“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 savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams and the hard facts that have created America…with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world.” — Walt Disney’s Disneyland Dedication Speech on July 17, 1955

On this day in 1955, Disneyland officially opened its gates to guests for the first time. It’s fairly well known by now, but the day itself was actually a quite the disaster. The park, which was only supposed to opened to set amount of invited guests, was completely overcrowded and overwhelmed due to a large number of counterfeit tickets being sold (as well as some people even resorting to sneaking over the fences). Venders ran out of food, traffic was backed up for hours in the area, and drinking fountains ran dry (due to a local plumbers strike). On top of everything, it was over 100 degrees out and there are reports that women’s high heels were sinking into the aphalt. The asphalt had just been poured that morning in a last minute effort to finish the park on time. Walt would go on to refer to the day as Black Sunday, a name which has stuck to this day.

Luckily, despite scathing media reviews of the first day, this story went on to have a happy ending. After a strong re-do the following day, Disneyland would go to welcome 1 million visitors in its first ten weeks of operation. Furthermore, it went on to define the American theme park. Whether it is at Disneyland in California, or Walt Disney World in Florida, visiting a Disney park has become an American rite of passage for children of generations to come.  Continue reading “Happy Birthday Disneyland”