Celebrating its 70th anniversary this year, Disneyland opened its gates to the world on July 17, 1955. The gala Opening Day of Disneyland was a culmination of years of dreaming and work on several successful films and other forms of media.
In that first year, general admission was $1 for adults and 50 cents for children! Although opening day was referred to by some at the time as “Black Sunday” due to operational problems that arose, it remains a treasured milestone in Walt Disney’s life and the history of the company he co-founded.
With the expansion of Disney parks around the world, there have no doubt been changes at Disneyland throughout the past seven decades. Let us pay homage to the Opening Day attractions that have since closed, and the special few that remain from 70 years ago, still delighting parkgoers every day as they did Walt himself.
Five Attractions You Can Still Experience Today
Fantasyland — Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride
Inspired by the 1949 film The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride was an Opening Day attraction in Fantasyland. Itself adapted from Kenneth Grahame’s 1908 novel, The Wind in the Willows, the Disney animated movie was only six years old when the attraction opened. It was originally conceptualized as a roller-coaster but was changed to a dark ride to be more suitable for children.
On opening day, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride was one of a handful of attractions to suffer from mechanical difficulties when its electrical fuses blew out. From its debut through the early 1980s, the ride’s exterior also featured a distinct medieval tournament tent facade—later updated to the brick Toad Hall exterior that still welcomes guests today.
Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride is the only one of its kind, no longer operating in any other Disney theme park around the world—a true original at Disneyland!
Tomorrowland — Autopia
A Tomorrowland staple, Autopia has been carrying passengers of all ages since opening day. Inspired by the freeways of the future, the name was suggested by Walt to combine the phrase “automobile utopia.”
Disney Legend and former Imagineer Bob Gurr—famous for designing many Disney ride vehicles—designed the original car based on European sports cars of the 1950s. The ride was an immediate hit—with twice the guests as anticipated. Gurr shared that park guests “all had the attitude that they were gonna ride those cars no matter what, and instead of waiting in line like they should, they were jumping over the fence and running up the track and commandeering cars coming back into the load area and pulling people out of the cars and taking over the cars themselves!”
Gurr also shared that the park started with 40 cars on Opening Day, but only two remained at the end of the first week due to excitement and force with which guests attempted to drive them. And in those early days, the cars had no bumpers or center guide rail. Over 10 years and the addition of new designs, changes included a spring-loaded bumper, a track guardrail, and ironclad chassis.
Adventureland — Jungle Cruise
The Jungle Cruise—originally named Tropical Rivers of the World—was designed to bring far-off locations of the world to North American guests who would not otherwise have the chance to see them for themselves. Inspiration for the ride was taken from The African Lion (1955) among others from Walt's decorated True-Life Adventures nature documentary series. The boats themselves were also inspired by the Academy Award®-winning adventure film The African Queen (1951).
Early Imagineer Harper Goff famously used a small sandbox to design the layout of the Jungle Cruise’s river system. The attraction was originally intended to be an educational and informative experience. Over the years, more entertainment aspects worked their way in—the classic gags we know today beginning to appear in the 1960s.
Frontierland — Mark Twain Riverboat
In the heart of the Rivers of America, the Mark Twain Riverboat has continued to steam its way down the river since Opening Day in 1955. The vessel was named after the pen name of the iconic American novelist Samuel Langhorne Clemens, someone Walt admired deeply; however, “mark twain” is also a classic nautical term meaning the water was 12 feet deep and safe to proceed.
For years, Walt had yearned to ride a classic steamboat down the Mississippi. In 1931, he and wife Lillian took a trip to St. Louis in hopes of finding a steamboat, but by that point there were none left. It was up to Walt to create his own for his park to preserve the legacy, which he did through an authentic
reproduction, complete with a working steam engine.
The Mark Twain Riverboat was actually one of the first attractions used by guests at Disneyland as Walt and Lillian celebrated their 30-year anniversary aboard the vessel and in The Golden Horseshoe saloon on July 13, 1955, complete with mint juleps—just four days before the park officially opened. On opening day, it was immensely popular (and overcrowded), listing heavily to one side into the Rivers of America as actress Irene Dunne christen the riverboat as the Mark Twain (and using a bottle filled with waters from the great American rivers).
Main Street U.S.A. — Disneyland Railroad
Perhaps a catalyst for the concept of Disneyland itself, the Disneyland Railroad is another “Class of ‘55” attraction that has been transporting guests around the Park ever since!
It is no secret that Walt loved trains, an ever-present interest throughout his life. Walt, his brother Roy, his father, and his uncle all worked for railroads at different points. After World War II and amidst the stresses of getting his studio back up and running, Walt turned to building railroads in his free time. He built a small-scale railroad in his backyard, which many point to as one of his original inspirations for Disneyland. The original design was created with the railroad in mind, with early concept art showing the entirety of the park held within the boundaries of a railroad track. When guests walk in, the first thing they are greeted by is Main Street Station.
