Disneyland once turned Main Street into a massive swimming pool

Disneyland's Olympic-sized pool on Main Street contained over 100,000 gallons of water. Shown on Oct. 5, 2004, in Anaheim, Calif. (Carlo Allegri/Getty Images)
Disneyland has pulled some large-scale publicity stunts in its time - hosting "One More Disney Day" events where the parks stayed open for a full 24 hours, or throwing a 60-hour party to launch Michael Jackson's 3D show "Captain EO" in 1986 - but none have been as ambitious, or as logistically improbable, as its 2004 Swim with the Stars event.
For that, Disneyland brought in Olympians after they competed in the 2004 Athens games, including Michael Phelps, to swim at the park. But they didn't swim in an existing body of water. They went straight down Main Street, in an enormous pool that held more than 100,000 gallons of water. More than that, it had to be built and torn down in the middle of park operations, all within view of guests, directly blocking most of the primary path in and out of the theme park.
"We decided that the best way to celebrate Michael Phelps' Olympic victory visit to Disneyland was to build him an Olympic size swimming pool right on Main Street U.S.A.," Duncan Wardle, former head of Innovation & Creativity at Disney, recalled on his blog. "A pool that had to be constructed and filled in a mere 36 hours."

Olympic gold medalists Michael Phelps, center, Ian Crocker, left, and Lenny Krayzelburg, right, pose with Mickey Mouse after they swam in the pool on Main Street at Disneyland, Oct. 5, 2004, in Anaheim, Calif. (Carlo Allegri/Getty Images)
The event was part of a national tour, sponsored by the Walt Disney Co., which comprised Phelps (then an eight-time Olympic medalist) and teammates Ian Crocker and Lenny Krayzelburg, who had also won gold medals at that year's games. At each city's Swim with the Stars event, the Olympians not only raced but also swam relays with young local athletes.
"Disney is all about turning dreams into realities and through this tour it's our goal to share the spirit of accomplishment and pride these great athletes generated in Athens with the gold medal winners of tomorrow in communities across the country," Jay Rasulo, then president of Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, said in a news release that August. "There is nothing more important than sparking the imaginations of our kids and making them realize that anything is possible - Michael Phelps, Ian Crocker and Lenny Krayzelburg proved in Greece that dreams can become realities."
The tour kicked off on Aug. 31, 2004, at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, and then went to Atlanta, New York City, Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Seattle and San Francisco before ending on Oct. 4 and 5 at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, Calif.

A youth swimmer, center right, and Olympic gold medalists Ian Crocker, left, Michael Phelps, center left, and Lenny Krayzelburg, right, prepare to swim in the pool on Main Street at Disneyland, Oct. 5, 2004, in Anaheim, Calif. (Carlo Allegri/Getty Images)
In the other cities, the tour used local swimming facilities that already had a regulation 50-meter-long pool. But at Disneyland, the spectacle had to be bigger: It had to be in the park itself, in clear view of Sleeping Beauty Castle (which was actually under refurbishment and totally covered at the time) and the Main Street Railroad Station. The construction was a logistical nightmare. Essentially every person entering Disneyland, unless they were taking the monorail into Tomorrowland, had to squeeze around the massive structure, which roughly followed Olympic regulation dimensions for its three lanes: It measured 24 feet across and 164 feet long, with a depth of 3.5 feet. The pool held 103,944 gallons of water and was heated to 80 degrees.
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"That was a challenge in itself because Disneyland is quite small and it's not a lot a square footage to do that, but I did it," Bernadette Datka, former vice president of events and global strategy at the Walt Disney Co., recalled on "The Feminist Exec" podcast.
"But in the process of doing it, I messed up the power and the electricity," she added. While the pool had power, it caused a widespread blackout elsewhere. "I knocked the entire park off of an electric grid ... They couldn't get the power back on. I blew the power for this little chunk of Anaheim, California."

Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps waves to supporters as he arrives on Main Street at Disneyland for an event where he will swim in a pool on Main Street, Oct. 5, 2004, in Anaheim, Calif. (Carlo Allegri/Getty Images)
Despite the power issues and the huge disruption to Main Street traffic, the event was a hit. Crowds packed Main Street in the hopes of seeing the Olympians. "As the Olympic medalists arrived, the cheering and loud greetings were almost deafening," Frank Anzalone wrote for Disney blog MousePlanet at the time. "These men were not only great athletes; they were treated like celebrities and heartthrob hunks. Many in the crowd held up handmade signs with well wishes and pictures." There were even a handful with phone numbers and invitations for Phelps to reach out in the hopes of a love connection.
The three Olympians greeted the crowd, and then swam a four-leg relay race with youth swimmers from Southern California. Each team had three local athletes, ranging in age from 5 to 15, and was anchored by either Phelps, Crocker or Krayzelburg. The youngest swimmers started the race, but before long, one of them started to tire.
"Little 5-year-old Paul Lovely [on Crocker's team] was trying his hardest but not making much headway against the other swimmers," Anzalone wrote. "The three Olympic swimmers noticed this, and dove into the pool to swim out to him. In a touching moment perfect for the Happiest Swimming Pool on Earth, the men surrounded Paul and helped him to the end of his relay leg." The crowd was audibly moved by the gesture. After the races, Phelps took some time to talk to Lovely personally, but what he said wasn't recorded.

Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps waves to supporters as he departs Main Street at Disneyland, in Anaheim, Calif., on Oct. 5, 2004. (Carlo Allegri/Getty Images)
As much as the event was a race, there was a real spirit of camaraderie among the swimmers. "At the end of the second leg, the other two swimmers waited until Ian's team caught up," David Michael wrote for Jim Hill Media at the time. "Then the 15 year olds raced down Main Street to the Olympians, which then took the final leg, in which Michael Phelps won by just a hair."
After the race, each of the young swimmers received a Mickey-shaped medal. Then it was time to break down the pool. Setup took a day and a half, but its removal was much faster. In keeping with Disney's particular brand of magic, employees made the pool vanish in under 20 hours.
"Since I was a kid, I've dreamed of winning the gold medal and shouting ‘I'm going to Disney World,'" Phelps said in the Disney news release. "Now I'm really doing it." Many athletes have yelled out the triumphant cry over the decades. Not all of them get to take a victory lap, literally, down Main Street.
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