Disneyland’s first ten years ran from a chaotic opening day in 1955 to a ten-year anniversary TV special in 1965. The milestones in between, from the Disneyland Hotel to the Monorail and the first Grad Nite, are what turned a rushed theme park into an institution. Here are the ten that mattered most.
Updated October 31, 2026.
I’ve spent enough time with vintage Disneyland photos from the ’50s to notice something the official story leaves out: how improvised the first year looks. Rides built in a rush, asphalt still soft underfoot, a park figuring itself out in public. That’s the part I find more interesting than the polished place it became. If you’ve ever thrown a party before the house was quite ready, you know the feeling, only here it was on a giant scale.
Construction began on July 16, 1954, on 160 acres of orange groves and walnut trees in Anaheim. Walt Disney got the idea while watching his daughters ride the merry-go-round at Griffith Park in Los Angeles. It was a nice enough park, but he wanted something bigger and more magical. D23, Disney’s official fan club, counts 20 attractions on opening day, with large stretches of Tomorrowland still unbuilt. It may surprise you, but Disneyland was a mess on opening day, and that’s why the first year and the ones after it were full of milestones. From the first Christmas parade to the first Grad Nite, here are ten big events from Disneyland’s first ten years.
1. July 13, 1955 – Walt and Lillian’s 30th Anniversary
The first event inside Disneyland was a romantic one. Four days before the first official guests arrived, Walt and Lillian Disney celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary inside the park with friends and family. D23 says the “Tempus Fugit Celebration” started with Mint Juleps on the Mark Twain’s maiden voyage along the Rivers of America, followed by a buffet dinner at the Golden Horseshoe.
Wally Boag, Donald Novis and Judy Marsh performed, and Walt climbed down from a balcony onto the stage. Guests called for a speech. His daughter Diane later said he “just stood there and beamed.” On the drive home he rolled up a park map, tooted it in her ear, and fell asleep holding it. After months of work with tired designers on his soon-to-open park, it was a well-deserved night off.
2. July 17-18, 1955 – The Grand Opening
July 17 was an invitation-only International Press Preview, broadcast live on ABC with Art Linkletter, Bob Cummings and Ronald Reagan as hosts. The public got in the next day. About 28,000 people showed up for the preview, and only about half were invited. The rest carried counterfeit tickets or climbed the fence. One person even put a ladder over a back fence to let people in. Kitchens ran out of food and drinks, many rides broke down, and women’s heels got stuck in the fresh asphalt. In short, opening day could have gone better. Most of us have been in a crowd that was bigger than anyone planned for, and it’s rarely fun.
But as these LIFE Magazine photos show, plenty of the guests who made it through the gates were having a great time.
The Disneyland Railroad runs by the parking lot before any landscaping was built around it.
Main Street, U.S.A. on opening day.
The Mad Tea Party ride on opening day, well before an awning was built above it.
Casey Jr and Storybook Land, with an ABC cameraman visible filming the live broadcast at lower left.
3. October 5, 1955 – The Disneyland Hotel Opens
Walt Disney’s plan always included a hotel, so people from around the world could come and stay. This one opened less than three months after the park. It belonged to Jack Wrather, a Texas oil millionaire turned film producer, whose company owned and ran it under a deal with Disney. It was the first hotel to carry the Disney name, and Disney didn’t own it until it bought the Wrather company in 1988.
The hotel was advertised to open that August, but strikes pushed it back. Anyone who has lived through a kitchen remodel knows how one delay can push everything else back.
It opened with just over 100 rooms in five two-story buildings, at $15 a night. Rooms came with air conditioning and a TV, which was not common for hotels then. The official, star-studded grand opening came later, on August 25, 1956, with plenty of famous guests. Over time the hotel added shops, a barber shop, dining and even a doctor and dentist on site.
4. 1956 – A Year of New Attractions
Walt’s ideas for the park seemed to have no limit. The park’s second year brought a long list of openings, including Junior Autopia, the Rainbow Caverns Mine Train, the Mike Fink Keel Boats and Keller’s Jungle Killers, a one-year animal act.
The Skyway carried guests between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland in gondolas hung from an overhead cable. It was a brand-new idea, a way to ride high above the park. It ran until 1994 and is one of the best-loved Disneyland rides closed for good.
The Astro Jets, meanwhile, filled some of the empty space in Tomorrowland, which was still pretty bare. Riders sat in small rocket cars that spun around a central pole to fake a trip into space. They lasted until 1964.
Tom Sawyer Island, out in the Rivers of America and reached by raft, also opened this year, themed after the Mark Twain novel. For more old-school rides, check out these photos of classic Disneyland attractions.
