"In 1954, Walt Disney visited the park. He was supposed to take a quick tour, sort of drive by, but he spent hours here and was fascinated by our no straight lines and a surprise around every corner mentality and the way the park was built."
"This is huge. I've never seen it this crowded. I think it's one of the things where kids can be innocent and still enjoying that. I think people want to come out and support what I think is huge for an institution like Fairyland, that's been a pillar of the community for so many years."
Children's Fairyland opened on Sept. 2, 1950, on the shores of Lake Merritt in Oakland as a child-sized storybook theme park. The park marked its 75th anniversary with a Labor Day celebration that drew about 2,000 guests and included a parade from the 19th Street BART station to the entrance. Walt Disney visited in 1954, spent hours exploring the park's winding, surprise-filled design, and hired operations director Dorothy Mains to work at Disneyland. The city of Oakland owns the park while a nonprofit manages operations. The park remains low on technology and high on imagination and community tradition.
Read at ABC7 San Francisco
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