Disneyland opened its doors 50 Years Ago, on July 17, 1955.  Back in April of 2005, I (the webmaster) was interviewed by Allison Bruce of the Ventura County Star for a story she was doing on Disneyland's 50th Birthday.

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TITLE OF ARTICLE: "Disneyland Anniversary will be All Business." By Allison Bruce, July 17, 2005.

SUBHEADING: "Growing Together."

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"As Disney has grown, so has its hometown of Anaheim, though visitors don't see the city from inside Disneyland."

"Disneyland's surrounding skyline is full of attraction facades and trees. Behind Toon Town, a cartoonish backdrop of rolling green hills greets the eye. Some of those hills are a facade on a Disney parking deck."

"Disney fan Bill Baxter was born in 1954 and lived in Anaheim until he was 15. His own childhood mirrored the growth of Disneyland."

"'We were a rural town," Baxter said. "I remember our neighborhood was pretty much surrounded by orange groves.'"

"The roughly 14,000 people in Anaheim when he was born had grown to about 100,000 by 1961, he said. Anaheim has more than 325,000 people today."

"Baxter said he thinks there would be a difference in self-perception for Anaheim without the iconic theme park."

"'We feel, a lot of us in Orange County, that we're separate from L.A., even though we're close enough to it," he said. 'Our economy probably centered more on Disney than it did on L.A.'"

"Tourism is a major industry in Orange County, employing about 150,000 people. Tourism attracted 43.6 million visitors to Orange County in 2004, who spent $7.3 billion, according to the Visitors and Convention Bureau."

"Disney is a key component in what we have to promote here in the Anaheim and Orange County area, and Disneyland is really synonymous with the word 'Anaheim' and Southern California," said Elaine Cali, communications vice president for the Visitors and Convention Bureau."

"A study released in March found Disneyland had an economic impact of $36 billion a year in Southern California, creating about 45,700 jobs beyond the more than 20,000 direct employees of the resort."

"The study, commissioned by Disneyland Resort and prepared by CB Richard Ellis, CBRE Consulting and Allan D. Kotin & Associates, found Disneyland Resort and its visitors generate $225 million in taxes in Southern California each year."

"Disney means tourism and dollars. It means a thriving economy for the Anaheim area. It also means more traffic and trash. Disney reports about 30 tons of trash is collected in a busy day at Disneyland -- about 12 million pounds a year."

"Disneyland recycles 3.1 million pounds of cardboard; 500,000 pounds of office paper and 9,390 pounds of aluminum cans a year."

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