Disneyland 1956
Disneyland first opened its doors in 1955. One year later, my Grandfather, Lee A. Moe, took these photos while visiting the park with his grandchildren. Disneyland still looked very new! Inside and outside the park there was a great deal more open space. Orchards could still be seen just outside the park fence.
"Get your E Tickets here!"
The Main entrance with the Main street train station. (See the entrance in 2004)
The bucket ride was an early favorite, you could get a great view of the whole park. Large areas of the park were still open space!
Tomorrowland in 1956 featured the great Autopia car ride, "Rocket to the Moon", and the furturistic "Space Bar" ; an obvious reference to the importance of keyboard skills in the coming computer revolution!
Story Book Land in Fantasyland was brand new. You could ride the boats through a land of Disney's favorite fables. The landscaping was very fresh. Just outside the park you can see farms. On the right, the Tea Cups sit just in front of the merry-go-round.
Adventure Land was in the early stages of development, but Disney was already starting to recruit young pirates for the future "Pirates of the Caribbean"!
"But why is the Rum gone? "
Members of our family would continue to visit Disneyland in the years to follow along with millions of other visitors. But in that first year of Disneyland , . . . .an American tradition had just been born!