In 1966, Disneyland and the world mourned Walt Disney's passing on December 15. Roy O. Disney, President of Walt Disney Productions, pledged the continuation of Walt's plans for the Park's expansion, in keeping with the promise Walt made on Disneyland's Day One.
1966 ADDITIONS
• IT'S A SMALL WORLD — Fantasyland
• PRIMEVAL WORLD — Seen from the Disneyland Railroad.
• NEW ORLEANS SQUARE (Disneyland's first all new "land" since its opening).
HIGHLIGHTS
The New Year's Eve Party attracted 18,000.
Connie Swanson, 1966 Disneyland Ambassador to the World, toured the West coast and other areas of United States, plus Scandinavia, South America and Canada.
Valentine Dance, Youth Days and "Spring Fling" (with 23,000) set new attendance records.
Antique autos paraded for Easter along with ladies and gentlemen in turn-of-the-century fashions.
More than 60,000 high school seniors and their dates attended five all-night Grad Parties.
Xavier Cugat, Nelson Riddle and Harry James starred in summer-opening Big Band Night.
Top recording artists for weekly Hootenannies, Humdingers and Country Music sparked summer entertainment.
Louis Armstrong, Bob Crosby, Turk Murphy and "Doc" Souchon's New Orleans All-Stars played for the seventh "Dixieland at Disneyland."
Twice-daily "Fantasy on Parade" presentations highlighted the Christmas season.
Disneyland's community Service Awards program honored 23 county organizations with cash awards totaling $28,000. The Outstanding Award was won by the Orange County Society for Crippled Children and Adults Rehabilitation Center.
FAMOUS GUESTS
• House Speaker Anwar Sadat of United Arab Republic (February)
• Mayor Mahamane Haidara of Timbuktu (March)
• Prince Michael and Princess Marine of Greece (April)
• Admiral Toscana of Brazil (April)
• Prince Surachatra of Thailand (April)
• Prince and Princess Pahlavi of Iran (May)
• Prince George and Princess Anne of Denmark (May)
• Ten U.S. Governors (July)
• Prime Minister Forbes Burnham of Guyana (July)
• Sir Edmund Hillary (August)
• 275 Congressional Medal of Honor Winners (October)
See more vintage & current Disneyland photos on my Disneyland web pages.
2 comments:
I remember when Walt Disney died. My mother told me about it and I thought it meant that Disneyland, Mickey Mouse, Mary Poppins and all the rest died with him. Hard to believe it's approaching half a century since he's been gone.
@Kmartinez. I remember that day too. I remember crying.
JG
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