April 23, 2025 • 32 mins
Walt Disney may have passed away decades ago, but his creative spirit continually inspires millions who visit the parks bearing his name. Many visitors, especially younger generations, don't realize there was an actual man behind the Disney magic—a visionary whose persistence through multiple bankruptcies and setbacks led to creating the entertainment empire we know today.
For our milestone 200th episode, we're taking you on a special journey to discover where you can find Walt's presence throughout Walt Disney World. From the iconic Partners Statue in Magic Kingdom to his actual childhood desk in Hollywood Studios, these touchpoints help connect guests to the man whose dreams made these magical experiences possible.
Walt Disney's remarkable life offers valuable lessons about never giving up, surrounding yourself with talented people, and continually pushing beyond what others think possible. His wife Lillian saved us from "Mortimer Mouse," his brother Roy ensured his name would live on, and countless collaborators helped bring his revolutionary visions to life—proving Walt's greatest talent may have been recognizing and nurturing the abilities in others.
The hidden gems we explore include the two special windows honoring Walt in Magic Kingdom, the touching Dreamer's Point statue in Epcot, and the must-visit Walt Disney Presents attraction in Hollywood Studios. Perhaps most special of all is the peaceful Carolwood Pacific Room at Wilderness Lodge, displaying Walt's actual trains from his Holmby Hills home—a perfect spot to enjoy a quiet moment reflecting on his legacy.
Whether you're planning your first Disney vacation or your fiftieth, discovering these Walt tributes adds meaningful depth to your park experience. Join us as we celebrate the man behind the mouse and the creative spirit that continues to inspire Disney magic worldwide.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Hello and welcome to Circle of Parks podcast episode
number 200.
Today we are going to talkabout where you can find Walt in
Walt Disney World.
There is far too much to seeand do.
We are here to help guide youthrough, but before we do that,
we must talk Disney merch.
(00:46):
So this week's Disney merch ifyou go to
MagicalEarsCollectiblescom sincewe're trying to keep it
Walt-themed today they have aWalt the Dreamer ornament.
Now this is based on the statuethat you can now find in Epcot,
so it is Walt the Dreamerornament for $34.99.
(01:08):
And again, you can find that atMagicalEarsCollectiblescom and
that is this week's Disney merch.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Thank you everybody for joining us.
Episode number 200.
We try not to make a big dealabout episode numbers, because I
don't think it really matters.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Do you?
No, but it's good to know, like, hey, we've done 200, now We've
done 200 episodes and if you'vebeen with us from the beginning
, thank you.
Yes, because those first 30were rough.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
The first 50 to 75 were tough.
I mean not that we're any goodnow, but we're at least easier
to listen to.
But, but we're at least easycome a long way easier to listen
to, yeah, but thank you so much.
We really do appreciate it, andfor this episode I didn't plan
it this way, it just kind ofhappened.
But I think we need to talkabout why we're doing this and
(01:57):
who.
We're doing this because of oneperson, and one person only.
Now, he didn't build thecompany by.
He had a ton of help whichwe're going to talk about.
But it was his ideas, but it wasall of his ideas and we're
going to talk about how he wasable to make those happen.
And it's important because Idon't think kids like this our
(02:18):
kids generation Now our kidsknow who Walt is because we just
pounded into their head everysingle day, right, but I don't
think a lot of kids know thatthere's a person behind all of
this.
They just think that's theparks.
Yeah, it's just a theme park,right.
But before we get into that,I'm Zach, I'm Brittany and we do
this show every single week.
Our goals are to help you havea better Walt Disney World
(02:38):
vacation and then just to Giveyou some Disney magic and just
make your week better.
It helps make ours better.
It definitely helps make oursbetter.
Alright, so before we talkabout where you can find Walt,
I'd like to discuss why we feltit's important to this episode.
(02:58):
I've been wanting to do thisfor a very long time.
Like I said, I don't feel thatmany kids these days realize
that Walt Disney was an actualperson, and we can learn many
life lessons from the story ofWalt.
I've listened to multiplebiographies, books about Walt
and the Disney company, andthese are some reasons why I
think they've been so successfuland what we can learn from them
(03:20):
for our own personal lives.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Well, let's hear them .
Speaker 3 (03:23):
So, first things first, walt never gave up.
He failed multiple times,multiple bankruptcies, lost a
company and he just kept goingbefore they became successful,
even when they were successfulafter, like Snow White, and that
there were still times thatthey didn't have the money Right
.
Like World War II, wasextremely tough on the company
(03:47):
Mm-hmm.
But he never gave up, he nevergave up they did films for the
military and they just chargedthem at cost.
So they still weren't evenmaking money really during the
war time.
Yeah, they were just keepingthe studios afloat.
And then in the early 80s theyalmost had a buyout, a hostile
takeover in the 80s, which ledto Michael Eisner Big thing
(04:08):
Anyway.
So why was the company and Waltso successful?
Walt was an amazingcommunicator, amazing
communicator and an amazingstoryteller.
He wasn't the best animator, buthe wasn't.
But his leadership skills andthat he was a great communicator
and storyteller is why thecompany was so successful.
(04:30):
And this is how amazing of astoryteller he was he sold snow
white to his animators by actingout the entire movie oh, wow to
his and, like he, he told thewhole story.
All the, all the charactersacted it out, so they knew he
was able to communicate exactlywhat he wanted to as animators.
That's insane.
(04:53):
Another reason Walt and thecompany was so successful.
Like I said, he wasn't the bestanimator, but he was able to
surround himself with the rightpeople, know how to motivate
those people and get the bestout of them even more than they
thought they could do Right, andI think that's an amazing life
example of surrounding yourselfwith the right people.
(05:17):
That's huge.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Yeah, it can make all the difference Huge.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
For example, Lillian, his wife, thought of the name
Mickey Mouse instead of Mortimer.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Yay, thank you, Lillian.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Thank you, Lillian.
Could you imagine uscelebrating Mortimer Mouse?
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Well, but you wouldn't have known the
difference.
But Mickey Mouse just sounds somuch friendlier.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Just rolls off the tongue, right, yeah, yeah.
So the story here is after hehad lost Oswald, the lucky
rabbit in New York to Universal,on the train ride back to LA to
break the news to Roy, hisbrother, they lost Walt, or they
lost Oswald he drew MickeyMouse and on the train ride
(05:59):
Lillian said what is his nameand Walt said Mortimer and
Lillian said no.
How about Mickey?
Yeah, and Mickey Mouse was born.
There we go.
Another person, Roy, hisbrother the businessman, made
all of Walt's dreams a reality,including Walt Disney World.
Without a solid businessmanmaking these dreams come true,
(06:20):
the Disney company would havenever been.
I'm sorry, Roy was an amazingbusinessman, was able to make
these things happen.
Another person that hesurrounded himself with Right.
Another person, legendaryImagineer, bob Gurr.
Yes, legendary.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
He is.
