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DISNEYLAND AT 70: Van France Saw First-Hand What ‘Car-Mageddon’ Looked Like

Posted on by Chuck Schmidt
The chaos that enveloped Disneyland on July 17, 1955, has become legendary. Broiling hot weather, ride malfunctions, no working water fountains, too many people. But the bedlam wasn’t just confined to the themed lands inside the berm. There was a madhouse outside the park as well. Van France was given the task of overseeing automobile traffic heading in and out of the park on that fateful day.
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DISNEYLAND AT 70: Jack Lindquist Went From Sweaty Bystander To Disneyland’s First President

Posted on by Chuck Schmidt
Jack Lindquist had the opportunity to walk around Disneyland a few weeks before opening day as a representative of Kelvinator, which was one of Disneyland’s many corporate sponsors. He began his self-guided tour by walking out to Town Square, where he saw the railroad station, the opera house, a fire station, and City Hall, all nearing completion. His eyes then glanced at a large department store, called The Emporium, then the Upjohn drug store, the Kodak photo shop and the Carnation ice cream parlor. Then he looked straight up Main Street USA in awe “of a real fairytale castle under construction,” he said. “At that moment, I realized that this Disney guy wasn’t building some nickel-and-dime amusement park. This was an entirely new concept in entertainment. It was damn exciting.”
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DISNEYLAND AT 70: Charlie Ridgway Found His Niche Covering Disneyland’s Opening

Posted on by Chuck Schmidt
Charlie Ridgway, who capped his wide-ranging professional career by being named a Disney Legend in 1999, was among the thousands of overheated people in attendance for Disneyland’s opening day. He was on assignment, covering the event for the Los Angeles Times-Mirror newspaper. “It was hot,” Charlie remembered during an interview I had with him in 2014, “and there were way too many people in the park. And not only that, but many of the attractions kept breaking down.” The day became known as Black Sunday for a reason.
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DISNEYLAND AT 70: Marty Sklar Went From Media Go-Fer To Emergency Horse-Whisperer

Posted on by Chuck Schmidt
When July 17, 1955, dawned, Marty Sklar was very much behind the scenes, assisting the throngs of media members on hand for the big event. “My assignment for the morning was actually in our PR offices in the original administration building – part of which had come from Ron Dominguez’s home on the site,” Marty told me. “Our offices had been turned into a press facility, and of course, as the ‘kid’ – I had been working ‘professionally’ all of one month by then! – I was basically a go-fer for the media.”
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