![1201480.jpg People riding the teacup ride at Disneyland Amusement Park, 1955.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/150701-disneyland-03.jpg?quality=85&w=2400)
If a dream is a wish your heart makes, then Disneyland was, as LIFE declared one month after it opened on July 17, 1955, “the stuff children’s dreams are made on.” The brand new park featured a Frontierland complete with Davy Crockett museum, an Adventureland with hydraulically operated jungle animals and, of course, Sleeping Beauty’s castle, which would soon include a model torture chamber.
The $17 million park, built on a 160-acre site, was “the most lavish amusement park on earth,” but its opening day was a disaster. Traffic was backed up for hours, delaying celebrity guests. The temperature crept above 100 degrees, causing heels to sink into soft asphalt, while a plumbers’ strike decommissioned all water fountains. Oh, and there was a gas leak, too. Practically everything that could go wrong, did go wrong.
Some parents also expressed dismay at the prices. “Disney had expected that $2 would see a child through enough of his $17 million wonderland, but mothers said twice that was needed to keep any enterprising small boy pacified,” LIFE wrote. Today, admission for a child under 10 is $93—not including the Mickey ears, Frozen wand or Goofyroni & Cheese.
But, said those mothers back in 1955, “as they emerged spent and spinning… it was probably well worth it.”
![1151266.jpg Walt Disney standing in front of Fantasyland Castle at Disneyland.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/150701-disneyland-walt-disney.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter @lizabethronk.
Correction, Aug. 10, 2018:
A caption in the original version of this gallery misstated the name of a train ridden by Mickey Mouse. The photo shows the Disneyland Railroad, not the Dumbo-inspired Casey Jr. Circus Train.
![1201478.jpg Sleeping Beauty's castle in Fantasyland is overrun by children crossing drawbridge over moat. Inside, Disney plnas a model torture chamber.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/150701-disneyland-01.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![110744811.jpg One of Disneyland's boat rides, Anaheim, California, 1955.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/disney-land-anaheim-1955.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![1201472.jpg Rides at Disneyland in 1955.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/150701-disneyland-02.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![1201480.jpg People riding the teacup ride at Disneyland Amusement Park, 1955.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/150701-disneyland-03.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![1201476.jpg People riding a riverboat at Disneyland Amusement Park, 1955.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/150701-disneyland-04.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![1151256.jpg Disneyland Parade done as a preview for national television, 1955.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/150701-disneyland-05.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![DISNEYLAND Planted flowers forming design of Mickey Mouse's face, with Disneyland train in background, 1955.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/150701-disneyland-06.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![1151258.jpg Mickey Mouse riding the Circus train at Disneyland which is a replica of Casey Jr.'s train used in the movie Dumbo ,1955.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/150701-disneyland-07.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![110744822.jpg Disneyland rides in 1955.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/150701-disneyland-08.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![1201482.jpg Children scared during Snow White ride at Disneyland Amusement Park, 1955.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/150701-disneyland-09.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![110744880.jpg Cups and saucers filled with squealing children as paying guests while through park's Fantasyland at Disney's "Mad Hatter's Tea Party."](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/150701-disneyland-10.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![1201484.jpg Showgirl performers taking a break and having a drink at Disneyland Amusement Park, 1955.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/150701-disneyland-11.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![1201474.jpg People resting by TWA rocket at Disneyland Amusement Park, 1955.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/150701-disneyland-12.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![110744850.jpg Disneyland rides, 1955.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/150701-disneyland-13.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![110744842.jpg A family at Disneyland in 1955.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/150701-disneyland-14.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![110744828.jpg Disneyland rides in 1955.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/150701-disneyland-15.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Why Biden Dropped Out
- Ukraine’s Plan to Survive Trump
- The Rise of a New Kind of Parenting Guru
- The Chaos and Commotion of the RNC in Photos
- Why We All Have a Stake in Twisters’ Success
- 8 Eating Habits That Actually Improve Your Sleep
- Welcome to the Noah Lyles Olympics
- Get Our Paris Olympics Newsletter in Your Inbox
Write to Eliza Berman at eliza.berman@time.com