Disneyland dash: local man recalls iconic moment from the theme park’s opening day

The drawbridge to Sleeping Beauty Castle readied to lower for the first time during Disneyland’s grand opening 70 years ago.

Trumpets blared triumphantly. A booming voice followed.

“Open the Fantasyland castle in the name of the children of the world!”

In a made-for-TV moment, hundreds of children dashed over the drawbridge through the castle on July 17, 1955 on the way to Fantasyland and all the rides that awaited there.

Fred Osterman, who was 8 years old at the time, sprinted from the back of the pack to Peter Pan’s Flight, where a pirate galleon attached to a slow-moving conveyor belt hauled him over scenes of London and Never Land.

It is a memory Osterman, now 78, will never forget — even as he almost passed up the opportunity.

“I wasn’t sure I even wanted to do it,” the Yorba Linda resident said, looking back at the Fantasyland run. “My parents told me it was an once-in-a-lifetime chance so I better think about going, so I did.”

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Disney officials sent Osterman a letter inviting him to Disneyland’s grand opening as he had perfect attendance at Grace Lutheran Church’s Sunday school in Anaheim. All Osterman had to do was attend a run-of-show meeting at Fremont Jr. High School’s auditorium the day before.

Despite owning a Davy Crockett coonskin hat and watching every television episode of “Walt Disney’s Disneyland” hosted by Disney on ABC, Osterman thought of opening day as just another weekend adventure and needed a nudge from his parents.

After attending the meeting, Osterman reported to Fremont Jr. High the following day to board a bus to Disneyland, as planned.

“The windows on the buses were down as we waved to people along what’s now Harbor Boulevard,” he said. “A couple of Anaheim police motorcycles and a police car drove ahead of us in the procession from the school down to the back part of Disneyland, where the buses unloaded.”

Osterman holds the name badge that he used to wear during his time as a Disneyland sound mechanic.

(James Carbone)

From there, the children assembled in groups and walked over to the front of Sleeping Beauty Castle.

Costumed characters, including Mickey Mouse, led the way over the moat once the drawbridge lowered. Richard Snow, author of the book “Disney’s Land,” placed the number of children for the iconic moment at 500 and noted how a dancer playing Snow White feared being trampled.

“It was a little hectic,” Osterman admits.

He shared a photo published in the book “Disneyland: The First Quarter Century,” where he is able to point himself out in the crowd of children ready to inaugurate Fantasyland.

“I’m at the back end,” Osterman said. “I always am at the end of everything.”

The drawbridge scene broadcast to 90 million viewers as “Dateline: Disneyland” aired live on ABC-TV from the grand opening of the Anaheim park. Walt Disney read a dedication to the “happiest kingdom of them all” before then-actor Ronald Reagan added commentary about the “first children to enjoy the Fantasyland rides.”

After taking Peter Pan’s Flight, Osterman and the rest of the children headed back to their buses, which were parked where the It’s a Small World attraction now stands.

Disneyland’s grand opening — with the mercury hitting a sweltering 101 degrees, a lack of water, broken down rides, sticky asphalt and counterfeit tickets — was otherwise referred to as “Black Sunday” because of all the mishaps.

But Fantasyland’s opening went without much of a hitch. The whole occasion, from riding the bus to riding Peter Pan’s Flight, lasted but a few hours.

Though Osterman didn’t get to see the rest of the park or ride another ride that day, he didn’t feel shortchanged.

“I knew a lot of the kids there from school and church,” he said. “It was party time!”

Osterman is pictured at the lower far right-hand corner getting ready to cross the Sleeping Beauty Castle drawbridge.

(James Carbone)

Four years later, Osterman and his mother went back to Disneyland as the Matterhorn and Submarine Voyage expanded the theme park’s offering of attractions.

“Don’t tell anyone, but I played hooky from school,” he said. “The submarine ride was so neat to me.”

As fate would have it, Osterman saw a lot more of Disneyland in later years. He worked as a sound mechanic on everything from the People Mover to the Main Street Electrical Parade at the park between 1967 and 1994.

When Disneyland turned 50 in 2005, Osterman appeared alongside nine others for a photo and a feature in Disneyland magazine about the drawbridge spectacle.

Since then, he has lost touch with those he knew from the magical moment on opening day. Others have passed away.

Still, Osterman fondly looks back at the “one-of-a-kind experience” he got to partake in.

Disneyland has changed in so many ways in the 70 years since that day. Even so, Osterman sees a permanence amid all the pixie dust.

“There are so many Disney fanatics out there that just love the place,” he said. “That’s what keeps it going. Disneyland will be there long after I’m gone.”