In the 1950ś Disney expanded into a theme park industry, and in July 1955 Disneyland opened in Anaheim California. People wrote letters to Disney to ask about visiting the Walt Disney Studios, then he realized that people wanted to visit and actually go there.  A second Disneyland park, Disney World, was started in Orlando Florida and was under construction at the time of his death; it opened in 1971. Fun fact--before Disneyland was built on the land in Anaheim California, it was primarily used as orange groves and other agricultural purposes.

Walt Disney nurtured the idea of Disneyland for years. Throughout the late 1940ś and early 1950ś  he visited other amusement parks and he had his eye on creating one of his own parks. In 1952, he brought together a small group of artists and designers from Walt Disney Studio staff and created a new company called WED. He used his own initials to help name his amusement park and the dream became a reality. On July 1755, Disneyland had its invitation-only opening day gala which broadcast live on the ABC News.  When  it first opened, people could explore the parks.

Back then ride tickets were extra-between 10 an 30 cents each. Then they began selling ticket books for $2.50.