The attraction originally opened with a corporate sponsor, Santa Fe Railroad, and two locomotives—named E. P. Ripley and C. K. Holliday after historic Santa Fe figures—with another quickly added in 1958 due to the popularity of the ride. The trains continue to be meticulously cared for—both at Disneyland and around the world—with five of the six international resorts boasting their own rail lines.
Four Retired Opening Day Attractions
Frontierland — Stage Coach
Along with other hobbies, Walt loved horses. He was a polo player and was a member of the horse-riding Los Rancheros Visitadores (Visiting Ranchers) social club. Horse-drawn vehicles were included in the early concepts for Disneyland, much like the railroad. The stagecoaches in Frontierland were an opening day attraction at Disneyland, along with Conestoga wagons and a pack mule train. After a renaming and a few years in operation, this experience was removed in part because the horses were spooked by the railroad, which traveled nearby.
Horses have continued to live and work at Disneyland, with the carriage line remaining a prominent aspect of Main Street, U.S.A. And one of Frontierland’s original stagecoaches can still be found outside the entrance to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge!
Tomorrowland — Tomorrowland Boats
The shortest tenure of any attraction at Disneyland of just over a year, the Tomorrowland Boats, as they were first known, allowed guests to pilot a boat on the Tomorrowland Lagoon, similarly situated to the current Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage.
From the beginning, the boats had poor engines that overheated and gave off smoke. After refurbishments within a few months of opening, the attraction was renamed and redesigned, becoming the Phantom Boats. The boats didn’t have a large capacity, holding only two to three guests at a time, plus an accompanying Cast Member to ensure safety.
Tomorrowland — Rocket to the Moon
Keep in mind, manned space flight had yet to take place when Disneyland opened in 1955, which makes it all the more impressive to see Walt’s vision for Tomorrowland’s Rocket to the Moon attraction. Guests would experience a simulated trip to the far side of the moon, utilizing projections above and below to see the journey. The icon for the attraction was the Moonliner—a standing rocket originally sponsored by TWA (1955–1961) and then McDonnell Douglas (1962–1966).
Within a decade, aspects of Tomorrowland became outdated, especially after American astronauts actually set foot on the moon. Iterations of this ride lasted for quite a while after the original concept, housing Flight to the Moon from 1967 to 1975 and then Mission to Mars from 1975 to 1992. Guests can still experience something similar at Walt Disney World’s Mission Space at Epcot, when the state of Florida becomes visibly smaller as you launch into outer space, an element also included in the original Rocket to the Moon (with the state of California).
Fantasyland — Mickey Mouse Club Theater
Replaced by Pinocchio’s Daring Journey in 1983, Fantasyland was originally home to the Mickey Mouse Club Theater for almost three decades. It actually opened on August 27, 1955 rather than on Opening Day in July, and often showed a changing slate of Disney cartoons, (eventually even in 3D!). Before Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln opened, the Mickey Mouse Club Theater was the only auditorium-style space in the Park, known to host Cast Member shows, conferences, and other events.
Guests can still experience this style of entertainment at Disneyland in the relocated Fantasyland Theater, Mickey’s Philharmagic, and Mr. Lincoln.
A Park That Will Never Be Completed
Though it is commonly accepted as July 17, 1955, the public opening of Disneyland was actually July 18. The 17th was largely a dedication and preview event for the press, Disney employees and their families, and specially-invited guests, and was also live-televised on ABC. Within the first few weeks of opening, many different improvements were made to the park experience.
While the press discussed its rather chaotic opening, Walt led tireless efforts to continuously improve the Park, what he called “plussing.” “[Walt] told me ‘I probably opened it before it was ready,’” newspaper columnist James Bacon would recall. “’I’m making a list of all the complaints, especially the lack of water fountains, and the next people come back, you’ll see everything fixed. I take all this criticism as constructive criticism. And I’ll learn from it.’”
It took less than two months for Disneyland to welcome the one millionth visitor, with guests visiting from 61 different countries. Today, everyday guests enjoy some of the same attractions experienced 70 years ago, while appreciating the evolution of the Park in other ways.
—Maeve Reilly & Lucas O. Seastrom
Image sources (listed in order of appearance):
- Photograph – Walt Disney in Tomorrowland, c. 1963; collection of the Walt Disney Family Foundation
- Photograph - L-R: Diane Disney Miller, Chris Miller, and Walt Disney riding Autopia; courtesy of the Walt Disney Archives; © Disney
- Photograph - Walt Disney on a Jungle Cruise boat; courtesy of the Walt Disney Archives; © Disney
- Photograph – Walt Disney in the cab of the Ernest S. Marsh locomotive on the Disneyland and Santa Fe Railroad, August 1966; collection of the Walt Disney Family Foundation, Ollie Johnston Collection; © Disney