Disneyland is Celebrating 55 Years...

By Rich Manning

Let’s be real: The most important day in the history of Orange County was July 17th, 1955, when Walt Disney opened the amusement park that bore his name. Without this event, the OC would have remained a sleepy little diversion for LA County residents seeking solace from big city wiles and nothing more. It’s easy to ignore or even totally reject such a statement these days, seeing as how we are over a half-century removed from the momentous event. But if Walt Disney doesn’t select a bunch of random orange groves in Anaheim to further his burgeoning empire, there would be no Irvine Spectrum, no Anaheim Ducks, and certainly no choke of hotels solely built for the hordes of national and international vacationers seeking to make lasting deposits into their memory banks and our local economy.

It is for this reason alone that any milestone anniversary of the Happiest Place on Earth is worth noting if you are an Orange County resident, if only because its magnitude outweighs its mythos so thoroughly. That being said, it doesn’t mean that the legends, stories, facts, and other erstwhile folklore aren’t fun to explore. In fact, for some Disneyland fans (present company included), swapping stories about the park’s mechanics and skeletons is almost as much fun as actually going there – it’s certainly a whole lot cheaper. So what better time to appease this group than the month where the celebrated icon hits the ol’ double-nickel?

Here then, are a whopping 55 Fun Facts about Walt Disney’s masterpiece. Please enjoy.

Opening Day and Guest Relations Fun
1. The revolution was televised. The opening day festivities for Disneyland were broadcast on ABC, so the whole nation had the chance to see what kind of shenanigans Walt had up his sleeve. One of the network’s emcees for the event was none other than Ronald Reagan.
2. There are still some opening day ticket booths still standing in Fantasyland near the It’s a Small World attraction.
3. It’s kind of surprising that anything related to opening day lives on in the park, because the debut was an utter disaster. What was supposed to be an exclusive media event for VIPs only didn’t exactly work out that way, as over 20,000 gate crashers showed up with counterfeit tickets in hand. Ride upon ride kept malfunctioning throughout the day. And most famously, a record-breaking heat wave caused the concrete on Main St. to not be completely hardened in time for the gates to open, causing many women to walk right out of their sinking high heels. It’s no wonder that Walt always referred to the day as “Black Sunday.”
4. A foreshadowing of Walt’s opening day woes was given to him before the fateful day arrived. Due to a plumber’s strike that was going on at the time, Walt was left with a choice to make: Either skimp on the number of working toilets or the number of working drinking fountains that would be ready when the park opened. He chose the former, and he was roundly accused by cynics of keeping the fountains to a minimum as a ploy to drive up concession sales. The fact that Pepsi was one of Disneyland’s opening day sponsors certainly did not help to quell such charges.
5. Most people are familiar with the story of former Soviet premier Nikita Kruschev being denied entry into Disneyland in 1959. But contrary to popular belief, it wasn’t Walt or anyone related to the Disney camp that made the call to banish the Communist leader. In fact, Walt was looking forward to showing him his brand new “fleet” of submarines. Unfortunately, the U.S. State department stepped in and ruined all the fun, citing insufficient security.
6. There has only been one day where the park was forced to bring in an outside police force for crowd control, but what a day it was. On August 6, 1970 – the silver anniversary of the bomb on Hiroshima, don’t you know – a group of counterculture rebels calling themselves the Youth International Party or “Yippies” – essentially a group of hippies armed with corporatized branding – stormed the park, ran the Viet Cong flag up the pole on Tom Sawyer Island, crashed several parades, and created a huge nuisance for families trying to enjoy themselves. Things became so unruly, the park had no choice but to call in the riot police and shut the park down at 7:10 PM.
7. Prior to the “Yippie incident,” Disneyland routinely denied males who kept beards admission into the park, even though they did not have an expressly published dress or appearance code. Of course, once this rule was relaxed, the Viet Cong flag was waiving at the center of Adventureland. Damn hippies.

