[2] On February 21, 1997, its first location opened to the public at the Westlake Promenade in Thousand Oaks, California, with Eisner present alongside Mickey Mouse and Goofy.

The protestors called themselves Alliance for Democracy and claimed workers in Haiti made 28 cents an hour to make Pocahontas pajamas.

[9][11] The locations were designed for repeated visits of 3 hours in length with a fixed entry fee, and to draw in customers from a 30-mile radius.

To expand visits beyond the weekend there were multiple weekday admission programs, school groups' educational field trips, themed birthday parties and multi-session workshops.

An example multi-session workshop was Poohrobics, a parent and child stretching and exercise program led by Winnie the Pooh for 10 weeks.