These vintage Disneyland photos from the 50s show the park in its first five years. It opened on July 17, 1955. Disney’s own archive, D23, puts the cost of building it at $17 million. Opening day had 20 attractions, among them the Jungle Cruise, Autopia, the Mark Twain riverboat and a mule pack ride. The pictures below walk through Main Street, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, Adventureland and Frontierland as they looked then.
Updated October 11, 2026.
I have spent years captioning old photographs like these. What jumps out in 1950s Disneyland pictures is the empty space. Wide walkways, short lines, bare ground behind the rides. The park was still filling itself in. You can see Walt Disney’s team trying ideas and pulling the ones that failed.
How Disneyland ended up in Anaheim
Walt Disney first looked at a strip of land across Riverside Drive from his studio in Burbank, according to D23. That space proved too small for his ideas, so he hired the Stanford Research Institute to find a site. It picked Anaheim, where Walt bought 160 acres, mostly orange groves split among 17 owners.
He paid for it by borrowing against his life insurance, selling a vacation home and taking money from several companies. Crowds came quickly. D23 records the one millionth guest, Elsa Marquez, on September 8, 1955, less than two months after opening.
Harbor Boulevard and the parking lot in vintage Disneyland photos
Harbor Boulevard was the front door. Today the park’s parking page lists the Mickey & Friends and Pixar Pals structures and the Toy Story lot.
Parking is the clearest sign of how much has changed. Disneyland’s guest services page lists daily parking at $40 for a car or motorcycle. An oversized vehicle costs $45, and preferred parking costs $60.
Christmas on Main Street in the 1950s
The park’s first holiday season came only five months after opening. Today a tree about 60 feet tall goes up on Main Street each Christmas season. Compare it with the tree in this early photo.
Main Street, U.S.A. in vintage Disneyland photos
D23 says Main Street was most likely modeled on Marceline, Missouri, where Walt spent part of his childhood. Other towns from his past have claimed the honor too. Horse-drawn streetcars, a fire wagon, surreys, the Main Street Cinema and the Penny Arcade were all there on opening day.
Small changes since the 1950s are easy to spot. Today there are more flower beds and bigger trees, and pavers have replaced plain concrete. Upstairs, the windows along the street honor people who helped build and run the park. One exception, above the Emporium, honors Walt’s father, Elias.
Above the firehouse in Town Square is Walt’s private apartment, still off-limits except on certain guided tours. A lamp is kept burning in its front window in his memory. Nearby, the Opera House served as the park’s lumber mill from 1955 to 1961. Those cannons in Town Square were used by the French army in the 1800s but never fired in battle.
Sleeping Beauty Castle and Fantasyland
Sleeping Beauty Castle rises 77 feet above its moat, and D23 credits designer Herb Ryman with much of its look. The drawbridge was lowered on opening day and not again until the new Fantasyland opened in 1983. The walk-through inside opened on April 29, 1957, dedicated by Shirley Temple, and reopened in December 2008 after a redesign.
Opening-day Fantasyland was the busiest corner of the park. D23’s list of the first 20 attractions includes the King Arthur Carrousel, Peter Pan’s Flight, the Mad Tea Party, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, Snow White’s Adventures and the Canal Boats of the World.
An aerial view like this one shows how tightly the original Fantasyland was packed behind the castle. Three of its opening-day rides, Peter Pan’s Flight, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride and Snow White’s Adventures, were indoor dark rides.
The Matterhorn Bobsleds arrived on June 14, 1959, the first thrill ride added to the park. D23 says the mountain is 147 feet tall, about 1/100th the size of the real Swiss peak. The Disney film Third Man on the Mountain inspired it. Its cylindrical rails and urethane wheels later became standard on roller coasters.
Autopia, the Motor Boat Cruise and the Skyway
Autopia opened with the park on July 17, 1955, and it still runs. D23 notes it closed from September 1999 to June 2000 for a remodel, and Honda has sponsored it since 2016. Riders drive a small car on a freeway-style track rather than a bumper-car floor.
A smaller version for young children, Midget Autopia, ran from April 23, 1957 to April 3, 1966. Walt had it removed and donated to Marceline, Missouri, where it was installed in the town park. It has not operated there for many years.