He still does specials onDisney Plus and stuff.
He's like 98 years old.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
So Bob Gurr was just an automotive engineer.
He designed the Autopia, cars,the monorails, all that stuff.
So he was an automotiveengineer.
Guy Walt tasked him withbuilding the first ever steel
coaster, the Matterhorn.
He had no idea what he wasdoing, no idea, but he knew he
had the automotive engineeringbackground.
(06:59):
He knew Bob Gurr could do it.
And Bob was like no, I can't dothis.
He had to learn trigonometry,all this stuff, to figure out
the track.
But he did it.
And so Walt knew how to get thebest out of people and they
wanted to work the best for Walt.
Another example Mark Davis, oneof Walt's nine old men,
legendary animator, didCinderella.
All of those classics turnedhim into an imagineer.
(07:22):
He wasn't just an animator, hewas an imagineer.
At the end of his career he didpirates, caribbean uh, pirates
of caribbean jungle cruise,haunted mansion.
So all the like funny gags yousee in these attractions.
That was mark davis yeahcountry bear jamboree.
okay, all that stuff was markdavis, so he was anator but was
(07:42):
still an amazing storyteller andcould do it through.
Walt knew he could do itthrough the Imagineering side.
Okay, so that's another reasonwhy Walt and the company was so
successful.
Yeah, so a long time ago when Iwas a bicycle racer, my coach
told me this only the mediocreare at their best all of the
time, because if you'recontinually pushing yourself
(08:03):
beyond what your limits are,then you'll always fail.
But fail forward and learnright.
This stuck with me.
Right.
So this is what Walt did, thoughhe pushed his animators and
imagineers beyond what theythought they could do, he got
the absolute best and neversettled.
He called plussing it up,making it better.
(08:24):
This is why everything alwayswent over budget films, the
parks, everything.
Because walt was always inthere refining it, making it
better.
Hey, you can do this better,you can do that better.
So never settle for mediocrity,right, never, they never did.
No, that's why, in my, all ofthese reasons is why the Disney
(08:44):
company still to this day wherewe can get into arguments about
now, but back during Walt's timewas as successful as it was.
Right, he was just such a greatman.
I admire him, and if I couldhave a dinner with one person
dead or alive, it would be Walt,and we'll get into that a
little bit later.
So that's why I feel we need totalk about this, because we
(09:07):
haven't talked about Walt.
And we do talk about Walt, butnot really in depth, Right?
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Like where you can find him in each part.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Alright, so we're going to go to Magic Kingdom
first.
Where can you find Walt Disneyin the Magic Kingdom?
Now, there are some obviousanswers here, but we're going to
go over them.
Walt has two windows in themagic kingdom.
The first one is on top of thetrain station.
You can see it as you're comingin to the park.
(09:34):
It's on the very, very top,overlooking seven seas lagoon.
I think that's just awesome yes, also location perfect location
also when you get in.
The trains are a huge nod towalt one of them is actually the
Walter Disney right.
Yeah.
And then in the train stationthere are so many pictures of
Walt where you get yourstrollers Underneath the train
(09:57):
station.
There's like a little corridorin there Right.
Tons of pictures of Walt on thetrains.
Pictures of Walt, just tons ofpictures of Walt.
Lots trains, tons of picturesof Walt, lots of Easter eggs and
nods to Walt underneath thetrain station there.
So that's another spot.
And of course we're going totalk about the partner statue in
the middle of the hub with Waltholding Mickey hands.
This is iconic.
Yes, we have so many picturesand I took these specifically of
(10:21):
this statue and the castleBecause I think it just embodies
what this is right.
Right right.
The statue.
I love the story of the statue.
So the statue was sculpted byfamous sculptor Blaine Gibson,
who's done tons of stuff forDisney, and there was never a
way to guide Mickey's heightwith a regular person.
(10:45):
So how did you scale that?
He used Mickey walking up thestage holding Stokowski's hand
in Fantasia.
Remember that?
Yes, I do.
That's how he judged how tallMickey should be.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Okay, in making the statue, In making the statue and
there's some cool little Eastereggs on it.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
I'm going to talk about it in my book, but my
favorite thing so Walt's likepointing out right back towards
the opening of the park.
Right.
And there's a lot of debateabout what he's actually
pointing to.
I like to think that he'spointing out to all the crowds
coming in to telling Mickey hey,look at all those people coming
out to see our park.
Yeah.
That's what I think, I thinkthat's really really cool.
(11:27):
Mm-hmm.
So yeah, also, Walt's secondwindow is above the ice cream
parlor, overlooking the hub inCinderella Castle.
I think that's really, reallycool.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
I don't know if I've seen that one.
It's hard to find.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
It's hard to find because it's kind of obstructed
by some of the decor on top ofthe awning.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Yeah, uh, also, we're going to go to adventure land.
Now, walt disney's enchantedtiki room yes, it says it in the
name, right, this is one wherewe talked about walt pushing the
Imagineers and pushing thelimit of what they could do.
So, as this was in the worksthey were Harriet Burns, one of
(12:12):
the first women I think is thefirst woman Imagineer ever was
working on the birds, the audioanimatronics, and was showing
Walt the birds and he goes.
Why aren't their chest puffingout?
Speaker 2 (12:25):
To make it look like they're real.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
To make it look like they were breathing and Harriet
was like, well, no one's goingto notice that and he goes, they
need to be breathing and justwalked away.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
Okay, well, okay.
So Harriet messed with thebirds but they could never get
the breastplate to look right.
They couldn't get a material,so it looked natural and flowed
around it.
So one day they were in ameeting with Walt.
Harriet was in there and he waswearing a cashmere sweater and
she noticed how natural thesweater moved around Walt's
(12:56):
elbow and arm and stuff.
So she thought to put cashmereon the breastplate of the birds
to make it look more natural.
And there we go mirror on thebreastplate of the birds to make
it look more natural.
And there we go.
So again, that's anotherexample of Walt pushing for the
best.
Right.
Because would you have reallynoticed if the birds were
breathing or not?
Speaker 2 (13:13):
Probably not.
Probably not, but he wanted itas real as possible.
Walt did though.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
Yeah, and that's another example.
It's a small world.
I know the attraction we loveto hate Everybody loves to hate
but this was originally notgoing to happen.
This was a late addition to theNew York World's Fair and they
already had three attractionsgoing when UNICEF approached.
I want to say who.
(13:39):
It wasn't Walt, initially, itwas, wasn't Wally Bogue,
somebody, one of the otherexecutives?
And they said no, we can't doit.
We've already got threeattractions to work, we don't
have time.
About a week later, Walt foundout about this and he was irate
and he was like yeah, we'll makewe'll make, we'll figure it out
(14:00):
, we're going to make time andthey did it.
So another example there we'regoing to move on to Tomorrowland
, Walt Disney's Carousel ofProgress.
It's in the name right.
Yes, and this was another wayof pushing the audio
animatronics to the limit, right, and so I thought that was
(14:21):
really good.
