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It was the evening of July 16, 1955, the night before Disneyland's Grand Opening that was to be aired on live television. Walt was spending his night in the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea walkthrough exhibit with future Disney Legend Ken Anderson. Ken was trying to get the mechanical arms of the squid to work and Walt was there, spray gun in hand, painting the wall of the backdrop behind the giant monster black. 🤯 Eventually, when the arms wouldn't work and the paint wasn't done, Walt and Ken called it a night. The 20,000 Leagues attraction would have to open a few days late. Walt and Ken walked out to Town Square where they sat on a curb to get some fresh air and take a little break. As they were sitting there, resting for probably the first time that day, an electrician came running out of Fantasyland. "Mr. Disney, there's no power to the Toad ride! Someone cut the power lines!" Ken told Walt that he'd go take care of it so Walt could get some rest. When Ken made his way to Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, he discovered that the cables weren't cut, they were just unplugged. Once Ken got Mr. Toad's Wild Ride up and running again, he took a seat backstage behind the attraction to get some rest himself. As the story goes, Ken Anderson fell asleep and missed almost all of Disneyland's Opening Day! 😂 Walt himself took a final lap of Main Street USA, making sure that everything looked good for the opening. He then climbed the staircase to his apartment over the firehouse, climbed into bed, and tried to get some sleep. For the next two hours, the phone rang off the hook with workers and media and last minute requests for the next day's festivities. Eventually, Walt took the phone off the hook to get a few hours sleep. ❤️🏰❤️ This is a story I've heard before from Bob Gurr and others, but this specific one comes from Jim Denny's book, "Walt's Disneyland". I wanted to share a quote from that book, too, because it ties up this story really nicely! When Disneyland's gates opened the next morning, Walt watched the people stream into the park from that famous window in his apartment above the firehouse. He was joined by the Mouseketeers from the Mickey Mouse Club. Mouseketeer Sharon Baird later recalled: "I was standing next to him at the window, watching the guests come pouring through the gates. When I looked up at him, he had his hands behind his back, a grin from ear to ear. I could see a lump in his throat and a tear streaming down his cheek. He had realized his dream. I was only twelve years old at the time, so it didn't mean as much to me then. But as the years go by, that image of him becomes more and more endearing." ❤️🏰