It’s Magic

Two events made the year 1955 probably the most most significant in Orange County history.

The Santa Ana Freeway was extended into Orange County, thus opening the rural bedroom community for development as a major metropolitan area.

And Walt Disney turned a dream--and orange groves in Anaheim--into his Magic Kingdom, Disneyland, which opened its gates to the public on July 17, 1955--30 years ago today.

Although the amusement park is having a year-long celebration, it is having a special celebration that started at 12:01 a.m. today.

It’s a day worth noting in the community, too.

Disneyland is a commercial venture, an amusement park that has attracted nearly 250 million customers thus far. But it is far more. It has had a significant economic effect not only on Anaheim but also on all of Orange County. It has been the magnet for other businesses. And it has made tourism a major industry.

But, more than that, Disneyland has given Anaheim and Orange County worldwide exposure --and a bit of its magic. It has divided the world into two groups; those who have been to Disneyland and those who would one day like to go there.

Disneyland has turned out to be much more than just an amusement park. It is a place of vision that keeps changing, but that somehow stays forever young. It has birthdays, but doesn’t age. It’s a place for all those who share Walt Disney’s dream of a “magic kingdom” for the young at heart.