There are many things in life that bring joy to us humans, and several amusement parks can sure be taken into that list of the simple little pleasures this world has to offer. Just stop to think about the utopia of it – you walk around the fantasy world, meeting your favorite characters that are always cheerful and dying to snap an image with you. Isn’t that a dream! If you had to choose two good things in this amusement-park world, going to Disneyland and being their first customer ever would totally be something bucket list-worthy. And this man did it back in 1955! Scroll down for the whole story!
This handsome Scotsman smiling at the camera is Dave MacPherson, who at the time of the grand opening of Disneyland was just 22 years old and studied at Long Beach State College. He was the first-ever customer to set foot in the legendary amusement park on the day it was opened to the ordinary people.
But don’t be mistaken, it is no lucky coincidence. The young Scotsman was observing Disneyland’s opening festivities on TV on July 17th, 1955. He then thought: why not be the first of all the commoners to enter the park.
He then turned off the television, hopped onto his motorbike and rode about ten miles from Long Beach, California to Anaheim. Then he walked to the nearest ticket booth and just started a line… at 2 a.m.! After waiting for some hours, he proceeded to purchase the first ticket sold to the common public.
With the ticket, he received a complimentary card but did not get to use it as the long ride back to Long Beach awaited him. Fortunately, he received a lifetime pass for being the first commoner ever to enter the amusement park and has enjoyed his privileges every year ever since.
Now, he usually takes his wife Wanda with him, as well as their good friends Martha & Joe Ortiz. Joe was also in Disneyland on July 18th, 1955, but the men did not get to meet them, yet were brought together by life and shared interests some decades later.
Disneyland was the first of two theme parks in the Disneyland resort in California. Walt Disney came up with the concept for it after visiting many amusement parks with his kids from 1930-1940 and brought it to life a couple of decades later. It cost 17 million dollars to complete the park.
For its opening day, Disney had executed a televised event that was open only to Walt Disney’s family, the media and invited guests that were mostly celebrities of all kinds. During the amusement park’s opening to the wide public the next day, Walt Disney disappeared shortly after opening the gate, leaving many people, like our Scotsman Dave MacPherson slightly disappointed. In spite of this, he still said it was the best day!
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