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 As TV, radio, and newspapers throughout the country cover the grand opening of Disneyland's California
Adventure, and huge crowds vie for tickets, it seems like a timely moment to take a trip down memory lane and visit another
grand opening: July 17, 1955, when the first crowds of eager visitors made their way across the drawbridge of Sleeping Beauty's
castle into Disneyland.
Back in the early 1950s, Anaheim was a sleepy little town, and the area around
it was nothing more than acres and acres of orange groves. Enter Walt Disney, the original Imagineer. Disney's initial idea
was to build a park near his Burbank studio for his employees and their families, but those plans changed over time and his
dream grew.
He bought over 160 acres of those sleepy orange groves around Anaheim and set about,
in 1954, building his "Magic Kingdom." Original plans called for a 9 million dollar 45-acre park, but by opening day the park
covered 160 acres and had cost 17 million. Opening day was a gala affair: The ceremonies were broadcast live on ABC with Art
Linkletter and Robert (Bob) Cummings as hosts, with celebrities like Ronald Reagan, and VIPs like the Governor of California
also in attendance.
In 1955 the park consisted of 5 "lands": Main Street, Fantasyland, Adventureland,
Frontierland, and Tomorrowland. Many of the rides were not finished. Adventureland had only one ride: the Jungle Cruise. Tomorrowland
had more exhibits than rides. Landmarks we are all familiar with were absent in 1955: neither the Matterhorn nor the Monorial
had been built yet. There were rides and exhibits that are now long gone: the Aluminum Hall of Fame, Rocket to the Moon, a
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea exhibit (a movie tie-in!), and Space Station X-1 in Tomorrowland, and stage coach rides in Frontierland.
Fantasyland had rides that are still open today: King Arthur Carousel, Snow White's Adventures, Dumbo, and the kid-terrifying
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, but was missing the Autopia (1956), and It's a Small World (1966).
The park was
turning a profit by its second year of operation, and new rides were soon planned. The Viewliner train in 1957 whisked visitors
between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. The Matterhorn, Submarine Voyage, and the Monorail opened in 1959.
Today Disney Inc. is global, with theme parks in Florida, Paris, and Tokyo, a cruise line in the Bahamas, a cable and network
TV presence. To quote Jiminey Cricket:
When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will
come to you.
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