Bay Area theme park, which helped inspire Disneyland, to hold big 75th anniversary party

OAKLAND, Calif. - An iconic theme park in Oakland, credited for helping Walt Disney imagine and create Disneyland , is celebrating 75 years.

On Monday, Children's Fairyland is having a party to celebrate its milestone anniversary.

"This isn’t just a birthday party, it’s our love letter to the generations of families that have supported Children’s Fairyland," said park CEO Kymberly Miller.

The mid-century, 10-acre park is located on Bellevue Avenue, on the shore of Lake Merritt.

With its whimsical setting, vast space for imaginative play, kiddie rides, Alice in Wonderland maze, and multiple theater stages, the park boasts as being the country’s first-ever storybook theme park.

The backstory:

"The idea for creating a storybook theme park in Oakland began in 1948, when local nurse