While opening day was challenging, everyone who was in the park that day was comped. Sure, it was crowded, but would paying customers head out to Anaheim to see what Walt had built? They certainly would.
50,000 guests streamed into the park, proving that this Magic Kingdom was no fluke. Among the guests that day- a young Steve Martin, who rode his bike down Harbor Blvd and a young George Lucas, whose doubting father became a convert after viewing the July 17th special on ABC. He had originally told his family that they would not be visiting DISNEYLAND; yet he woke everyone up early the next day and drove down to Anaheim from Modesto.
DISNEYLAND would host the first of over 650 Million guests that day. An amazing feat for a park the "experts" said would never last six months.
