Home > Pavilion > Cast Members > Playing a Role With the creation of Disneyland, Walt Disney defined a new style of entertainment. There had been amusement parks for decades, but Walt's park would be something different. Central to Walt's vision, was the idea of "show". The entire park would be a carefully-crafted show, from the "prologue" that is Main Street, to the many adventures beyond. An extraordinary amount of detail created an immersive environment that would transport guests from the "real world" into Disney's world of fantasy and wonder. Everything was planned, from the positioning of the "lands" (with the sun rising over Tomorrowland on the east side of the park, and setting on Fronteirland at the west), to the scale of buildings, even the theming of trash cans. Perhaps the most important element of all was the "Cast". When Disneyland first opened, Walt relied on outside people to staff his park, and opened the park to concessions run by outsiders. He quickly found that many of these people were often rude or unkempt, like the carnival operators that he so disliked and wanted to avoid in his park. As soon as it was feasible to do so, he created his own work force, trained in the "The Disney Way", and created a "Cast" for the "Show" that was Disneyland. Everyone from a street sweeper to a stage performer was "cast" for their role in the show, and expected to remain fully "in character" while "onstage" (in guest areas of the park). Cast Members don't just push buttons or corral guests into rides; they facilitate every element of a smooth operation of the parks, and more than anything, they make guests feel welcome, energized, and immersed in the show.