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The lessons provided by Disneyland were put to their first serious test in 1961, when a barren stretch of land midway between Dallas and Fort Worth was taken over by the Great Southwest Corp. and built into the site of Six Flags over Texas, an $18 million, 40-acre imitation Disneyland that even Disney employees concede is a "pretty good job." Following Disney's rules, it has thematic sections (one for each flag) and such thrilling rides as the Runaway Train trip through a series of mock 1890s-style hazards. To date, some 11 million paying visitors have loved the park, and the Disneyland Effect has taken place right on schedule: new hotels, motels, shopping centers and apartment projects have appeared in a broad swath around the park, and the fun area has become the center of an unplanned but prosperous new town.
Money & Fun. Next to come is the California Exposition, a permanent, year-round state fair just five minutes from Sacramento. Opening on July 1, it will feature a vast amusement park, an exhibition center, a race track and artificial lakes. The $20 million project, which is designed for the enjoyment of all the family, covers 630 acres. Estimates are that in the next twelve years the Exposition will draw 50 million people, gross some $330 million for the state—and in the process create a sizable boom for Sacramento.
The ultimate test of the thesis will be the brand-new Walt Disney city in central Florida now being built from scratch on 43 square miles of swampy flatlands. The first nucleus, programmed to open in 1970, will in effect be a Disneyland East, and already 400 acres have been cleared and a system of dams, lakes and canals is being constructed. Linked to the fun city by monorail there will eventually be an experimental, radially designed city and a 1,000-acre industrial park. But the locomotive pulling them all will be Disney's Amusement Theme Park, a mecca for fun lovers that will support every other part of a Disney world. All this, of course, is in accordance with the Disneyland Effect's guiding maxim: Money is where the fun is.
* In 1937, when he was only 24 years old, Hofheinz was elected judge of Houston's Harris County, served until 1944.