Disneyland

Here are some fun facts which you may not know about Disneyland:

• The drawbridge to Sleeping Beauty’s Castle really works. It’s been raised only twice: once on opening day, and once in the 1980s when Fantasyland reopened. The crest above the drawbridge is the Disney family crest.


• It took only 364 days to build Disneyland.


• The organ that was in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea now lives in the ballroom of the Haunted Mansion.


• In the early years of the park, the Rivers of America were stocked with catfish and visitors were allowed to fish off the docks of Tom Sawyer Island.


• When Disneyland launched its original Submarine Voyage ride, it included live girls dressed like mermaids swimming among the submarines.


• Disneyland was expected to fail. Opening day was such a disaster that pretty much every press organization that attended the celebration had predicted the park’s failure within one year. It opened on a day that was 101 degrees and the street asphalt still wasn’t dry, leading to it sticking to shoes. By the end of the first day, all but 2 of the 48 Autopia cars were crashed and about half the rides were broken. Despite all that, park visitors loved it and attendance continued to grow day by day.


• The only Tomorrow Land ride that still exists in its original state from the opening is Autopia, and even it was changed to fit with Cars the movie. Actually though, there is one major change in Autopia from how it was on opening day - there were originally no guide rails to keep people on track.


• Hidden Mickeys are spread all over the park and there’s at least one in every ride.


• Main Street represents Walt’s home town, Marceline, Missouri, in 1901, the year he was born. Traces of Walt Disney himself are all over the park. He used to live in an apartment over the fire house on Main Street. They always leave the light on in his memory.