The Disneyland Resort is a recreational resort in Anaheim, California. The resort is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks and Resorts division and is home to two theme parks, three hotels and a shopping, dining, and entertainment area known as Downtown Disney.The area now known as the Disneyland Resort was developed by Walt Disney in the 1950s and for over 40 years was known simply Disneyland. When it opened to guests in 1955, the property consisted of Disneyland, its 100-acre (0.40 km2) parking lot, and a hotel known as the Disneyland Hotel, owned and operated by Disney’s business partner Jack Wrather.
After succeeding with the multi-park, multi-hotel business model at Walt Disney World in Florida, Disney decided to apply the same business model in Anaheim and acquired large parcels of land adjacent to Disneyland. This included purchasing the Disneyland Hotel from the Wrather company as well as the Pan Pacific Hotel from its Japanese owners; Disney re-branded the latter as the Disneyland Pacific Hotel. After its first publicly known proposal for a second theme park in Anaheim was scrapped, construction began in 1998 on a theme park called Disney’s California Adventure Park, later renamed Disney California Adventure Park; a hotel called Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa; a renovation, renaming, and re-theming of the Disneyland Pacific Hotel as the Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel; and an admission-free shopping and dining area called Downtown Disney. During the expansion, the name Disneyland Resort was coined to refer to the entire Disney complex, while Disneyland Park was coined to refer to the original theme park.
Transportation
Unlike the Walt Disney World Resort, all areas in the Disneyland Resort are accessible by walking. Therefore, there is very little vehicular transportation between properties. The Disneyland Monorail System transports guests between the Tomorrowland station, inside Disneyland Park, and the Downtown Disney station (formerly known as the Disneyland Hotel station). Admission to Disneyland Park must be purchased to ride the Monorail. Parking lot trams provide free transportation from the Mickey and Friends Parking Structure, the main parking area, to a Tram stop in front of the World of Disney store in Downtown Disney, near the Main Entrance Plaza.Shuttles to off-site hotels and overflow parking areas pick up and drop off at the Main Entrance Plaza east of the theme parks’ main entrance Travel Guides in USA. Taxis are available on the west end of Downtown Disney, near the ESPN Zone. Anaheim Resort Transit (ART), a quasi-government agency designed to help improve the air quality in the city of Anaheim, also provides shuttles on a pay per ride, or pay per day basis from Disneyland’s east shuttle area to various hotels and other attractions in the area. Disney has made a deal with the ART system and the OCTA to operate buses from the Toy Story parking lot, which is located south of the Disneyland Resort. Disney also operates the Pumbaa Lot on Disney Way, and has the Simba Lot west of the Paradise Pier Hotel. Disney also has contracts with the Anaheim GardenWalk and Anaheim Convention Center, where Disney can use parts of their parking spaces on selected days.Public transportation is available from the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) and Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) adjacent the east end of the property, along Harbor Boulevard. OCTA also provides service along the north and south ends of the property, along Ball Road and Katella Avenue, respectively.
Theatrical terminology
Disneyland staff use theatrical terminology. This is to emphasize that a visit to the park is intended to be similar to witnessing a performance. For example, visitors are referred to as “guests” and park employees as “cast members”. “On stage” refers to any area of the resort that is open to guests. “Backstage” refers to any area of the resort that is closed to guests. A crowd is referred to as an “audience”. “Costume” is the attire that cast members who perform the day-to-day operations of the park must wear. Terms such as “uniform” are not used. “Show” is the resort’s presentation to its guests, such as the color and façades of buildings, placement of rides and attractions, costumes to match the themed lands. When signing credit card receipts for souvenirs or food, guests are asked for their “autograph”. “Stage managers” are responsible for overseeing the operation of the different areas of the park. Cast members who are in charge of a specific team are called “leads,” as in a film or theater “lead role”. In the earlier years of the park, the offices where administrative work took place were referred to as “production offices”. “Production schedulers” build employee work schedules to meet the necessary workload, while “stage schedulers” handle day-to-day changes in that work schedule (such as a change in park hours, necessitating a change in everybody’s shifts).
Each cast member’s job is called a “role”. When working in their roles, cast members must follow a “script”. This is not a traditional play script, but more of a strict code of conduct and approved, themed phraseology that cast members may use when at work. Park employees are often reminded that “no” and “I don’t know” are not a part of a cast member’s script.
Emergency services
The Disneyland Resort maintains a private security staff charged with protecting the company’s assets and interests, including controlling access to restricted areas, detaining shoplifters, enforcing park/resort rules, and imposing and enforcing trespass warnings. Most of the time Security officers working in guest areas serve as de facto information posts, and also handle guest issues such as lost children and personal property damage. Law enforcement outside the authority of Disneyland Resort Security is the jurisdiction of the Anaheim Police Department (APD), which maintains a regular 24-hour presence at the Resort.The resort maintains its own private fire department, called the Disneyland Resort Fire Department (DFD). DFD has several fire trucks stationed throughout the resort property and has the capability to put out minor structural fires; however, its primary purpose is fire prevention and investigation. Most of the department’s operations are behind the scenes; the Main Street Fire House and other emergency-response-themed facades at the Resort are for show only and are not actual operations of the DFD. The resort also maintains a staff of nurses 24 hours a day to operatefirst aid stations situated in each park and hotel, as well as to act as first responders to emergency situations that occur away from the first aid stations. Fire and rescue services beyond the capability of the DFD and/or the nursing staff are handled by the Anaheim Fire Department (AFD), which has a station just east of the Resort property. AFD also maintains a constant paramedicpresence at the Resort. Disneyland Resort is a Adventure Place For Vacations.