July 17, 2023 – Disneyland

On this day in 1955, Disneyland opened in California! It was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney originally envisioned creating a tourist attraction next to his studios in Burbank for fans who wanted to visit, but quickly realized that the site was too small for all of his ideas. So he bought a 160-acre site near Anaheim in 1953, and construction of the park started in July 1954.
Just a year later, the park opened with an “International Press Preview”. Opening day was a bit of a disaster. Around 28,000 people crowded the park, but only half were invited. The rest purchased counterfeit tickets or just climbed over the park’s fence. It was a scorching 101 degrees that day, and there happened to be a plumbers strike at the time. Disney had a choice of either working toilets or drinking fountains, and he decided to go with the bathrooms. So many drinking fountains were dry and the park was running out of food and drinks from their vendors. Workers were still painting buildings around the park and planting trees, and several rides were still under construction. It was so bad that Disney and his 1955 executives called the day “Black Sunday”.
Despite the negative press, the park was a huge hit, selling its millionth ticket just 2 months later. Today, Disneyland has the largest cumulative attendance of any other theme park in the world, with 757 million visits since it opened. Last year, it had around 16.9 million visitors, making it the 2nd most visited amusement park in the world, after Magic Kingdom. Learn more here.