I visited Disney’s Hollywood Studios for years before I ever stepped foot in the learn to draw Animation Academy. It was a blast and I’ve been back frequently since then. What many guests don’t realize is that there is a second learn to draw opportunity… Read More »Learn to Draw: Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
A new biographical look at the life of Walt Disney has been rumored to be in the works for a few years now. PBS and American Experience have now revealed that “Walt Disney,” a new four-hour, two-night film that explores the life and legacy of… Read More »PBS’ American Experience to Profile Walt Disney in Fall of 2015
It was such a beautiful day yesterday, that I had to stop and shoot this short video of Walt Disney and his friends hanging out in the Magic Kingdom hub. Always a popular photo spot. Have you had your picture taken here?
Rich Pope of the Orlando Sentinel has put together a fun look at one of the Magic Kingdom’s often overlooked features, the Main Street windows. They’re like the credits to the film, only for the theme park. My grandfather has the honor of having his… Read More »Windows on Main Street USA at Magic Kingdom
Today Disneyland marked the 59th anniversary of its opening with a ceremony attended by 59 of Walt’s most famous characters. At the ceremony they announced yearlong Diamond Celebration that salutes 60 years of magic at Walt’s park. “It’s an incredible time at the Disneyland Resort… Read More »Disneyland marks 59th Anniversary, announces yearlong promotion for 60th.
The Matterhorn Bobsleds at Disneyland has always been a sentimental favorite of mine; in part because my Grandfather Vic Greene was the Art Director for the attraction and for his involvement in the story of how Imagineering got the instructions to build it.
There was a little hill of land in between Tomorrowland and Fantasyland that the Skyway used to get some height to go over the back of Sleeping Beauty Castle. Walt wanted to do something with this land, but he didn’t know what, he asked my grandfather to start thinking of an attraction for the hill. The story as told in the book “How to Be Like Walt: Capturing the Disney Magic Every Day of Your Life” and in my family went like this:
Walt was traveling to Switzerland to film “Third Man on the Mountain” and fell in love with the Matterhorn. In a moment of inspiration, he grabbed a postcard of the mountain from a souvenir stand and sent it back to Vic Greene with the message, “Vic. Build This. Walt” on the back. Vic, of course, immediately set to work on designing what was to become a first of its kind landmark attraction.
Another fun family story is the invention of the Matterhorn’s first of its kind switchback queue. Vic Greene and his team of Imagineers developed a system that would have the entrance to the switchback part of the queue be lower than the exit. When you stood at the entrance, the exit would appear closer to you in an optical illusion. The idea was to make your wait seem less cumbersome by visually shortening the queue.
A version of this story was documented in “Disneyland: Inside Story” by Randy Bright, and it has been told in my family for years. Before the attraction was set to officially open, testing was done using sandbags. When Walt wanted to see a real human on the ride, Vic Greene was selected as the first human to test ride in a bobsled on a steel tube coaster. Since water hadn’t been added to the splash down pools at the end of the ride, Imagineering had set up bales of hay to slow the cars down. Unfortunately the bobsled car hit the hay and stopped so suddenly, Vic nearly got whiplash. Still he survived and the ride was deemed complete.
Below the jump are a few more fun facts from the 55 year history of The Matterhorn.
I love the opening few paragraphs from “The story of Walt Disney” by Diane Disney Miller. What started out as a series of articles in The Post eventually became the first “biography” of Walt Disney ever published. You can read the entire first chapter on… Read More »Surprise, your Dad is Walt Disney
The Walt Disney Studios had a rough time during World War 2, not just because Walt Disney felt it was his patriotic duty to help the war effort (usually at the expense of his bottom line) but also because so many of the artists he… Read More »Walt Disney’s World War 2 Propaganda – Der Fuehrer’s Face