Let’s celebrate Disneyland’s birthday with a sale!

July 17, 1955 is to me, one of the most important days in not just Disney history, but also theme park history. This was the day that Walt Disney proudly showed the world a place unlike any other in existence – one based on cleanliness and courtesy. For those of us who never saw what amusement parks were like before Disneyland, it is perhaps a little harder for us to grasp the magnitude to which Disneyland made an impact on the industry. Walt’s ideas for this park broke so many typical design philosophies of the time. It is interesting to take a retrospective look at what the ‘experts’ said about his plans. For example, he was told having a single entrance was a major flaw because it would cause a large bottleneck at the front gate (but he wanted to do this so he could control the guest experience from start to finish). He was told that custom-built rides were a bad idea because they would be too expensive to build and maintain (compared to ‘off the shelf’ rides). They suggested that things that were not rides (like a castle, pirate ship or a ‘town square’.. even janitorial services) did not generate revenue and were therefore a waste of money; that people wouldn’t really notice them anyway. Yes, to build something that broke the mold was met with a lot of criticism and skepticism, and Walt was basically told that he should stick to what he knows and to leave amusement parks to the experts. Walt, undeterred and confident, forged ahead with the vision he had for this park, and we can all thank him for that! While the day was not without problems (extremely hot weather, ladies heels sinking in soft asphalt, shortage of drinking fountains, rides breaking down), I still wish I could have been there – to feel the excitement in the air and to experience this new, clean, exciting and unique place must have been such an amazing experience.

We want to celebrate the anniversary of this special day by offering the biggest discount yet on most products in the store… but only for today, Disneyland’s birthday!