The Disneyland Resort as an Organization

As I've mentioned before (and you can see here in my post listing 1,000 Cast Members and lessees), the thesaurus goes beyond just documenting the public parts of Disneyland, but attempts to encompass the entire operation, including Guest, Cast, and Imagineering perspectives. So, I'm attempting to track the organizational structure of the Park/Resort through the years. This can be a bit daunting at times because Disney (especially modern Disney) loves to rearrange and move functions around, and I'm operating with incomplete information. Rarely do I have a complete organizational snapshot at any point in time.

This October 1959 Disneyland, Inc. division responsibilities chart provides very valuable information, but is just the tip of the iceberg:

It only provides the division directors, not any lower managers, and does not provide information on the finer distinctions (such as all of the various shops to be found under "Maintenance"). But mostly I don't even have this level of information, and just have to document each of the departments and divisions as I find them, and periodically assess what I know. For instance, here Janitorial is part of Construction & Maintenance (which became simply the Maintenance division sometime in the 1960s). In 1973, it was part of Operations, and in 1975 part of General Services. Today it's known as Custodial (a change which I believe occurred in the mid-1970s) and is part of Guest Services.

The best sources for this information are Disneyland Lines, particularly those which include feature articles on various departments or have lists of service anniversaries or committees which draw from around the Park, and Park telephone directories. My plan is to do the best I can with the information from these sources, and hopefully in the future run it past some people who have great familiarity with the organizational Resort over the decades.

As I was looking through the June 1993 directory, I was struck by just how many people were working off-site. The original Disneyland Administration Building consisted of two houses from the property joined together in the East Service Area, behind Main Street, U.S.A.--one of the houses belonging to Ron Dominguez's family. Seen here is the building as modeled in the model of 1955 Disneyland currently on display in the Opera House:

A larger Administration Building was constructed nearby in 1966, also housing the Primeval World Diorama. (According to a 1984 Cast Member training book, The Spirit of Disneyland, Walt Disney rejected an expensive admin building, stating "There isn't going to be any administration building. The public isn't coming here to see an administration building." It's not clear from when this quotation dates, but the large administration building was built under Walt's leadership.)

By the 1980s the Park had outgrown that Administration Building. In early 1985, Disneyland purchased the site of the Global Van Lines building. Global Van Lines had used this building, north of the Park and along the Santa Ana Freeway, as its western regional headquarters before moving it to Orange:

As Disneyland began contemplating expansion in the 1980s, it also recognized the importance of a new administration building. In 1987, in what Disneyland spokesman Bob Roth described as a "temporary move," Entertainment, Marketing, Finance, and Disneyland International moved into leases offices in the Plaza Alicante at 300 Plaza Alicante, Garden Grove, just down Harbor Boulevard from Disneyland. An April 1988 account of the move in the Orange County Register said the new building should be finished by the end of a three-year lease. While the Cast Members decorated their new digs to make it feel like home, one CM commented that they sometimes didn't get to the Park for several days. When Jack Lindquist was named President of Disneyland in October 1990, he said in regards to the Cast Members scattered in area offices, "I don't even know where they all are."

Disneyland didn't select an architect for the new administration building--Frank O. Gehry--until December 1992. Below is a graphic illustrating where Disneyland had Cast Members working circa June 1993, using an October 1995 photo as the base:

The immediate Operations staff remained on site, of course, as did the Facilities, Engineering and Construction personnel. The Administration Building still housed Administration, Public Relations, Costuming, Legal, Cast Activities, Broadcast Services, and Security/Fire. Publicity and Vista-United were on the second floor of the Opera House. Some parts of Entertainment were in the America Sings building (such as Show Operations and Stage Management). The Walt Disney Travel Company was over at the Disneyland Hotel, as it had been since its formation in 1972.

Disneyland had a small presence at the Pacific Inland Bank, 888 S. West Street, Anaheim (now 888 S. Disneyland Drive); on the second floor were offices for the Purchasing Office, Walt Disney Specialty Products, and Contract Administration. Disneyland also rented out a couple of floors at Stadium Towers, 2400 Katella Avenue, Anaheim, housing operations related to Human Relations functions. On the 12th floor were Labor Relations and Wage & Salary Administration, while the 8th floor contained Cast Communications, the Disney University, Personnel Records, Guest Claims, Workers' Compensation, and related departments.

But the greatest number of Cast Members ended up at the Plaza Alicante, 300 Plaza Alicante, Garden Grove, somewhat more than a mile down Harbor Boulevard from Disneyland. All or most of the Finance, Marketing, and Entertainment divisions ended up here, and Disneyland had space rented on all but the 9th floor (that I can tell). These are some of the departments found on the various floors:

• 1st: Business Process Reengineering; Queen Mary Finance
• 2nd: Finance Division: Accounting Department; Finance Administration; General Ledger; Planning & Analysis
• 3rd: Finance Division: Accounts Receivable; Inventory Accounting
• 4th: Finance Division: Capital Development-West Coast Finance; Facility Finance; Industrial Engineering
• 4th: Entertainment Division: Entertainment Art; Choreography; Music Department; Show Development/Directors
• 5th: Disneyland International; Euro Disney; TDL Finance; Walt Disney Attractions Documentation
• 6th: Marketing Division: Advertising; Creative Services; Promotions; Marketing Special Projects; Vista Advertising
• 6th: Entertainment Division: College Music Program; Music Library; Entertainment Special Events; Talent Booking; Guest Talent Development
• 7th: Marketing Division: Marketing Administration; Alumni Club; Ambassador Program; Magic Kingdom Club; Magic Years Club; Corporate Alliance; Synergy; Disney News Magazine
• 8th: College Relations
• 10th: Attraction Sales; Convention Sales; Corporate Sales; Private Parties; Grad Nites

