Design
Disneyland's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad First Day
On the anniversary of its opening, a look back at what Walt Disney called "Black Sunday."
On this day in 1955, Disneyland debuted on 165 acres of previously undeveloped Orange County land. Though the theme park has become one of the most popular American vacation destinations, opening day was dubbed "Black Sunday" by Walt Disney and his executives.
Only media and special guests were invited to the initial opening. But more than half of the 28,000 in attendance arrived with counterfeit tickets.