Building Disneyland was an uphill battle for Walt Disney. Architects didn’t understand his vision. Banks didn’t want to make loans. And his business-minded brother (and partner) wanted him to reign in his spending. Yet Walt’s magnificent original park, the only one that he ever got to visit and enjoy, became a global icon beloved by generations of visitors.

Today, as Disneyland celebrates its 70th anniversary, new and old are seamlessly integrated. Original rides and attractions your grandparents enjoyed (think Snow White’s Enchanted Wish, Peter Pan’s Flight, and Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride) are still as fun and popular as the latest and greatest creations (like Tiana’s Bayou Adventure).

The party lasts all summer, culminating on July 17 with the debut of an entirely new show, “Walt Disney–A Magical Life,” playing in the Main Street Opera House alongside “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.” The world’s first audio animatronic figure of the company’s legendary founder will greet visitors in a recreation of his studio office and share stories and anecdotes. The advanced figure is pushing technological boundaries with lifelike materials and movements, and even has a special effect simulating the twinkle in his eye. “This has been a labor of love. It’s a new world for us, new challenges,” Imagineer Tom Fitzgerald told Fortune. “But as Walt would say, it’s kind of fun to do the impossible.”

Other retro comebacks include groovy orange sweatshirts from the 1960s and others with big, fun, googly-eyed Mickeys. They’ve also brought back those vintage E ticket books reimagined as mint tins and notepads. A line called the Nostalgia Collection features imagined historical items like a brown leather journal inspired by Walt’s briefcase, a charm locket with a tiny portrait of the boss hiding inside, and a shirt with the Disney quote: “Disneyland is the star. Everything else is in the supporting role.”

Even some of the food from the past is returning for the summer. “The Hook’s Galley Tuna Melt is an homage to the original tuna melt that used to be served at Chicken of the Sea restaurant when the resort first opened,” Disneyland Chef Esther Alonso explained before turning her attention to a vintage-inspired dish from Frontierland. “The Fried Tamale Walking Taco is inspired by Casa de Fritos,” she continued.

“Back then, we used to have two fan-favorite dishes, a Frito pie and a fried taco, and we mashed those together into this beautiful dish.”

Another new addition to the park comes from legendary songwriter Richard Sherman, who walked into Disney CEO Bob Iger’s office with a new verse for his opus, “It’s a Small World,” some 60 years after completing the original for Walt. The late legend’s 34 words about love and humanity have been added to the soundtrack. Inside, riders can now see Miguel and Dante dolls from the film “Coco.” And outside, a new after-dark light show called “Tapestry of Happiness” is projected across the ride, transforming it into a brilliantly colorful memory portal featuring modern animated renditions of Pirates of the Caribbean and Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room. We even hear a snippet from “A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow,” the Sherman Brothers theme to a ride that disappeared more than 50 years ago. The show ends with a quote from Walt echoing around the park, “Like I say, we’re just getting started.” (Over at Disney California Adventure, visitors can also hear a recording of words spoken from Walt during the new “World of Color” show: “To all who come to this happy place welcome!”)

And in a new “Wondrous Journeys” show projected onto Sleeping Beauty Castle, moments from films like “Peter Pan” and “The Princess and the Frog” are among the greatest hits playing out across the façade while fireworks erupt overhead.

Nothing ever really goes away at Disneyland. It just fades in and out like a dream.

Original Imagineer Bob Gurr remembers the “Happiest Place on Earth” during its early days. As time moves farther away from the big bang that created Disneyland, it’s almost impossible to hear from someone who was there on opening day. Rarer still is to hear from an Imagineer who had a hand in creating that original Walt-era magic that still echoes through the park. Bob Gurr spent more than a quarter of a century designing attractions, specializing in the ride vehicles for Autopia, the Disneyland Monorail, and the Matterhorn Bobsleds. We asked the 93-year-old Disney legend what it was like to see it from the beginning.

HOW DID YOU FIRST GET INVOLVED WITH DISNEY?

