America's newest amusement park is a paradise for children
There's a new westward movement across the U.S.A. that threatens to disturb the peace of every American family at least those with children.
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The modern Pied Piper is Walt Disney, creator of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. And the big draw to the West is Disney's biggest and most elaborate venture so far – Disneyland, a labyrinthine, 160-acre amusement park for kids, "from 6 to 60," to romp and get lost in.
The movie fun-man built his "permanent world's fair" at Anaheim (California), within coo-ee of Los Angeles and of Disney's own film studio at Burbank.
In Disneyland, says the dedicatory plaque over the front entrance, "Age relives fond memories of the past, and youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future."
The 17-million-dollar (about £A7,550,000) extravaganza was launched recently with a big splash on a 90 minute national television "spectacular." Several dazed parents told me after watching the show that it was well calculated to induce little boys to leave home if Pop didn't pack up the family car instantly and head for the West Coast.
Disneyland has so many wonders to display that it had to be divided into four "lands," Frontierland, Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, and Adventureland.
Each part is so big and full of fun that it takes a whole day on its own, or four days for the lot.
If a child has the endurance and his parents have the money, he can spend a whole week going through everything and taking every ride.
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