And where did it start?
It started at the 1964-65World's Fair for GE.
Yes, because they werepromoting their products.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
The appliances.
The appliances, yes.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
And then this isn't Walt, but we talked about Roy
initially.
I want to talk about Roy andthe Roy and Mickey statue on the
bench in Town Square.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
When Walt passed away .
Is it Roy and Mickey statue onthe bench?
Speaker 2 (14:45):
in.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Town.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Square.
Yes, when Walt passed away, isit Roy and Mickey or Roy and
Minnie, roy and Minnie?
Speaker 3 (14:47):
Sorry, my mistake, roy, I mistyped it, roy and
Minnie.
Roy was going to, roy wasretired and when Walt passed
away, he made it.
He came out of retirement tomake Walt Disney World happen.
And when they were designingeverything, it's just going to
make Walt Disney World happen.
And when they were designingeverything there, it's just
going to be called Disney World.
And he said no, no, no, it'sWalt honor his brother, honor
(15:09):
his brother.
Walt.
Disney World.
Now Epcot wasn't truly whatEpcot ended up being.
We're going to talk about thatin a minute.
But I think you have to honorRoy here, because not long after
Walt Disney World was completed, a a few months after Roy
passed away.
Now some people like to say itwas because of the construction
of the Magic Kingdom.
That's not true.
(15:31):
Also, when Walt passed away, heleft a lot of money to an
institution called CalArts.
He wanted a pipeline for Disneyanimators to go to college and
then become the Disney animators.
Well, I'm currently listeningto a book right now talking in
depth about that and there was alot of controversy with the
beginnings of it and whatnot.
And Roy's wife says it wasn'tWalt Disney World because Roy
(15:55):
was on the board of CalArts.
It was CalArts that did it forRoy, but anyway because there's
just a ton of controversy withgetting board members and anyway
.
But we need to honor Roy forhere as well.
Did it for Roy, but anyway,there's just a ton of
controversy with getting boardmembers and anyway, but we need
to honor Roy for here as well,because this would not have
happened without Roy.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
If he didn't continue out the project.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
Yes, we're going to move on to Epcot.
Not a whole lot here at Epcot.
I mean, basically, epcot is notwhat Walt envisioned, what we
have now.
Walt had envisioned anexperimental prototype community
of tomorrow where people wouldcome, companies would come and
their employees would live hereand they would innovate and it
(16:34):
would be like a permanentWorld's Fair.
But by the time, like the 70swas rolling around, world's
Fairs aren't were not like theywere in the past.
Right.
Because communication wasbecoming better, everybody could
show off products easier.
So even if Walt was alive tosee Epcot through, I don't know.
You don't know how it wouldhave turned out, if it would
(16:56):
have turned out the way he hadenvisioned it, just because of
the way the world was changingat this time.
Right just because of the waythe world was changing at this
time.
Right, but it was supposed tobe this utopian community where
people came to improvetechnology around the world
through science and technology.
I think the perfect example ofthis is living with the land,
though, because they areinnovating ways to better grow
(17:16):
crops, better handle outsideforces and deal with it with
pests with Pest, but withhydroponics and stuff.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
All this stuff.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
I think living with the land embodies what Walt's
original idea was going to befor Epcot.
That's what I think SpaceshipEarth.
This may be a bit of a stretch,but it's about the
communication right.
Yes.
Again, excellent communicator.
I think Spaceship Earth be abit of a stretch, but it's about
the communication, right?
Yes?
Well, again, excellentcommunicator, I I think
spaceship earth, you can.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
It may be stretching it a bit, in my opinion, well,
minus even though he was anexcellent communicator, I think
still it's showing howcommunication changed and and
has grown, and everything youknow they need need to add in a
later scene to it still to bemore like where we are now.
But I think you know he was allnot only him being a good
communicator, but he was allabout learning.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
The edutainment.
Yeah, he was all aboutedutainment.
And then, of course, we've gotthe Walt statue behind Spaceship
Earth.
I think this is a must visitfor everybody.
Is that Dreamer?
Is a must visit for everybody,is that dreamers?
Speaker 2 (18:26):
dreamers point yes, you have to go get your picture
taken with walt.
Yes, you have to, and thepictures like it.
They turn out great.
There's never a wait there,that's like.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
I'm glad when I go there's never a way to have to
wait for it, but it saddens methat no one's wanting to get
their picture taken with walt.
Yeah, right.
So again, that goes to myassertion earlier as no, this
generation doesn't think there'sa man behind all of this.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Right, well, and then also I mean it's not hidden or
anything, but like it's notright there in the plain open
either.
Like to see that there is aphotographer there sometimes you
know, yeah, I would agree.
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So thank you, erica, you're awesome, thank you, thank
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Now there's again a newer park,right, so there's not any
influence from walt in thedesign or building of this park,
but there are one really bigone, but there are a couple
others that you may not notice,and the first one is in the echo
(21:18):
lake area next to pv Pipeline.
There's a building next to thatand there's a for rent sign in
the window and on the door itsays Holly Vermont Realty when
the Disney went.
So Roy was already living inCalifornia when Walt moved to
California, with literallynothing, the first offices they
(21:42):
rented were in the back of theHolly Vermont Realty Company in
Hollywood.
So this is a nod to the firstoffices of the Disney Company,
right, I think that's reallycool, yeah, and then in the
Hollywood Studios area, and likethe main area, a lot of the
buildings are designed afterreal buildings in Hollywood in
the 1930s.
So I think that's kind of cool,not really associated with,
like Walt himself, but still thetimeline, the timeline is there
(22:02):
in Hollywood in the 1930s.
So I think that's kind of cool,not really associated with.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Walt, Walt himself.
But still the timeline.
The timeline is there.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
I think it's really really cool and it kind of sets
the stage for it, and I love howMichael Eisner described
Hollywood studios in his openingstatement of this is a
Hollywood that never was butalways will be.
I think that's a really coolline.
Yeah.
Because it never really was thatglamorous, but in everybody's
(22:28):
eyes and memories that's the wayit was.
Right, I think that's cool.
Now this attraction we're goingto say this is an attraction
museum should be a must-do forevery first-timer going to Walt
Disney World.
Walt Disney Presents and OneMan's Dream.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
Yes, and like you said, it is like a mini museum.
I mean, there's sketches,photos, models, costumes.
So much the multi-plane camera.
Speaker 3 (22:58):
Walt's actual childhood desk.
So many models of things thatthey did for the parks.
It really is a museum to Waltand the.
Walt Disney Company and OneMan's Dream is a quick 20-minute
.
It's 15 minutes.
15-minute video about how thisbecame and I think for every
(23:20):
first-timer this is a must-do.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
Well, yeah.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
You have to do it is required?
Speaker 2 (23:26):
well, it, because it really truly explains why all
this is here, you know, and Imean it's got like real
historical footage of waltz andyou know even home movies, and
you know, I felt myself kind ofgetting teary-eyed through some
of it.
