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10 Random Facts about Disneyland
1. Roy O. Disney arranged to buy the very first ticket to Disneyland, but if you don’t count him, the first person to buy a ticket and enter the gates was David MacPherson. The first two children were Christine Vess and Michael Schwartner. All three of them received lifetime passes to Disneyland which was later upgraded to lifetime passes to any Disney park anywhere in the world.
2. The public opening day was July 18, but the press day was July 17, which is the day Disney recognizes as its opening.
3. The press day sucked. Disasters included counterfeit tickets, 101°F temperatures, broken drinking fountains, vendors running out of food, and a gas leak that resulted in Fantasyland, Adventureland and Frontierland being closed for the afternoon.
4. It was originally going to be called “Mickey Mouse Park”.
5. For the first few years, the shops on Main Street were occupied by outside vendors who rented the space from Disney.
6. You won’t find alcohol anywhere at Disneyland or the Magic Kingdom, with one exception: the private, members-only Club 33 that’s tucked away in New Orleans Square at Disneyland.
7. The monorail that opened in Tomorrowland in 1959 was the first daily-operating monorail in the Western Hemisphere.
8. Mickey himself (and his posse) used to climb the Matterhorn every day, several times a day. This no longer occurs.
9. Tickets were different than they are now – a park ticket now gives you access to whatever ride you want to ride, however many times you can manage to ride it. But until 1982, guests paid to get in and also purchased a coupon book of tickets. Tickets were labeled A-D (E was added later). A tickets were small rides, B tickets were a bit larger, C tickets were pretty typical rides (such as the Tea Cups), and D tickets were the thrillers (the Matterhorn). These were later upgraded to E tickets. Sometimes, you’ll still hear people refer to roller coasters and exciting rides as “E-ticket rides”.
10. Disneyland has had three unscheduled closures since it opened 53 years ago – when JFK was assassinated, when some Vietnam protesters took over Tom Sawyer’s Island, and the day after 9/11.
I believe Disneyland was closed ON 9/11 ; and maybe on 9/12 as well.
I know from being in WDW on 9/11 that the park was open till about 10:30 at which point they closed all the parks. They were all re-opened the next day with added security.
posted by beth on 7-17-2008 at 2:20 pm
I think in #10 you mean the day of 9/11. I had to work there on the 12th.
posted by Jerad on 7-17-2008 at 2:27 pm
You should do a posting of all the Disney ride accidents (fatal and otherwise) and how Disney sweeps them under the rug.
posted by Boba Fett on 7-17-2008 at 2:37 pm
Mike Watt has a song called “e-ticket ride”, now I know what he was referring to.
THE MORE YOU KNOW
posted by jill on 7-17-2008 at 2:41 pm
I’m not sure if it counts, but California Adventure serves alcohol. They have a beer cart and a vineyard. So its not DISNEYLAND Disneyland, but its Disney.
posted by Melissa on 7-17-2008 at 2:50 pm
Melissa - should have clarified in the post, but yep, you’re right. It’s just the original Disneyland Park and the Magic Kingdom in Florida. California Adventure serves alcohol and I have enjoyed drinks around the world at EPCOT on numerous occasions :)
posted by stacy on 7-17-2008 at 4:49 pm
My best birthday celebration ever was my 25th, because my sister managed to get my die-hard Disney family an invite to dinner at Club 33.
posted by Mary Sue on 7-17-2008 at 4:57 pm
Disneyland was actually going to be built in southern Oregon; and because the weather is so crappy; it was going to be called Winter Wonderland; but then decided business wasn’t going to be good.
posted by Katie on 7-17-2008 at 6:02 pm
California Adventures also has a great bar in the Ariel’s Grotto restaurant. My hubby and I spent many a drunken afternoon there back in our footloose kid-free days. We had passes, and no sense of saving our money for the future back then….
posted by Jen on 7-17-2008 at 6:04 pm
@ Jill-
my thoughts exactly. I’ve heard it other places as well, good to know what it means.
posted by Josh on 7-17-2008 at 6:13 pm
Boba Fett is right. WDW did not post such incidents for public record until a 1972 law required them to so many incidents have been glossed over of not talked about. Many guest/cast member injuries and deaths are hidden from the public. It is so people in the parks don’t become alarmed and keep living in a fantasy world while they are there and i tend to agree with the policy. The information is out there, all you must do is look in the right places. and yes i am a former college program cast member (8/07 - 1/08). it was mostley fun times…
posted by zorro a.k.a. don de la verga on 7-17-2008 at 6:24 pm
I ALMOST got to go to the Club 33. The company where I worked in CA had a long-standing business relationship with Disney Studios and they were going to let us have our Christmas Party there one year. But then the bosses decided not to. :-(
posted by Sheldon Siegel on 7-17-2008 at 6:33 pm
While it’s not technically DisneyLAND - Disney Sea in Tokyo Japan serves alcohol.
posted by hana on 7-17-2008 at 8:26 pm
Stacy - You were quite clear. Your facts were about Disneyland specifically, not about Disney parks in general. Each Disney park has a different name so when you write about Disneyland it’s the original park in Anaheim, and The Magic Kingdom is one of the parks conprising Disney World in Orlando.
posted by kani on 7-17-2008 at 10:51 pm
Technically, no one has “died” at any Disney Park. They are pronounced dead outside the gates and off the property. That’s what Snopes.com said.
posted by Carmen on 7-17-2008 at 11:23 pm
I visited Tokyo Disneyland in 1998, and they still had A-E tickets, sort of. If you purchased an all access pass, about 4000 Yen, you had no tickets. For about 1200 Yen, you got access to the park. This plan was good for older folks to go with their families. With this access, you had to purchase tickets to ride, which was 100 Yen plus 100 Yen per letter, so an A-ticket ride was 200 Yen and the E-ticket rides were 600 Yen. (Approximately 105 Yen to the Dollar.)
posted by Nathan on 7-18-2008 at 12:36 am
Disneyland was closed on Sept. 11th- I remember waiting for the phone call telling me not to come to work, I did however work the next day- and they were also closed May 4th 2005. The kick off day for the 50th Anniversary Celebration… it was a media day.
posted by Livia on 7-18-2008 at 3:08 am
And since we’re noting other Disney places that serve alcohol, let’s not leave out Pleasure Island in WDW down in Orlando. An entire island of debauchery, right there in Disney! Well, minus the sex and drugs, I suppose. But still.
posted by Dan on 7-18-2008 at 7:12 am
Carmen, check out the Snopes page again - that’s no longer true.
posted by Lisa on 7-18-2008 at 7:38 am
Regarding alcohol, Stacy’s comment is the most accurate: “You won’t find alcohol anywhere at Disneyland or the Magic Kingdom” because Disney sells it just about everywhere else. After Ratatouille came out last year, Disney was even going to market a wine with Remy the rat on it, but this was eventually scuttled because, apparently, its illegal to put cartoon characters on wine labels.
BTW, Disney, as a company sucks. They have hired contractors who use child labor, treat their employees like shit, pollute the Everglades with sewage, and have copywrited the entire city of Celebration (effectively privatizing a public community).
posted by Florida on 7-18-2008 at 9:44 am
I saw Mickey climb the Matterhorn as recently as 2005.
posted by Melissa on 7-18-2008 at 9:49 pm
Thanks for the article on Disneyland! My husband is a big fan (and I’m coming around…), and even worked at WDW for a while. There were a couple items on your list that even HE didn’t know!
posted by Dawn on 7-19-2008 at 4:51 am