Park Operations and Practices

8. You will never find gum sold at Disneyland, for reasons obvious to anyone who has ever stepped in gum.
9. You will also notice that Disney cast members will never point with one finger – they will always point with two fingers together or gesture with their whole hand. This is because the company has long considered the single digit point to be rude. Which it is.
10. You cannot see any surrounding non-Downtown Disney or DCA related buildings from inside Disneyland. That’s because Walt wanted his creation to be a complete escape from the outside world, and made an agreement with the city of Anaheim in which no outside structures could be seen from within the park’s confines.
11. Troublemakers take heed: The number of security guards Disneyland employs is greater than the amount of cops on the city of Anaheim’s police force.
12. The park deploys an ingenious construction method to their buildings called forced perspective, in which the square footage of each multi-story structure shrinks with each rising level. This neat little trick creates the optical illusion of making the edifices appear much larger in size.
13. If you happen to see an occasional cat wandering about the Disneyland scenery, don’t be alarmed. The felines are an important, if not a historical, presence. Back in the early days of the park, there was a genuine rodent problem that desperately needed to be resolved. So it was decided to import a bunch of feral cats to wander the park at night and to let nature take its course. Ever since then, the cadre of untamed kitties does their part to ensure the only mice guests see in the park are named Mickey and Minnie.
14. Each “land” has slightly different asphalt poured onto it in order to distinguish one area from the other.
15. Speaking of asphalt, the walking surface throughout the park is actually a mixture of asphalt and rubber, designed to make walking through the park a little more comfortable for guests. So for those who complain about your dogs howling after traipsing about Mickey’s pad for a dozen hours, keep in mind that the pain in your tootsies could be far worse.
16. Ever notice that you never smell anything bad when you walk down Main Street? That’s because a subtle amount of vanilla is pumped through the air via underground vents. During Christmas time, the supplemental aroma gets switched to peppermint.

Park (Mostly Not-So) Secrets

17. Walt did indeed keep an apartment above Main Street USA, right above the fire station. The private abode was constructed so Disney would have a secluded place to crash after a day in the park as opposed to making the trek back up to the L.A. area. Since Walt’s passing, a light has been perpetually lit in the window to symbolize his spirit watching over his creation.
18. There really is a half-basketball court tucked away inside the Matterhorn. It’s uglier than the life-sized Yeti beasts that hang out alongside the track.
19. There is no elaborate network of tunnels that lurk underneath Disneyland. Rather, there is just one service corridor planted beneath the park’s surface, running under Tomorrowland. However, there are several underground tunnels constructed below Walt Disney World, which may be the reason why so many people think the original venue has an underground labyrinth of sorts.
20. There are literally hundreds of “hidden Mickeys” in the park; that is, objects that are strategically arranged to take shape of the iconic round-eared silhouette. Every ride has at least one of these special gems.
21. A secret restaurant does indeed exist above the village in New Orleans Square, even though nowadays it’s about as big of a mystery as the color of Donald Duck’s feathers. Club 33, allegedly named in honor of the 33 investors that didn’t think Walt was insane for opening an amusement park in Anaheim, may not be much of a hidden thing anymore, but it still far and away the toughest place in Orange County to get a table. Unless you have thousands of dollars to buy into its ultra-exclusive guild and an equally rich level of patience to wait for an open spot on the membership roster (which can take years), forget about coming here if you don’t have some sort of connection. So if anyone has access, hook me up, won’t you? Seriously, it’s my Holy Grail of OC dining establishments.
22. If you’ve ever rode the Disney train that circles the park, you’ve probably noticed the rhythmic rat-a-tat of Morse code banging away in the New Orleans Square station. They aren’t random dots and dashes; rather, it is a transcript of the speech Walt gave on the park’s opening day.
23. A lot has been made about the fact that deaths have occurred in the park. However, consider this: Out of the millions of people that have passed through the gates during the past 55 years, only 14 deaths have occurred in the park, with the vast majority of the fatalities being caused by Darwinian negligence on the part of the guests. Moreover, only one fatality has ever happened to a cast member (the infamous America Sings incident), which only furthers to showcase just what kind of premium Disneyland constantly puts on safety.
24. The names that you see in the shop windows along Main Street USA aren’t random by any means. Instead, they are there as a tribute to some of the people who helped to assemble the park.
25. The gas lamps that line Main Street USA are originally from Baltimore, Maryland. They are over 150 years old.