At one, point.
Speaker 3 (23:45):
So yeah, so yeah, that's it for Hollywood studios
that I could find, because a lotof stuff's just newer.
You know, we're going to moveon to Animal Kingdom.
Now this is the newest park youmay say.
Zach, what nods are there toWalt in Animal Kingdom?
Kilimanjaro Safari?
Now, I may be stretching this abit, but I love this because
(24:08):
Walt initially wanted animalslive animals on the Jungle
Cruise, yes.
So I feel that this is hisdream of having live animals on
an attraction come true.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
Yeah, I would agree with that.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
Also, walt loved animals and they used to make
the True Life Adventure films inthe 60s about animals.
Yeah.
So I think this is a nod to allof that and I think this may be
Walt's would have been Walt'sfavorite park.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
Quite possibly, especially since he was wanting
those live animals such a longtime ago.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
The live animals and just the Conservation, in-depth
storytelling here and theattention to detail.
Yeah, that is why this is mydream day.
If I could make anything happenin Walt Disney World for one
day, I would spend the night atAnimal Kingdom Lodge, wake up
(25:03):
and go down to Boma forbreakfast, and sitting at the
table would be Walt and JoeRohde them two.
Yeah.
And just listen to them talkright Right.
Then we'd go to Animal Kingdomand do the attractions and
listen to Joe and Walt talkabout the storytelling, the
amount of detail that they putinto this park.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Right, and especially like Flight of Passage and
Everest.
Could you imagine?
Speaker 3 (25:29):
Walt riding Flight of Passage.
He would love it.
The technology here and thestorytelling and the queue and
all of that.
He would love this.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
And then Everest.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
Everest.
Oh the queue, oh man.
And then the safari, like what,like listening to walt and joe
talk about how they made thishappen, I think it would be
amazing, I would love that, likeabsolutely love it, and then,
to end the night would go tonomad lounge, right yeah, have
(26:01):
some beverages, I would have thebest scotch Like.
We're bringing up the big gunshere right, like Macallan 18,
johnny Walker, blue and just.
I would just be a fly on thatwall Because Walt was a scotch
drinker and I would just enjoylistening to them talk about it.
Speaker 4 (26:19):
I think it would be amazing.
Yeah, yeah, okay, what do youthink?
I I think it would be amazing.
Speaker 3 (26:22):
Yeah, yeah okay, what do you think?
Speaker 2 (26:24):
I mean that would be a good day.
You would thoroughly enjoy thatand yeah, and all the detail
and stuff, he would be verypleased.
I just think that'd be so cool,yeah.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
I think that'd be so cool.
Alright, we're gonna move on toone more place.
It is not in the park and itmay be one of my.
It is one of my favorite placesto relax.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
And it definitely is a nod to him.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
In Walt Disney World and this is the Carolwood
Pacific Room.
The Carolwood Pacific Room islocated in the Boulder Ridge
Villa DVC building of theWardeness Lodge on the first
floor.
It's kind of hidden.
You got to know where it's atLodge on the first floor it's
kind of hidden.
You've got to know where it's at.
But when you go in therethere's this huge fireplace, big
rocking chairs, trains, Hisactual train.
(27:11):
From his home in Hombly Hillshe had a huge train set that he
would ride and take his friendson and stuff like that.
These trains are here.
This is dedicated to him.
This is a must.
If you want to find Walt, thisis the place.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
Lots of pictures, great pictures of him on the
train.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
So, if you go, there's a picture of Walt riding
a train underneath the trainstation in Magic Kingdom.
The train that he's on I'velooked him up and the train
that's in on display at thisroom they're the same train.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
Oh, in the Carolwood Pacific room.
In the Carolwood Pacific room.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
Okay, that is awesome , nice, and they call it the
Carolwood Pacific room becausehis train was called the
Carolwood Pacific.
Okay, so when we stayed atWoodness Lodge, not this past
last time we went to.
Crisp.
So a year and a half ago, whenthe boys went to bed, I went
downstairs to Territory Lounge,told the bartender.
I was like, hey, give me thebest scotch you have.
(28:12):
I'm going to go have one withWalt.
I was like can I get it intoGoCup, he goes.
He knew exactly what I was likecan I get it into GoCup, he
goes.
He knew exactly what I wasdoing, filled it to the top, he
goes.
Tell Walt I said hi, he got it.
Right he understood.
I went in there.
They were blasting Christmasmusic, the fire was going and I
was having a scotch with Waltand it may have been one of the
(28:33):
best experiences ever.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Yeah, they did a really good job in that room too
.
Speaker 3 (28:38):
It's amazing, it is amazing, so I think this is
another place.
If you wanted to find Walt,this is it.
Right.
This is a great place.
So Thank you everybody.
That's all I've got for thisFor listening to me talk.
Brittany didn't have much toadd to this.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
No, it's fine Because it's fine, because it's all you
and you're very passionate.
But I mean I agree, like theCarol Wood Pacific Room, like
even the boys like enjoyedwalking through it and
everything, and you know justeverything else that you were
saying when I was commenting,like, yes, some of it might seem
like a stretch, but if Waltreally wanted real animals in a
park, you know he got that withAnimal Kingdom and definitely,
(29:16):
like I said, one man's dream andthat you know the 15 minute
showing of it, I mean it, it Ididn't think it was boring at
all, you know it, it definitelyheld my attention and you know,
like I said, even made me tearyeyed.
So and then, yeah, I just Ienjoy.
I think every time we go toEpcot we're going to get
pictures taken with the statue.
I just, I enjoy, I think everytime we go to Epcot we're going
(29:37):
to get pictures taken with thestatue.
Every time and you know, and thepartner statue in front of the
castle in Magic Kingdom.
You know, I mean there's somany pictures out there, not
just what we've taken, but just,you know, all over the internet
and stuff and it just, and Ithink everything that you said
is definitely, you know what alot of people would probably
(29:59):
agree like he's he's pointingout.
You know, look, we made thishappen.
Look at all these people coming,yeah there needs to be more
waltz in the parks, well, andthere needs to be like, even if
it's just like having whichthey've done it a little bit
here and there, like with likethe nighttime music shows and
stuff, you know just having him.
You know some quotes from him,exactly, you know some quotes
(30:19):
from him and stuff.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
Yeah, Uh, cause they did it.
The one thing I can say theydid right with enchantment, the
firework show, is they I did.
They did add that little Waltpart in the beginning.
That was amazing.
Yeah.
They got that right.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
The rest of it was crap, but that beginning was
great and Epcot they did for the50th anniversary, the show on
Spaceship Earth.
Speaker 3 (30:41):
They added Walt in there.
They need to do more of Walt.
Add more Walt in here.
We need more Walt in the parks.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
And again just little tidbits here and there.
I agree, Completely agree.
Speaker 3 (30:53):
All right.
So thank you everybody forjoining us.
