Disneyland was started on 160 acres of land that was acquired south-east of Los Angeles in Anaheim, Orange County, California. Disneyland was opened to the public on Monday, July 18 1955. The visitors started gathering outside the gate since 2 in the morning and David MacPherson was the first person to buy a ticket and enter the amusement park. He got ticket # 2 as Roy O. Disney had pre purchased Ticket # 1. Disneyland is open 365 days a year and has more than 21,000 employees or cast members as they are called.
When Disneyland was first opened, it was divided into 5 realms. Main Street U.S.A. was based on an early 20th century town in the Midwest. Adventureland had jungle based themes. Frontierland was themed on the Western Frontier. Fantasyland looked to bring fantasy into reality and Tomorrowland was based on the future. Since then, Disneyland expanded from time to time and acquired new areas. In 1957, Holidayland was started on a 9 acre area and closed in 1961. holidayland contained a circus and a baseball diamond. In 1966, New Orleans Square was started. It was based on 19th century New Orleans. Bear Country, based on the mountain forests of the South was started in 1972. The theme was later changed to Song of the South elements of Splash Mountains and Bear Country was renamed Critter Country. Mickey’s Toontown was started in 1993. What used to be the parking lot was transformed into Disney’s California Adventure Park.
In its first year, Disneyland attracted 1 million tourists. The number grew every year from then on and in 2008, approximately 14.29 million people had visited the park. From 1955 to 2008, Disneyland entertained more than 524 million visitors who came from all across the world.
The first visitors to Disneyland paid a small entrance fee and purchased additional coupons to experience the rides. The coupons were labeled A through C. A coupons were for the smaller rides and C coupons were for the most common attractions. As newer rides were introduced, coupons D and E were also started.
Since it started in 1995, Disneyland had three unscheduled closures. The first closure happened in 1963 after the assassination of President Kennedy. In August 1970, demonstration by the Yippies closed the park. The Yippies were protesting against Disneyland’s sponsor Bank of America which was allegedly financing the Vietnam War. On September 11 2001, Disneyland had the third and final unscheduled closure after the terrorist attacks. Apart from these unscheduled closures, there have been numerous other planned closures.
Disneyland has had its share of accidents too. Over the years, 13 guests and 1 cast member have died in accidents and there have been more than 100 cases of injury. The biggest accidents at Disneyland have been the Columbia Ship accident in 1998, Roger Rabbit accident in 2000 and Big Thunder Mountain accident in 2003.
Termed the Happiest Place on Earth, Disneyland remains one of the top tourist attractions in the world and will continue to remain so for years to come.