The History of Disneyland

It is very much the American dream to set your ambitions high no matter how great they are, and one man did just that to become a worldwide synonym for a magical, fantasy-world adventure for children. In 1950, Walt Disney first got the idea to create a wonderland theme park where all the characters in his cartoons and movies actually lived. Today, there are many Disneyland theme parks around the globe, but the original, in California, is where Disney's dream begun and a worldwide brand was successfully born.



Hiring a research team to source and survey the best possible land to build his fantasy theme park, Walt eventually found a huge 160-acre plot in a Californian orange grove and began the construction of Disneyland in 1954. The ambitious plans and scope of the project meant that finding finance was tough, especially as fairyland-style dreams offer little collateral to eager financiers, but once ABC TV offered $6 million in exchange for part of the company, the building got underway. It was at this turning point that it was obvious that the park had to appeal to everybody, not just children, so the plans were reconsidered to maximise the compelling and 'once-in-a-lifetime' potential of the theme park.

After only one year of non-stop construction, and several unexpected setbacks, the original Disneyland threw open its doors on 17 July 1955 to a very select group of invited guests. With only five areas planned and built at that stage - Main Street, Adventureland, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland and Frontierland - the park was a lot more manageable than it is today; but that didn't stop the opening day being dubbed 'Black Sunday'. Everything that could go wrong went wrong, from an unexpected heat wave clashing with a plumber strike, to counterfeit tickets flooding the local area so the vendors ran out of food and many rides were shut due to overcrowding. With the reviewers predicting Disneyland to be bankrupt and boarded-up within the year, this was undoubtedly the park's worst day ever.



However, the Disneyland's management team came back stronger than ever and listened to all of the criticism constructively. Within the first ten years, the park saw about 50 million visitors pass through its gates, and, with the many subsequent parks that opened during the 80s and 90s, the brand's success was unquestionable.



Inspired in part by their own childhood dreams and also by the world's other successful family theme parks of the time, like Children's Fairland in Oakland and Tivoli Gardens in Denmark, Walt Disney and his brother went from already being heads of a successful Hollywood film studio to running what was fast becoming the ultimate family holiday destination. Nowadays Disneyworld and Disneyland Paris Holidays are just as popular, as the brand still goes from strength to strength.