Mousewarming Party: The opening of Disneyland, California
Disneyland in Anaheim, California, has been billed as the “Happiest Place on Earth.” And it may very well be that — as long as you’re not the one footing the bill for admission, food and souvenirs.
But there was one day Disneyland was not a happy place. That was July 17, 1955 — 70 years ago today — the day Disneyland held what’s now known as “a soft opening” for a select number of invited guests.
It was such a disaster that for years, Walt Disney and his team referred to that day as “Black Sunday.”
A Huge Undertaking, After All
Walt Disney loved model trains and had a ridable train ride installed in his Beverly Hills back yard. But he wanted to make it easier for families and kids to share his enjoyment.
Disney considered building a playground on the corner of the property of his animation studio. But he disliked the state of amusement parks of the mid-1950s. He found them to be dirty and not very family-friendly.
From this grew the idea of what he called “Walt Disney’s America.” “I don’t want to just entertain kids with pony rides and slides and swings,” he said. “I want them to learn something about their heritage.”
Walt’s brother and business partner, Roy, secured a $9 million loan from bankers in New York, based solely on an early sketch Disney’s designers came up with. Walt and his folks then drew up a partnership with ABC. Disney would create a weekly, hour-long TV series during which he could promote his vision. And the network would help fund construction. What would later become known as “The Wonderful World of Disney” was, at first, titled “Disneyland.”
Walt’s team selected an orange grove near Anaheim for the site of his park. Walt worked closely with his designers to come up with a park that would provide an interesting canvas for Walt’s ideas. He preached the idea of “wienies”: a reward held out in front of guests to keep them moving toward their next goal.
Just beyond the front gate, a train station and a gorgeous, old-timey main street. Then a magical castle. And then a hub where they could spot other “wienies” beyond those.
Walt Disney shows plans to officials of Orange County, Calif. The county had to change its building codes to allow for what Walt’s team came up with.
Disneyland kicked off its preview day with a 90-minute live TV special hosted by actors Ronald Reagan and Bob Cummings and TV host Art Linkletter.
Children race through Cinderella’s Castle to Fantasyland, where they could find a number of attractions open that day, including the Mad Tea Party,Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride and King Arthur’s Carousel.
An Awfully Goofy Opening Day
Disney’s team broke ground in July 1954 with the intent of opening the park a year later. But that turned out to be a tough deadline to make.
A number of rides and attractions simply weren’t finished in time. A plumber’s strike in early 1955 meant Walt was forced to choose between working drinking fountains or working toilets. Realizing guests could buy Pepsi to drink, Walt picked the latter.
Opening day was scheduled for Monday, July 18. But Walt decided to hold an “invitation only” event on Sunday, July 17 that would be nationally televised. His team sent out 6,000 invitations to studio and construction workers, sponsors and the press. But counterfeiters printed up bogus tickets that were identical to the real things. More than 28,000 showed up that day.
The surrounding community was unprepared for the onslaught. The Santa Ana Freeway that led from Los Angeles to the park was backed up for seven miles. When guests did enter the park, they found lots of wet paint and incomplete landscaping. Walt had workers post signs with Latin plant names so guests would think weeds were supposed to be there.
Asphalt along the Main Street U.S.A. walkway hadn’t been poured until the day before. Women in high heels found their shoes stuck in the pavement.
Within hours, the park’s concession stands began to run out of food. This was on a day when the temperature had risen to more than 100 degrees.
About 500 people loaded onto the Mark Twain Riverboat ride, causing the riverboat to go off its track and get stuck in the mud. That caused Disneyland officials to realize there needed to be a passenger limit for that ride.
And a gas leak caused park officials to close Adventureland, Fantasyland and Frontierland for a few hours. Flames were seen around Sleeping Beauty’s Castle.
If you look closely, you can detect one of the favorite tricks of Disneyland’s designers: The windows of Cinderella’s Castle get smaller as your gaze moves upward. This creates an optical illusion, causing many of the buildings at Disneyland to look taller than they actually are. The castle is only 72 feet tall.
Coming Attractions
Some of Disneyland’s most-loved attractions didn’t open until later.
August 1955 - Dumbo the Flying Elephant
June 1959 - Monorail
June 1963 - Enchanted Tiki Room
July 1965 - Great Moments withMr. Lincoln
May 1966 - It’s a Small World
March 1967 - Pirates of the Caribbean
August 1969 - Haunted Mansion
May 1977 - Space Mountain
January 1993 - Mickey’s Toontown
Annuakl Attendance At Disneyland
The cost of admission to Disneyland in 1955 was $1. That would be, um, $12.04 in 2025 dollars.
