After more than two decades of preparation and construction, Walt Disney’s biggest dream finally became true, as Disneyland opened for the first time in Anaheim, California on July 17, 1955. The public interest in the attraction was not little in the least, as an estimated 70 million people tuned in to watch the 90-minute live broadcast of the theme park’s opening on ABC.
Planted flowers forming design of Mickey Mouse’s face.
In reality, however, that historic Sunday was far from perfect. In fact, the rush to complete construction led to numerous problems, considering that the park was not yet fully prepared to host such a huge amount of tourists. Even though the opening was intended to be limited to about 15,000 selected invitees, more than 20,000 guests eventually showed up and passed through the gates thanks to counterfeit tickets, which caused the theme park to be considerably overloaded.
Such issues, nonetheless, barely had any impact on the attraction’s tangible charm. Within several weeks after the official public opening day, it was reported that Disneyland’s attendance had surpassed 1 million visitors. Here, a look back at the park’s opening day through 36 beautiful vintage color photographs taken by LIFE photographer Loomis Dean:
An elevated view of the park.
Opening day parade.
Opening day parade.
Children running towards the Sleeping Beauty’s castle.
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