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View Full Version : Who coined the term "Theme Park?"



animagusurreal
07-10-2005, 08:11 PM
I was just curious if this was a Walt-ism, or if someone else in Imagineering, or someone from outisde the company came up with the term. I imagine it didn't exist before Disneyland, since I've seen it referred to as "The world's first theme park."

Doug
07-10-2005, 08:24 PM
Well, wikipedia has this to day:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theme_park#History_of_theme_parks


I was just curious if this was a Walt-ism, or if someone else in Imagineering, or someone from outisde the company came up with the term. I imagine it didn't exist before Disneyland, since I've seen it referred to as "The world's first theme park."

Doug
07-10-2005, 08:26 PM
Egads, never mind... horrible video...

No large version?


I was just curious if this was a Walt-ism, or if someone else in Imagineering, or someone from outisde the company came up with the term. I imagine it didn't exist before Disneyland, since I've seen it referred to as "The world's first theme park."

Alex S.
07-10-2005, 08:35 PM
This etymological dictionary dates the phrase "theme park" to 1960, which would be after the opening of Disneyland but doesn't cite a source.

If I remember, I'll try to get down to the library tomorrow and see if it is listed in the OED (I would love to, but can't justify $30/month for an online subscription).

animagusurreal
07-10-2005, 08:40 PM
Well, wikipedia has this to day:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theme_..._of_theme_parks

Very interesting article - I wasn't aware of the parks they mentioned except Tivoli Gardens. They kind of sound like they were what operettas were to the American musical theatre.

Still, I wonder if the term might have been applied to those parks retroactively after it had been applied to Disneyland.

On a side note, I found it interesting how the enterance to Oakland's Fairyland was child-sized and adults had to squeeze through. Makes me appriciate Walt's Children-and-Parents-Have-Fun-Together concept.

animagusurreal
07-10-2005, 08:47 PM
Egads, never mind... horrible video...

No large version?

Video? You mean the one in my sig? :confused:

Mrs. Newseditor44
07-10-2005, 09:49 PM
After reading about all of this, I have no idea who exactly "coined" the term theme park. However, the first theme park was not Disneyland but rather Knott's Berry Farm. In the 1940s Walter Knotts created Ghost Town to entertain those waiting for the restaurant. It wasn't until the 1960s when the second themed area opened with rides where it was considered an amusement park...a themed amusement park. That is why they are considered "America's 1st Theme Park". Knott's already existed and through the years it evolved to the park as we know it.

Walt Disney however created the first themed amusement park as we all know that opened in 1955 but it was based loosely on Tivoli Gardens, Children's Fairyland and various Worlds Fairs.

PragmaticIdealist
07-10-2005, 10:23 PM
Walt Disney coined the term.

Knott's Berry Farm cannot make any claims to the term. Knott's Berry Farm is still not a theme park and neither are most amusement parks that call themselves such.

Disneyland, as a theme park, is fiction in physical permanence. The audience steps onto a stage to interact with imaginary characters and settings. And, the believability of this fiction is maintained from proscenium entrance to proscenium exit.

To this day, there are only a handful of places in the world that even begin to do the same.

In this way, Walt Disney's invention of the theme park is an entirely novel storytelling medium that potentially rivals stageplays; motion pictures; books; and, other media.

Mrs. Newseditor44
07-10-2005, 10:43 PM
Knott's Berry Farm cannot make any claims to the term. Knott's Berry Farm is still not a theme park and neither are most amusement parks that call themselves such.

Oh but they have and they have for A LONG time and apparently Disney has no problem with it. Like it or not, the two parks actually coexist peacefully.


According to answers.com and wikipedia.com these are the definitions...

Amusement park (n) A commercially operated enterprise that offers rides, games, and other forms of entertainment.

Theme park: Some amusement parks, known as theme parks, are designed to evoke distant or imaginary locales and/or eras, such as the Wild West, an African safari, or medieval Europe.

That is why Disneyland is considered a themed "amusement" park. Same with Knott's. It has been widely accepted that they had the first themed area, Ghost Town. Knott's was also the first park to create the first themed land for kids ONLY...Camp Snoopy in the 80s.

Darkbeer
07-10-2005, 11:14 PM
While I know that Knott's likes to claim they were the first Theme Park..... and they did open up years prior to Disneyland...

Another park, Santa Claus Land, now known as Holiday Land might be the first, prior to Knott's and DL...

http://themeparks.about.com/library/parks/blholidayworldb.htm

BUt if anything, Disneyland was the third, if not lower Theme Park.....

Mrs. Newseditor44
07-10-2005, 11:37 PM
Maybe all these places should play "rock, paper, scisssors" to determine who was first. ;) ...LOL....j/k

But I dont' think we actually answered the question on when the term "theme park" was actually first used and by whom.

PragmaticIdealist
07-10-2005, 11:42 PM
Several places were "themed", if you want to use that term. World's fairs have had "theming" for more than a century before the advent of Disneyland.

I resent any other places trying to co-opt the term, "theme park", and misapply it to their own operations. Disneyland is totally unique for the reasons I stated above. And, The Walt Disney Company has publicly objected to the claim Knott's has made.

I wish Walt Disney Productions had protected the term as a service mark, but both "theme park" and "animatronics" have been lost to generic usage.

When the berry farm and its chicken dinners became so popular that guests would wait to enter Mrs. Knott's restaurant, Walter Knott assembled Ghost Town by simply moving the buildings he bought from the town of Calico where he used to work as a miner. They were just historic buildings that he made touristy.

Mrs. Newseditor44
07-10-2005, 11:52 PM
Yes Disney is unique but it doesn't stop me from enjoying and loving all other parks. I love parks no matter what...they all have something to offer to everyone.

I have never heard Disney complain about Knott's use of theme park. I do know that prior to Cedar Fair that exec's from both parks were quite friendly with each other and visited each other quite often at both parks and other stuff. Knott's marketing staff also assisted the person from Disneyland who came up with the not-so scarey halloween event. (yeah I know it didn't do too well but the fact remains they do help each other).

Alex S.
07-11-2005, 12:18 AM
The question was not what was the first theme park but when was the phrase first used.

PragmaticIdealist, you say Walt Disney coined the term, can you provide some sourcing for that?

Opus1guy
07-11-2005, 07:38 AM
You know, in all the films and sound recordings I've seen and heard, and all the written quotes I've read from Walt Disney himself...I don't recall him ever using the term "Theme Park."

I've seen him use "Amusement enterprise" "Something different" "Something special" "A special place" "The park" and others. But I don't recall him using the specific term "Theme Park." Don't even recall him ever using the phrase "a themed park."

Not saying he didn't, and I half expect someone to quickly produce a quote where he does. It's just that I don't recall any.

Alex S.
07-11-2005, 02:43 PM
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the earliest print use of "theme park" that they've found is from the 1960 American People's Encyclopdia Yearbook which included this sentence on page 881:


While most established parks and kiddielands were profitable, the theme parks, seeking to duplicate Disneyland's success, were often in trouble.

fjhuerta
07-11-2005, 02:58 PM
Although they weren't named as such, I believe the first theme parks were Luna Park and Dreamland at Coney Island, circa 1900-s.

Both parks have certain details that make them look as close cousins to Disneyland... much like Tivoli Gardens did.