Books​

TABLE OF CONTENTS

HOW IN THE WORLD…?

Forward

Prologue

SECTION ONE: HOW WALT DISNEY WORLD CAME TO BE

…DID THE NEW YORK WORLD’S FAIR BRING ABOUT THE DEVELOPMENT OF WALT DISNEY WORLD?

The World’s Fair

…CAN YOU BUY 43 SQUARE MILES OF LAND WITHOUT ANYONE KNOWING?

Land Acquisition

…DID DISNEY BUILD A VACATION KINGDOM IN THE MIDDLE OF A SWAMP?

Construction

…DID DISNEY CREATE ITS OWN INFRASTRUCTURE WITHOUT ANY GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE?

Infrastructure

…DID THE DISNEY NAME END UP ON THREE HOTELS NOT OWNED BY DISNEY?

Hotel Development

SECTION TWO: WALT DISNEY WORLD’S THEME PARKS & ATTRACTIONS

…DOES WALT DISNEY IMAGINEERING CREATE AND BUILD SUCH GROUNDBREAKING ATTRACTIONS?

Walt Disney Imagineering

…DO YOU MAKE WALTZING GHOSTS APPEAR IN A BALLROOM?

Magic Kingdom

…DID DISNEY BUILD AN ATTRACTION INSIDE A GEOSPHERE?

EPCOT Center’s Future World

…CAN YOU VISIT ELEVEN COUNTRIES IN ONE DAY?

EPCOT Center’s World Showcase

…DID MGM END UP IN THE NAME OF A DISNEY THEME PARK?

Disney-MGM Studio Tour Theme Park

…DID A SHRIMP BOAT COME TO REST ON TOP OF A MOUNTAIN?

Recreation

SECTION THREE: THE DAILY OPERATIONS OF WALT DISNEY WORLD

…DOES DISNEY CREATE ITS AMAZING ENTERTAINMENT SPECTACULARS?

Live Entertainment

…DOES DISNEY MAKE 3,500 ACRES OF LANDSCAPED GROUNDS LOOK SO BEAUTIFUL?

Landscaping

…DO YOU KEEP TENS OF THOUSANDS OF CAST MEMBERS SMILING?

Human Resources

…CAN YOU GET 4,000 REPORTERS TO ATTEND YOUR ANNIVERSARY?

Marketing

…DOES WALT DISNEY WORLD RUN SO SMOOTHLY 24 HOURS A DAY, 365 DAYS A YEAR?

Park Operations

…DO YOU HAVE 100,000 PEOPLE OVER FOR DINNER?

Food Operations

…DOES DISNEY GET US TO BUY SO MUCH MERCHANDISE WE DO NOT REALLY NEED?

Merchandise Operations

Epilogue

FORWARD

This is not simply a book about the building and operation of Walt Disney World. This is a book about the passion, drive, creativeness and “can do” attitude of an incredibly cohesive team of artistic designers, innovative craftsmen, inspiring managers, and enthusiastic cast members, all put together by one man who shared the same characteristics — Walt Disney.

I was only eight years old when Walt Disney died, but I still remember the day with great sadness even though, at that point, I had only been to Disneyland once when I was five. Growing up in a suburb of Kansas City, I did not return to Disneyland until 1968 when I was ten. But even at that age, I was as fascinated with how well the park operated as I was with the incomparable attractions. Disneyland was like no other place I had been. Fascinating at every turn. The groundbreaking Enchanted Tiki Room, Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion had all recently opened, but the overall cleanliness, attraction loading and unloading procedures and pre-parade preparations were equally as interesting. I wondered why other businesses were not run like Disneyland.

Fast forward nineteen years to when I started my Disney career – first in California and later in Florida. That is when I started researching this book by visiting the Disney Archives and reading hundreds of articles and dozens of internal publications. What I discovered about Walt Disney World was even more amazing than I anticipated. Secretive land deals, the largest private construction project in the world, innovative technology, the ability to fabricate anything, a great concern for details and the ability to deal with many logistical hurdles, were all part of the story.

Nothing was considered impossible by the Disney Imagineers at WED (Walter E. Disney) Enterprises — the Disney subsidiary responsible for creating theme park MAGIC. The camaraderie and team spirit were pervasive. No closed office doors, no egos, no territorial disputes. Just an unstoppable attitude, with many people working late into the night, mostly because they thought it was great fun and partly because nobody wanted to let Walt down — a feeling that existed many years beyond his death by those that knew him.

