Disneyland, California, 1987
Festival planning
(with Management Resources)


Just west and north of the Disney park in Anaheim was a forty acre plot used for growing strawberries. Recently revitalized under the new leadership of Michael Eisner, the Walt Disney Company was on the lookout for new ways to promote business, and saw in the "strawberry patch" a potential site for activities that could enhance Disneyland's attendance during the shoulder season. Management Resources was contracted to develop operating and site plans; MR in turn engaged Hamilton McClymont of Alpha Projects to create festival programming models.

The planning team developed options for a month long world festival, incorporating culture, entertainment, sports and horticulture (in the "strawberry patch") as its main themes, and operating both inside and outside Disneyland itself. In the end, the Walt Disney Company declined to pursue the spring festival concept, opting to invest its capital in the "Indiana Jones Adventure" project instead. Interestingly, Variety reported in July 2000, that the Walt Disney Company is investigating expanding Disneyland activities on an agricultural site just south and east of the park.