I really appreciate it Ifyou've been with us for 200,.
God bless you.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
Yes, thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (31:01):
Uh, if you want to support the podcast, the best
way to do that is to book yournext vacation with Travel
Planner Erica.
Tell her we sent you.
Take advantage of that giftcard.
You can reach out to herwwwtravelplannerericacom.
She's also on Facebook andInstagram at Travel Planner
Erica.
You can email us circleOfParksat gmailcom.
Our website iswwwCircleOfParkscom and we're on
(31:22):
Facebook, instagram and X allat CircleOfParks.
I just want to say thank you tothe listeners 200.
Yes, thank you to Walt.
We appreciate it and talk to younext week.
We will talk to you, thank you.
Hello and welcome to Circle of Parks podcast episode
number 200.
Today we are going to talkabout where you can find Walt in
Walt Disney World.
There is far too much to seeand do.
We are here to help guide youthrough, but before we do that,
we must talk Disney merch.
(00:46):
So this week's Disney merch ifyou go to
MagicalEarsCollectiblescom sincewe're trying to keep it
Walt-themed today they have aWalt the Dreamer ornament.
Now this is based on the statuethat you can now find in Epcot,
so it is Walt the Dreamerornament for $34.99.
(01:08):
And again, you can find that atMagicalEarsCollectiblescom and
that is this week's Disney merch.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Thank you everybody for joining us.
Episode number 200.
We try not to make a big dealabout episode numbers, because I
don't think it really matters.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Do you?
No, but it's good to know, like, hey, we've done 200, now We've
done 200 episodes and if you'vebeen with us from the beginning
, thank you.
Yes, because those first 30were rough.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
The first 50 to 75 were tough.
I mean not that we're any goodnow, but we're at least easier
to listen to.
But, but we're at least easycome a long way easier to listen
to, yeah, but thank you so much.
We really do appreciate it, andfor this episode I didn't plan
it this way, it just kind ofhappened.
But I think we need to talkabout why we're doing this and
(01:57):
who.
We're doing this because of oneperson, and one person only.
Now, he didn't build thecompany by.
He had a ton of help whichwe're going to talk about.
But it was his ideas, but it wasall of his ideas and we're
going to talk about how he wasable to make those happen.
And it's important because Idon't think kids like this our
(02:18):
kids generation Now our kidsknow who Walt is because we just
pounded into their head everysingle day, right, but I don't
think a lot of kids know thatthere's a person behind all of
this.
They just think that's theparks.
Yeah, it's just a theme park,right.
But before we get into that,I'm Zach, I'm Brittany and we do
this show every single week.
Our goals are to help you havea better Walt Disney World
(02:38):
vacation and then just to Giveyou some Disney magic and just
make your week better.
It helps make ours better.
It definitely helps make oursbetter.
Alright, so before we talkabout where you can find Walt,
I'd like to discuss why we feltit's important to this episode.
(02:58):
I've been wanting to do thisfor a very long time.
Like I said, I don't feel thatmany kids these days realize
that Walt Disney was an actualperson, and we can learn many
life lessons from the story ofWalt.
I've listened to multiplebiographies, books about Walt
and the Disney company, andthese are some reasons why I
think they've been so successfuland what we can learn from them
(03:20):
for our own personal lives.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Well, let's hear them .
Speaker 3 (03:23):
So, first things first, walt never gave up.
He failed multiple times,multiple bankruptcies, lost a
company and he just kept goingbefore they became successful,
even when they were successfulafter, like Snow White, and that
there were still times thatthey didn't have the money Right
.
Like World War II, wasextremely tough on the company
(03:47):
Mm-hmm.
But he never gave up, he nevergave up they did films for the
military and they just chargedthem at cost.
So they still weren't evenmaking money really during the
war time.
Yeah, they were just keepingthe studios afloat.
And then in the early 80s theyalmost had a buyout, a hostile
takeover in the 80s, which ledto Michael Eisner Big thing
(04:08):
Anyway.
So why was the company and Waltso successful?
Walt was an amazingcommunicator, amazing
communicator and an amazingstoryteller.
He wasn't the best animator, buthe wasn't.
But his leadership skills andthat he was a great communicator
and storyteller is why thecompany was so successful.
(04:30):
And this is how amazing of astoryteller he was he sold snow
white to his animators by actingout the entire movie oh, wow to
his and, like he, he told thewhole story.
All the, all the charactersacted it out, so they knew he
was able to communicate exactlywhat he wanted to as animators.
That's insane.
(04:53):
Another reason Walt and thecompany was so successful.
Like I said, he wasn't the bestanimator, but he was able to
surround himself with the rightpeople, know how to motivate
those people and get the bestout of them even more than they
thought they could do Right, andI think that's an amazing life
example of surrounding yourselfwith the right people.
(05:17):
That's huge.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Yeah, it can make all the difference Huge.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
For example, Lillian, his wife, thought of the name
Mickey Mouse instead of Mortimer.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Yay, thank you, Lillian.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Thank you, Lillian.
Could you imagine uscelebrating Mortimer Mouse?
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Well, but you wouldn't have known the
difference.
But Mickey Mouse just sounds somuch friendlier.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Just rolls off the tongue, right, yeah, yeah.
So the story here is after hehad lost Oswald, the lucky
rabbit in New York to Universal,on the train ride back to LA to
break the news to Roy, hisbrother, they lost Walt, or they
lost Oswald he drew MickeyMouse and on the train ride
(05:59):
Lillian said what is his nameand Walt said Mortimer and
Lillian said no.
How about Mickey?
Yeah, and Mickey Mouse was born.
There we go.
Another person, Roy, hisbrother the businessman, made
all of Walt's dreams a reality,including Walt Disney World.
Without a solid businessmanmaking these dreams come true,
(06:20):
the Disney company would havenever been.
I'm sorry, Roy was an amazingbusinessman, was able to make
these things happen.
Another person that hesurrounded himself with Right.
Another person, legendaryImagineer, bob Gurr.
Yes, legendary.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
He is.
He still does specials onDisney Plus and stuff.
He's like 98 years old.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
So Bob Gurr was just an automotive engineer.
He designed the Autopia, cars,the monorails, all that stuff.
So he was an automotiveengineer.
Guy Walt tasked him withbuilding the first ever steel
coaster, the Matterhorn.
He had no idea what he wasdoing, no idea, but he knew he
had the automotive engineeringbackground.
(06:59):
He knew Bob Gurr could do it.
And Bob was like no, I can't dothis.
He had to learn trigonometry,all this stuff, to figure out
the track.
But he did it.
And so Walt knew how to get thebest out of people and they
wanted to work the best for Walt.
Another example Mark Davis, oneof Walt's nine old men,
legendary animator, didCinderella.
All of those classics turnedhim into an imagineer.
(07:22):
He wasn't just an animator, hewas an imagineer.
At the end of his career he didpirates, caribbean uh, pirates
of caribbean jungle cruise,haunted mansion.
