Owned and operated by the Walt Disney Company, the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California is home to two theme parks, three hotels, and a shopping and entertainment area. Its properties include:

* Disneyland, a theme park
* Disney's California Adventure, a theme park
* The Disneyland Hotel
* Disney's Grand Californian Hotel
* Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel
* Downtown Disney, an outdoor shopping and entertainment mall

The original Disneyland theme park opened in 1955, but much of the surrounding area was not owned by the Walt Disney Company. In the 1990s, expansion plans were made, and while the original concept was scaled back, the expanded complex was inaugurated as the Disneyland Resort in 2001 with the opening of Downtown Disney in January and Disney's California Adventure in February.

The Walt Disney Company purchased some land around the park which had been occupied by commercial properties and built part of Downtown Disney and a brand new parking structure on the new land. The Mickey and Friends parking structure is the largest parking structure in the Western Hemisphere. Disney's California Adventure, part of Downtown Disney, and three new hotels were built on Disneyland's original parking lot and newly purchased land.

Disneyland park celebrates its 50th anniversary in an 18 month celebration in 2005 known as the Happiest Homecoming on Earth.

The Resort

* Disneyland - the first officially classed theme park in the world, with more than 515 million guests attending since 1955.
* Disney's California Adventure - the most recently opened Disneyland Resort theme park, subject to much controversy.
* Downtown Disney - an outdoor shopping mall complex, with eateries, bars and shops.
* Disneyland Hotel - the first Disney hotel in the world, originally connected to Disneyland park by monorail.
* Disney's Grand Californian Hotel - adjacent to Disney's California Adventure, sister to Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa.
* Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel - a converted hotel purchased as part of the resort expansion in the early 2000s.

Timeline

* July 17, 1954 - Walt Disney announces plans for an innovative new form of entertainment - a theme park - on his Disneyland television show.
* July 17, 1955 - Disneyland opens to the press.
* July 18, 1955 - Disneyland opens to the public.
* July 17, 1959 - Tomorrowland re-opens, refurbished closer to Walt Disney's original vision, with four new attractions.
* July 17, 1980 - Disneyland celebrates twenty five years of operation.
* August 9, 1994 - Senior executives at the Walt Disney Company announce the Disney Decade, including new attractions for Disneyland and a brand new sister theme park.
* February 8, 2001 - Disney's California Adventure opens to an audience 3/4 the size of the projected turn out.
* July 17, 2005 - Disneyland celebrates fifty years of operation.