Anaheim, California

         Walt Disney was a small-town boy, who started off with small dreams. At the family farm, he started to draw, realizing that he had a passion for it. They lived near the railway line, and he fell in love with trains. When they moved to Kansas City in 1911, Walt picked up Saturday courses at the Kansas City Art Institute and begun what would prove to be a long-standing love of cartooning. Fast forward to the grown man who started an empire, and we have the 1950’s Walt Disney, a husband, a father and a fairly successful man, despite box office sales. Being a family man, he often took his daughters to Griffith Park in Los Angeles and had an idea: there should be a clean, unspoiled place for both children and their parents to enjoy themselves.
 

       In March 1952, he started plotting to build a theme park in Burbank, near Disney studios. However, his plans were bigger than the space allowed and he found a new location 35 miles south of the studio, in Anaheim. Out of his own pocket, he created a separate organization with which to work on this project. This organization was called WED Enterprises, and its staff were the first “Imagineers.” Walt sent his Imagineers all over the country in 1954 to use the current theme parks as a baseline for what works and what doesn’t. Construction on this park started months later, in July of 1954. 
 

      Disneyland, the 1955 park, was built in one year, opening on July 17, 1955. To modern day standards, this is completely unheard of. Walt Disney started a television program on the American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres network, a subsidiary of American Broadcasting Company, after being turned down by both CBS and NBC. The show had many names over the years but its content was aimed at showing people what they can expect from Disneyland in the time to come. 
 

     Each land that Walt envisioned was represented in his show, and connected with a specific show or genre. For example, Frontierland was very much inspired and endorsed by Davy Crockett, as well as American history, specifically the Old West. Fantasyland would be represented by talking about cartoons, the making of cartoons and how they put together a sequence to create a short and eventually, full-length animated films. Tomorrowland was dedicated to all things of the future, cutting edge science and ideas.
 

    The opening day for Disneyland was called Black Sunday. Televised for the nation to see, things went wrong all over the park. Hosted by Walt’s friends from Hollywood, Art Linkletter, Bob Cummings and Ronald Reagan took us land-by-land and gave us the first look of the unique theme park. Guests tripped over television camera cables, the audio wasn’t consistent, and the program was slapped together at best. Traffic was backed up on Harbor Boulevard, which was only two lanes at the time. All the celebrities showed up at once, the park was overran by people who had counterfeit tickets or simply climbed the fence. Disney had a plumbers’ strike and was forced between running toilets or working drinking fountains. He chose the former, while guests were baking in the 101 degree weather. Restaurants and vendors ran out of food, rides broke down everywhere, and the fresh asphalt (which had been poured that morning) was swallowing women’s heels down the walkways.
 

    All of that aside, the broadcast reached 90 million viewers. There were eighteen opening day attractions and people were transported to a different universe after walking through the gate. Disney assured Black Sunday was not going to be the standard for operation, and within a month, this was true. By September, Disneyland has welcomed its one millionth guest. By October, five million guests had come through the gates. 
 

During this time, Disneyland was charging a gate admission and charging at the attractions, much like a county fair. Depending on the “thrill level” of the ride, it was worth different tickets. 
A.    This ticket could get you a ride down Main Street on the horse-drawn wagon.
B.    This ticket could get you on the Casey Jr Circus Train.
C.    This ticket could get you a ride on Peter Pan’s Flight or the Mad Tea Party.
Soon they had to add a “D” ticket. In 1956, when the Skyway between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland was opened, that was listed as a “D” ticket. When the “E” ticket was added in 1959, there was Matterhorn Bobsleds and the Monorail to Disneyland Hotel.
 

    Walt Disney believed that Disneyland would never be fully complete. Not to say that the park wouldn’t be a success but to imply that Disneyland could keep growing and shifting and evolving with time. And grow it has.
•    In 1959, Tomorrowland had its first expansion.
•    In 1966, New Orleans Square cut out a chunk of where Adventureland and Frontierland met. Tomorrowland was outdated and got a complete redesign.
•     In 1972, Bear Country took over the far side of Frontierland.
•     In 1982, a major renovation to Fantasyland occurred.
•    In 1988, Bear Country was renamed Critter Country in anticipation for the new log flume ride, Splash Mountain.
•     In 1993, Mickey’s Toontown opened. 
•    In 1995, Tomorrowland began its renovation, reopening in 1998.
•    A second gate and hotel, as well as a shopping district, opened in 2001; taking the place of the original parking lot was a brand new park themed for California. The Downtown Disney district allowed the Disney magic to spill out of the opening gate and down to the new location of the Disneyland Hotel – which had moved further from the park.
•     In 2004, the park underwent major renovations in preparation for the 50th anniversary, restoring attractions and decorating the park with gold. 
•    In 2015, the park celebrated 60 years, decorating the park in diamonds. 
•    In 2019, Disneyland opened a new land, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, an immersive environment straight out of the movies.
Who knows what Disneyland is yet to bring?

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More to come as the Disneyland Resort moves forward with their new initiative to expand Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure to create more immersive and exciting entertainment.