So all the like funny gags yousee in these attractions.
That was mark davis yeahcountry bear jamboree.
okay, all that stuff was markdavis, so he was anator but was
(07:42):
still an amazing storyteller andcould do it through.
Walt knew he could do itthrough the Imagineering side.
Okay, so that's another reasonwhy Walt and the company was so
successful.
Yeah, so a long time ago when Iwas a bicycle racer, my coach
told me this only the mediocreare at their best all of the
time, because if you'recontinually pushing yourself
(08:03):
beyond what your limits are,then you'll always fail.
But fail forward and learnright.
This stuck with me.
Right.
So this is what Walt did, thoughhe pushed his animators and
imagineers beyond what theythought they could do, he got
the absolute best and neversettled.
He called plussing it up,making it better.
(08:24):
This is why everything alwayswent over budget films, the
parks, everything.
Because walt was always inthere refining it, making it
better.
Hey, you can do this better,you can do that better.
So never settle for mediocrity,right, never, they never did.
No, that's why, in my, all ofthese reasons is why the Disney
(08:44):
company still to this day wherewe can get into arguments about
now, but back during Walt's timewas as successful as it was.
Right, he was just such a greatman.
I admire him, and if I couldhave a dinner with one person
dead or alive, it would be Walt,and we'll get into that a
little bit later.
So that's why I feel we need totalk about this, because we
(09:07):
haven't talked about Walt.
And we do talk about Walt, butnot really in depth, Right?
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Like where you can find him in each part.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Alright, so we're going to go to Magic Kingdom
first.
Where can you find Walt Disneyin the Magic Kingdom?
Now, there are some obviousanswers here, but we're going to
go over them.
Walt has two windows in themagic kingdom.
The first one is on top of thetrain station.
You can see it as you're comingin to the park.
(09:34):
It's on the very, very top,overlooking seven seas lagoon.
I think that's just awesome yes, also location perfect location
also when you get in.
The trains are a huge nod towalt one of them is actually the
Walter Disney right.
Yeah.
And then in the train stationthere are so many pictures of
Walt where you get yourstrollers Underneath the train
(09:57):
station.
There's like a little corridorin there Right.
Tons of pictures of Walt on thetrains.
Pictures of Walt, just tons ofpictures of Walt.
Lots trains, tons of picturesof Walt, lots of Easter eggs and
nods to Walt underneath thetrain station there.
So that's another spot.
And of course we're going totalk about the partner statue in
the middle of the hub with Waltholding Mickey hands.
This is iconic.
Yes, we have so many picturesand I took these specifically of
(10:21):
this statue and the castleBecause I think it just embodies
what this is right.
Right right.
The statue.
I love the story of the statue.
So the statue was sculpted byfamous sculptor Blaine Gibson,
who's done tons of stuff forDisney, and there was never a
way to guide Mickey's heightwith a regular person.
(10:45):
So how did you scale that?
He used Mickey walking up thestage holding Stokowski's hand
in Fantasia.
Remember that?
Yes, I do.
That's how he judged how tallMickey should be.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Okay, in making the statue, In making the statue and
there's some cool little Eastereggs on it.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
I'm going to talk about it in my book, but my
favorite thing so Walt's likepointing out right back towards
the opening of the park.
Right.
And there's a lot of debateabout what he's actually
pointing to.
I like to think that he'spointing out to all the crowds
coming in to telling Mickey hey,look at all those people coming
out to see our park.
Yeah.
That's what I think, I thinkthat's really really cool.
(11:27):
Mm-hmm.
So yeah, also, Walt's secondwindow is above the ice cream
parlor, overlooking the hub inCinderella Castle.
I think that's really, reallycool.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
I don't know if I've seen that one.
It's hard to find.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
It's hard to find because it's kind of obstructed
by some of the decor on top ofthe awning.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Yeah, uh, also, we're going to go to adventure land.
Now, walt disney's enchantedtiki room yes, it says it in the
name, right, this is one wherewe talked about walt pushing the
Imagineers and pushing thelimit of what they could do.
So, as this was in the worksthey were Harriet Burns, one of
(12:12):
the first women I think is thefirst woman Imagineer ever was
working on the birds, the audioanimatronics, and was showing
Walt the birds and he goes.
Why aren't their chest puffingout?
Speaker 2 (12:25):
To make it look like they're real.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
To make it look like they were breathing and Harriet
was like, well, no one's goingto notice that and he goes, they
need to be breathing and justwalked away.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
Okay, well, okay.
So Harriet messed with thebirds but they could never get
the breastplate to look right.
They couldn't get a material,so it looked natural and flowed
around it.
So one day they were in ameeting with Walt.
Harriet was in there and he waswearing a cashmere sweater and
she noticed how natural thesweater moved around Walt's
(12:56):
elbow and arm and stuff.
So she thought to put cashmereon the breastplate of the birds
to make it look more natural.
And there we go mirror on thebreastplate of the birds to make
it look more natural.
And there we go.
So again, that's anotherexample of Walt pushing for the
best.
Right.
Because would you have reallynoticed if the birds were
breathing or not?
Speaker 2 (13:13):
Probably not.
Probably not, but he wanted itas real as possible.
Walt did though.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
Yeah, and that's another example.
It's a small world.
I know the attraction we loveto hate Everybody loves to hate
but this was originally notgoing to happen.
This was a late addition to theNew York World's Fair and they
already had three attractionsgoing when UNICEF approached.
I want to say who.
(13:39):
It wasn't Walt, initially, itwas, wasn't Wally Bogue,
somebody, one of the otherexecutives?
And they said no, we can't doit.
We've already got threeattractions to work, we don't
have time.
About a week later, Walt foundout about this and he was irate
and he was like yeah, we'll makewe'll make, we'll figure it out
(14:00):
, we're going to make time andthey did it.
So another example there we'regoing to move on to Tomorrowland
, Walt Disney's Carousel ofProgress.
It's in the name right.
Yes, and this was another wayof pushing the audio
animatronics to the limit, right, and so I thought that was
(14:21):
really good.
And where did it start?
It started at the 1964-65World's Fair for GE.
Yes, because they werepromoting their products.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
The appliances.
The appliances, yes.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
And then this isn't Walt, but we talked about Roy
initially.
I want to talk about Roy andthe Roy and Mickey statue on the
bench in Town Square.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
When Walt passed away .
Is it Roy and Mickey statue onthe bench?
Speaker 2 (14:45):
in.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Town.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Square.
Yes, when Walt passed away, isit Roy and Mickey or Roy and
Minnie, roy and Minnie?
Speaker 3 (14:47):
Sorry, my mistake, roy, I mistyped it, roy and
Minnie.
Roy was going to, roy wasretired and when Walt passed
away, he made it.
He came out of retirement tomake Walt Disney World happen.
And when they were designingeverything, it's just going to
make Walt Disney World happen.
And when they were designingeverything there, it's just
going to be called Disney World.
