Disneyland Opening Anniversary – July 17 – in 1955

Eriks Draiska
Published on July 8, 2016

Disneyland Opening Anniversary – July 17 – in 1955

To all who come to this happy place, Welcome.
Disneyland is your land.
Here age relives fond memories of the past and here youth may savour the challenge and promise of the future.
Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams and the hard facts which have created America… with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world.
So, said Walt Disney on July 17, 1955

Enjoy a video which documented the Disneyland Opening day.

After one full year of rigorous construction demands and a total investment of $17 million (~ $150M Now). Walt Disney’s very first theme park Disneyland opened its gates to invited guests at 2:30PM on Sunday July 17, 1955 in Anaheim, California. It was open to the Public on the following day.

Television crews, Art Linkletter, Ronald Reagan, Bob Cummings, the Mouseketeers, Thurl Ravenscroft, California Governor Goodwin J. Knight and over 28,000 guests witnessed Disneyland opening & Walt’s dream come to fruition. Broadcast on ABC at 4:30PM, it was the biggest live telecast to date.

Other celebrities visiting Disneyland Opening that day included Frank Sinatra, Jerry Lewis, Sammy Davis Jr., Danny Thomas, Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher.

If you don’t know some of these names, ask you parents or grandparents.

Actor Ronald Reagan (who would later become president of the United States) introduced 53-year-old Walt Disney – “And now, Walt Disney will step forward to read the dedication of Disneyland.” Walt christened his 160-acre (~65 Hectares) park with these now famous words (penned by Winston Hibler) as above.

The park offered 5 themed lands with a total of 18 attractions. The Disneyland opening was by invitation only on this day, given to studio workers, construction workers, the press and officials of company sponsors. (The park opened to the general public the following day – July 18.)

The Disneyland opening on July 17th, 1955, it was not exactly a perfect beginning. Because tickets to the grand opening were counterfeited, a surprising 28,000-plus attended.

This photograph shows just some of the stampeding crowds that plagued the park. Employees also had to deal with traffic jams, broken attractions, food shortages, a lack of water as well as a gas leak in Fantasyland. Even a chunk of window from the Mark Twain Steamboat crashed on the head of an invited state senator!

Disneyland Opening Day 17 July 1955

July 17, 1955 was known by Disneyland old-timers as “Black Sunday” (because of the numerous mishaps) … yet in those first 7 weeks more than a million people walked down Disneyland’s Main Street USA!

Disneyland has certainly recovered from the initial chaos of its opening.

When you are thinking of selling, call us. We’ll make sure there is no chaos in your preparations as well.
Maybe you could use the extra money from the sale to take your family to your own Disneyland Opening… we’ll sneak into your suitcase.

To find out more, you’re welcome to call 08 83961100 and arrange a chat.
Alternatively Book a Free Consult or visit www.SellOur.Home.com.au
Feel free to browse the rest of our Blog for more tips tricks and helpful info you can use.

Thanks for reading
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