DISNEYLAND AT 70: ‘Native Disneylander’ Ron Dominguez Witnessed The Opening Day Chaos

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In the months leading up to Disneyland's opening day on July 17, 1955, cast members and construction workers were putting in 14-to-16-hour days, seven days a week. Many were spending so much time on The Site, as it was known, that they often said they felt as if they were living there. Ron Dominguez could empathize. In an odd twist, Dominguez and his family did live on a section of the Disneyland property for the first 18 years of Ron’s life.
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MY FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT DISNEY: My Main Street Friends

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During my 45-plus years of covering the wonderful world of Disney, I’ve had the distinct honor of striking up relationships with a good number of Disney’s more prominent cast members, whose careers are memorialized on windows along Main Street USA in California, Florida or France. Whenever I return to a Disney park, I make sure to renew acquaintances with my Main Street buddies.
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Traditions Program Remains Part Of Extensive Training For New Disney Hires

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During its prime, the Disney Store made it a point of hiring people who were hard-working, motivated, team players … the cream of the crop, if you will. Once you got through a rigorous hiring process, new cast members were required to go through the extensive Traditions training program, very similar to the one introduced by Disney Legend Van France prior to the opening of Disneyland in 1955.
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