For more than 15 years, Owen and Dolly Pope lived peacefully in Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California. Here’s how this American couple managed to go unnoticed for so long…
It’s a story worthy of a film that the newspaper tells today San Francisco Chronicle. Owen and Dolly Pope, an American couple, lived for more than 15 years in the famous Disneyland theme park. Located in Anaheim, California, this park is one of the busiest in the world with more than 18 million visitors per year. Nothing to call into question the effectiveness of the security service, however, since this crazy story dates back several decades ago.
It was in 1955 that Dolly and Owen Pope, both equestrian show specialists, had been recruited by Walt Disney himself ! The founder of the Disney empire had indeed been captivated by one of their performances while attending a show a few years earlier.
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An American couple recruited by Walt Disney himself
In July 1955, when the Disneyland amusement park located in Anaheim, near Los Angeles, California, opened, Walt Disney then thought of them to take care of the horses and acclimatize them to the tumults of the park. but also perform some shows. The couple accepts this tempting offer and become employees of the park.
“The Popes also oversaw the manufacturing of horse-related equipment. From the earliest stages of planning Disneyland, stagecoaches, buckboards and trolleys were to be some of the main attractions. we learn in the columns of the specialized site Disneyhistory101.
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A peaceful life in the amusement park
Against all odds, Dolly and Owen Pope had obtained the right to live within the park itself. Walt Disney actually asked them where they would like to settle down and obviously very appreciated by their boss, the two employees had chosen to settle in the former Witherill housethe former owners having sold the land to the Disney company.
Dolly and Owen Pope happily took over the house and lived there peacefully for years… even though visitors passed by every day, without suspecting that a couple resided there. After living for sixteen years inside the famous amusement park, the couple finally moved in 1971 and headed to Florida where another Disneyland park opened its doors. to the public. Their home has also become an emblem of the park because threatened with destruction for the benefit of an extension dedicated to the Star Wars universe, it was preserved and moved to another part of the backstage of the Californian park.
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Disneyland: an empire spanning three continents
Did you know, Today there are 6 Disneyland parks around the world. Disneyland Resort located in Anaheim, California is in the very first having opened its doors in 1955. It now includes 29 attractions and attracts 18 million visitors per year. In October 1971, the Walt Disney World Resort then opened in Orlando (Florida) in the United States. It includes 4 theme parks and 2 water parks and attracts 20 million visitors annually.
The Disney universe was then exported to land in Japan where the Tokyo Disneyland opened in Urayasu in April 1983. More than 17 million visitors pass there each year. Our pretty Disneyland Paris which is located in Marne-la-Vallée in France opened its doors in April 1992. Its 59 attractions attract more than 9 million visitors per year. Finally, there are two other Disneyland parks in Chinanamely one in Hong Kong (opened in 2005) and one in Shanghai (opened in 2016).
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