LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla.: There is a nondescript, two‐story building in Glendale, Calif., that houses 400 men who may have more influence on the shape America's cities will take than any planners, architects or urban designers could ever hope to. They are not part of a think tank, or a university, or foundation, or anything remotely like these; their operation, which is called WED Enterprises, Inc., owned and fully controlled by the company that made Mickey Mouse, Walt Disney Productions.
WED began when Walt Disney decided in 1952 to build Disneyland in Southern California. He had no architects or amusement‐park designers on his staff, and he had never much liked the idea of hiring outside consultants, so he put together design team himself, composed mostly of art directors from the Disney studios, and called the group WED, after his initials. Since the WED staff didn't know anything about how to design an amusement park, it never quite got around to giving Disneyland a roller coaster, a Ferris wheel or a standard carnival midway; instead, WED started from scratch and created a park based largely on Disney characters and themes from his films. The result probably the most successful amusement park ever built anywhere.
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