70 years ago today, Walt Disney woke up in his now-iconic apartment above Main Street, U.S.A.'s Town Square Fire Station and, after accidentally locking himself in his bedroom, he welcomed the world into Disneyland. Just a few days ago, I had the immense honor of sitting in that exact same apartment to exclusively speak with Disneyland President Thomas Mazloum for his first national interview about the past, present, and great big beautiful DisneylandForward of the only Disney park Walt ever stepped foot in.
While Mazloum first joined the company in 1998 as a hotel director for Disney Cruise Line and was most recently the president of Disney Signature Experiences, he's only been at the helm of Disneyland for the past few months. Still, he more than understands the weight of guiding over 36,000 employees, two theme parks, hotels, Downtown Disney, and the ambitious DisneylandForward development plan, and he couldn't stop smiling as he told me, "when you lead Disneyland, it's not a job. It's a real privilege."
"Just think about that, right? 36,000 people come to work here every day," Mazloum continued. "Beyond that, think of the impact that it has on Orange County and Southern California. We recently did another study with Tourism Economics, which found that we directly and indirectly support more than 102,000 jobs in the region and annually generate $16.1 billion in economic impact in Southern California. So, Disneyland has changed so many things economically, and it has changed the way people look at family entertainment."
To All Who Come to This Happy Place: Welcome
And just think, it was all started by a mouse. I obviously had to throw that line in there, but the truth of the matter is it all began back on a park bench in Los Angeles' Griffith Park, where Walt Disney was sitting one day and had a very important dream that would change everything.
"It came about when my daughters were very young, and Saturday was always Daddy’s day,” Walt said, as presented in The Official Walt Disney Quote Book. “I took them to different places and as I’d sit while they rode the Merry-Go-Round and did all these things – sit on a bench, you know, eating peanuts – I felt that there should be something built where the parents and the children could have fun together. So that’s how Disneyland started.”
There were many skeptics of this ambitious idea, including Walt's wife, Lillian.
“But why do you want to build an amusement park?” Lillian asked Walt, as told in The Story of Disney: 100 Years of Wonder. “They’re so dirty.”
Walt’s response? “I told her that was just the point – mine wouldn’t be.”
Walt and his incredible team made his dream come true and Disneyland opened on July 17, 1955, but it was anything but smooth. As I joked about in the intro, Walt even locked himself in his bedroom by accident in his apartment at Disneyland after not going to bed until 2am, and he could have missed that first day entirely.
“I decided to get some rest, so I got in bed in the little room above the Firehouse,” Walt said, as quoted by the Walt Disney Family Museum. “Everybody kept waking me up, so I got up and locked the door. When I got up this morning, I couldn’t get the darn door unlocked. I had to yell for help!”
But his troubles didn't end there. That first day, which some have come to call 'Black Sunday,' was rough. The blacktop wasn't fully dry and women's high heels would get stuck in it, counterfeit tickets were skyrocketing attendance, electrical fuses blew out on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, the Tea Cups were falling apart, and even the Mark Twain riverboat was sinking as too many passengers were aboard.
Despite these challenges and setbacks, Walt and his team rose above the problems and never gave up. In fact, Walt turned disaster into fortune, as he spoke one of his most iconic lines, which Mazloum told me he still holds close to his heart, to those who criticized Disneyland for not being ready for its first day.
"We will always draw from the past as it's part of our DNA," Mazloum said. "At the same time, we know we don't have to be beholden to everything because Walt himself told us Disneyland will never be complete as long as there is imagination left in the world. I think this was one of his most valuable quotes because, in many ways, it gives us permission to continue to evolve, dream, build, and to not be afraid of trying new things. He certainly wasn't afraid."
The Four Keys to Disneyland's Success
Dreaming is only one piece of the puzzle, however, as so much goes into making these dreams come true. For Mazloum, there are four key reasons as to why Disneyland is as successful as it is, and it all starts with the people.
For those unfamiliar, Disney employees are not just called employees, they are cast members. The areas you don't see at Disneyland are called backstage, which means the parks themselves are the grand stage where these cast members are tasked with performing to their highest ability. And it's all about the cast members. To quote Walt once again, "You can dream, create, design and build the most wonderful place in the world… but it requires people to make the dream a reality."
"That is still true today. In fact, I would argue more than ever," Mazloum said with a laugh. "I do think I've always admired Walt as a visionary, and that statement about people, it laid the foundation of how we think about cast members. It laid the foundation of how we think about providing service in the parts and what it really means. It's why we're so focused on our kind of service, how we are providing it, and the friendliness of it."
"It's that feeling of having disconnected a bit from the troubles of the outside world and actually reconnecting inside of ours."“
The second piece of the puzzle is the attractions themselves. For Mazloum, they are so much more than rides - they are a gateway into another world and the stories we hold so close to our hearts.
"We don't just have rides. What Walt started, and what we really do, is introduce people to stories," Mazloum said. "If you think about it, even before you go on a ride, we have this pre-show that is really all about immersing you in the stories. And I think Disneyland was really the first place, not only to create and rewrite family entertainment, but to really introduce storytelling into the theme of business in a safe and clean environment."
Speaking of a safe and clean environment, that is the third piece of Disneyland's success, and this responsibility is taken seriously from cast members of all levels.
"Whether it's me as the president of Disneyland or Susie who works in public affairs, when we walk through the park, and you can see it and observe it everyday, when you see something on the floor, whatever trash it is, you know to grab it and then dispose of it. It's just automatic for all of us.
"I often think about the statement by Lillian, of most theme parks back in those days being dirty, and Walt wanting to make sure families could come together in a beautiful place not littered by trash."
Lastly, Mazloum places the proper respect on the ever-evolving and truly delicious food and beverage choices at Disneyland.
"Of course you can get traditional theme park foods like popcorn at Disneyland, but if you look at the offerings today - from Tiana's Palace to Blue Bayou to Hungry Bear Barbecue Jamboree to Pym Test Kitchen - it's just as much about the story that we tell and understand our food isn't just food."
For Mazloum, there is one snack in particular that keeps calling back to him, and it can be found at Carnation Cafe.
"It's the fried pickles," Mazloum said with glee. "The fried pickles are sensational. I have Walt's Chili too for nostalgic reasons, but having those pickles and watching the people on Main Street going back and forth is, to me, priceless. Honestly, I was literally there last week. I have a little soft spot or weakness about that."
