Disneyland Fun Facts
Interesting Facts About Disneyland For Kids
Thank you so much for stopping by today! I’m assuming you are here because you have been to Disneyland recently, want to go to Disneyland or are going to Disneyland. These Disneyland fun facts are a mix of old and new things that you will want to know whether you are going there or already have been there.
I also created an article all about the neat and secret things you can find at Disneyland. Click below to see it!
Disneyland Secrets And Tips <—– Click There!
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I wanted to bring you some Disneyland fun facts that will get you excited about going to this wonderful place. My family and I just recently took a vacation there, and I couldn’t believe how much fun my children had. I have an 8 and 6 year old. They really did have the times of their lives. Before moving on to all the Disneyland fun facts and interesting facts about Disneyland, let’s take a look at it’s history!
Also, most of the photos you will see on this article are photos we actually took on our vacation. The people in them are my family! Most of the Disneyland history photos will obviously not be my personal photos.
Disneyland Fun Facts
Interesting Facts About Disneyland For Kids
History Of Disneyland
Before we get to the actual Disneyland fun facts, let’s do a little history lesson. I think it’s important that you know how Disneyland came to be!
If you are bored by history lessons, just scroll down to the fact area! Or you can skip down to the Disneyland Secrets and Tips.
Disneyland started out as a dream by Walt Disney himself. He wanted to create a magical place where children and parents could go to have fun together.
His original plans for Disneyland was an 8 acre park right next to Burbank studios. It was a nice location for his employees and family to go and relax. Unfortunately at the time, World War II made that very hard to accomplish. Once Walt Disney had more time to conceive his idea, he realized that 8 acres was not going to be enough.
Walt Disney reached out to the Stanford Research Institute to survey a piece of land outside of LA that was about 100 acres big. His vision was one that had a fairy tale castle, moon rockets, giant teacups, flying elephants, mountains, waterfalls and a scenic railway. He wanted all these things to be inside a magical park called Disneyland.
Walt needed to find a prime piece of real estate. He needed a place that was close enough to LA, but was accessible from the freeway. The catch was that he didn’t have a lot of money, it needed to be affordable.
There was a 160 acre orange grove inside Anaheim, California that ended the search for land. This are was close to the Santa Ana Freeway or I-5 and Harbor Boulevard.
It turned out that Disneyland was a lot more expensive than even Walt could imagine. A quote from Walt says “I could never convince the financiers that Disneyland was feasible, because dreams offer too little collateral.” He decided to turn to television to seek financial support. He created a series called “Walt Disney’s Disneyland” that would show a glimpse of what he had planned to do. This was enough to make Disneyland a reality and get the support he needed.
Construction for Disneyland began on July 21st, 1954. This date was only 12 months before the park was scheduled to be opened.
Walt decided to make his park unique and magical, he would create 5 smaller parks within 1 big park.
- Main Street, USA – Walt’s goal here was to relive a typical turn of the century main street. A warm place that will be very nostalgic to some visitors. His goal was to have something amazing at the end of the street. Something that would beckon people to keep walking down the road.
- Tomorrowland – This area was to marvel at the inventions and things of tomorrow. Walt had most trouble with this area, he knew that by the time he was done, it wouldn’t be tomorrowland anymore. He knew this area would have to evolve and change.
- Frontierland – An area to relive the pioneer days of the American frontier.
- Adventureland – An exotic and tropical place. Things from far off regions of the world!
- Fantastyland – The goal of this area was to make dreams come true. As stated in the “When you with upon a star” song that still is Disneys theme song.
A tremendous $17,000,000 later the park was finally complete and ready to be opened! Walt Disney’s dream of Disneyland was finally a reality and ready to be opened.
Six thousand invites were sent out for opening day. By mid-afternoon they had over 28,000 people show up, most had counterfeit tickets.
Walt Disney was 53 when he dedicated the park. You could see the fulfillment in Walt’s face while he gazed over the thing that he had worked so hard and diligently to create.
Opening day turned out to be an absolute disaster. There was a heat wave that hit the Anaheim area that lasted 15 days, the temperature on opening day was a smouldering 115 degrees. There was a plumbers strike so many of the fountains that were scheduled to be functioning were not working. High heel shoes were being trapped in the black top, mainly because the black top was only poured the night before. It didn’t have the proper amount of time to set.
Opening day was rough and the park started a little slow, but by 1965 there had already been 50 million visitors that came through the gate. .
Walt Disney was a big dreamer, but I doubt even he could have dreamt how big it has become. His legacy will be one that goes on for a very long time, probably forever.
Interesting Facts About Disneyland For Kids
Disneyland Fun Facts
Here are some Disneyland fun facts that will have you intrigued and entertained. Keep in mind that some of these are myths that have been told by reliable sources. Some are word of mouth from other sources. Most are considered fact. These are made to be fun, and I hope you take them that way.
What are you waiting for, let’s get to these amazing Disneyland Fun Facts!
♦ Disney spends roughly $41,000 per night on it’s dazzling display of fireworks.
♦ When riding the Indiana Jones ride, you will never experience the exact same ride twice. It’s programmed so that there is a one in a million chance you could do it exactly the same two times. The differences can be small, but things such as the way you hit bumps or the way the flame comes out of Mara’s eye could change. You may even start in a one of 3 different rooms. Either way, it’s a unique experience each time!
