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The Mickey Mouse Club Circus lived a thrilling life beginning on November 25, 1955 and suffered a painful demise on January 8, 1956. Showman R. E. Anderson originally approached Walt Disney about putting in a Wild West show in Disneyland in September of 1955. After considering the concept, Disney changed his mind and added a few new twists to the idea of live entertainment at Disneyland.

Disney and his team had crafted the Mickey Mouse Club, a group of energetic youngsters who would soon be featured in a regular televised show. The Mickey Mouse Club was all set to debut on October 3, 1955. Deciding to capitalize on both the newly created show and live entertainment, the idea of the Mickey Mouse Club Circus was born.

When Disney first agreed to do the Mickey Mouse Club for ABC he made two vital personnel decisions. He assigned Bill Walsh to produce it, and Hal Adelquist to act as general coordinator. In essence, Walsh made the decisions (with Walt's approval for hiring and firing) and Hal carried them out. But Adelquist was much more than Walsh's hands and feet. He sat in on every planning meeting for the show, developed ideas for Bill and Walt to give the green light, communicated and coordinated all the decisions throughout all the studio departments, and oversaw the talent scouts and casting directors in recruiting the Mouseketeers, guest stars, circus acts, and the Talent Round-Up Winners.

The Disney Company had ordered "The World"s Largest Candy-striped Circus Tent," which was dedicated on November 11, 1955 Bruce Bushman, Dick Irvine, and George Whitney were the lead Imagineers on Walt"s newest project, creating storyboards for the show and overseeing the design of midway booths and signage.

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