The Jason Pierre-Paul solution

Image: Disney

Disneyland was immediately popular. Five million guests visited the park between July of 1955 and October of 1956. The trick was NOT to persuade visitors into attending Disneyland. It was simply to keep them there once they arrived. When Walt Disney and his team pored over the first year’s numbers for their new venture, they quickly deduced that the easiest way to maximize revenue was by keeping people from leaving.

Since Disney had to trap people lawfully, by which I mean willingly, their options were limited. At the time, they didn’t have any extra incentives of note. They wouldn’t promise Extra Magic Hours to guests staying onsite. That strategy wouldn’t exist for decades. All they could do was identify ways to convince people already at Disneyland that it was even better after dark. Since parents didn’t want to do this after an exhausting day of E-ticket attractions and unprecedented crowds, Disney needed a hook. Actually, what they specifically needed was a match.

During a park planning session, one of the Imagineers suggested to Uncle Walt that fireworks could prove desirable to guests. They’d also stand as a competitive advantage over amusement parks that lacked any engaging nighttime activities, not that Disneyland was especially worried about competition during the 1950s.

There were, of course, concerns with this unusual strategy. Disney had to research the noise ordinances in the community, even though they owned most of the land in the surrounding area. As folks who live in cities with Disney theme parks know, the fireworks are ridiculously loud even many miles away. In addition, many parents can provide anecdotes about how much their young children hate fireworks due to the noise.

Image: Jeff Kern, Flickr (license)

Finally, the smoke from fireworks large enough for thousands of guests to see wouldn’t simply evaporate. It had to go somewhere, and that somewhere could be in the eyes, noses, and mouths of park guests. Imagine how well that would have gone over with 1950s theme park tourists. Yes, Disney had plenty of reasons to believe that fireworks could backfire as an enticement to keep families in the parks. Nobody knew for sure, as Disney had nothing to research on the subject. All they could do was speculate.

How did the Imagineers respond to this issue? They were plucky as ever, deciding that the only way to know for sure would be through a process of trial and error. This led to a comical testing phase, the likes of which Disney has never seen in the interim. The very first fireworks display at Disneyland wasn’t much of a display at all. Instead, it was one employee waiting until after the park closed. Then, he went into the empty parking lot and started the test phase, lighting each firework by hand.

The criteria were plentiful. Uncle Walt needed to verify whether several aspects of the test succeeded. The smoke couldn’t cause coughing among guests, the show had to be impressive enough to bear the Disneyland stamp of approval, and the noise couldn’t disrupt guests or the Anaheim residents in the surrounding neighborhoods. The most important of these criteria wasn’t even one of the problems mentioned yet. It was that Disney could launch fireworks high enough into the sky that guests across all regions of the park could view them simultaneously. Without a positive on this test, there was no point in field-checking the other concerns.

Image: Jeff Kern, Flickr (license)

You’ve likely already guessed the issue with such a test. How can one person validate the viewing conditions across all the sections of the park? Obviously, they can’t, which meant that Disney’s after-hours project for a significant period of time was basically a bunch of grown men watching fireworks after dark. It’s great work if you can get it. Disney’s staff would take up residence at various parts of the park while the fireworks expert attempted a proof of concept.

Mickey Aronson, who had no true training or expertise in this field by the way, became the Disneyland Fireworks Guru, pretty much by default. Disney hired him as an outside expert, even though his prior experience with fireworks was not of an appropriate scale. Each night, he would launch flaming projectiles into the sky. Then, other employees would confirm or deny their ability to enjoy the fireworks from their locations. It was the most low-tech solution imaginable, but it was the best that even the great minds at Walt Disney Imagineering could invent for such a unique situation.

By the summer of 1956, the amateurish fireworks show at the Disneyland parking lot was ready for final approval. After literally hundreds of fireworks launches, the tester wanted to perform in front of an audience of one, the only vote that mattered, Walt Disney. After a few minutes of launched bottle rockets and flares, a conflicted but intrigued Uncle Walt eventually shrugged his shoulders and gave final approval. His lukewarm response was, “Let’s give it a try.” He felt he had no better options, and so he hoped that his staff could turn the premise into something worthwhile over time. Had he chosen differently, the fireworks show might never have exited the testing phase, which means you’d never have seen Wishes, Fantasy in the Sky, Fantasmic!, or Illuminations: Reflections of Earth. The debate was that divisive among Imagineers. Had Uncle Walt felt differently, an entirely different type of nighttime enticement might remain in vogue today in lieu of fireworks.

A modest display

Image: Jeff Kern, Flickr (license)

The early days of the Disneyland fireworks show frankly weren’t as good as anything you’ve seen in your city during an Independence Day celebration. In fact, you may have neighbors who put on a better fireworks display than Disney managed during the 1950s. Aronson was only one man, and the responsibility of the nightly fireworks was entirely his own. That meant he was in charge of lining up each bottle rocket and flare, pointing them in the correct location to provide the best view for everyone in the park, and lighting them. And again, Aronson had virtually no experience in this field. As a rookie, he did the best that he could, but the early days of Disneyland fireworks were more of a novelty than a viable park draw.

Over time, Uncle Walt deduced that the core concept worked. Disneyland visitors during the 1950s enjoyed a good fireworks show just as much as people do today. The problem is that it was impossible to hide the amateurish nature of the original nighttime display. A single person can only go so fast, and humans make mistakes. If you’ve ever been to a disappointing fireworks show, you understand that even a temporary disruption in the proceedings will take you out of the moment entirely. One man trying to launch enough fireworks for the many acres of Disneyland was effectively a single person set up to fail.

Somehow, Aronson gamely performed his duties for an extended period of time. Disney stuck with the hand-launched fireworks method for the body of a decade. They trained additional cast members on how to perform the nightly “show,” alleviating some of Aronson’s burden. The backdrop for the event was Sleeping Beauty Castle, and even in its most basic form, this nighttime display still dazzled the eyes thanks to the majestic backdrop. Disney fans behaved exactly as park planners had hoped. They started to stay longer, spending more money in the process. Thanks to the modest cost of some low-grade fireworks, Disney was now accruing larger daily revenue totals while simultaneously satisfying more park guests.