It's July 17 - the day that started it all for the theme park industry. Today, Disneyland celebrates its 66th anniversary.
On this day in 1955, Disneyland officially opened to the public, redefining what a theme park could be and sparking a building boom in parks over the next two decades. Other parks and attractions may predate Walt's original park, but to this day, whenever a developer floats the idea of a new theme park, they say that it will be their community's "Disneyland."
Let's celebrate the original on its birthday with a walk around the park, shall we?
You can watch more videos from around the park and get our latest attraction rankings over on our Disneyland page.
The Disneyland Resort is celebrating its flagship park's birthday across the esplanade with the debut of the new Coco scene in Mickey's Philharmagic at Disney California Adventure. Here's a look at the making of that scene, which brought Pixar and Disney artists together for the first time.
Yesterday, Disneyland showed off its latest addition with the official opening of the revamped Jungle Cruise in Adventureland. Jungle Cruise was an opening day attraction at the park - one of just 10 left. Another one of those also got a makeover this year, with the redesign of Fantasyland's Snow White ride into Snow White's Enchanted Wish.
Long-time Disney fans might also note that by reaching its 66th birthday today, Disneyland achieved a milestone that its founder did not. Walt Disney passed away in December 1966 at the age of 65. So in Walt's memory, let's revisit that opening day broadcast from 1955.
Right now, Disney is offering California residents deeply discounted tickets to Disneyland and Disney California Adventure, but our authorized partner has even bigger discounts available on its Disneyland tickets page. Other discounts are available to non-Californians, as well.
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