Black Sunday

"Disneyland is your Land"

Disneyland opened to the public  on July 17, 1955 with the following rides in place.

Adventureland

Jungle Cruise

Fantasyland

Canal Boats of the World                   Mad Hatter’s Mad Tea Party              Peter Pan Flight         

King Arthur Carrousel                        Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride                         Snow White Adventure

* Dumbo didn't open until August 16, 1955, interestingly enough, its pictured here

Frontierland

Golden Horseshoe Revue                   Mark Twain Riverboat                        Mule Pack

Stage Coach

Main Street

Main Street Cinema                Main Street vehicles                Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad

Tomorrowland

Space Station X-1                   Hall of Chemistry                   Tomorrowland Autopia

 

The opening day at Disneyland proves that nothing can ever go 100% right, no matter how much you prepare. Brides – let this be a lesson to you, just enjoy the day (sorry, trailing)! Multiple page Newspaper spreads were purchased to promote the big opening and attractions to come. Click here for Fantasyland and there -> for a view of L.A. Times’ spread on Adventureland. The day was unusually warm, climbing all the way to 101 F some say 110 F. Disneyland planned to open at 10am by invite only for guests like the press as well as celebrities. Interestingly- even though not open to the public, this is considered official opening day, dubbed Black Sunday. For years, Disneyland stated opening day July 18^th, 1955, but realizing you must acknowledge and learn from your mistakes, went back to good ol’ July 17 1955. According to the book, Disneyland Detective, 6000 invitations were sent out but more counterfeited to an estimated whopping 28,154 guests. Here’s what the ticket looked like. 

CopyRight Disney Co.

            You can even tell in the broadcast- hosted by Art Linkletter, Bob Cummings, and Ronald “Ronnie” Reagan- not everything was perfect in front of the camera either. Over 90 million viewers watched the many awkward spaces, such as Davy Crockett’s cue to come up the path, Walt walking away towards the castle in the end tripping and taking the microphone, and the 3 minutes left to introduce Adventureland. Even Walt made a comment, “We better hurry, we don’t have too much time”. And time was really what Walt needed. 

           
 He hadn’t even given enough time to allow the asphalt to set, the end result was women’s heels being either caught or left to be part of the décor. A plumber’s strike had perfect timing, leaving Walt with the decision to either get water to the toilets or to the water fountains, he chose the toilets. Some said that he did so to make more money off the refreshments. I read somewhere, sorry at his point I can’t remember where, that he later said, “People could buy a drink if thirsty, but they can’t  use the bathroom in the middle of the street”.  Seems logical to me. Wanna read about the strike? 

            It was issue after issue. Power kept going out on several attractions, a gas leak closed Fantasyland to the public for a while, and the Mark Twain was on the verge of going under due to way too many people on it at one time. Food vendors ran out of food and drinks. Where was Walt you ask? Well, he had to be in front of the camera introducing each land and being the face of Disneyland.

            Disneyland costumes were rented by the Ice Capades that had been in town. He even hired Mighty Mite, aka Paul Castle as the first “original” Mickey mouse. A website is dedicated to him, written by his daughter. Check it out here and for a great article about his in USA Today click <- There. (:

            Of course, Walt went back to the drawing board, nixing things that didn’t work and providing opportunities to spread guests out throughout the park and relieve the pressure on the rides (only 3 autotopia cars survived day one). The next day, Roy Disney bought the first “public Ticket”.

Copyright Disney Company

The rest , as they say, is history.