IOUSA, yo.

Happy birthday to me... What a way to spend my birthday - my water was shut off yesterday and I've been hoarding blankets for weeks since I can't afford to pay the heating bill. The economy has gotten so much worse than when I was in high school. It's crazy to think of how easy I used to have it. Now here I am, still swimming in college debt, just hoping to have enough money to buy groceries for the week.

Inflation is probably the biggest factor that has contributed to the economic down spiral. That, on top of the awful competition to find a steady job is what has ruined me.

Now all I can do is wonder... what could the government have done differently to prevent this?

History of Disneyland, yo.

The Creation of Disneyland & Its Effect on Economy

Disneyland - the most magical place on earth. From thrilling rides, to lovable cartoon characters, to themed bathrooms, this park has it all. But how did this empire start? Where did it come from and how has it affected the economy? The answer is simple: Disneyland started with one man’s dream that grew into a glorious reality and contributes hugely to the economy through its ability to entice customers with the overall charm of the park.

Disneyland was first opened on July 17, 1955, but the process to create it began in 1952 when Walt Disney established Disneyland Incorporated. The company began designing ideas for Disneyland before they even had a site for the park. Walt Disney dreamed of a place where parents and children could have fun together in a not-so-typical sort of amusement park. He wanted a place with a magical feel that brought his characters to life in a way unlike any other. His idea was to incorporate his characters into a theme park that was unique in that it was lined with souvenir shops, did not have roller coasters, did not sell alcohol, and focused a lot on the general sanitation of the park. He didn't want Disneyland to be known as a stereotypical American amusement park; greasy and vulgar. He desired a more family-oriented setting. However, the uniqueness Walt dreamed of made it hard for him to gain support, even from his own brother. Disney turned to television to help him raise funds for the project. “Walt Disney’s Disneyland” brought his dream to life for him and the American citizens, as well as providing Disney with the financial support he needed to make his dream a reality. In 1953, Disney and his partners purchased a 160-acre orange grove in Anaheim, California and began construction on Disneyland in 1954.

In order to build the park, the citrus trees lining the 160-acre grove were cleared and 15 houses were moved. Disney enlisted the help of his movie studio staff to help him design certain difficult areas in the park. The park would have five differently themed lands surrounding a huge castle. Disney had a reason behind each of the themes in the park: Main Street, USA; Adventureland; Frontierland; Fantasyland; and Tomorrowland. Each theme brought something unique to the park to create the overall family experience. Main Street was a typical turn of the century main street that older generations could remember fondly and younger generations could get a glimpse of their grandparents’ lives. Adventureland explored what it was like to live in a completely different setting far from civilization. Frontierland was a tribute to the pioneer days of America. Fantasyland was created to make dreams come true. Walt explained Fantasyland: “‘What youngster. . .has not dreamed of flying with Peter Pan over moonlit London, or tumbling into Alice's nonsensical Wonderland? In Fantasyland, these classic stories of everyone's youth have become realities for youngsters-of all ages-to participate in’” (Wingert). Finally, Tomorrowland was created to look ahead to the future. This one was difficult for Disney to design because he realized that as soon as he created something futuristic, it could turn around and become modern. As one can imagine, these many different lands took months of designing, planning, and actual building. However, the park was ready to open in just a year.

Disneyland’s debut came on July 17, 1955 and it was a disaster. A sweeping heat wave caused a temperature of 110 degrees and a plumber’s strike led to problems with the water fountains. Moreover, most people forged their tickets to get into the park, so it was extremely overcrowded and added to the sweaty mess. The asphalt had been laid the night before, so the ground was literally steaming as patrons of the park tried to enjoy their first experience in Disneyland without roasting to death. On top of all the malfunctions going on in the park, many of the employees were cold towards visitors and failed to model the true Disney experience. Park attendance decreased drastically in the next couple weeks. However, Disney was able to use the failed opening day as a learning experience. He made sure that there was never a shortage of water fountains in the future and coordinated the fountains as well as the bathrooms and trash cans with the areas of the park they were located in. He came up with a lettering system to keep track of tickets that also allowed people into different parts of the park depending on their tickets. This helped to spread people throughout the park as well as eliminate long lines due to people having to carry money with them to pay for each ride individually. Finally, Disney made sure that none of his employees were sour towards customers anymore by sending them to “Disneyland University” to learn the Disney way. After making these adjustments, the park began to run more smoothly and attract more customers. After being open for ten years, 50 million people had visited Disneyland.

Disneyland’s rise to popularity has actually been good for the economy as well. As well as contributing $4.7 billion annually to the Southern California economy, Disneyland sparked the building of Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida. Disneyland also provides jobs for around 21,000 people and generates new jobs each time it opens a new facility (such as California Adventure, which created 1,000 new jobs). Moreover, the resort supports 57,400 jobs in Southern California. If Disneyland were to be taken out of the picture, the economy, especially that of Southern California, would suffer hugely.

In conclusion, Disneyland may seem just an extravagant theme park for children to enjoy, but in reality it contributes a lot to our country. Despite its rough start, Disneyland has created a plethora of jobs and added a huge amount of money to the economy. By taking a closer look at this fantasy world we can see that it has benefited us in ways we could not have had with any other organization.

Works Cited 

 

Fisher, Reece. "The Creation of Disneyland." The Creation of Disneyland. N.p., 2004. Web. 28 Nov. 2012.

Polsson, Ken. "Chronology of Disneyland Theme Park." Chronology of Disneyland Theme Park. N.p., 21 Sept. 2011. Web. 28 Nov. 2012.

Wingert, Chris. "Disneyland History." Disneyland History. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2012.
 

Fiscal Cliff, yo.

"How would you explain the Fiscal Cliff to one of your peers here at school? Be sure to include information you gathered from the extra sources you read as you explain this to your curious peer."

Basically, the Fiscal Cliff is our economy going into the toilet in 2013. It's $500 billion in tax increases and spending cuts for the year of 2013 alone. What this means is that taxes will be raised for pretty much every taxpayer and business. This will probably end up killing off a lot of small business and will most definitely lead our country into a recession.

The Bush Tax Cuts will be expiring on January 1, 2013. Obama wants to end tax cuts on income over $250,000 which is all fine and dandy for some folks, but it could potentially hurt small business and job growth. Not only could it hurt businesses, but it is really not fair to those who have worked hard for their money; they should not be punished for their hard work.

Finally, something that sticks out to me about the Fiscal Cliff is that the payroll tax holiday will be ending. This was not something I had known about before, but basically we have been getting 2% off our payroll taxes for the past two years. When this ends, it means we will have less money - and for someone working minimum wage and trying to save up money for a car and college and life in general, I'm sure it will be noticeable. It will also put a damper on my parents' efforts to save money to send me and my siblings to college. 2% can really add up, so it stinks that the government will be taking that away from us.