Disneyland is an American staple that has ingrained itself into our very culture.
It’s entertained millions across multiple generations and it’s been the inspiration
for other Disney parks around the world.
However when it first opened it struggled financially, and it took a date night to change that.
When Disneyland opened in 1955 it was a critical hit.
The opening day was a bit of a mess but other than that people loved Walt’s theme park.
Carnivals and amusement parks were nothing new, but Disney had raised everything to a
whole new level with Disneyland.
There was only one problem; it wasn’t making a profit.
According to Advertising Manager at the time and eventual Disneyland President Jack Lindquist,
the first few years of Disneyland’s operation was a struggle.
Disney realized they had a great thing on their hands, but if they wanted
to finally turn a profit they needed to reach more people.
During those initial years their primary demographic were families.
One demographic that Disney hadn’t been winning over however were teenagers, who either
went with their families or didn’t go at all.
So in the late spring of 1957, Disney introduced “Date Nite at Disneyland”, a regular weekend
event aimed at teenagers and young adults looking for a place to bring their dates.
Prior to Date Nite, Disneyland typically closed for the day at 6pm during the fall, winter,
and spring seasons, and 8pm during the summer.
However with the introduction of “Date Nite” that May, the closing time for the park on
Fridays and Saturdays were extended out to 10pm.
From their perspective, they had this valuable asset in the form of a theme park that was
going unused every night, and the only major cost to changing that was to pay for staff
during the extended hours.
So it made sense to extend the hours and get more people into the park.
Disney sold Date Nite ticket books that allowed entry for two people and tickets for ten attractions
all for $6.50, which today would be about $56.
Beyond having more time to ride attractions, Disney created a bandstand area with dancing
space and a covered eating area with tables over at the Carnation Plaza Gardens, which
was an area off to the left of Sleeping Beauty Castle where the Royal Theater is today.
Offering up nightly entertainment, Disney hired The Elliott Brothers, a 14 piece big-band
as a their regular house band for the weekends.
They even put out an album of their music called “Date Night at Disneyland” which
featured a theme song for the event called “Let’s Dance at Disneyland”.
Occasionally special performers would be booked to play at Disneyland, including pop duo The
Carpenters, jazz musician Lionel Hampton, and The Osmonds.
Lastly, Disney decided to put together a firework show over Sleeping Beauty castle that would
occur each night called “Fantasy in the Sky” which would go on to run for over 40
years at Disneyland and would see versions in Disney World, Tokyo Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris
Date Nites were so successful that the following month in June the parks hours were extended
yet again, this time from 10pm to midnight, and one more time in July to 1am.
Beyond that they had extended the hours for the rest of the days of the week out to midnight.
The nightly entertainment was also expanded to seven days a week during the summer months
as well across to different areas of the park including Frontierland and Tomorrowland.
Date Nite not only helped Disneyland finally turn a profit, it also opened up the company
to the notion that their brand of entertainment could appeal to more than just families, and
that it could be enjoyed outside of just the daytime hours.
It paved the way for a tradition of nighttime entertainment at the Disney theme parks and
resorts, entertainment that ranges from fireworks, to stage-shows, to bands and more.
Date Nite might not be around any longer, but like many of the ideas from those formative
early years of Disneyland, it shaped the future of the parks we all get to enjoy today.