1992: Disney Opens Euro Disneyland

On this date in 1992, The Walt Disney Company opened Euro Disneyland.

Here are some things you may not have known about Disney parks.

Walt Disney originally wanted to build a theme park in Burbank, California, near his studios. Because of the limited size of the property, Disney chose instead to buy 160 acres of orange grove in Anaheim, about 30 miles south of Burbank. Initially, Disney planned to call the park "Disneylandia."

Construction of Disneyland began in 1954 and the park opened the following year. When it opened, Disneyland had five distinct lands: Frontierland, Adventureland, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, and Main Street USA. The original park has been expanded many times with the additions of New Orleans Square in 1966; Bear Country, which is now called Critter Country, in 1972; Mickey's Toontown in 1993, and Star Wars Land, which is under construction and is set to open in 2019. A separate park, Disney's California Adventure, opened in 2001.

The centerpiece of Disneyland is Sleeping Beauty's castle.

More than 650 million people have visited Disneyland since it opened. In 2013 alone, more than 16 million people visited.

The Walt Disney World Resort's Magic Kingdom opened in 1971 near Orlando, Florida. In 1982, the permanent World's Fair known as Epcot opened. It was followed by Disney-MGM Studios and Typhoon Lagoon in 1989, and Disney's Animal Kingdom in 1998. More than 20 million people visited the Magic Kingdom in 2015.

The centerpiece of the Magic Kingdom is Cinderella's Castle.

Tokyo Disney Resort, originally called Tokyo Disneyland, opened in 1983. It was the first Disney theme park built outside of the United States. It's the second most popular of the resorts, seeing about 17 million visitors per year. It's centerpiece is also Cinderella's Castle.

Euro Disneyland, now known as Disneyland Park, is located on the outskirts of Paris. Initially, it was not a financial success. But it now welcomes about 13 million visitors per year.

Hong Kong Disneyland Resort followed in 2005, and Shanghai Disney Resort opened in 2016.

Our question: What did the acronym EPCOT originally stand for?

 

Today is Children's Day in Bolivia, National Redemption Day in Liberia, and Halifax Day in North Carolina.

It's unofficially National Licorice Day, National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day, and National Only Child Day.

It's the birthday of author Beverly Cleary, who is 101, TV show host David Letterman, who is 70; and actress Claire Danes, who turns 38.

This week in 1992, the top song in the U.S. was "Save the Best for Last" by Vanessa Williams.

The No. 1 movie was "Sleepwalkers," while the novel "The Pelican Brief" by John Grisham topped the New York Times Bestsellers list. 

Weekly question: What is the nickname of the bell that surpassed Big Ben as the largest bell in Great Britain?

Submit your answer at triviapeople.com/test and we'll add the name of the person with the first correct answer to our winner's wall … at triviapeople.com. We'll have the correct answer on Friday's episode.

 

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Sources

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disneyland_Park_(Paris)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney_Parks_and_Resorts

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Kingdom

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disneyland

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epcot

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Disneyland

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_Disneyland_Resort

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Disney_Resort

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_12

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