5. December 31, 1957 – 10 Million Visitors
Disneyland has always made a fuss over its guests, and it has marked milestone guests since its first year. Four-year-old Elsa Marquez became the one-millionth visitor on September 8, 1955, and was frightened by the balloons that dropped as she came through the turnstile. Anyone who has seen a small child at a surprise party knows a big, happy fuss can feel scary at four. She was crowned a Disney princess, led the Disneyland band and rode the train with the conductor. D23 lists Leigh Woolfenden, of Phoenix, Arizona, as the ten-millionth guest, on December 31, 1957.
25 Millionth Guest: Dr. Glenn C. Franklin, April 19, 1961
50 Millionth Guest: Mary Adams, August 12, 1965
100 Millionth Guest: Valerie Suldo, June 17, 1971
6. 1957 – Christmas in Many Lands Parade
Disneyland’s Christmas parades started in 1955 with a Christmas Show Parade of animals and Mouseketeers from the Mickey Mouse Club Circus. The first big one, Christmas in Many Lands, debuted on November 22, 1957. LaughingPlace’s history traces the names that followed: Fantasy on Parade from 1965, A Very Merry Christmas Parade from 1987, and A Christmas Fantasy Parade since 1995. These early parades were nothing like today’s, which are covered in twinkling lights and Disney characters. Back then it was live animals, clowns and Mouseketeers.
7. June 1959 – The E-Ticket
Guests paid to enter at the gate, then bought ride coupons. Ticket books arrived within three months of opening, with A, B and C coupons running from the smallest rides to the most popular, and D followed in 1956. The E-Ticket came in June 1959 with the Matterhorn Bobsleds, the Submarine Voyage and the Monorail. Some people called that summer a second opening for the park, because the new rides were so much bigger. If you hear someone call a ride an “E-Ticket ride,” they mean it’s one of the best things in the park.
8. June 14, 1959 – The Monorail Starts Its Engines
Walt moved the Monorail job to his Burbank studio in late 1958, and Bob Gurr’s team designed the cars, chassis, suspension and propulsion for what became the Disneyland-Alweg Monorail. Alongside the new E-Ticket rides, it opened as a Tomorrowland sightseeing ride, with two three-car trains, red and blue. Vice President Richard Nixon came with his family. The giant ceremonial scissors wouldn’t cut the ribbon, so Walt tore it.
In 1961 the track was extended 2.5 miles outside the park to a new station at the Disneyland Hotel, so guests could ride straight from the hotel to the park. Four-car Mark II trains and a third train, yellow, joined the line, and the Monorail became real transportation.
9. June 15, 1961 – First Grad Nite
Grad Nite is still a big night for teens about to leave high school. The first one kept the park open overnight for about 8,500 high school seniors. D23 calls it the largest high school graduation party ever held in the U.S. at the time.
Graduates were expected to dress up in their Sunday best, with coats and ties for the boys and dresses for the girls, and the dress code lasted until around the turn of the century. There was one chaperone for every 20 students, and bags were checked at the gate. Anyone who has gone to prom remembers the pressure to look their best. Early Grad Nites booked big bands and jazz acts at Carnation Plaza Gardens.
10. January 3, 1965 – 10th Anniversary Celebration
Disney marked ten years with “Disneyland 10th Anniversary,” an episode of Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color that aired on January 3, 1965. Walt introduced Disneyland ambassador Julie Reihm and toured the park, from the Tiki Room, which had the first animatronics in the park, to the Matterhorn Bobsleds. Curious how the park looked a few years later? Take a look at these Disneyland photos from the 60s.
He also showed plans for what was coming next: It’s a Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion. Along the way there was Tinker Bell and some fairy dust, a live show with Disney characters in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle, and a parade down Main Street, U.S.A. with a high school band and cheerleaders. The episode closes with a Dixieland band on the Mark Twain and a water show on the Rivers of America.
Disneyland’s first ten years: common questions
When did Disneyland actually open?
Disneyland held an invitation-only press preview on July 17, 1955, broadcast live on ABC, then opened to the general public the next day, July 18. Disney now treats July 17 as the park’s official birthday, so both dates get called the opening.
Did Disney own the Disneyland Hotel from the start?
No. The hotel opened on October 5, 1955, owned and run by Texas oilman and film producer Jack Wrather’s company under a deal with Disney. The Walt Disney Company did not own it until it bought the Wrather company in 1988.
What is an E-Ticket ride?
Disneyland’s early ticket books held A, B and C coupons, from the smallest rides to the most popular, and D was added in 1956. The E-Ticket arrived in June 1959 with the Matterhorn, the Submarine Voyage and the Monorail. It covered the park’s biggest attractions, and the phrase outlived the ticket system itself.