And he said no, no, no, it'sWalt honor his brother, honor
(15:09):
his brother.
Walt.
Disney World.
Now Epcot wasn't truly whatEpcot ended up being.
We're going to talk about thatin a minute.
But I think you have to honorRoy here, because not long after
Walt Disney World was completed, a a few months after Roy
passed away.
Now some people like to say itwas because of the construction
of the Magic Kingdom.
That's not true.
(15:31):
Also, when Walt passed away, heleft a lot of money to an
institution called CalArts.
He wanted a pipeline for Disneyanimators to go to college and
then become the Disney animators.
Well, I'm currently listeningto a book right now talking in
depth about that and there was alot of controversy with the
beginnings of it and whatnot.
And Roy's wife says it wasn'tWalt Disney World because Roy
(15:55):
was on the board of CalArts.
It was CalArts that did it forRoy, but anyway because there's
just a ton of controversy withgetting board members and anyway
.
But we need to honor Roy forhere as well.
Did it for Roy, but anyway,there's just a ton of
controversy with getting boardmembers and anyway, but we need
to honor Roy for here as well,because this would not have
happened without Roy.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
If he didn't continue out the project.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
Yes, we're going to move on to Epcot.
Not a whole lot here at Epcot.
I mean, basically, epcot is notwhat Walt envisioned, what we
have now.
Walt had envisioned anexperimental prototype community
of tomorrow where people wouldcome, companies would come and
their employees would live hereand they would innovate and it
(16:34):
would be like a permanentWorld's Fair.
But by the time, like the 70swas rolling around, world's
Fairs aren't were not like theywere in the past.
Right.
Because communication wasbecoming better, everybody could
show off products easier.
So even if Walt was alive tosee Epcot through, I don't know.
You don't know how it wouldhave turned out, if it would
(16:56):
have turned out the way he hadenvisioned it, just because of
the way the world was changingat this time.
Right just because of the waythe world was changing at this
time.
Right, but it was supposed tobe this utopian community where
people came to improvetechnology around the world
through science and technology.
I think the perfect example ofthis is living with the land,
though, because they areinnovating ways to better grow
(17:16):
crops, better handle outsideforces and deal with it with
pests with Pest, but withhydroponics and stuff.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
All this stuff.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
I think living with the land embodies what Walt's
original idea was going to befor Epcot.
That's what I think SpaceshipEarth.
This may be a bit of a stretch,but it's about the
communication right.
Yes.
Again, excellent communicator.
I think Spaceship Earth be abit of a stretch, but it's about
the communication, right?
Yes?
Well, again, excellentcommunicator, I I think
spaceship earth, you can.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
It may be stretching it a bit, in my opinion, well,
minus even though he was anexcellent communicator, I think
still it's showing howcommunication changed and and
has grown, and everything youknow they need need to add in a
later scene to it still to bemore like where we are now.
But I think you know he was allnot only him being a good
communicator, but he was allabout learning.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
The edutainment.
Yeah, he was all aboutedutainment.
And then, of course, we've gotthe Walt statue behind Spaceship
Earth.
I think this is a must visitfor everybody.
Is that Dreamer?
Is a must visit for everybody,is that dreamers?
Speaker 2 (18:26):
dreamers point yes, you have to go get your picture
taken with walt.
Yes, you have to, and thepictures like it.
They turn out great.
There's never a wait there,that's like.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
I'm glad when I go there's never a way to have to
wait for it, but it saddens methat no one's wanting to get
their picture taken with walt.
Yeah, right.
So again, that goes to myassertion earlier as no, this
generation doesn't think there'sa man behind all of this.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Right, well, and then also I mean it's not hidden or
anything, but like it's notright there in the plain open
either.
Like to see that there is aphotographer there sometimes you
know, yeah, I would agree.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
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Yeah, actually she reminded us.
She was like don't y'all wantto go to Oga's?
We're like yeah, oh yeah, ofcourse we completely forgot.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Yeah, because we were focused on, like restaurant,
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Speaker 3 (20:55):
So thank you, erica, you're awesome, thank you, thank
you, studios.
Now there's again a newer park,right, so there's not any
influence from walt in thedesign or building of this park,
but there are one really bigone, but there are a couple
others that you may not notice,and the first one is in the echo
(21:18):
lake area next to pv Pipeline.
There's a building next to thatand there's a for rent sign in
the window and on the door itsays Holly Vermont Realty when
the Disney went.
So Roy was already living inCalifornia when Walt moved to
California, with literallynothing, the first offices they
(21:42):
rented were in the back of theHolly Vermont Realty Company in
Hollywood.
So this is a nod to the firstoffices of the Disney Company,
right, I think that's reallycool, yeah, and then in the
Hollywood Studios area, and likethe main area, a lot of the
buildings are designed afterreal buildings in Hollywood in
the 1930s.
So I think that's kind of cool,not really associated with,
like Walt himself, but still thetimeline, the timeline is there
(22:02):
in Hollywood in the 1930s.
So I think that's kind of cool,not really associated with.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Walt, Walt himself.
But still the timeline.
The timeline is there.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
I think it's really really cool and it kind of sets
the stage for it, and I love howMichael Eisner described
Hollywood studios in his openingstatement of this is a
Hollywood that never was butalways will be.
I think that's a really coolline.
Yeah.
Because it never really was thatglamorous, but in everybody's
(22:28):
eyes and memories that's the wayit was.
Right, I think that's cool.
Now this attraction we're goingto say this is an attraction
museum should be a must-do forevery first-timer going to Walt
Disney World.
Walt Disney Presents and OneMan's Dream.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
Yes, and like you said, it is like a mini museum.
I mean, there's sketches,photos, models, costumes.
So much the multi-plane camera.
Speaker 3 (22:58):
Walt's actual childhood desk.
So many models of things thatthey did for the parks.
It really is a museum to Waltand the.
Walt Disney Company and OneMan's Dream is a quick 20-minute
.
It's 15 minutes.
15-minute video about how thisbecame and I think for every
(23:20):
first-timer this is a must-do.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
Well, yeah.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
You have to do it is required?
Speaker 2 (23:26):
well, it, because it really truly explains why all
this is here, you know, and Imean it's got like real
historical footage of waltz andyou know even home movies, and
you know, I felt myself kind ofgetting teary-eyed through some
of it.
At one, point.
Speaker 3 (23:45):
So yeah, so yeah, that's it for Hollywood studios
that I could find, because a lotof stuff's just newer.
You know, we're going to moveon to Animal Kingdom.
Now this is the newest park youmay say.
Zach, what nods are there toWalt in Animal Kingdom?
Kilimanjaro Safari?
Now, I may be stretching this abit, but I love this because
(24:08):
Walt initially wanted animalslive animals on the Jungle
Cruise, yes.
So I feel that this is hisdream of having live animals on
an attraction come true.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
Yeah, I would agree with that.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
Also, walt loved animals and they used to make
the True Life Adventure films inthe 60s about animals.