Following the naming scheme established with the corporate headquarters (Team Disney Burbank) and Walt Disney World (Team Disney Orlando), the new administration building was known as Team Disney Anaheim when it opened in February 1996. People sometimes complain that management who work at TDA don't get out into the Parks, and so make decisions divorced from the Guests and any personal connection to how things are in the field. Surely there are some Cast Members like that, just as there must have been some who went to the old Administration Building and didn't go into the Park. But having the main administrative functions consolidated in one location, on property, is a huge improvement over the scattered way things were in the late 1980s into the mid-1990s. I'd be interested to find out how this Cast dispersal interacted with concurrent efforts to expand and form the Disneyland Resort. If anybody reading this blog worked off-site, I'd be very interested to hear your perspective on how efficiently Disneyland functioned during this time.

Photos from George Short, Part 15

You didn't think that I ran out of photos from George Short, just because I haven't posted any in eight months, right? (As a reminder, George Short is a Club 55 member who spent his career in the Sound Department.) Here's an early 1959 shot of Main Street, U.S.A. from Main Street Station. You may be able to see some steel girders for the Matterhorn in the corner. It's a good thing the Matterhorn was on the horizon, too--without the new attractions, I'm not sure the place would have made it. Where is everybody?!

And a comparison shot from 1999, with a bit wider zoom and much fuller trees:

For the Waterlogged

I haven't posted anything visual since November 18(!), but tonight I came across some perfectly appropriate images. I understand Southern California has been a bit wet lately (thanks, Facebook friends!). I've always enjoyed Disneyland in the rain--especially marathons on Splash Mountain, when you're already wet and there's nobody else in line. However, I have never been at Disneyland when Main Street was navigable by boat. The winter of 1977-1978 was particularly rainy. Los Angeles saw 33.44 inches of rain, then the third rainiest season on record, and still the fourth rainiest since 2004-2005's 37.96 inches. Disneyland was apparently ill-equipped to deal with the rain, as we see on the cover of the March 16, 1978 Disneyland Line:

And a few more images from page 2:

The photos are undated, but based on newspaper research, it's likely they're from Saturday, March 4's storm. That weekend saw a major storm pass through the region, causing more problems in areas in Los Angeles County, with the week following having lighter rain fall.

You've Got Questions, I've Got Answers, Part 11

Another batch of questions relating to Disneyland and Walt Disney Productions, as posed by Disneyland employees in 1973 and published in the June 27, 1973 Disneyland Line. More details can be found in Part 1.

QUESTION: CAN ANYTHING BE DONE TO ASSIST US IN HANDLING GUESTS WHO ACT LIKE HOODLUMS?

ANSWER: Yes. Additional out-of-costume employees will be scheduled to assist in handling these situations.

QUESTION: WOULD IT BE POSSIBLE FOR ME, AS AN HOURLY EMPLOYEE, TO SIT IN ON MY DIVISION'S SCHEDULING MEETING?

ANSWER: Yes. We will be asking hourly employees to attend scheduling meetings to provide a better understanding of the problems supervision must contend with in the area of scheduling.

QUESTION: WHEN A DAY SHIFT PERMANENT EMPLOYEE CALLS IN SICK, WHY AREN'T OTHER PERMANENT EMPLOYEES GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO COVER THIS SHIFT RATHER THAN USING A SEASONAL EMPLOYEE?

ANSWER: Supervision will attempt to cover the more desirable shifts with permanent employees when possible.

QUESTION: I AM A PERMANENT EMPLOYEE, BUT IF I TRANSFER FROM MY PRESENT DIVISION TO ANOTHER DIVISION WHY MUST I START AS A CASUAL/SEASONAL IN THE NEW DIVISION?

ANSWER: In the future, if a permanent employee is transferred from one division to another division, where a permanent position is available, they will be transferred as a permanent employee at a lateral weekly rate progression and placed at the bottom of the seniority list.

QUESTION: CAN I POST ANNOUNCEMENTS OF OUTSIDE EVENTS ON BULLETIN BOARDS?

ANSWER: Yes, but please take your announcement to the D.R.C. office in The Center for approval, and if it is approved you may then post it on the bulletin board. All bulletin board materials need prior approval of the D.R.C. in order to maintain reasonable control over the content of the bulletin boards.

Need Fill Dirt?

From the May 16, 1973 Disneyland Line:

NEED FILL DIRT? - Excess fill dirt behind the Haunted Mansion is available to employees on a first come basis by calling Bill Wright [Property Control] on extension 278. Bring your truck and the skip-loader will be made available for as much as you need. This offer is good until all the dirt is gone.

Nixon and Disneyland, Part 6

Yeah, yeah... I've been delinquent. (Would it comfort you to know the thesaurus is up to 38,063 terms? No?) I've come across another connection between Disneyland and Nixon: Tim Elbourne. From the March 28, 1973 Disneyland Line:

Tim Elbourne has joined Disney as Director of Tour Development and Travel for Disneyland and Walt Disney World and will also act as General Manager of the Walt Disney Travel Company. Tim worked for Walt Disney Productions as a Project Developer and in 1968 left to join the Nixon administration as Assistant Press Secretary to the President.