The "Happiest Place on Earth" just turned another year older.
July 17, 1955, Walt Disney and President Richard Nixon led the opening ceremonies in Anaheim, California. The park held just 18 attractions, and Sleeping Beauty's Castle wasn't even open to the public yet.
Today, the park hosts more than 16 million visitors annually.
To celebrate its recent birthday, we're taking a look back at how Disneyland came to be.
Walt Disney, pictured in 1950, wanted to build a family-friendly theme park across from his studios in Burbank, California, but local officials turned it down because they feared the carnival atmosphere would bring crime to the area.
Source: USA Today
Disney settled for 160 acres of orange groves in beautiful Anaheim, California. Construction began in 1954, just 12 months before the park's official opening.
Source: USA Today
The park cost $17.5 million to build. In order to finance the project, Disney partnered with ABC to produce a weekly one-hour program, titled "Disneyland."
It featured classic characters and fairy tales, documentary shorts on science and technology, and progress reports on the park's construction.
Source: The Walt Disney Family Museum
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