UPDATED MAY 2024. Disneyland history is hidden in plain sight! This is a must read for any Disneyland fan or anyone who wants to impress their Disneyland group while on vacation. There are some incredible Disneyland secrets right in front of you! We’ve put together our list of 15 must-see historical items for anyone going to Disneyland.

Disneyland Resort was created with the idea that guests could visit different lands and times, all in one place. Walt Disney's opening-day speech suggested that Disneyland was created with the dreams, ideals, and hard facts that created America, and also the premise that age could relive fond memories of the past.

Disneyland continues to pay homage to Walt’s vision by maintaining and caring for his creation. As a result, the creations themselves have become historical treasures. Join us as we explore 15 historical elements of Disneyland that are right in front of you.

Walt Disney was born in Chicago in 1901. Soon after, his family moved to Marceline, Missouri, which Walt claimed as his home town.

There are several historical secrets wrapped in one here on Main Street, U.S.A. First, Disneyland's Main Street is designed to look similar to Marceline. But if you look even closer you'll uncover more of Disneyland's Main Street, U.S.A. secrets.

Our top pick refers to 1901—it was the beginning of the Industrial Revolution and the year Walt Disney was born. Streetlights on Main Street capture the moment in time when gas lamps switched to electric lights (see if you can find that exact point in time while walking up and down Main Street).

During that time horse drawn carriages were replaced by the horseless carriage and you can see many methods of transportation on Main Street as well.

One of our favorite historical Disneyland secrets is just above the Penny Arcade. Look up to see the penny on the Penny Arcade remembering Walt’s birth year emblazoned with the year 1901.

If you stop at the Main Street train station, and you should, you’ll find many secrets about Disneyland and Walt Disney’s past.

After a while, studio life was difficult for Walt so he tried to find creative outlets to help him relax. In 1950, he created a 1/8th scale steam railroad in his backyard. He called it the Carolwood Pacific, named for the street on which he lived.

The steam locomotive was named the Lilly Belle after his wife, Lillian. He operated the Carolwood Pacific nearly every Sunday afternoon until 1953 when he started to dream of a magical place, originally referred to as Mickey Mouse Park and later changed to Disneyland!

A replica of the Lilly Belle from Walt’s backyard can be found in the train station on Main Street, U.S.A. The original can be found in the Disney Family Museum in San Francisco.

Walt believed that spending time together as a family was important. Nearly every Sunday, he would take his two daughters on daddy-daughter dates. A favorite stop was the Griffith Park Carousel in Los Angeles. Parents were not allowed to participate in the fun, so Walt was stuck watching the kids from a park bench.

While watching his daughters have fun, he dreamed of a place where parents and children could have fun together. That park bench is the very place where the idea of Disneyland was conceived. The bench and one of the carousel horses can be found in the Opera House on Main Street, U.S.A..

The first building built at Disneyland was the Opera House. It was built to be the saw mill that built all of the other buildings at the park. The second building was the Fire House across Town Square.

You probably know Walt kept an apartment above the firehouse. Every time he was in the Resort, he would turn on a light to let cast members know that he was present. After his death, Disneyland began keeping the light on in honor of Walt!

Disneyland opened on July 17, 1955. Walt’s opening-day speech is memorialized in bronze near the flagpole on town square at the entrance to Disneyland.

After Marceline, Walt’s family moved to Kansas City, Missouri. There, Walt and his friends established the Laugh O’ Gram Studios in 1921. Walt, Roy, and Ub Iwerks created cartoons and animated advertisements for local merchants as well as created cartoon shorts.

When you first walk into California Adventure, take a look to your left. You might be surprised to learn that Mickey Mouse was not Walt Disney’s first cartoon character.

Walt actually created other cartoon personalities before introducing the world to everyone's favorite Mouse. Julius the Cat and Oswald the Lucky the Rabbit are the most notable early works of Walt Disney.

Look on Buena Vista Street for another historical secret when you see the shops named for these early creations: Oswald’s Service to your left and Julius Katz & Sons to your right.

Then check out the Storytellers Statue in Disney California Adventure Park for the next secret. Step up close and notice the secret details—Walt’s suitcase features his first business card at Laugh O’ Gram Studios as well travel tickets from Kansas City.

Don’t forget to make use of your free PhotoPass with your Genie+ purchase and take a photo here with Walt and Mickey as they arrived in Los Angeles all those years ago.

Walt Disney Studios continued to have artistic and business success with cartoon shorts after his move to California. Walt experimented and invented new ways of filming animation. Walt was honored with many Academy Awards (Oscars).