Remember When…

26. Frontierland used to contain a mule pack attraction, where kids and adults alike could actually plop themselves on a real live mule and go for a stroll. Alas, the brays from the old attraction’s star were essentially replaced by the rumbles of the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Naturally, this begs the question about which is cooler: A roller coaster built like a train with cool choo-choo sound effects or riding on the backside of a real-live Eeyore? You make the call.
27. The first Tinkerbell to make the high-flying journey from the Matterhorn to Sleeping Beauty’s Castle was a 70-year old Hungarian circus performer.
28. The next time you’re stuck in the super-long queue for the Indiana Jones Adventure, and you find yourself in the room where the film is being played, turn around and look up. You’ll be greeted by an old Eeyore parking sign. The old placard was deliberately put there as an homage to the old Eeyore parking lot, which was tore up to make room for Indy’s hijinks.
29. There was a time when Splash Mountain earned the nickname “Flash Mountain” for reasons that frankly, need no explanation. If you can’t figure it out, you’re probably too young to know, so let’s keep it that way, okay?
30. In Snow White’s Scary Adventures ride, the evil stepmother used to hold a real apple in her hand, which got swiped by opportunistic souvenir hunters nearly on a daily basis. Eventually, technology allowed the forbidden fruit to be replaced by a holographic image.
31. The Enchanted Tiki Room was initially going to be a dinner-theatre show. I can’t imagine trying to dine with those dang birds chortling, but it would be kind of amusing to order chicken in that venue.
32. Back in the day, the waters surrounding Tom Sawyer island were stocked with catfish, and you were allowed to enter the park and do a little angling if your heart desired.
33. The Autopia cars did not originally have guiderails when it first opened. This quickly changed when, shockingly enough, guests kept crashing into each other.

The Haunted Mansion: A Ride So Cool, It Gets Its Own Section

34. The original concept behind the Haunted Mansion was designed to tell a rather un-Disneylike story. There are a lot of variants on what the tale was supposed to be floating about in cyberspace, and there really has never been a definitive version that has been given the Disney stamp. However, the most popular backstory out there concerns a wealthy man named Master Gracey and his bride-to-be in the days leading up to wedded bliss. Basically, Master Gracey murders his wife on the eve of their wedding in a fit of rage, feels great remorse, and hangs himself from the mansion’s rafters. While the ride itself really does not contain much allusion to this tale, it does explain why there was a bride in the attic for all those years. Well, at least before designers remodeled the attic to suggest that she was an axe-wielding spouse killer. (It’s a shame they changed the way the bride looked, too. She used to be way creepier back in the day.)
35. It has been rumored that the carriage outside the Haunted Mansion was the one used for the funeral of Mormon patriarch Brigham Young. Of course, this would be a neat trick, since historical records show that there was no carriage used for Young’s funeral.
36. The Haunted Mansion is the only part of the park that stretches outside Disneyland’s borders, as the vast majority of the “doom buggy” track snakes below the surface on the other side of the park’s circular barrier.
37. Over the years, the Haunted Mansion has been quite the dumping ground for the ashes for the deceased. And yet the population never goes beyond 999 happy haunts. Those must be some sad ashes.
38. Back in the ‘80s, the ride had a dude in a suit of armor that would suddenly lunge out at random groups of people as their “doom buggies” rode through its long, crooked hallway. I actually was a victim to this rogue knight as a teenager, and it was quite the grand freakout. Sadly, the park deemed it a bit too creepy and scrapped the idea after a couple years.
39. The famous ballroom scene is one of the more elaborate effects within the ride, made possible by the images of hidden animatronic figures being reflected onto the massive scene. However, if you look closely, you’ll notice the dancing women are leading the men and not the other way around. This is because the ride’s designers built the animatronics to “dance” with the men leading, forgetting to take into account that their ghostly image would be projected backwards to the viewing public.
40. The spider-web that appears by the organist on the ballroom scene’s thick glass is actually an inspired cover-up of some rotten vandalism. The story goes some kid shot a hole through the glass using a BB gun; rather than taking on the massive cost of replacing the pane, they merely drew up some cobwebs around the hole, thus creating a cool effect.

