature for Disney in 1967, CDDs.
Community development district - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_development_district#:~:text=A%20communi ty%20development%20district%20(CDD,support%20devel opment%20of%20a%20community).

Reedy Creek Improvement Act - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reedy_Creek_Improvement_Act)

[pcntech]

Saw it change over the years. Removal of Indian Village and install of Haunted Mansion. Then Pirates of Caribbean then Splash Mountain. Updates to Tomorrow Land. Walt was visionary. There used to be a BofA branch on Main Street as they lent him the money to build when no one else would.

[Shipping up to Boston]

Doesn’t affect me.....I go to Walley World. Roy Walley was a visionary in his own right!

[AMB444]

Doesn’t affect me.....I go to Walley World. Roy Walley was a visionary in his own right!

Sorry folks, parks closed. The moose out front shoulda told ya.

[AMB444]

Just found this fun info ... Disney World 1973. Around the time of my first trip there. (and only trip there)

Yesterland: The Magic Kingdom in 1973 (https://yesterland.com/wdw1973.html)

A few things I remember best: Haunted Mansion, Hall of Presidents,
Country Bear Jamboree, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, It's a Small World

I still remember vividly in the Haunted Mansion when your cart turned around and faced a mirror... you saw yourself with a GHOST next to you. :eek::22yikes: Gave me nightmares for weeks.

[HORNET]

Knew that 50 years ago

[smacca56]

399 a YEAR includes free parking at any park and 20% off all merch and some food items at all the parks and Disney Springs. How can anyone say that’s expensive?

Now $439 a YEAR still a good deal - no weekends, holidays and some blackout dates. Free parking ($30 savings). 10-20%off merchandise and select restaurants. Florida residents only.

[Nana2Teddy]

Saw it change over the years. Removal of Indian Village and install of Haunted Mansion. Then Pirates of Caribbean then Splash Mountain. Updates to Tomorrow Land. Walt was visionary. There used to be a BofA branch on Main Street as they lent him the money to build when no one else would.
Same here. Grew up with Disneyland beginning in 1956 at age 3. Went regularly my whole life until moving here 18 months ago. Though we do go to WDW and have the Florida resident Pixie Dust pass, it’ll never be as good as Disneyland for me. My dad was an ad man for Carnation Milk back in the 50s when Walt was planning Disneyland. They met him at a work party where he sat and talked to them all about this park he was planning to build in Anaheim. They said he was a great guy, very friendly and genuine. Carnation ended up being one of his sponsors, and we have a family photo taken with the old fashioned Carnation Milk truck on Main Street in the 60s. So many great memories. Since our 3 adult kids and 2 y/o grandson live in Calif we will go back a couple times annually and go to Disneyland while there. We went last October for our grandson’s 2nd birthday. Miss the annual pass we had there though. It’s much pricier for us now having to buy tickets.

[Nana2Teddy]

Now $439 a YEAR still a good deal - no weekends, holidays and some blackout dates. Free parking ($30 savings). 10-20%off merchandise and select restaurants. Florida residents only.
We paid $399 in Feb 2023, then $369 in Feb 2024. Not sure how that number was calculated, but not complaining, lol. I add the extra $99 for the photo pass to my pass so we can have photos taken whenever we want. We only go once a month or so because we need to rent mobility scooters due to me have a bone on bone arthritic knee that should’ve been replaced 10 yrs ago but hasn’t been because I’m too chicken to do it. Those scooters are $65 each per day so that makes our trips pricier than they’d otherwise be. We usually pay extra too for priority parking to be closer to the gate. I suspect though if I ever get that knee replacement hubby won’t give up the scooter. HaHa! ;)