Disneyland Fun Facts

1. Admission was only $1 when the park opened (July 18, 1955). Roy Oliver Disney bought the first one.

2. Disneyland’s opening day was disastrous. Complaints stemmed from a heat wave, still-wet asphalt, limited concessions, and ride breakdowns. The press gave Disneyland one year before it failed. However, the opposite happened. Guests enjoyed themselves very much and attendance grew immensely in that first year.

3. Only 6,000 people received the special opening day invitation. Around 22,000 more guests showed up with counterfeit tickets (and/or trespassing skills), adding to the opening day fiasco.

4. Chosen for years Halley’s Comet years, Main Street was set in 1910 and Tomorrowland was set in 1986. Adjustments have been made since 1986 isn’t “tomorrow” anymore.

5. Disneyland music and animatronics run all night long. It would be more expensive to turn everything off and then back on in the morning. Music is turned down after closing so it doesn’t drive the staff insane.

6. Disney uses “smellitizers” to pump scents into the air. You’ll inhale the baked goods on Main Street, cinnamon apple pie during Mickey’s PhilharMagic, and scents of nature (e.g., tangerine citrus and florals over the orange groves) when you’re Soarin’.

7. The Main Street gas lamps are well over a century old, purchased as scrap from Baltimore.

8. Walt Disney wanted to feature real animals at Disneyland. Live alligators inhabited Jungle Cruise in 1955, but the babies kept escaping. All of the gators were relocated.

9. On Disneyland’s opening day, during a Main Street parade, a tiger and panther broke through that partition separating them. Guests witnessed the bloody battle.

10. There used to be live “mermaids” swimming around at the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea attraction, which closed in 1994. It has since been turned into the Nemo Submarine Voyage.

11. The Fujishige brothers bought nearby land before Disneyland was built, and over the years, refused offers to sell. Children who inherited the land sold it in 1998 for $96 million.

12. At age 13, Steve Martin worked as a guidebook seller for Disneyland. He set incredible sales records, which remained unbroken for decades. He went on to perform as a great magician in the park.

13. There’s only room for cartoon mice at Disneyland. When a serious rodent problem arose, cats were brought in to hunt pests in the park. Hundreds still live there today and are spotted regularly.

14. More than 750 million people have visited Disneyland since it opened.