Other Attractions and Lands

41. The oval mirror in the Mad Hatter Shop in Fantasyland looks like a run-of-the-mill mirror when you approach it. However, if you stare at it long enough, the Cheshire Cat will gradually show up beside you. It’s a great little trick to delight and/or freak out your kids.
42. Another fun thing for your kids (as if they need more fun things – they’re in Disneyland, for crying out loud): there’s a magic lamp in the store across the way from the Jungle Cruise. For the low, low price of $1, your kid can rub it, and it will spit out a silly joke. Yeah, it’s corny, but it may get you out of going to the Tiki Room.
43. The two tracks of the Matterhorn are completely asymmetrical. Those that are hip to this scene crowd the line of the left side track, because its banks are far sharper and its slopes are much more dramatic, not to mention they have a bit more grisly lore to them (Dolly’s Dip, anyone?).
44. Initially, Tomorrowland was based on what the world may look like…in 1986. Of course, since the park attendants weren’t wearing leg warmers and parachute pants, they missed the mark here.
45. Conversely, Main Street USA was designed to replicate the year 1910. If you think that the year was picked at random, think again: the dates picked to represent Main Street USA’s memory of the past and Tomorrowland’s visions of the future were deliberately chosen to represent the time interval between sightings of Halley’s Comet.
46. The drawbridge on Sleeping Beauty’s castle that leads you to Fantasyland is fully functional, yet it’s only been lowered twice: On Opening Day and in 1983, when the newly remodeled Fantasyland was unveiled.
47. The Abominable Snowman that hangs out in the Matterhorn actually has a name. It’s Harold.
48. A silhouette of the legendary literary detective Sherlock Holmes can be spotted in Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. You can see it in the window to your left when you first careen into the village.
49. Several of the Fantasyland rides, such as Alice in Wonderland, Snow White’s Scary Adventures, and the aforementioned Mr. Toad, used to not feature the actual main character in the ride. This was done deliberately; the reason being was that the guests were supposed to be experiencing the ride through the eyes of the protagonist. This has since been changed.
50. The top speed in Space Mountain is only 30.3 miles per hour. Most of the time, you’re barely travelling faster than you would in a school zone with children present. It’s all about lighting effects for this baby, or lack thereof.
51. The voice of the conductor heard overhead at the all of the train stations is a guy by the name of Thurl Ravenscroft, who in addition to having one of the coolest names of the 20th century supplied the voice of Tony the Tiger.
52. When Pirates of the Caribbean opened in 1967, actual human skeletons were used throughout the ride, purchased from the UCLA Medical Center. The reason for this rather macabre decision? The Imagineers that worked on the ride felt that fake bones available to them did not look all that convincing. Once phony bone technology made it up to snuff, most of the real things were sent back to receive a proper burial. However, there is still a real skull and a couple of femurs lying around in the captain’s bedroom, which is something far cooler than Captain Jack Sparrow popping up throughout the ride’s pillaged town.
53. A couple of droids that you encounter in the line for Star Tours used to be animitronic ducks in the old “America Sings” attraction. Of course, their skin and feathers have been pulled off. In fact, one of them still has webbed feet.
54. All the plants in Tomorrowland are either edible or produce edible fruit. So if you’re really hungry while waiting in line for Finding Nemo…
55. By reading “It’s a small world after all, it’s a small world after all, it’s a small world after all, it’s a small, small world,” that song will be stuck in your head the rest of the day. You’re welcome.