Disneyland Fun Facts and Stats
The Happiest Place on Earth opened to the public on July 17, 1955. The day was actually a debacle, but the massive crowds that day reflected a much larger story. Demand for a family-friendly theme park exceeded all realistic expectations. A total of 90 million people watched with envy as a few lucky guests became the first people to enter the front gate and walk up to Sleeping Beauty Castle.
To this day, Disneyland maintains its legacy as the world’s original theme park. Let’s take this opportunity to talk about a few amazing facts you might not know about the Happiest Place on Earth.
Opening Day Tickets Were Cheap!
Actually, many of them were free. That’s because fake tickets outnumbered real ones by a fairly shocking amount. Still, many tourists paid the appropriate fare to enter Disneyland, and that rate was a modest 50 cents. How much was that in 1955 dollars? Well, a burger and fries at McDonald’s cost a quarter at the time. I think we all agree that a day at Disneyland was a much better deal for that extra quarter.
Of course, admission to Disneyland didn’t work the same way back then. Guests had to pay to ride the various attractions available. Most of them were 25-35 cents for adults and 10-25 cents for children. So, the cost for park entry was just to get started.
Still a Great Value!
Most families paid somewhere in the neighborhood of $7.50 per person to spend a day at the park. In current dollars, that’s about $69 today, which means that ticket price inflation at Disneyland has remained relatively modest.
A one-day ticket currently costs as little as $97. Surge pricing has changed the calculations a bit. On Peak days, you’ll pay $124 for the same opportunities. An increase in ticket price from $69 in straight inflationary terms as opposed to the actual cost is extremely modest. That same burger and fries from McDonald’s has increased much more in price than a Disneyland ticket. Give Uncle Walt’s employees credit! For all the naysaying, they’ve done a marvelous job in holding the line on reasonable ticket prices.
Amazing Attendance Stats
You truly are a part of the crowd when you visit Disneyland. In 2014, The Walt Disney Company announced that they were ready to welcome their 700 millionth park visitor! In the three years that have followed, the park has hosted another 53 million guests, not counting 2017.
In other words, more than 750 million people have spent time at the Happiest Place on Earth! It’s one of the most visited tourist attractions of all-time. To put those numbers a different way, the current global population is 7.6 billion. If we round up just a touch, it’s easy to conceptualize how much business Disneyland has done over the years. Imagine one out of every ten people alive today walking through the park.
As for the Disneyland of today, it continues to pack in the crowds. In the most recent Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) stats, Disneyland is the second most trafficked theme park in the world. It trails only Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, meaning that the only true competitor to Disneyland in terms of crowd appeal is its spiritual successor.
How huge a lead does Disney have in the theme park industry? They claimed 140.4 million total park visits in calendar 2016. The next three closest competitors combined for 140.6 million. Yes, Disney’s as large as the second, third, and fourth largest theme parks…in total. They claim more than twice as many annual guests as their nearest competitor. In other words, the theme park industry is a functional monopoly, no matter how much you love The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
Pick Your Favorites!
Selecting a favorite attraction at Disneyland is a brutal exercise. That’s because of quantity AND quality. Disney Imagineers aren’t in the habit of building lousy attractions, which means that you’ll struggle to cull the list from the current total of 54. Disney views an attraction as any show, ride, or exhibit that offers entertainment value to the public.
While there’s no best way to choose a favorite attraction out of the 54, we can conclude which ones are the overall crowd favorites based on average wait-time. Currently, the five Disneyland rides with the most consistently long wait-times are:
- 5) Matterhorn Bobsleds (average of 30 minutes)
- 4) The Haunted Mansion (average of 35 minutes)
- 3) Peter Pan’s Flight (average of 38 minutes)
- 2) Indiana Jones Adventure (average of 40 minutes)
- 1) Space Mountain (average of 42 minutes)
Celebrity Cast Members!
Due to the proximity of Disneyland to Hollywood, the pipeline of cast members who became celebrities shouldn’t be that shocking. Even so, you may be surprised to learn that several famous actors and musicians once earned their stripes by working at the Happiest Place on Earth.
In alphabetical order, former Disney cast members include: Wayne Brady, Kevin Costner, Taye Diggs, Steve Martin, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Robin Williams. Diggs had the strangest career trajectory. He was actually a musical performer at Tokyo Disneyland, where literally tens of thousands of guests had no idea they were watching one of the most talented singer/songwriters of the generation…probably because of the language barrier.
Celebrity Superfans!
Disney also has its share of superfans among celebrities. The list includes John Stamos of Full House, who has spent thousands of dollars on Disney memorabilia in his own home. He also recently got engaged at Disneyland!
Neal Patrick Harris, the occasional host of Disney holiday parades, is also notoriously obsessive. Pop musician Ariana Grande and Glee singer/actor Matt Morrison have both spent multiple birthdays at the Happiest Place on Earth, a true sign of devotion. And ultimate Disney Princess Ginnifer Goodwin, the star of Once Upon a Time, is such a park staple that she’s on a first-name basis with many cast members. Other famous Disney fanatics include Gwen Stefani, Demi Lovato, Emmy Rossum, Katy Perry, Jason Bateman, Hilary Duff, and Pink.
In fact, Disney is so popular with celebrities that they’ve set up a special page on the Parks Blog. If you bookmark this link and check back each week, you can see the latest superstars to spend time at the Happiest Place on Earth.
Let’s close with one silly but fun stat about Disneyland. According to park officials, you’re in great company when you wear your mouse ears. Disney claimed in 2014 that they’d sold 84 million pairs of Mickey Mouse Ears. At that rate, they should be over 90 million by this point. Disneyland lists them as the most popular resort souvenirs of all-time, a record that’s wildly unlikely to be broken.
So, how about it? Did reading all of these fun facts make you want to go to Disneyland? There’s no time like the present to plan a trip through our friends at MickeyTravels!