Yeah.
So I think this is a nod to allof that and I think this may be
Walt's would have been Walt'sfavorite park.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
Quite possibly, especially since he was wanting
those live animals such a longtime ago.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
The live animals and just the Conservation, in-depth
storytelling here and theattention to detail.
Yeah, that is why this is mydream day.
If I could make anything happenin Walt Disney World for one
day, I would spend the night atAnimal Kingdom Lodge, wake up
(25:03):
and go down to Boma forbreakfast, and sitting at the
table would be Walt and JoeRohde them two.
Yeah.
And just listen to them talkright Right.
Then we'd go to Animal Kingdomand do the attractions and
listen to Joe and Walt talkabout the storytelling, the
amount of detail that they putinto this park.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Right, and especially like Flight of Passage and
Everest.
Could you imagine?
Speaker 3 (25:29):
Walt riding Flight of Passage.
He would love it.
The technology here and thestorytelling and the queue and
all of that.
He would love this.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
And then Everest.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
Everest.
Oh the queue, oh man.
And then the safari, like what,like listening to walt and joe
talk about how they made thishappen, I think it would be
amazing, I would love that, likeabsolutely love it, and then,
to end the night would go tonomad lounge, right yeah, have
(26:01):
some beverages, I would have thebest scotch Like.
We're bringing up the big gunshere right, like Macallan 18,
johnny Walker, blue and just.
I would just be a fly on thatwall Because Walt was a scotch
drinker and I would just enjoylistening to them talk about it.
Speaker 4 (26:19):
I think it would be amazing.
Yeah, yeah, okay, what do youthink?
I I think it would be amazing.
Speaker 3 (26:22):
Yeah, yeah okay, what do you think?
Speaker 2 (26:24):
I mean that would be a good day.
You would thoroughly enjoy thatand yeah, and all the detail
and stuff, he would be verypleased.
I just think that'd be so cool,yeah.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
I think that'd be so cool.
Alright, we're gonna move on toone more place.
It is not in the park and itmay be one of my.
It is one of my favorite placesto relax.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
And it definitely is a nod to him.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
In Walt Disney World and this is the Carolwood
Pacific Room.
The Carolwood Pacific Room islocated in the Boulder Ridge
Villa DVC building of theWardeness Lodge on the first
floor.
It's kind of hidden.
You got to know where it's atLodge on the first floor it's
kind of hidden.
You've got to know where it's at.
But when you go in therethere's this huge fireplace, big
rocking chairs, trains, Hisactual train.
(27:11):
From his home in Hombly Hillshe had a huge train set that he
would ride and take his friendson and stuff like that.
These trains are here.
This is dedicated to him.
This is a must.
If you want to find Walt, thisis the place.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
Lots of pictures, great pictures of him on the
train.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
So, if you go, there's a picture of Walt riding
a train underneath the trainstation in Magic Kingdom.
The train that he's on I'velooked him up and the train
that's in on display at thisroom they're the same train.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
Oh, in the Carolwood Pacific room.
In the Carolwood Pacific room.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
Okay, that is awesome , nice, and they call it the
Carolwood Pacific room becausehis train was called the
Carolwood Pacific.
Okay, so when we stayed atWoodness Lodge, not this past
last time we went to.
Crisp.
So a year and a half ago, whenthe boys went to bed, I went
downstairs to Territory Lounge,told the bartender.
I was like, hey, give me thebest scotch you have.
(28:12):
I'm going to go have one withWalt.
I was like can I get it intoGoCup, he goes.
He knew exactly what I was likecan I get it into GoCup, he
goes.
He knew exactly what I wasdoing, filled it to the top, he
goes.
Tell Walt I said hi, he got it.
Right he understood.
I went in there.
They were blasting Christmasmusic, the fire was going and I
was having a scotch with Waltand it may have been one of the
(28:33):
best experiences ever.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Yeah, they did a really good job in that room too
.
Speaker 3 (28:38):
It's amazing, it is amazing, so I think this is
another place.
If you wanted to find Walt,this is it.
Right.
This is a great place.
So Thank you everybody.
That's all I've got for thisFor listening to me talk.
Brittany didn't have much toadd to this.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
No, it's fine Because it's fine, because it's all you
and you're very passionate.
But I mean I agree, like theCarol Wood Pacific Room, like
even the boys like enjoyedwalking through it and
everything, and you know justeverything else that you were
saying when I was commenting,like, yes, some of it might seem
like a stretch, but if Waltreally wanted real animals in a
park, you know he got that withAnimal Kingdom and definitely,
(29:16):
like I said, one man's dream andthat you know the 15 minute
showing of it, I mean it, it Ididn't think it was boring at
all, you know it, it definitelyheld my attention and you know,
like I said, even made me tearyeyed.
So and then, yeah, I just Ienjoy.
I think every time we go toEpcot we're going to get
pictures taken with the statue.
I just, I enjoy, I think everytime we go to Epcot we're going
(29:37):
to get pictures taken with thestatue.
Every time and you know, and thepartner statue in front of the
castle in Magic Kingdom.
You know, I mean there's somany pictures out there, not
just what we've taken, but just,you know, all over the internet
and stuff and it just, and Ithink everything that you said
is definitely, you know what alot of people would probably
(29:59):
agree like he's he's pointingout.
You know, look, we made thishappen.
Look at all these people coming,yeah there needs to be more
waltz in the parks, well, andthere needs to be like, even if
it's just like having whichthey've done it a little bit
here and there, like with likethe nighttime music shows and
stuff, you know just having him.
You know some quotes from him,exactly, you know some quotes
(30:19):
from him and stuff.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
Yeah, Uh, cause they did it.
The one thing I can say theydid right with enchantment, the
firework show, is they I did.
They did add that little Waltpart in the beginning.
That was amazing.
Yeah.
They got that right.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
The rest of it was crap, but that beginning was
great and Epcot they did for the50th anniversary, the show on
Spaceship Earth.
Speaker 3 (30:41):
They added Walt in there.
They need to do more of Walt.
Add more Walt in here.
We need more Walt in the parks.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
And again just little tidbits here and there.
I agree, Completely agree.
Speaker 3 (30:53):
All right.
So thank you everybody forjoining us.
I really appreciate it Ifyou've been with us for 200,.
God bless you.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
Yes, thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (31:01):
Uh, if you want to support the podcast, the best
way to do that is to book yournext vacation with Travel
Planner Erica.
Tell her we sent you.
Take advantage of that giftcard.
You can reach out to herwwwtravelplannerericacom.
She's also on Facebook andInstagram at Travel Planner
Erica.
You can email us circleOfParksat gmailcom.
Our website iswwwCircleOfParkscom and we're on
(31:22):
Facebook, instagram and X allat CircleOfParks.
I just want to say thank you tothe listeners 200.
Yes, thank you to Walt.
We appreciate it and talk to younext week.
We will talk to you, thank you.
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