40 Years of Magic : As Disneyland Celebrates Its Anniversary, Anaheim Deals With the Pains of Middle Age

Before it became known around the world for its financial ineptitude, before its most famous politician became the first U.S. President to resign in disgrace, before its beaches were soiled by oil or its coastline charred by fire, Orange County was the “The Happiest Place on Earth.”

Disneyland, the world’s most famous amusement park, a cultural phenomenon that created an entire new industry, put Orange County on the map when it opened on July 17, 1955.

“It gives Orange County an international address,” said county Supervisor Gaddi Vasquez. “If you say you are from Orange County, a lot of people around the world don’t identify. But if you say you live five minutes from Disneyland, they know what you’re talking about.”

On Monday, the most famous of modern-day theme parks, which has welcomed more than 350 million people since its opening day, turns 40. The occasion will be marked by the burial of a Disneyland time capsule, a sing-along at the Matterhorn and other special activities.

“I think 40 years represents just an incredible history and legacy,” said Disneyland President Paul Pressler. “It’s an opportunity to pause and really take in everything that has gone on in this park, and the magic that has been created.”

The day’s festivities are sure to run more smoothly than the park’s chaotic debut four decades ago. That occasion was fraught with disasters, including a major traffic jam on the Santa Ana Freeway, broken-down rides, a shortage of food and drinks, a gas leak that forced the temporary shutdown of Fantasyland, and blistering summer heat that caused the spiked heels of women’s shoes to sink into the soft asphalt on Main Street, which had been poured only the day before.

“People were all crowded down on Main Street and they were not happy campers,” recalled 65-year-old Roy Disney, nephew of founder Walt Disney. “But the park itself was great. The attitude Walt took from the beginning was that this was a place that anybody could go to--no matter what age.”

The opening day celebration was broadcast live on television and some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, including Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Kirk Douglas were there. But the television program, co-hosted by Art Linkletter, Bob Cummings and Ronald Reagan, gave no clue of the discomfort of the 30,000 invited guests.

It was not until press accounts appeared the next day that there was the perception that Walt Disney’s personal dream was a nightmare.

“The feeling was that Walt Disney was going to have a spectacular flop,” said Ron Dominguez, who worked as a ticket seller on opening day and retired last year as a corporate vice president.

But as the park enters middle age, Walt Disney’s dream endures and continues to thrive in an increasingly competitive tourism industry that now offers bigger theme parks and more modern attractions.

“Disneyland created a new industry,” said Jack Kyser, chief economist at Economic Development Corp. of Los Angeles County. “I can remember when it opened and everyone thought Walt Disney was completely crazy to put a theme park in the middle of orange groves.”

Before the arrival of Disneyland, Anaheim’s identity had been largely based on those orange groves and its pioneer German settlers. Former Mayor Jack Dutton remembered that the city was so obscure that radio advertisers in the early days would imply that the Magic Kingdom was in a better known place.

“They didn’t say it was in Anaheim or Los Angeles, but they would indicate that it was in Los Angeles,” Dutton said. “It took a long time for them to come around and admit that Disneyland was in Anaheim.”

Disneyland has spawned larger theme parks in Florida, Tokyo and outside Paris, the last of which was a financial and cultural disaster before improving somewhat this year.

Since its opening, the original park has more than tripled its 17 original attractions and has added major rides such as the Indiana Jones Adventure, which Disneyland officials credit for an upswing in the park’s attendance this year.

Disneyland officials will not publicly discuss attendance figures, but internal documents obtained by The Times show that during a single week last month, 326,476 people came to the park, an increase from the 272,321 people in attendance during the same week in 1994.

For its endless stream of visitors, the fantasy and charm have clearly not diminished over time.

For 45-year-old Donna Dawson, “Disneyland is the original, a classic.

“We still do all of the classics,” said the Thousand Oaks resident as she waited in line last week to ride the Indiana Jones Adventure. “We walk in through Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, make a right and hit Peter Pan. Then we go onto Mr. Toad’s and complain how it’s nothing, but we do it. Then, we go on the teacups.”

Pressler attributes Disneyland’s staying power and unique place in the industry to the company’s storytelling ability and its success in bringing its animated films to life at the park.

“We tell a story in everything we do,” Pressler said. “There is an incredible emotional bond that people have with this park.”

But to some, Disneyland has been a constant headache.

For 38 years, Betty Roconi has lived in a house on Walnut Street--about a quarter-mile from the theme park--and she has been especially bothered by loud fireworks and live shows at the park.

“I know the park is special, but sometimes it is a pain in the neck,” Roconi said. “When we first moved here, Disneyland was just a little amusement park way over there beyond the orange groves and didn’t have much of an impact on our lives.”

Despite the park’s carefully cultivated wholesomeness, life inside the Magic Kingdom is not always a fairy tale either.

In April, federal agents rushed to the theme park during Easter weekend after threats were received that terrorists planned to launch a lethal gas attack like the one unleashed in the Tokyo subway system in March. The incident turned out to be a hoax.

Other memorable incidents include: A 1980 discrimination case filed against Disneyland by a gay couple who were ousted from the park after they tried to dance together at Tomorrowland Terrace and a near riot in 1970 caused by yippies who hoisted a Viet Cong flag over Tom Sawyer Island, chanted anti-war slogans and obscenities and smoked marijuana on Monsanto’s Adventure Through Inner Space.

In 1964, a 15-year-old boy became the first of nine ride fatalities when he tried to stand up in a bobsled near the Matterhorn’s peak. The boy lost his balance and fell.

There have also been labor disputes, gang fights, shootings, stabbings, attraction malfunctions, lawsuits and neighbors complaining about nightly fireworks and traffic.

Another problem is the surrounding urban blight, which stands in dramatic contrast to “The Happiest Place on Earth.” The orange groves that lined the road leading to the gates of the Magic Kingdom on opening day have been replaced by busy Harbor Boulevard, with its unsightly neon signs and garish motels. The neighborhoods in the shadow of the Magic Kingdom are also some of the city’s poorest and have been plagued by violence, graffiti and drug sales.

The city of Anaheim has begun to tackle the problem with its $172.5-million Anaheim resort revitalization plan, which calls for a series of visual improvements over a five-year period.

The theme park remains the second most popular theme park in North America behind Walt Disney World in Florida. In 1994, 37.1 million people visited Orange County during vacations or business and brought in $71 million in local tax revenue, according to the Anaheim/Orange County Visitor and Convention Bureau.

The park’s 40th anniversary comes at a time when the Walt Disney Co. is expanding its presence in Anaheim with a partial purchase of the California Angels baseball team and the construction of a community ice rink in downtown Anaheim that will serve as a practice facility for the Mighty Ducks hockey team, also owned by Disney.

But Disney’s most eagerly awaited project is one that has been shrouded in mystery for several months now. It is the revised version of a $3-billion resort that was supposed to be built next to Disneyland.

But the Walt Disney Co. confirmed in January that those ambitious plans would be scaled back and a new project would be built incrementally.

Roy Disney, who is vice chairman of Walt Disney Co.’s board of directors, said his uncle would have been amazed at the worldwide power the company has become.

“The size of it is amazing,” Disney said. “But Disneyland will always be special, because it was the first. There’s a nostalgic quality. You feel like you are in a toy world and there’s always something interesting around the next corner.”