As Disney Imagineer Yale Gracey put it, “Walt had the ability to bring out the best in the people who worked for him. He was able to discover talents they themselves didn’t know they possessed. Many people worked at projects they didn’t think they could handle until Walt convinced them they could.” Imagineer Fred Joerger remembers, “Walt would always spontaneously drop into your room to chat and see how you were doing. By the time he left, you were fired up with excitement about whatever it was you were working on.” And fellow Imagineer Herb Ryman recalled, “There was just something about him that made you want to please him, and gaining his confidence was better than payday.”

The craftsmen in the machine and carpentry shops were as exceptional as the artistic designers. They made everything from Audio-Animatronic figures to submarines, projection systems, volcanoes, statues, ride vehicles and many other items even though they, nor anybody else in the world, had ever made one like it before. Cutting edge technology originally developed for space or national defense needs was often modified and utilized for Disney attractions. But nobody thought that was unusual, it was just what was needed to get the job done.

But the story does not end there. After the infrastructure was in place, the buildings were built and the attractions were installed, the MAGIC continued with new cast members who soaked up the Disney culture practiced by their enthusiastic managers. Together, they were responsible for the daily operation of Disney’s largest and most complex resort. Disney is known for its state-of-the-art attractions, but it is also known for its top-notch live entertainment, stunning landscaping, unbelievable cleanliness and friendly cast members. The ability of Disney to impress guests in all these areas, day after day year after year, is extremely rare, if not unheard of, for a large corporation.

The logistics of operating multiple theme parks, dozens of hotels, and several recreation/entertainment areas, all connected by a massive transportation network, are unparalleled. But everything runs smoothly twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year. As many as 170,000 guests are transported to where they want to go throughout the day. More than 400 restaurants and stores get restocked every night. The theme parks and hotel lobbies are cleaned until they shine. 4,000 beautiful new flowers are planted on a typical day. This ability to exceed expectations, while dealing with hundreds of daily responsibilities and thousands of guest interactions, all comes back to the “can do” attitude, culture and training instilled by Walt Disney, and continued by countless others.

Two years after the opening of EPCOT Center, Michael Eisner and Frank Wells joined Disney in September 1984 as Chief Executive Office and Chief Operating Officer, respectively. They were the new version of Walt and Roy, dividing the creative and business aspects of The Walt Disney Company in much the same way as the two brothers. They brought an exciting, fresh perspective to the business and they leveraged their film backgrounds to take advantage of some ripe opportunities, including the creation and build out of the Disney-MGM Studio Tour Theme Park (later renamed Disney’s Hollywood Studios). Amongst other things, Eisner and Wells were also responsible for a huge increase in the number of hotel rooms on property and a significant expansion of Walt Disney World’s marketing efforts.

“How in the World…?” covers the evolution of Walt Disney World from 1963 to 1992, which I consider to be part of Disney’s early, formative years. Many new offerings continued to unfold at both Walt Disney World (which will be touched upon in the Epilogue) and The Walt Disney Company after that time. But the early “pioneering” days gave way to a more conventional business environment. Although that is not to say that The Walt Disney Company became any less of an exceptional entertainment company than it was before.

The first portion of “How in the World…?” deals with how Walt Disney World came to be. The second portion covers its ever-popular theme parks and attractions. And the final portion of the book reveals what is involved in the daily operations of the Vacation Kingdom. I hope you enjoy this behind the scenes look at what it takes to create the MAGIC of Walt Disney World. But be sure not to miss the Prologue, which sets the stage for How in the World…?

PROLOGUE

In 1964, Orlando was a sleepy central Florida town with 240,000 residents and owed its existence primarily to the fact that several interstate highways intersected there. Many tourists heading for southern Florida’s warm, sandy beaches whizzed through Orlando, and neither city officials nor the local businessmen could figure out how to get them to spend as much as a day in the primarily agricultural community. Nevertheless, something was brewing in Orlando — although only a handful of people knew what it was. Rumors started circulating about someone trying to buy large tracts of land southwest of the city and, within a few months, the rumored land deals were the talk of the town. The newspapers were full of speculation as to who the purchaser might be — McDonnell Douglas, Ford, NASA, Howard Hughes, or one of a dozen others. But it was not until November 1965, almost two years after its first inquiries, that Walt Disney Productions purchased the last of more than forty-three square miles of land. But even when one of the best kept secrets in the history of corporate America was revealed, and the citizens of Orlando learned that Disney was the “Mystery Industry,” very few of them had any idea that the town, no one would even stop in before, was about to become the number one tourist destination in the world…