Here’s How Much Disneyland Cost on Opening Day
On July 17th, 1955, 68 years ago today, Disneyland opened to the public for the first time. While the debut proved disastrous for Walt Disney, the ultimate success of The Happiest Place on Earth created an entirely new industry.
Photo: Disney
Theme parks have evolved dramatically from those earliest days, but how has the pricing worked?
Here’s how much Disneyland tickets cost on opening day and how that compares to modern pricing.
Disneyland on Opening Day
Loomis Dean / The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty
Do you know what Disneyland charged for opening day admission?
Honestly, you’ll never guess unless you already know. That’s because the answer is one dollar for adults and 50 cents for children.
In 2023 terms, that’s the equivalent of about $11.50 today ($5.75 for kids).
Image Allan Grant / The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty
Importantly, we should remember that the average household income was different then as well.
A family in 1955 lived off of $4,400, which is only 6.5 percent of today’s average of $67,521.
You may be wondering how Disney earned a profit with such modest pricing.
Photo: Los Angeles Examiner/USC Libraries/Corbis via Getty Images
The answer stems from Walt Disney’s theme park philosophy during the earliest days of Disneyland.
Uncle Walt hoped to entice guests to visit. Once they arrived at the bountiful splendor that was Disneyland, they’d open their wallets and spend more.
PHOTO: GENE LESTER/GETTY IMAGES
Under this philosophy, Disney charged guests to enjoy the various attractions at the park.
So, you paid for the Disney experience you wanted to have, which is eerily similar to the modern Disney Genie+ system.
A Disneyland admission ticket ostensibly allowed anyone who was so inclined to enter Disneyland on opening day.
Loomis Dean / The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty
However, to experience any of the attractions, guests had to visit the ticket booth and purchase individual admission.
Yes, Disneyland offered the equivalent of Lightning Lane in 1955!
Ticket to Ride
Disneyland historians generally suggest that the park offered 35 attractions on opening day.
I take issue with this blanket statement in that it requires an extremely generous interpretation of what an attraction is.
Still, we know what the major attractions and experiences cost guests on opening day.
Disney grouped the various entertainment options into three categories.
A-tickets were the least valuable and had the lowest price of ten cents.
B-tickets claimed the middle tier as decent entertainment options. Disney charged $0.25 for them.
Finally, on opening day, the best attractions, the so-called “premiere attractions,” required C-tickets at a price of $0.35.
So, Disney considered C-tickets three and a half times as valuable as A-tickets.
In modern terms, here’s the price of each ticket class:
Image: Disney
- A-ticket: $1.14 per ride
- B-ticket: $2.85 per ride
- C-ticket: $3.98 per ride
You are definitely paying more for TRON Lightcycle / Run than people spent on the best Disneyland rides in 1955.
Remember that this is only half the story, though. That price is how much guests spent for each experience.
Disney expected park visitors to pay for several attractions per visit. That premise proved a bit flawed, as we’ll discuss in a moment.
Opening Day Attraction Examples
Image: D23
You’re likely wondering about how Disney grouped the various attractions.
According to printed tickets from 1955, an A-ticket attraction could have been one of the following:
- Fantasyland — King Arthur Carrousel
- Main Street — Cinema
- Main Street — Fire Engine
- Main Street — Street Car
- Main Street — Surrey Ride
- Tomorrowland 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Exhibit
- Tomorrowland Space Station X-1
Image: D23
A B-ticket attraction would have been one of these selections:
- Fantasyland — Casey Jr. Train
- Fantasyland – Dumbo the Flying Elephant
- Fantasyland — Mad Tea Party
- Fantasyland — Mickey Mouse Theater
- Frontierland — Conestoga Wagon
- Frontierland — Freight Train
- Tomorrowland — Phantom Boat
Finally, the C-ticket attractions, the best of Disneyland on opening day, included:
Photo: D23
- Adventureland — Jungle Cruise
- Fantasyland — Peter Pan’s Flight
- Fantasyland – Snow White’s Scary Adventures
- Frontierland – Mark Twain Riverboat
- Frontierland – Mule Pack
- Frontierland – Stage Coach
- Main Street – Passenger Train
- Tomorrowland – Autopia
- Tomorrowland – Rocket to the Moon
Image: D23
Given the above, you can understand why I consider the “35 attractions on opening day” statement generous.
That wasn’t the only problem Disney faced, though.
Buying Tickets in Bulk
Image: D23
When I discuss Disneyland’s opening month, I generally gloss over one essential aspect of park visits.
The legendary ticket book wasn’t available in July-September 1955. Those wouldn’t arrive until Disneyland had operated for nearly three months.
Photo: Disney
During those earliest days, guests complained that they had to stop what they were doing and visit a ticket booth to experience multiple attractions.
Disney quickly solved that problem with the ticket book, an early package that entitled guests to multiple attractions for a set fee.
Disneyland introduced this option on October 11th, which was 12 weeks and two days after the grand opening.
Loomis Dean / The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty
Ticket books cost $2.50 for adults, $2 for “juniors,” and $1.50 for children.
So, guests who wanted to do more than walk down Main Street, U.S.A., typically paid $3.50 for adults, which is $34.50 today.
Loomis Dean / The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty
While children’s attraction tickets were a bit cheaper, ranging from ten to 25 cents, their bigger discount came with admission.
Disney distinguished adult tickets vs. children’s tickets via colors. Adult tickets were pink, while children’s tickets were white.
Image: D23
As an aside, Walt Disney claimed the first ticket ever printed…and it was yellow.
By the way, guests also paid 25 cents to park at Disneyland!
How Much Disneyland Cost on Opening Day
Credit: Disney
Overall, an Associated Press writer at the time estimated that an adult would spend an average of $8.70 while a child would pay $5.15.
So, for an average family of four, a 1955 summer visit to Disneyland would have cost $27.70.
In 2023 dollars, that’s $315.36 for everyone. For a single person, a full day at Disneyland in 1955 cost the equivalent of $99 today.
Image: Disney
Since Disneyland sells $109 tickets on many dates, the price of a visit to The Happiest Place on Earth hasn’t gone up much at all.
That amount barely beats the price of inflation! The attractions are substantially better than Conestoga Wagon as well.
Photo: MickeyBlog
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Featured image: Disney
