Some claim this is the actual park bench where it all started.

In the 1950s, as he sat on a Griffith Park bench watching his daughters have fun, Walt began thinking, “I felt that there should be something built where the parents and the children could have fun together.” Walt also, concurrently, was tinkering with trains. They were, for him, a symbol of possibilities. As a child, he would lie in bed and listen to train whistles blowing in the distance. He imagined the adventures those train passengers were experiencing. Perhaps, Walt thought, he could merge his fairytale village idea with a train ride. The idea of a park filled with fun things for the whole family to do and encircled by a train soon emerged.

The vision was clear to him. It eluded everyone else. All they saw was a dirty, seedy amusement carnival: a ‘carnie.’ Amusements in that day were nasty places: Run down and, usually, run out of town by the local authorities because of their dishonest games.

Walt presented his idea to some close associates. They were dismissive. They couldn’t comprehend why the great Walt Disney would want to build one of ‘those.’ Wife Lilly, in her blunt fashion said what everyone else thought. “Why do you want to build an amusement park? They're so dirty, " she asked him. Walt replied, “That was just the point — mine wouldn't be.”

Brother Roy wasn’t much help either. He refused to gamble the corporation’s money on another one of Walt’s ‘screwy ideas.’ Roy explained, “We’re in the motion-picture business. We’re in the animated-film business. We don’t know anything about this amusement business.”

Walt also talked to every carnival amusement operator he could find. They were unanimous: it would fail.

• There needed to be many entrances, not one.
• There was too may areas that would not generate revenue.
• There wouldn’t be enough ride capacity.
• The rides would cost too much to build.
• Ride maintenance would be exorbitant.
• No one would care about ride themeing.
• You needed carny games to be financially stable.
• Clean cut looking people do not work in carnies.
• It would be impossible to keep the place clean.

But Walt, never one to accept a ‘No’ answer, insisted, “What this country really needs is an amusement park that families can take their children to. They’ve gotten so honky-tonk with a lot of questionable characters running around, and they’re not too safe. They’re not well kept. I want to have a place that’s as clean as anything could ever be, and all the people in it are first-class citizens, and treated like guests.”

Walt ignored the critics and followed his instinct. Roy, despite his unwilling to invest the company’s money, helped obtain the financing. Once Disneyland opened, people realized that, as always, Walt was right. Disneyland was an immediate success. Walt had figured out what people wanted and built it for them. It’s a good lesson for all of us. Figure out what your customers, clients, and associates want and build it for them. Success is likely to follow.