Anaheim is located around 40 kilometers from Los Angeles and not only delights the Walt Disney Land that is there. The city is also reminiscent of a piece of German-American history.
What do many USA fans think of first when they hear the word “California”? On dream beaches and San Francisco, perhaps, but definitely on Hollywood, Beverly Hills and of course Los Angeles. And what do you think of when it comes to Walt Disney and his amusement park empire? Then, of course, it’s about Florida and especially Orlando, where – among other things – Walt Disney World is at home. However, advanced learners can also bring California and Walt Disney together. The result is the city of Anaheim, which is about 40 kilometers from Los Angeles on the Pacific Ocean in Orange County. Not only is Walt Disney Land in Anaheim, Anaheim is also a reminder of an exciting piece of German-American history.
Anaheim is much of the land of Walt Disney
History has the quality of being in the past. For tourists coming to Anaheim, however, the attraction is more likely to be the present. It offers the oldest amusement and theme park that Walt Disney has to offer. “Walt Disney Land” in Anaheim was opened 60 years ago and since then, believe it or not, over 500 million visitors have been there. With its theme park, Anaheim was the pioneer for a whole series of similar parks, as can be found in many places around the world today with “Walt Disney World” in Orlando, “Walt Disney Resort Paris” and parks in Hong Kong and Shanghai. Incidentally, the Anaheim Park has lost none of its appeal despite or perhaps because of its age.
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The Disney headquarters in Burbanks, which is also in California, ensures that the park is continually modernized and equipped with new attractions. That was and is especially the case now, around the 60th birthday of the institution. Of course, this also applies to the “Disney California Adventure Park”, which has also been located in Anaheim since the beginning of the millennium. Together, the two parks have since formed the “ Disneyland Resort ”, where families not only meet Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, but can also take several days of adventure holidays in recreated Californian landscapes. You can find detailed information about Disneyland Resort Anaheim here.
Roller coasters aren’t unique to Walt Disney
The millions of visitors from all over the world that the Disneyland Resort attracts to Anaheim year after year have also aroused the desires of other amusement park operators. For example, in Buena, which is in the immediate vicinity of Anaheim, you can visit “Knott’s Berry Farm”. There are lots of roller coasters, wild water rides and other rides waiting for the guests. That may not sound particularly sensational, but it is still not uninteresting. After all, Berry Farm is one of the 20 best-visited amusement and theme parks in the USA.
Anyone who has been to Anaheim on business will likely know the Convention Center. A games fair, the “Blizzcon”, takes place there regularly. Every year in January, the industry also meets there for the largest music fair in the USA.
The founding fathers came from Bavaria
Anaheim is a very young city that has only been around since 1870. It arose from a settlement that German immigrants founded in 1857. Back then, 50 families came to this region of California one after the other to find better living conditions than at home. The very first settler there is said to have been a man named Daniel Krämer from Bavaria. The majority of the first Anaheimers came from Rothenburg ob der Tauber. The word component “heim” refers to the German founder pioneers to this day. “Ana”, however, has nothing to do with Germany. The first syllable of the name is a reference to the Santa Ana River that flows by here.
Anaheim at a glance
- Home of the very first Disney Park, today known around the world as the “Disneyland Resort”
- The founding fathers came from Germany
- The Anaheim Convention Center hosts major entertainment industry fairs each year
