Welcome to the History of Disneyland Through Maps

Disneyland in Anaheim, California officially opened on July 17, 1955. Today, there are eleven theme parks either owned and operated by the Walt Disney Company or licensed from the Walt Disney Company, with more to come. Of those, five mirror in many aspects the original Disneyland and are called “The Magic Kingdom.” At its opening, Disneyland was unique. This site is dedicated to exploring the history of Disneyland through the large poster-size maps published and sold in the park.

The Disney Company has used large format maps and models during the development phase of each of its theme parks. In fact, Walt Disney had the map shown here at the upper left drawn in order to gain financing for the project. It only makes sense that at some point Disneyland would release large maps, not for guests to navigate the park, but to be taken home and hung on many children's bedroom wall.

How to find your map.

If you don’t know the year the map was created (some of the later maps do not have copyright dates) look at the small pictures to the left. Click on the map that looks most like the one you have. This will take you to the maps that follow that color theme.