Walt Disney World: Past, Present and Future - Part 1

Here's what's next on Disney Channel The following

present

ation has been subtitled for the hearing impaired Next up is a special celebration and the place where dreams come true Join host John Lithgow as he gives you a special look at Walt Disney World from the visions that started the magic of the incredible attractions that make Walt Disney World the happiest place on earth to the imagination that will create more joy for

future

generations. See Walt Disney World like never before, so join host John Lithgow for Walt Disney World Past, Present and Future. Then, a while ago, Disney View invited me to attend a special celebration at Walt Disney World.

I had never been there before, so naturally I jumped at the opportunity. I'm sure you've heard a lot about Walt Disney. Maybe you've even been there, but this is your chance to experience it from a whole new perspective. Hello, come with me and discover why Walt Disney World has become the number one vacation spot in the

world

. Welcome to Walt Disney World, past,

present

and

future

. Whether it's your host, John Lithgow, you know this is really a pleasure for me, as well as everyone else. I grew up with images of Disney on TV and movies everywhere, in a way that Disney has helped me remain a child my entire life.

I'm an actor now, but on this trip, the only role I'm playing is myself, a wide-eyed, father-doting tourist, a middle-aged child who can't seem to grow up and, being an overgrown child, I have never lost curiosity when I came here. I wanted to ride the attractions and see the sights, but I also wanted to know what was involved in creating this place, but I've heard a lot and what I've learned is that there is a reason why Walt Disney World is the number one vacation destination. one on earth and the reason is very simple, they planned it that way and what they created here is like no other place I have ever seen.

Walt Disney called it his greatest dream and, considering how many dreams Disney brought to life, that said something From the beginning, this place was designed to be one of a kind. What the Walt Disney Company has created is more than a collection of theme parks, it is a complete theme, a

world

that combines imagination and storytelling, built with careful planning and detailed construction. and then displays it in whimsical architecture and art direction, the result is what some people have called the art form of the 20th century, the story of Walt Disney World begins where all great stories begin, this one began 3,000 miles away west of here in an orange color.

Grove in California, where the fact is that there would never have been Walt Disney World if Disneyland hadn't existed, so let's go back to the beginning of the story, Once upon a time in 1954, when I was a boy growing up in Yellow Springs, Ohio. I remember watching TV every Sunday night and watching Disneyland being built. Everything a child dreamed of going there one day. What an amazing place. Each component was designed or storyboarded, as we say in Hollywood, like a Disney movie. Walt Disney gathered architects, engineers, and movie storytellers and named them. The Imagineers together planned for Disneyland to be the first themed entertainment park.

Each land had a theme. Main Street USA Adventureland tomorrow and Fantasyland and Frontierland. Every detail in each land was designed and art directed to match its theme like magic from start to finish. Disneyland was built. In just one year I will never forget it. The day of the premiere was like the premiere of a Disney movie and I was there in front of my television with 29 cameras filming the television broadcast of that July 17th, which at that time was the live production. largest in history until 1955 the role I am playing today as your host was taken by art Linkletter I don't know why they didn't ask me what was available I guess they just didn't want a ten year old host one of The Linq Letters co-hosts were an actor well-known movie theater in those days, a guy named Ronald Reagan, the first visitors to travel through the gates of time and on our historic path, people got the message that Disneyland was one of a kind, the details and the planning.

They were evident everywhere, even the employees were

part

of the story. Walt called them cast members because in his mind everyone who worked at Disneyland was

part

of the show and his costumes were part of the theme. Excuse me, can I help you? Disneyland was something people had never seen. before and look at it, they did it between 1955 and 1963, more than 35 million people visited there during the same eight years, the population of Orange County, California tripled. Disneyland's 90 acres were soon surrounded on all sides by hotels and restaurants, but they prevented Walt Disney from acting on the ideas running rampant through his mind.

Disneyland was a huge success, but Walt had even bigger plans and no one was more aware of the plans. emerging technologies of the information age that Walt and his ears imagined in 1960 Walt Disney was the commander of the eighth largest submarine fleet. in the world