The Motor Boat Cruise opened in June 1957 and gave guests a slow, quiet loop past the edge of Fantasyland. In 1991 it was redecorated as a Gummi Glen version for eight months. It closed for good on January 11, 1993.
Look at the open ground behind the boats in this 1957 shot. That empty space did not last. The area where the boats ran later became Fantasia Gardens.
The Skyway opened on June 23, 1956. Small buckets carried riders on a 2,400-foot cable between Tomorrowland and Fantasyland. Its Fantasyland station was built to look like a mountain chalet. It closed on November 10, 1994.
This picture predates the Matterhorn. Once the mountain went up in 1959, the buckets passed straight through it.
Tomorrowland in vintage Disneyland photos
Tomorrowland opened thin. Its opening-day attractions on D23’s list were Autopia, Space Station X-1 and Circarama, a 360-degree film. Corporate exhibits filled much of the rest in the early years. New rides arrived through the late 1950s.
This PeopleMover shot is from a later decade. The ride opened on July 2, 1967 and ran until August 21, 1995. Electric motors built into the track pushed the cars along, so the cars themselves carried no engines.
Costumed space characters greeted guests at the Tomorrowland entrance, part of the land’s look of the future as the 1950s imagined it.
Rocket to the Moon opened on July 22, 1955, with TWA as its first sponsor until 1961, D23 says. The audience sat around screens and watched a simulated launch. It closed on September 5, 1966. Flight to the Moon replaced it from 1967 to 1975, then Mission to Mars until 1992.
The Submarine Voyage opened on June 6, 1959 and was dedicated on June 14. D23 says riders looked out of portholes at fish and mermaids, a sea serpent and the lost city of Atlantis. The original ride closed on September 7, 1998 and came back as the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage in 2007.
More from the Submarine Voyage lagoon in its early years.
The lagoon sat at the heart of Tomorrowland.
Adventureland and the Jungle Cruise
Adventureland’s anchor in the 1950s was the Jungle Cruise, which opened with the park on July 17, 1955. Walt promoted it on his television show before opening day. He talked viewers through a typical ride and eventually drove them through the site in his Nash Rambler.
D23 notes a 1962 addition of Indian elephants. So the bathing elephants many people remember came after the 1950s.
Frontierland in vintage Disneyland photos
Frontierland let guests ride real animals. The Mule Pack ran in 1955 and 1956, then became Rainbow Ridge Pack Mules until 1959. It reopened as Pack Mules Through Nature’s Wonderland on June 10, 1960 and closed in 1973. Covered Conestoga Wagons ran from August 1955 to September 1959.
The Mark Twain riverboat opened on July 17, 1955. Park publicity billed it as the first paddle-wheeler built in the United States in 50 years. The Rainbow Caverns Mine Train ran from 1956 to 1959. It became the Mine Train Through Nature’s Wonderland from May 28, 1960 to January 2, 1977. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad replaced it on September 2, 1979.
Vintage Disneyland photos: common questions
When did Disneyland open?
Disneyland opened on July 17, 1955, for an invited audience, and the public could attend the next day. D23 lists 20 attractions on opening day, including the Jungle Cruise, Autopia, Peter Pan’s Flight and the Mark Twain riverboat. The park cost $17 million to build, and its one millionth guest arrived on September 8, 1955.
Which 1950s Disneyland rides still operate?
Several opening-day attractions still run in some form. They include the Jungle Cruise, Autopia, the King Arthur Carrousel, Peter Pan’s Flight, the Mad Tea Party and the Mark Twain riverboat. The Matterhorn Bobsleds, added in 1959, also still operate. The Skyway, the Motor Boat Cruise and the Rocket to the Moon are among those that closed for good.
Why did Walt Disney build Disneyland in Anaheim?
His first choice was land across Riverside Drive from the studio in Burbank, according to D23. That site proved too small for his plans, so he hired the Stanford Research Institute to find another. It chose Anaheim, where Walt bought 160 acres of mostly orange groves owned by 17 different people. He paid partly by borrowing against his life insurance.
How much does it cost to park at Disneyland now?
Disneyland’s guest services page lists daily parking at $40 for a standard car or motorcycle. An oversized vehicle, motor home or tractor without a trailer costs $45. Preferred parking costs $60. Prices change, so check the page before you go, especially around holidays and special events.
More vintage photos: Times Square history and flying in the 1970s. Planning a trip? See our top theme parks for families.