Disneyland Anaheim, California is owned and operated by the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts division of The Walt Disney Company. It opened on July 17, 1955, in ceremonies led by Walter Elias Disney. Disneyland holds the distinction of being the only theme park to be designed, built, opened, and operated by Walt Disney.Currently Disneyland Anaheim has been visited by more than 515 million guests since it opened. In 1998, the theme park was re-branded Disneyland Park to distinguish it from the larger Disneyland Resort complex. In 2007, over 14,800,000 people visited the park making it the second most visited park in the whole world.
The concept for Disneyland began one Sunday, when Walt Disney was visiting Griffith Park with his daughters Diane and Sharon. His idea was simple: a place that both adults and children could enjoy. His dream would lie dormant for many years. Walt Disney's father helped build the grounds of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago. This perhaps gave Disney the creative spark whence Disneyland originated. The fairgrounds for the World's Fair were a cheaply constructed set of individual "Country" areas from around the world and areas representing various time periods of man, it also included many "rides" including the first Ferris wheel, sky ride, a passenger train that circled the perimeter, Wild West Show, etc.
Although the 1893 World's Fair was meant only to last a summer in Chicago,in Southern California the weather was accommodating to a "Fair Grounds" of stucco buildings that would otherwise disintegrate in the rain, snow and ice of other climates. One can see the resemblance of a "Land" filled with "rides" and a fair grounds with differently themed areas to the Disneyland created 60 years later in the 1950s as the population of America for the first time shifted West into desert climes.
While many people had written letters to Walt Disney about visiting the Disney Studio Walt realized that a functional movie studio had little to offer to the visiting fans. He then began to foster ideas of building a site near his Burbank studios for tourists to visit. His ideas then evolved to a small play park with a boat ride and other themed areas. Walt's initial concept, his "Mickey Mouse Park", started with an 8 acres (0.012 sq mi/0.032 km²) plot across Riverside Drive. Construction began on July 18, 1954 and would cost USD$17 million to complete and was opened exactly one year later. Walt hired a consultant, Harrison Price from Stanford Research Institute to gauge the area's potential growth. With the report from Price, Disney acquired 160 acres (0.250 sq mi/0.647 km²) of orange groves and walnut trees in Anaheim, south of Los Angeles in neighboring Orange County.