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As the mastermind behind creations like Mickey Mouse, the Davy Crockett television series, and the motion picture Mary Poppins, Walt Disney hated repeating himself. He stayed away from producing sequels, and insisted each new film, television, and animation project was different and more innovative than the last. After Disneylandd in 1955, he was approached many times to build another Magic Kingdom. Offers of free land came from all over the United States, as well as several foreign countries. Building "just another theme park" was not what he wanted to do.
All that changed when Walt began developing four attractions for the 1964 New York World’s Fair: General Electric’s Carousel of Progress, Ford’s Magic Skyway, Pepsi-Cola’s It’s a Small World, and the State of Illinois’ Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. He became absorbed with the amazing technological achievements created by his staff of designers, artists, and builders, whom he called "Imagineers." As the attractions were unveiled to the public, he mulled over those concepts, looking for ways to expand them further into the public domain.
The idea of an East Coast "project" became more interesting now, and more feasible. Although he was uncertain about what would be featured in this project, he decided to move forward. But he needed land. A lot of it. Whatever would be built would have to be big enough to let Guests escape from the real world. Walt learned this valuable lesson at the Disneyland Park. When planning the California attraction, he bought only enough land to build it on. The expanding Los Angeles population and subsequent tourist hotels and restaurants grew up around the theme park in the years that followed, crushing his desired plans to keep the real world away from his land of make-believe.
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