27 Nostalgic Disneyland Photos and Facts You Probably Didn't Know
When we think of Disneyland today, we often think of this massive park with tons of attractions, crowded with people and extremely overpriced food. But that doesn't stop anyone from going to the park. No matter your age, it's a truly magical place to live out some of your favorite childhood movies in real life, complete with incredible rides and life-size replicas of some of the iconic features from Disney movies. But it didn't all start out that way. In fact, Disneyland only took a year to build, had 18 attractions, and wasn't an immediate success in its first year open to the public. Walt Disney had to make a lot of tweaks to the park before building the empire it is today. And when Walt was alive, you could actually see him walking around the park and interacting with customers. There are also a few other famous people who worked at Disneyland back in the day, but we won't spoil all of the good facts for you. Keep scrolling to see 30 nostalgic photos of Disneyland in its early days, as well as learn some cool facts about the park that you probably didn't know. And when you're done, round off your internet binge with A Magic Castle Full of 30 Hilarious Disney Memes to Fill Your Heart With Joy.
Disneyland was not an immediate success. On opening day, the weather was very hot, there were traffic jams around the park, and invitations were counterfeited so the guest count was much higher than anticipated.
Rides broke down and the live TV broadcast had many technical glitches. While that first day was rough and critics voiced their complains, it didn't stop the crowds. In its first year the park welcomed approximately 3.6 million visitors.
Walt Disney was inspired to build Disneyland after taking his daughters to ride the merry-go-round at L.A.’s Griffith Park. The actual bench he sat on when he came up with the idea is on display at Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln on Main Street.
Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty Castle is the only Disney park castle with a real functioning drawbridge. The drawbridge has been used twice: once on opening day and the second for the opening of the remodeled Fantasyland.
Contrary to popular belief, the golden spike that is located on the ground just after walking through Sleeping Beauty Castle is not the exact center of the park. Rather, it was used to center the castle to Main Street, U.S.A.
The shop with the little patio on Main Street actually used to be a shop called Intimate apparel. Yes, you could buy bras inside Disneyland. It was also known as The Wizard of Bras. The shop only lasted six months.
John Lasseter, co-founder of Pixar and Cheif Creative Officer of all things Animation at Disney worked as a Jungle Cruise Skipper in the 1970s, he too, returned at the 50th Anniversary and worked a shift.
Disneyland used to have ticket books, guests paid a small General Admission fee to enter the Park, then purchased books with tickets to enjoy the attractions.
Tickets were labeled "A" through "E" and corresponded to set attractions. "E" tickets corresponded to the most popular and thrilling rides, which is why you might sometimes hear an attraction like Space Mountain referred to as an "E ticket attraction."
A time capsule was buried on July 17, 1995 — which was the 40th anniversary of Disneyland — in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle. It will be unearthed on July 17, 2035, which is the 80th anniversary of Disneyland.