Disneyland, known as The Happiest Place on Earth, celebrates its 70^th anniversary on July 17, 2025. Over the last 40 years, I have had the distinct honor of interviewing Disney cast members – and some who would become cast members – who were on hand for Disneyland’s opening. This is one in a series on that important day in Disney history.

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In the months leading up to Disneyland’s opening day on July 17, 1955, cast members and construction workers were putting in 14-to-16-hour days, seven days a week. Many were spending so much time on The Site, as it was known, that they often said they felt as if they were living there.

Ron Dominguez could empathize. In an odd twist, Dominguez and his family did live on a section of the Disneyland property for the first 18 years of Ron’s life.

The Dominguez family owned 10 acres of orange groves in Anaheim, California, land that was inherited from Ron’s grandfather. Their Spanish-style house was located about where Pirates of the Caribbean and New Orleans Square now stand.

Actually, real estate agents had expressed interest in the Dominguez property as early as 1951, Ron said in a 2015 interview with me, but it wasn’t until Disney made an offer in 1954 that the family acquiesced.

Ron began tending the family’s orange groves at an early age, and when he wasn’t in school, he could be found in the fruit fields. But that all changed when Disney came knocking.

“My mom had a tough time leaving the property,” Ron said. “The day we moved out, in August of 1954, we were walking in ditches and holes. Things were popping up all around us because construction had to move ahead. It was a very emotional day.”

In the fall of 1954, after graduating from Anaheim High School, Ron was off to the University of Arizona. But he kept hearing from his parents about all the people who had descended on Anaheim in search of employment at Disneyland.

“They said there were long lines along West Street where Disney had set up a personnel office. They began interviewing in January of 1955.” Ron thought it might be a good idea to try to get a summer job at Disneyland during the break after his freshman year. And he felt he had an “in.”

“A guy named Earl Shelton was among the first people on The Site, overseeing the contractors, and he was always pushing us to get out of our house. So, I told my parents to get in touch with Earl to see if he could get me an interview. I came home in early May for that interview.”

Ron, then just 19 years old, got a job in the ticket office at Disneyland. Like every other new Disney cast member, Ron went through the training program devised by Van France.

“The training took place in one of the old homes on West Street,” Ron said. “And Van was the one who gave the orientation. The thing that stood out the most to me was the expression: ‘We work when everyone else plays.'”

He was on duty on opening day, July 17, 1955, and remembered the utter chaos from dawn ’til dusk. When the invitations went out to dignitaries and members of the press, Ron recalled, “The idea was to stagger the times of entry, to spread out the crowds so there wouldn’t be a mad rush.

“That didn’t work very well because everybody wanted to be the first one in. It was a really hot day and, not being in a management role at the time, I didn’t know what the biggest headaches were. But we became the kings of crowd control. It was a madhouse, no question.”

Ron, who passed away on New Year’s Day 2021, would go on to enjoy a long and stellar career with Disney in a variety of positions.

Thanks to his rugged good looks, Ron briefly played the character Davy Crockett in Frontierland and could be found riding the park’s keel boats and posing for photos. But he wasn’t a fan of all the attention he received from park guests, so he asked for a transfer.

He held a number of supervisory positions in Adventureland, Frontierland and Tomorrowland before taking on more management responsibilities.

By 1970, Ron was appointed Disneyland’s director of operations, and, four years later, was named vice president of Disneyland and chairman of the park operating committee. In 1990, he was promoted to executive vice president, Walt Disney Attractions, West Coast.

Throughout his career, Ron was deeply involved in working with local organizations. His strong relations with the city of Anaheim helped pave the way for the development of Disney’s California Adventure.

After 39 years of service, Ron retired in August of 1994. He credited his former boss, Doc Lemmon, for convincing him to stay with Disney after his initial summer job.

“I was ready to go back to school in 1955 when Doc said to me, ‘Why don’t you stay around? This place is gonna be successful.’ I talked to my parents about it … thank God I took the chance.”

When Ron returned to Anaheim after his freshman year at Arizona, he was pleased to find out that his family’s house hadn’t been demolished – it was, in fact, moved to another site on the property, about where the Disneyland Railroad’s primeval world diorama scene currently resides.

“Our house and another house from the property were moved and put together and became the administration offices for the first few years,” Ron said.

There is one special piece of Ron’s life that remains on the property and was a “must-see” whenever he and his family returned to Disneyland. It’s another example that it really is a small world after all.

“There’s a palm tree along the queue of the Jungle Cruise that’s still there,” he said. “It was given to my grandparents as a wedding gift in the 1890s by a local botanist. My daughter married the great-grandson of the guy who gave my grandparents the palm tree.”

Ron had another reminder of his days with Disney – a window in his honor on Main Street. It reads:

Ron Dominguez
Orange Grove Property Management
“We’ll care for your property as if it were our own.”

It’s a fitting tribute to the man who was affectionately known as a “native Disneylander.”

NEXT: Marty Sklar went from media go-fer to emergency horse-whisperer on opening day.

Chuck Schmidt is an award-winning journalist and retired Disney cast member who has covered all things Disney since 1984 in both print and on-line. He has authored or co-authored eight books on Disney, including his latest, Marty, Mickey and Me, for Theme Park Press. He has written a regular blog for AllEars.Net, called Still Goofy About Disney, since 2015.

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