Dispatch From Disneyland
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Walking the Site

It's a cool autumn morning. You stand at Christmas tree point and take a deep breath. Ahead of you vapor rises from glistening wet cement as the first rays of sun strike the ground.

The evaporation generates a fog effect that prevents you from being able to see the length of Main Street. You know the rest of the park is there -- you can hear the distant laughter of children having fun, the roar of the wind as it blasts down the slopes of the Matterhorn, the toot-toot of a train whistle - but the fog lays heavy like a shroud.

As you walk down the center of Main Street, the mist slowly peals away revealing each building as if unwrapping a Christmas Present. Every window holds a new surprise, winter wear at the clothiers, rocky road at the candy palace, a Christmas tree at the china closet.

A closer examination reveals that some buildings are in need of a little paint here and there. But down the street you see a barricade set up to warn people of fresh work and wet paint. The magic is always in progress you note.

From here you continue on around the park. You notice some things in need of repair, but also notice a lot of little details that leave you wondering if they were new since your last visit.

As the morning grows longer, the crowds fill in, and street entertainment takes stage. If you're like me, you're likely at this point to find a cup of joe and a muffin then sit and listen for a while. This whole process is what I call "Walking The Site."

Walking the site is one of my favorite activities at Disneyland... and not coincidentally one of the oldest activities associated with the Anaheim property.

After the site was recommended by the Stanford Research Institute, Walt and a few close associates went down to examine the site and march off some simple measurements as to where large elements should go.

There is a video of this that you may have seen. Walt was a very calculating man, so I suspect this filming might have been staged. But I know this process was repeated at the Florida properties... and although Walt died before a single building had been built outside Orlando, you know it was all there in his minds eye waiting to be brought into existence.

Sometimes when I walk the site, I stand near the castle and close my eyes trying to imagine myself surrounded by orange trees and other citrus groves. Walt probably stood near that spot and looking North(?) manfested the Marceline main street of his youth. It was colorful, alive, and probably even 'improved' a bit by Walt's desire to intimate a return to the values of a simpler time.

Turning to his right Walt could see a log fort that would guard the gateway to the American Frontier. In his mind he could even detect a whistle blow signaling the arrival of the giant white sternwheeler that brought progress to the frontier via the many rivers of America.