Disneyland Exhibit Photos Show Off 60 Years of Park Magic

50 Disneyland Exhibit photos show off 60 years of theme park history, right down to the first ticket ever sold

Although this year’s D23 Expo won’t begin in full until tomorrow, ComingSoon.net was invited to attend a special early preview of the event’s Disneyland exhibit. In the gallery viewer below, you can check out 50 photos of the Expo’s sizable “Disneyland: The Exhibit,” which looks back on 60 years of theme park history.

The Expo officially describes the Disneyland exhibit as follows:

The 12,000-square-foot Disneyland exhibit, which will be located on the Expo show floor for the first time, will include themed areas that honor the park’s history, attractions, parades, and entertainment over the past six decades, including the construction of Disneyland, Pirates of the Caribbean, Mickey Mouse Club at Disneyland, Club 33, and collectible merchandise, as well as the park’s iconic lands: Main Street, U.S.A., Fantasyland, Frontierland, New Orleans Square, Tomorrowland, and Critter Country/Bear Country. Each area will contain items from Disneyland’s past, including attraction vehicles, costumes, props, and even Audio-Animatronics figures.

Among the more-than-300 items on exhibit, guests will be able to see Ticket No. 1, purchased by Roy O. Disney on July 18, 1955, the first day the park was open to the general public. Guests will see many pieces shown by the Archives for the first time, including early surveying equipment from the 1950s used in the construction of Disneyland, a prototype vehicle for the beloved Alice in Wonderland attraction, dancing-monkey costumes used in the nighttime spectacular Fantasmic!, an early Autopia car, original artwork from Mickey Mouse Club Circus, the Abominable Snowman from the Matterhorn Bobsleds, which was replaced during the attraction’s recent enhancement, and an original pitch book full of colorful artwork that was used to sell Disneyland to prospective sponsors on the East Coast.

ComingSoon.net will be reporting from the D23 Expo for the next few days, so check back for coverage August 14 through 16 straight from the Anaheim Convention Center. We’ll be live-blogging some of the biggest panels, too, starting with tomorrow’s Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios: The Upcoming Films. Hosted by John Lasseter, it happens at 3pm PST and should feature reveals from The Good Dinosaur, Zootopia, Moana and Finding Dory with, if past D23s are any indication, quite a few other surprises!