Disneyland's 45th Birthday - July 17, 2000
Page 2 of 5

Eddie Garcia and Noina Roman-Osborn

Roman-Osborn: As you know, we have all been celebrating 45 Years of Magic throughout the year with our biggest and best fireworks spectacular ever, "Believe ... There's Magic in the Stars". And our fun-filled character parade, the 45th anniversary parade, and just recently, our all new fun-filled Autopia attraction. But today marks the actual date that Walt Disney himself opened the the Magic Kingdom. It was on July 17, 1955 that Walt dedicated his dream and invited the entire world to the Happiest Place on Earth.

Garcia: Yes, on opening day Disneyland welcomed 28,154 guests. 90 million people tuned with their black and white television sets to join with hosts Bob Cummings, Art Linkletter and then actor Ronal Reagan. The world watched with excitement as Walt Disney unveiled his dream to the world. Walt and his extraordinary team turned a simple orange grove into a theme park with five different lands - Main Street USA, Adventureland, Frontierland, Fantasyland and, of course, Tomorrowland.

Roman-Osborn: And with almost 20 attractions, Disneyland was unlike anything ever seen before and soon everyone was headed to Anaheim to pay a visit.

Garcia: Today, guests can enjoy the magic and excitement of over 60 attractions and two resort hotels and almost 440 million guests later, this magical place can still be called the Happiest Place on Earth.

Roman-Osborn: And now it is our pleasure to introduce to you, the president of the Disneyland Resort, Cynthia Harriss and her pals.