Seventy years ago, on July 17, 1955, Walt Disney welcomed scores of people — both in person and across the airwaves on ABC — to the opening of his latest and greatest creation: Disneyland.
Disneyland not only created a new kind of entertainment industry centered on immersive storytelling and visionary design, but it was also the dynamic embodiment of a business strategy that Walt had been honing for the three decades prior.
“Disneyland was a truly revolutionary concept,” Rebecca Cline, Director of the Walt Disney Archives, said. “It was the first themed park, and that theming was very special. It was based on things that had already been done at Disney’s studio.”
It Was All Started By a Mouse
The roots of Disneyland were planted decades before Opening Day.
As Walt said in “The Disneyland Story,” the first episode of the Disneyland TV series which aired October 27, 1954, on ABC, “The story of Mickey is truthfully, the real beginning of Disneyland.”
That’s because Mickey didn’t just live in movie theaters.
“When Walt Disney founded the company, he almost immediately created the concept of synergy,” Cline explained. “Mickey Mouse was a very popular character in films, but then almost immediately they started doing ancillary products, character merchandise development, live events — all kinds of things that supported the character of Mickey Mouse and made him a superstar.”
From the moment Mickey Mouse captured hearts on screen, Walt envisioned a world where characters could leap from celluloid into real life — where families could step into the stories they loved.
Walt began dreaming up Disneyland as early as the 1940s, and in the early 1950s, as concepts for the park were beginning to take shape, he also leaned into the potential power of television as another way to share his stories… and his upcoming park.
“Walt would create a television series for ABC that was called Disneyland,” Cline explained. “He knew that if he could get his message about his park into homes all across the nation, that his audience would want to come to Disneyland.” As Walt himself put it, “Disneyland the place and Disneyland the TV show are all part of the same.”
Designing a New Kind of Experience
“There were actually more than 100 layouts for Disneyland,” Emily (Emo) O’Brien, Portfolio Executive Creative Producer at Walt Disney Imagineering, said. “Ultimately Marvin Davis, who did those layouts, landed on this central area that became the core. And it made it easy for people to traverse around the park from land to land and still know where that common center was.”
The Central Plaza, or “the hub,” as Walt referred to it on TV, remains the heart of Disneyland to this day.
To bring his vision to life, Walt couldn’t use traditional architects. To essentially create a film in real life, he turned to familiar faces to help design the park.
“He hired away his own artists from their own jobs and used them to develop the look of the park and develop the attractions,” Cline said.
This team would become the foundation of Walt Disney Imagineering — a group dedicated to blending science, art, and creative imagination to tell stories in ways guests had never experienced before.
That ingenuity continues to this day and Imagineers often work with partners at Disney around the world to develop new and innovative experiences. And, as O’Brien notes, “If we don’t have the technology in one of those units, we’ll just invent it.”
Storytelling in Every Detail
Walt’s commitment to storytelling extends to every corner of Disneyland.
“He really understood that immersing people and moving beyond just the attraction… making sure the cast members were dressed to be within that story, making sure our food and beverage and our merch all added to that story,” Kris Theiler, Vice President, Disneyland Resort, said.
That philosophy has continued as new lands and attractions have been added since the founding of the park.
“A land like Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge really epitomizes how we have continued to hold that dear to us and advance all of those aspects of his vision,” Theiler added. “I don’t think we’ve ever built a land quite that immersive.”
As Walt Disney once said, “You can dream, create, design and build the most wonderful place in the world… but it requires people to make the dream a reality.”
Theiler noted that his philosophy carries through to his day, noting, “The cast members are really our differentiator and the people that bring the story to life.”
A Legacy That Continues to Grow
The early success of Disneyland paved the way for global expansion.
“It was so successful very early on the company was able to move forward and do a lot of the bigger projects that Walt had in mind,” Cline explained. “That eventually became Walt Disney World and later EPCOT… and parks in Tokyo, Paris, Hong Kong, and Shanghai… and coming up, a new park in the Middle East.”
The ripple effect extended beyond the parks.
“It gave the audience of Disney a taste for immersive and live entertainment which gave birth to things like the Disney Cruise Line,” Cline said. “And all of these places where you can go and involve yourself in-person with Disney, not just in a theme park.”
“In many ways, Disneyland is a global ambassador for American creativity and innovation and imagination,” Theiler noted. “Walt Disney was a master storyteller… In creating Disneyland, he wanted a place to bring his stories to grow and come to life in new and unique and different ways.”
That vision still rings through the halls of The Walt Disney Company 70 years later.
“Walt Disney’s philosophies have always been what the company has focused on,” Cline said. “It’s all about great storytelling told using the finest and highest level of technology available and innovative concepts.”
