The all-time combined attendance of Disneyland and Disney California Adventure has surpassed a billion visitors just a few weeks before the 71st anniversary of the original Disney theme park.
Andres Robles, 8, of Arizona, made Disneyland history on Friday, July 3 as the honorary billionth guest at the Disneyland resort, according to the Disney Parks Blog.
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Andres and his parents Alejandra and Jose were visiting Disneyland on Friday in celebration of the young boy’s eighth birthday when the family was surprised with the honor.
Andres helped unveil a sign on the train station that updated the Disneyland resort “population” to 1,000,000,000.
Disneyland resort president Jill Estorino was joined by Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Daisy Duck during the morning ceremony on the train station platform.
The Robles family was rewarded with a VIP tour of Walt Disney’s private apartment and a ride on the newly opened Soarin’ Across America attraction at DCA.
Disneyland will celebrate the park’s 71st birthday on July 17.
Tracking attendance numbers used to be a Disneyland tradition — with the park proudly issuing annual tallies.
Today, annual attendance counts are estimated by theme park industry publications and organizations.
Disneyland once regularly boasted about major attendance milestones — reaching 100 million visitors in 1971, 200 million in 1981, 300 million in 1989, 400 million in 1997 and 500 million in 2004.
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Bill Trow of Australia was the 500 millionth visitor to pass through the Disneyland front gate at 10:16 a.m. on Jan. 8, 2004. Trow helped Mickey Mouse update the Disneyland population sign over the train station to 500 million and was rewarded with lifetime passes to the park for his family, a VIP tour of Disneyland and a stay in a suite at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel.
The Disneyland population sign was last updated in 2013 to 650 million — which marked the attendance for just the original Disney park.
The new 1 billion population sign on the Disneyland train station now shows the combined attendance for both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure. Historically, the population sign over the train station has represented the attendance for just Disneyland.
The “Disneyland Handcrafted” documentary released in January by filmmaker Leslie Iwerks said Disneyland’s all-time attendance had reached 900 million visitors as of the park’s 70th anniversary.
Disneyland is expected to hit the 1 billion visitor mark in late 2031 if the original Disney park maintains its current attendance rate over the next six years.
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Disney California Adventure has welcomed 171.6 million visitors from the 2001 park opening through 2024, according to Amusement Business and Theme Entertainment Association estimates.