Disneyland's actual birthdate?

[Darkbeer1]

I celebrate the date Walt reconginized, July 18th.

Yes, Dedication Day was an amazing Live TV event, probably the most complex Live TV event at the time, and deserves recognition.

But it is not the Anniversary date.

EVERY Disney Park recognizes that the day the gates opened to the general public, and full priced tickets are for sale, is opening day, aka, the Anniversary date.

You just don't change history.

Walt would want it that way.

 

[Disney Irish]

I celebrate the date Walt reconginized, July 18th.

Yes, Dedication Day was an amazing Live TV event, probably the most complex Live TV event at the time, and deserves recognition.

But it is not the Anniversary date.

EVERY Disney Park recognizes that the day the gates opened to the general public, and full priced tickets are for sale, is opening day, aka, the Anniversary date.

You just don't change history.

Walt would want it that way.

You can celebrate July 31st if you really want to. In the end it doesn't matter what we "fans" think or gloat that we "know" when the real birthday/anniversary date is. Disney has celebrated it as July 17th now for over 40 years now by your own admission, that is what matters. They don't play Walt's speech or have t-shirts made for July 18th, its July 17th and that is what it'll remain.

So all this is a just a fun little I know more than you things "fans" hold over "non-fans". And when I hear someone at the Parks say "You know Disneyland didn't really open until July 18th", I think to myself they sound like an expletive that begins with an A and ends with hole.

 

[SuddenStorm]

You can celebrate July 31st if you really want to. In the end it doesn't matter what we "fans" think or gloat that we "know" when the real birthday/anniversary date is. Disney has celebrated it as July 17th now for over 40 years now by your own admission, that is what matters. They don't play Walt's speech or have t-shirts made for July 18th, its July 17th and that is what it'll remain.

So all this is a just a fun little I know more than you things "fans" hold over "non-fans". And when I hear someone at the Parks say "You know Disneyland didn't really open until July 18th", I think to myself they sound like an expletive that begins with an A and ends with hole.

If you can't share trivia and be passionate about really minute details of Disneyland history on an online forum, where can you?

Disneyland fandom is full of unsubstantiated or simply false claims and little tidbits... discussing what really happened is a fun and worthwhile endeavor.

 

[Disney Irish]

If you can't share trivia and be passionate about really minute details of Disneyland history on an online forum, where can you?

Disneyland fandom is full of unsubstantiated or simply false claims and little tidbits... discussing what really happened is a fun and worthwhile endeavor.

I'm not saying don't discuss, I enjoy the stories and occasionally learn things I didn't know or what I thought I knew was incorrect.

However in this case it really doesn't matter that some fans prefer to call July 18th the "real" opening date. Its Disney themselves that have decided that July 17th is the official date in their story, not fans, and promote it as such. Walt himself changed "fact" to suit the story, because that was what he was, a storyteller. Stating that Disney is wrong comes across as pompous in this case as its their story, not ours.

 

[1HAPPYGHOSTHOST]

November 5th 1955....no wait. That was the day time travel was invented. You see I was hanging a clock while standing on the toilet. The porcelain on the toilet was wet and I slipped, hitting my head on the sink. When I came to I had a vision of the Flux Capacitor which as we all know, makes time travel possible.

 

[SuddenStorm]

Stating that Disney is wrong comes across as pompous in this case as its their story, not ours.

Disney's wrong about their history all the time. The number of inaccuracies published in Disneyland books by Disney are astounding.

Try and find a reference to CV Wood in any book Disney's published about the creation of Disneyland.

Or that story about a colorblind worker removing the wrong trees? A fabrication by Marty Sklar that was published in Randy Bright's Disneyland: Inside Story.

Or the day the Haunted Mansion and Disneyland Park opened.

Or the 'Marc wanted funny Claude wanted scary' story about the Haunted Mansion's development repeated by Surrell in his book on the ride- a huge oversimplification of what actually happened that has been proven to basically be false.

Disney will alter facts and details when repeating their history to not only make themselves look better- but also make the information more digestible, more repeatable to young children and those who are only moderately interested in Disneyland. The number of legends that surround the place add to the mystique and the allure.

But just because Disney has their story doesn't mean we can't repeat what actually happened on a forum dedicated to the subject.

 

[Disney Irish]

Disney's wrong about their history all the time. The number of inaccuracies published in Disneyland books by Disney are astounding.

Try and find a reference to CV Wood in any book Disney's published about the creation of Disneyland.

Or that story about a colorblind worker removing the wrong trees? A fabrication by Marty Sklar that was published in Randy Bright's Disneyland: Inside Story.

Or the day the Haunted Mansion and Disneyland Park opened.

Or the 'Marc wanted funny Claude wanted scary' story about the Haunted Mansion's development repeated by Surrell in his book on the ride- a huge oversimplification of what actually happened that has been proven to basically be false.

Disney will alter facts and details when repeating their history to not only make themselves look better- but also make the information more digestible, more repeatable to young children and those who are only moderately interested in Disneyland. The number of legends that surround the place add to the mystique and the allure.

But just because Disney has their story doesn't mean we can't repeat what actually happened on a forum dedicated to the subject.

I'm just going to reference the great screenwriter of Liberty Vance here:

 

[mickEblu]

Or the 'Marc wanted funny Claude wanted scary' story about the Haunted Mansion's development repeated by Surrell in his book on the ride- a huge oversimplification of what actually happened that has been proven to basically be false.

Tell me more about this one

 

[SuddenStorm]

Tell me more about this one

It's not entirely false, just a vast oversimplification and overdramatization that makes repeating the history of the ride a bit quicker and more 'Disney friendly' which is why I included it in that list. Long Forgotten directly addresses it in this post-

Father of the Haunted Mansion, Part Four

. After the ponderous parade of parallels in the previous posts, possibly you're a little pooped. I can imagine an objection right about n...

longforgottenhauntedmansion.blogspot.com

And for fun, here's the 1964 Marc Davis script for the attraction referenced in that post-

Marc Davis's Haunted Mansion

. Updated March 22 and 26, 2020 Marc Davis once said that maybe 85% of the stuff in the Haunted Mansion came from him, and if you take th...

longforgottenhauntedmansion.blogspot.com

 

[mickEblu]

It's not entirely false, just a vast oversimplification and overdramatization that makes repeating the history of the ride a bit quicker and more 'Disney friendly' which is why I included it in that list. Long Forgotten directly addresses it in this post-

Father of the Haunted Mansion, Part Four

. After the ponderous parade of parallels in the previous posts, possibly you're a little pooped. I can imagine an objection right about n...

longforgottenhauntedmansion.blogspot.com

And for fun, here's the 1964 Marc Davis script for the attraction referenced in that post-

Marc Davis's Haunted Mansion

. Updated March 22 and 26, 2020 Marc Davis once said that maybe 85% of the stuff in the Haunted Mansion came from him, and if you take th...

longforgottenhauntedmansion.blogspot.com

That was interesting. Thanks for sharing.