♦ Next time you go to Disneyland go to one of the shops in Adventureland and ask for the translation to the writing on the wall for the Indiana Jones ride. They will provide you a photo copy of writing. They used to hand this out to everyone that got in line but decided not to do it anymore.
♦ Inside the Matterhorn close to the top there is a basketball court. This was used by employees on break as well as a break room for the mountain climbers that used to scale the mountain. It’s unclear if it’s still used for this purpose, but my guess is that it’s still there.
♦ The last ride that Walt Disney himself worked on was Pirates of the Caribbean. The sad part is that he died before it was finished. He declared that it was his favorite ride there, it’s very unfortunate that he couldn’t enjoy it before passing.
♦ The music and anamatronics on all the rides in Disneyland never cease to move or play. Even when the park is closed, they continue to move and play music. The music can be turned down very low however.
♦ Disney employees are never referred to as that. They are always referred to as cast members. You will see this written on doors and signs around the park.
♦ The Haunted Mansions stretching room is actually an elevator. The actual ride portion takes place outside of the park.
♦ The names above all the buildings on main street are names of people that helped build and put together the park.
♦ When Disneyland opened up in 1955 it only had 18 attractions. Today there are more than 60!
♦ Disneyland was actually supposed to have a “Land of Oz” but it never actually made it to construction.
♦ The firework show, “Remember, Dreams Come True” was tested in China instead of Anaheim. This was to protect the secrecy behind the amazing show.
♦ 54 full time electricians help maintain the over 100,000 light bulbs that illuminate main street.
♦ It can get up as high as 150 degrees inside the character costumes in the heat of summer.
♦ The famous comedian and actor Steve Martin used to work at Disneyland in the 60’s. He was a balloon animal crafter in the 1960’s.
♦ At the entrance, the ground is red to give it a red carpet sort of feel.
♦ There is over 30 tons of garbage disposed of on a typical day in Disneyland. 1,850 is recycled annually.
♦ Originally when the Matterhorn was constructed it violated a law in Anaheim for being too tall. The city decided to make an exception for Disneyland.
♦ The Disney family crest is displayed by the coat of arms hanging over the castles entrance.
♦ The bridge going under the castle is actually a functioning drawbridge. It has not been used since the 1983, and one other time when the park opened.
♦ There are cats around the park that are left alone, they help control the mouse population. Ironically, Walt Disney hated mice.
♦ Through 2005 there were 78 million mouse ear hats sold, this is enough for every child under 18 in the U.S. Who knows how many have been sold through now!
♦ The security team at Disneyland is mostly undercover and among the people there. The entire staff of security totals more than the Anaheim Police department.
♦ Gibson Girl on Main Street sells enough ice cream to replicate the Matterhorn mountain at full scale.
♦ The Disneyland railroad track spans over 1.5 miles across the park. It takes 20 minutes per ride and travels over 20,000 miles in one year of use.
♦ The Disneyland lost and found has recovered some pretty strange things. False teeth, a glass eye, a canary and toupees among other very strange items.
♦ The cannons you see along main street are actually real! They were used in the 19th century by the French Army.
♦ Purchased at $0.03 cents a pound, the gas lamps lining the streets are real. When there was a power outage in 1982, the gas lamps were the only thing that remained lit in the park.
♦ There are no 90 degree angles on the curbs along main street. Walt didn’t like the sharp edges of 90 degree angles and thought they were cold.
♦ The first year the park was open, they used real ammunition in the penny arcade. The shooting gallery had .22 caliber rifles. They finally decided to remove the real ammunition, I wonder why?
♦ The trolly and street car tracks that run through Main Street are greased with vegetable oil every morning.
♦ They put a special coating on the horses shoes to enhance the sound their hooves make on the street.
♦ The original Disneyland Band was only supposed to play for two weeks, but they have been there ever since.
Disneyland Fun Facts
Affordable Stuff For Disneyland!
I’m giving you a cool tip right now. This is going to save you soooo much money! Before you go to Disneyland buy any gear you want before you go. If you want mouse ears, buy them before you go. If you want a Disneyland t-shirt or sweatshirt, buy them before you go. You will be shocked at the prices when you get there. Especially if the kids want any fun accessories, like the mouse ears. The girls can get the Minnie mouse ears at stores as well. We paid much less for everything. Here are some examples below of stuff you can get much cheaper!
There are many many more options for kids and adults when it comes to Disney clothes and accessories. Click the link below to see more!
Disney Clothes And Accessories Affordable Click Here Now
Disneyland Fun Facts Video
Disneyland Fun Facts
Interesting Facts About Disneyland Conclusion
Thank you so much for stopping by and showing interest in the happiest place on earth. My kids and family were so excited to go and we had such an amazing time. If you ever get the opportunity to go, I almost insist that you take advantage of that opportunity. These Disneyland Fun Facts were written to help you understand and get motivated to go to this magical place.
If you have been there or want to add a cool fact, please comment below! I would love to hear from you!
We have many other pages here with awesome facts for you to check out. Just look at the top of the page for the navigation, click on a category that you like and enjoy. Check out the top 20 most amazing creatures you never knew existed.
Disneyland Fun Facts
There are over 1,000,000 Disney insignia “Mickey” (face circle and two conected ear circles) hidden around the park. The Imaganeers had them hidden in obvious spots like the garden when you first come through the gate to secret harder to find spots like the pebbles in the ground.