--- title: Disneyland Turns 60: Remembering the Theme Park's Early Success description: July 17, 1955: Disneyland opens in Anaheim, Calif. canonical: https://time.com/3949988/disneyland-history/ author: Jennifer Latson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-17T11:00:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:02:35.774Z article:section: History og:title: Disneyland Turns 60: Remembering the Theme Park's Early Success og:description: July 17, 1955: Disneyland opens in Anaheim, Calif. og:url: https://time.com/3949988/disneyland-history/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5cb84932bfd5c405/69885a1ae53aba17964de849/disney.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Disney Makes A Point og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Disneyland Turns 60: Remembering the Theme Park's Early Success twitter:description: July 17, 1955: Disneyland opens in Anaheim, Calif. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5cb84932bfd5c405/69885a1ae53aba17964de849/disney.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Disney Proved That No Price Was Too High for Fun by [Jennifer Latson](https://time.com/author/jennifer-latson/) ## Jennifer Latson Jul 17, 2015 11:00 AM UTC  Walt Disney uses a baton to point to sketches of Disneyland, 1955. Walt Disney uses a baton to point to sketches of Disneyland, 1955.Hulton Archive / Getty Images by [Jennifer Latson](https://time.com/author/jennifer-latson/) ## Jennifer Latson Jul 17, 2015 11:00 AM UTC It may or may not be the happiest place on earth, but it’s always been one of the most profitable. Ever since Disneyland opened on this day, July 17, 60 years ago, the theme park has thrilled awestruck visitors — all the way to the bank. The first outpost in Disney’s amusement park empire, Disneyland quickly became California’s [biggest tourist attraction](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,900135,00.html). Fans of Disney’s films and TV shows — and their parents — shelled out real cash for the fantasy experience. [TIME listed](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,825227,00.html) some sample sales figures in 1957: --- > “” --- In the park’s Adventureland realm alone, nearly 3 million visitors paid more than $1 million in 1956—which would be more than $8.7 million today, accounting for inflation—to sail down a jungle river “where trap-jawed crocodiles and painted warriors glare menacingly at every turn,” per TIME. ### Walt's Wild Men: LIFE Behind the Scenes at Disney Studios  Caption from LIFE. Quartet known as The Mello-Men bays in harmony before screen showing four canine characters whose voices they represent in the forthcoming Disney feature cartoon, "The Lady and The Tramp." Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A Disney animator peers in a mirror to get facial expressions just right. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Creating sound effects for a Disney movie, 1953. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A Disney animator peers in a mirror to get facial expressions just right. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Behind the scenes at Disney studios, 1953. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Voicing a character for the feature cartoon, The Lady and the Tramp. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Disney artists check a cel from the film, The Lady and the Tramp. J. R. Eyerman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A Disney animator and a character he's drawn. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Jim MacDonald, Disney's sound effects expert, blows across top of jug while other experts make murderous music out of bazooka, disembodied piano and assortment of strings, pipes, hinges, chains. J. R. Eyerman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A Disney animator peers in a mirror to get facial expressions just right. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Walt at work gives animated version of what he thinks action ought to look like as he directs story conference on his forthcoming Sleeping Beauty. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Walt Disney J. R. Eyerman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images When it opened, Disneyland’s assets totaled $16 million — more than three times the $5 million budget that Walt Disney had originally set. He and his business-partner brother, Roy O. Disney, expanded their vision after some of the nation’s largest companies asked to buy in to the fairytale. They leased space to 55 companies, weaving product-placement opportunities in between Sleeping Beauty’s castle and Captain Hook’s hideaway. Per TIME: --- > “” --- The key to Disneyland’s success, of course, was that few visitors felt fleeced. Walt’s theme park exit polls showed that while customers’ biggest complaint was the high prices, 80% said they’d be back to pay them again. His model was so successful, in fact, that it was emulated at Six Flags and Astroworld before [the Disney Company reproduced it](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,910109,00.html) with Walt Disney World, which opened in Florida in 1971\. Walt and his disciples had, it seemed, identified a phenomenon TIME labeled the Disneyland Effect. “Stated simply,” [TIME summarized in 1968](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,900135,00.html), “the thesis is that what’s missing in urban life is a sense of fun, and that once a fun area is built, it proves to be a powerful, regenerative force that brings prosperity to the whole surrounding area.” And while the Disneyland Effect [wasn’t enough](http://www.chron.com/houston/article/Large-pieces-of-AstroWorld-currently-up-for-grabs-6139078.php) to keep Astroworld afloat, it seems to be holding true in Anaheim. Just last week, Disney [pledged to invest](http://time.com/3947710/disney-disneyland-anaheim/) an additional $1 billion in improvements and expansion at Disneyland in the coming years, in exchange for continued tax breaks from the California city. The park’s “[Diamond Celebration](https://disneyland.disney.go.com/events-tours/60-years-diamond-anniversary-celebration/)” to commemorate its 60th anniversary represents a Dumbo-sized investment in itself, but one that will likely pay off in “a sense of fun”—and profit. **_Read more about Disneyland from the 1950s, here in the TIME archives_**: [Show Business: How to Make a Buck](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,825227,00.html) ### See Photos of Disneyland When It Opened in 1955  Caption from LIFE. Sleeping Beauty's castle in Fantasyland is overrun by children crossing drawbridge over moat. Inside, Disney plans a model torture chamber. Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  One of Disneyland's boat rides, Anaheim, California, 1955. Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Rides at Disneyland in 1955. Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  People riding the teacup ride at Disneyland Amusement Park, 1955. Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  People riding a riverboat at Disneyland Amusement Park, 1955. Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Disneyland Parade done as a preview for national television, 1955. Allan Grant—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Planted flowers forming design of Mickey Mouse's face, with Disneyland train in background, 1955. Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Mickey Mouse riding the Disneyland Railroad, 1955. Allan Grant—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Disneyland rides in 1955. Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Children scared during Snow White ride at Disneyland Amusement Park, 1955. Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Cups and saucers filled with squealing children as paying guests whirl through park's Fantasyland at Disney's "Mad Hatter's Tea Party." Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Showgirl performers taking a break and having a drink at Disneyland Amusement Park, 1955. Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  People resting by TWA rocket at Disneyland Amusement Park, 1955. Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Disneyland rides, 1955. Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A family at Disneyland in 1955. Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Disneyland rides in 1955. 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