Ub Iwerks worked for Disney but never told me what he did there. His kids were about my age, and we were in the same high school classes and the same car club. They invited me over for Sunday dinner, and he showed a 16mm film of activities on the Disney backlot, and I saw a little car with a bare chassis. Soon after, I get a phone call that said “Bob, meet Mr. Irvine at the Buena Vista gate,” and he hung up. I did, and he showed me this little chassis that needed a body. I had graduated ArtCenter College of Design and knew how to design a body. I came back with sketches, and we walked out to the little car, and there was a guy who looked a little ratty and unshaven. My first impression was he must be the father of one of the night guards. Then someone says, “See ya, Walt.” We started working together in October of 1954. I was 22 going on 23.

WHAT WAS DISNEYLAND LIKE BEFORE IT OPENED?

In February of 1955, I was driven down there, and it was all dust and earth movers. I said, “No way this is gonna open in July.” The 5 freeway was built in pieces, so somewhere near downtown you had to get off and take Anaheim Telegraph Road. The Opera House had to be built first because it was the mill for all the woodwork. Main Street was pretty well built, but they hadn’t even started the track for Autopia.

TELL US ABOUT OPENING DAY.

It was such a super-busy place because we were finishing construction, but it was so exciting! We worked like mad. My job was to get nine Autopia cars off the track and get them ready for the parade. We replaced the drivers with movie stars. Frank Sinatra was in one and Sammy Davis Jr. was driving the car in front of us. Had we the time and money, we would have tested them, but that first day was the test. By the end of the week, only two of the 37 cars were running. There was a long line, but nobody was going to close the attraction that had just opened. We replaced sheet metal parts with cast iron. Everybody learned quick; we just rebuilt it and put it back. When you’re a designer and not a trained engineer, and your stuff never breaks, you have reached the pinnacle of life.

Here’s how one Anaheim family pays tribute to Disneyland with a backyard railroad.

Visitors have come from all over the world to enjoy Disneyland, but locals who grew up with the iconic park in their backyard seem to connect with it differently. Sometimes the pixie dust is so powerful that Disney magic drifts out into the neighborhoods around it. Andy Anaheim, a city spokescreature Disney created in the 1950s, appears around town and is the mascot of the city’s Halloween Parade. The Howard Johnson hotel across the street sports a retro Disneyland House of the Future suite. And fairy tale castles and pirate ships adorn the municipal bus fleet.

One homeowner with a big imagination has built a small homage to Disneyland behind his home in Anaheim Hills. In the 1990s, architect David Sheegog started dreaming up an outdoor “learning laboratory” where his homeschooled kids could learn botany or how to care for koi fish. Instead, he and his wife Frances ended up with the Castle Peak and Thunder Railroad, an epic tribute to the “Happiest Place on Earth”—a backyard railroad and miniature exposition that hosts thousands of visitors every year.

“I wanted to build something fun and novel and different. We’ve always been around six degrees from normal around here,” Sheegog says. “The Disney theme just emerged like a great revelation as we toyed with the idea. We thought it might be like a miniature golf course with a castle, and I thought: What if I mimicked the Disneyland castle? And it morphed into: What if they were all Disney buildings?” While the family has pitched in with the project, from greeting visitors to sculpting some of the tiny details, they also keep an eye on their guest list, which fills up in minutes whenever new dates are announced.

Sheegog’s steam locomotive runs alongside his lush green lawn before it reaches a tiny Main Street station above an impeccable replica of the oral Mickey, where millions have taken the obligatory selfie. His version of Sleeping Beauty Castle is chest-high, just below a garden wall scenically painted with a perfectly blue Southern California sky. Long-gone attractions like Skull Rock come back to life in miniature. A train car smaller than your phone whizzes by replicas of vintage attraction posters as his Skyway ferries plastic guests between the side yard and the back.

The Sheegogs both grew up in Garden Grove, just over the Anaheim border, and could see the Disneyland fireworks from their childhood homes. The architect thinks that if he grew up in England, he might have instead gone with a Harry Potter theme, but his Orange County childhood definitely had an influence. “Disneyland was always in the blood,” he remembers. “I didn’t say, ‘Mama, there’s Peter Pan; let’s get his autograph!’ I was like, ‘Look at this cool building.’”