One of the films, The Three Little Pigs, was awarded the Academy Award in 1933 for best short film. Cleverly hidden on Buena Street in California Adventure is a little café that remembers the award. Look for the Fiddler, Fifer, and Practical Café, which references the three little pigs' names and their personalities.

Next up on Buena Vista Street takes us back to 1937 when Walt Disney and his animators took a big risk by developing the first full-length animated movie. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs premiered on December 21, 1937 at the Cathay Circle Theater in Hollywood. Disney California Adventure features a small replica of the movie palace in place of a castle. The Carthay Circle Theater is certainly worthy to take the place of a castle.

Walt and Roy wanted to take their chances in the movie industry and moved to Los Angeles, California. The Disney Brothers Studios opened in 1923. Business was great and they moved the studios to Hyperion Avenue along with a brand new sign which changed from the Disney Brothers Studios to the Walt Disney Studios.

Mickey Mouse was born in 1928 and a new sign was created to advertise the commercial success. A replica of the sign can be found in Hollywood Land at Disney California Adventure, across from the Hyperion Theater. Did you catch the historical element of Disneyland? The Hyperion Theater pays homage to the address of the early studio!

In the early days of Disneyland, when families arrived at the park there was a very modest entrance fee to visit. If guests wanted to experience any attractions, they needed a ticket coupon labeled A, B, C, D, E to ride (hence the reference to E-Ticket and D-Ticket attractions these days).

Many of the early attractions had a ticket booth nearby to purchase and take tickets. The ticket booth windows have since been covered and integrated into Disneyland today. The booths can still be found by a few of the original attractions, including Casey Jr Circus Train, Alice in Wonderland, Storybook Land canal boats, and Dumbo the Flying Elephant.

Another Disneyland secret is what’s commonly known as “Easter eggs.” Disneyland Imagineers often leave a subtle reminder of retired attractions in the same space that a new attraction now occupies. The idea is to preserve a little bit of the past. There are many examples, and some of our favorites include:

• The Mike Fink River Boats (operated from 1955 to 1997). Look closely for a replica of one of the boats on the shores of Rivers of America.
• The Country Bear Jamboree (operated 1972 to 2001). The restrooms in the Hungry Bear Café are still named after the main Country Bear Characters and the official hosts of the show are still in the Winnie the Pooh attraction. You will want to sit in the first two rows of the honey pot ride vehicle in order to see them. Look behind and above after the Heffalumps and Woozles and you will see Max, Buff and Melvin on the wall.
• A portion of Rainbow Caverns can still be seen in the first hill climb on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
• R-3X, the original pilot of the Star Tours attraction, can be found in the queue for Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, and also as the Disc Jockey at Oga’s Cantina in Galaxy’s Edge.

There are many other examples of retired attractions throughout the park. We would love to hear about your favorites.

Another hidden historical element appears while you’re in line for Indiana Jones. Look closely for a full size troop vehicle. It is the actual movie truck used in Raiders of the Lost Ark, where Indy slides underneath to save the Ark of the Covenant from the villains!

Want more movie props? Star Tours also features movie-used models of C-3PO and R2-D2 from the original Star Wars trilogy! In addition, look closely in the Guardians of the Galaxy attraction queue for many Disney historical items including the original Yeti from the Matterhorn attraction!

Back in California Adventure, the Soarin’ attraction features a history of aviation and includes an air and space wall of fame located in the queue. Aviation heroes include Lockheed-Martin, Amelia Earhart, the Spirit of St. Louis, Jimmy Doolittle, Howard Hughes and many other pioneers of flight.

Did you know you don’t need to be a guest of the Disneyland Hotel to take a look at some of the secrets inside? Of course we’d love to help you book a room at this magic-filled hotel, but anyone is welcome to roam the lobby. It is filled with Disney history! An entire wall is dedicated to Disneyland merchandise and souvenirs from the past. It is worth a stop to check out the crazy and fun merchandise from history.

And last, we couldn’t finish without mentioning Get Away Today’s tie in to Disneyland history and secrets. Disneyland’s official address is 1313 Harbor Blvd, Anaheim, CA. Disney fans everywhere do not think this is by accident. M is the thirteenth letter of the alphabet and many believe 13 13 is Mickey Mouse’s initials.

And here at Get Away Today, our local number is 801-479-1313 as a nod to Mickey Mouse and the guests we help join him at Disneyland throughout the years!

Get Away Today is here to help you book a vacation fit for every member of your family. We have everything from discount park tickets, a list of secrets to make your trip special, and information to the best hotel accommodations. Book your vacation online now or call one of Get Away Today's experts for your free quote today: 855-GET-AWAY.