"Disneyland Will Never Be Completed"
When Walt Disney opened the original Disneyland in Anaheim, Orange County, California, on July 17, 1955, he said he hoped it would be “a source of joy and inspiration to all the world.” He famously observed: “Disneyland will never be completed…as long as there is imagination left in the world.”600 million mouseketeers have visited Disneyland since those famous words were first uttered by Walt Disney. Over the next several decades, Disneyland expanded to become a 500-acre, family friendly destination with two parks, Disneyland and The Grand California Adventure, three hotels and a shopping district known as Downtown Disney. Families from across the country and around the world flock to Anaheim to see Mickey Mouse, Disneyland Resort’s official mascot, and the rest of Disneyland’s characters, everyone from Donald Duck, Cinderella, and Buzz Light year to the new hit character Elsa of Frozen and every character in between. Walt’s dream of a family park, where parents could take their children for a day of fun for the kids and adults alike started with the popularity of Mickey Mouse and the rest of the Disney characters. With Mickey’s rising popularity, children from every corner of the country wrote to Walt, wanting to come to Hollywood and see the place where Mickey Mouse lived. Burbank, where Mickey Mouse lived and where the Disney Studios was located, had not much to offer to the tourists besides the technicalities of animation. But a park where children can meet and greet Mickey and the other characters, have picnics and play and run around in a safe and beautiful park like environment was perfect!Construction of "The Happiest Place on Earth" began in 1954and was completed in one year, an impossible task to duplicate today. For the Grand Opening, six thousand invitations were mailed to studio workers, construction workers, the press and officials of company sponsors. On opening day, Disneyland had more glamour and excitement than anyone had ever seen before and it welcomed guests from around the country to 18 major attractions, including the Mad Tea Party, the Jungle Cruise, Autopia and the Mark Twain Riverboat, and it featured five themed lands: Fantasyland, Adventureland, Tomorrowland, Frontierland and Main Street, U.S.A.
