Magical Milestones

1955 -- Disneyland opens, attracting 28,154 guests on the park’s first day, July 17. Hamburgers and strawberry shortcake are both 35 cents each. Coffee is a dime. Coca-Cola is sold without ice, so that, in the words of a Coke spokesman, “guests can enjoy it undiluted.”

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1958 -- The popular Dairy Bar in Tomorrowland closes, leaving the trusty Carnation Co. as the park’s sole ice cream vendor.

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1962--Tahitian Terrace Restaurant debuts in Adventureland, crowned by a 35-foot synthetic tree decorated with 14,000 handcrafted leaves and flowers. The menu offers teriyaki steak and flaming rum desserts.

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1965 -- Disneyland’s original sit-down dinner house, Red Wagon Inn, is replaced by Plaza Inn. The new restaurant keeps the original’s gaudy Victorian stained-glass windows and antiques from the Louis XV period. The pot roast lunch goes for $1.65.

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1966 -- Disney takes over food operations inside the park from United Paramount Theaters. Walt Disney dies Dec. 15.

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1967 -- Two upscale restaurants surface in the recently opened New Orleans Square. Blue Bayou is an atmospheric dining room complete with electric fireflies and swampy sound effects. The ultra-private Club 33, Disneyland’s only place to get Continental cuisine or a good stiff drink, caters exclusively to members and corporate executives.

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1978 -- A man named Howard Helmer enters the Guinness Book of World Records by preparing 217 omelets in 30 minutes at the new American Egg House on Main Street. The restaurant goes sunny side up in five years.

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1982 -- In a move that predates political correctness, Casa de Fritos, home of the Frito Bandito and one of Disneyland’s original concept eateries, becomes Casa Mexicana.

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1984 -- Michael D. Eisner takes charge as chairman and CEO of the Walt Disney Co., ushering in unprecedented profit and growth. The end of the food-as-fuel philosophy at Disneyland is nigh.

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1986 -- A low-fat hamburger debuts on Tomorrowland Terrace. The response is decidedly unenthusiastic.

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1994 -- Forty-year-old toy-marketing whiz Paul Pressler takes over as president of Disneyland.

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1996 -- Michael P. Berry is named vice president of food operations and concept development. He renovates the Carnation Ice Cream Parlor and Restaurant, a fixture on Main Street since opening day. Disneyland regulars are enraged.

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1997 -- More than 400 million visitors have entered Disneyland’s turnstiles since 1955, a mere fraction of the number of burgers sold worldwide by McDonald’s over a roughly similar span. A combo meal at Tomorrowland Terrace, consisting of a quarter-pound burger, fries and a 24-ounce soft drink, will set you back a not-so-happy $5.79.