Happy 59th Anniversary to Disneyland!

Sleeping Beauty Castle

Today is the 59th anniversary of Disneyland Park in Anaheim, CA. It really is the legacy of one mans dream to build a place where the parents and their children can have fun together. True to his word, the park has continued to evolve and change as Walt once said: "As long as there is imagination left in the world, Disneyland will never be complete.".

Early History

In the 1950s, Walt would begin making plans for Disneyland which he originally intended to be in a small space across the street from his studio in Burbank, CA. But when he began to have more ideas, he knew that small piece of land would not be able to hold them. He looked at other areas that could have bigger land. He then found that big land in an Orange Grove in Anaheim. The city was in the neighboring Orange County and was an hour away from LA. Walt looked around the groves and ultimately decided to purchase the land and construction soon began in 1954 and completed in just a years time. Media day was held on July 17, 1955 and immediately saw some problems. First, the weather was scorching, temperatures over 100. The asphalt wasn't dried all the way and a plumbers strike didn't make it any better as Walt had to choose if water was going to be in the toilets or water fountains (he chose the toilets). And to top it all off, a gas leak in Fantasyland forced that land plus Frontierland and Adventureland to shut down for the afternoon leaving Main Street and Tomorrowland open (5 lands were originally built). That day became known as Black Sunday and many wondered how Disneyland would survive. As fate would have it, the park recovered and just 3 months later, the 1 millionth guest walked through the gate.

Walt's Final Years

Walt Disney's habit of chain smoking would get to him in the 60s but that did not stop him from planning his first and only expansion for the park that he would oversee himself. He planned for a new land and 2 major attractions which was New Orleans Square with its 2 signature attractions which are Pirates and the Haunted Mansion. He also planned a 2nd apartment in the land as he had one on the 2nd level of the fire dept on Main Street.  Unfortunately, while he saw the opening of New Orleans Square (which was the last major appearance he made in his park), he did not live to see the opening of Pirates and Mansion which opened years after his death in December of 1966. Now the company and the park would have to move on without him, but his vision was not lost in his Imagineers who will now carry on his legacy. 5 years later in Florida, his brother Roy would call the property "Walt Disney World" in his memory.

Post-Walt

From the 70s-mid 90's the park would see attractions come and gone, seeing such attractions like the Mine Train to Rainbow Ridge replaced by Big Thunder in 1979 and Splash Mountain opening in 1989 sharing its birthday with the park. In 1992, the Park debuted its first major nighttime spectacular since debuting the Main Street Electrical Parade in the 70s: Fantasmic!. Around that time, the Company was in the stages of expanding the park into a multi-day resort. Already the park had 2 hotels (1 built by Disney and 1 purchased which was located next to the Disneyland Hotel) and the company had just gotten control of the Anaheim Angels and placed their NHL Expansion team (Mighty Ducks of Anaheim) in the nearby Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (Later renamed Honda Center) so the company sought to build a new theme park in the big parking lot for Disneyland. Originally to be a West Coast version of Epcot, the park eventually was planned as "Disneys California Adventure" which opened in 2001. They also opened a shopping district known as Downtown Disney which is a smaller version of its counterpart in Walt Disney World which had been in operation for over 30 years at that point. While the shopping district enjoyed levels of success, the new theme park struggled in its first years. The Resort presidents also failed to keep Disneyland in proper condition which saw things like paint coming off and poor show upkeep in attractions which ultimately culminated in an incident on Big Thunder in 2003 which resulted in a death. In 2003, the company appointed Matt Ouimet as the Resorts new president after Cynthia Harris's contract expired (Resort President terms is 3 years.) and he immediately went to work in restoring as much as possible in time for the 50th anniversary of the park in 2005. Several attractions were closed for multiple months such as the Indiana Jones Adventure while Space Mountain was closed for 2 years. By 2005, the work paid off and the result was a refreshed Disneyland with golden accents to celebrate the parks 50th Anniversary. While other Disney Parks around the world celebrated the 50th as part of "The Happiest Celebration on Earth" Disneyland celebrated with the "Happiest Homecoming on Earth". The 50th celebrations ran until October 2006. Since then, the park has enjoyed tremendous popularity as more and more visit and some become Annual Passholders like myself.

Me and Mickey Mouse

Me and Disneyland

My obsession with Disney and Disneyland didn't begin until 2005, the year I became an Annual Passholder for the park. When I got that pass, I never thought how much I would become attached to this park until weeks later when I began visiting every Saturday. In the first months I would always leave after the first Fantasmic performance (Regularly at 9pm) but now leave when the park closes at midnight. In that first year, I began dwelling into the history of Disney and began to rediscover the child in me. I had watched several Disney movies when I was a small child but I wasn't a big fan then, and the small visits to the park when I was small didn't make me a fan back then either. Since 2005, I've met a lot of amazing people from other Annual Passholders, tourists from out of state and even Cast Members that work there. The memories I made there are memories I'll never forget and its place I can call my 2nd home.

From Friends

To memories that will last a lifetime