NEW SHOW - Connecting with Walt hosted by Michael Bowling

[dkrauss]

Listened to the second show......great stuff.......learned so much. I've never heard of the St Louis project. I don' t remember it being in the Marty Sklar book.........or maybe I was speed reading through that section Anyway, very interesting stuff......could you imagine if WDW was in the Meadowlands in NJ? Wow the money I'd save.......but the NJ Annual Pass still would have gone up last week ..........by $500

Doug

 

[flipflops4ever]

Thank you for the effort put into this show. I am really enjoying it, and I think offering all of this background information on Walt and the creation of Walt Disney World fills a gap in the Dis Unplugged podcasts that I didn't previously realize was there.

I enjoy the genuine and positive enthusiasm from both Michael and Craig about the subject matter, and I feel I've learned so much from each episode thus far.

Keep it up guys! And also keep the intro music - I smile every time I hear it!

 

[rotlex]

Finished listening to the second installment while mowing the lawn yesterday. Thoroughly enjoying it. Lots of great information in a great format. Keep it up guys, looking forward to more episodes!

 

[mikelan6]

Great second show! Gives me another reason to visit St Louis.

I was wondering why you did not mention the Celebrity Sports Center in Denver. This place is rarely if ever talked about. According to Wikipedia, it was originally owned in part by Walt and Roy O Disney. Do you have any more information on this?

 

[Merry Mousketeer]

Great second show! Gives me another reason to visit St Louis.

I was wondering why you did not mention the Celebrity Sports Center in Denver. This place is rarely if ever talked about. According to Wikipedia, it was originally owned in part by Walt and Roy O Disney. Do you have any more information on this?

Thank you for listening to the show and for sharing your positive comments. The Celebrity Sports Center is an interesting story in the Walt Disney Company history. I plan to talk about it when we start talking about planning and construction of Walt Disney World.

 

[Accident]

First and foremost, really enjoying the new show but I wanted to offer a little outsider constructive criticism...

The intro to the show in the disunplugged WDW podcast was excellent. The point that Disneyland at 60 is almost a prequel that leads into this WDW focused history I think is an important thing for future listeners to hear before listening to everything. I think that show should be edited and put up as an intro episode for those that find it in the future to really understand.

I'm finding it hard to locate all the Disneyland at 60 episodes to go back and listen to them. I think that show should move to it's own section so you can find it easier, just like connecting with walt is. It's great to say on the show that "the archives are at disunplugged', but I had to search to figure out it was posted with the other WDL shows and it's been interesting to find them all, especially the first episode.

there's 3 weekly shows that cover what's happening in wdl, wdw and universal florida. I think the discussion on the "pbs special" was a little out of place in the second episode. It was great information but didn't fit the rest of the episode. i'm sure both connecting with walt and disneyland at 60 will have a proper spot to add in what the pbs show covered and where you felt some important information was missing. It happens to be self contained and easy to edit out and put up separately for those that want to listen about it.

Again, I love the episodes, just wanted to offer some constructive feedback on where a few minor tweaks might enhance the show(s)

 

[Disney Enabler]

Tom Bell had put this list together a bit ago but it will get you started if you are looking for some of Michael's previous shows.

07/12/15 - Disneyland at 60: Disneyland & Pixie Dust
04/19/15 - Disneyland at 60: The World's Fair
03/29/15 - Kay Kamen & Mickey Mouse
02/22/15 - Windows on Main Street: Rolly Crump
01/25/15 - Disneyland at 60: The First Decade
11/06/14 - Disneyland at 60: Disneyland Hotel-Part 1
11/13/14 - Disneyland at 60: Disneyland Hotel-Part 2
09/11/14 - Disneyland at 60: The First Year
08/21/14 - Little Golden Books & Disney
07/17/14 - Disneyland at 60: Opening Day
06/26/14 - Lady and the Tramp
05/22/14 - Disneyland at 60: Building the Magic
04/10/14 - Animation Pioneers
03/27/14 - Disneyland at 60: Walt's Idea
02/13/14 - Walt's Olympics
01/30/14 - Disneyland at 60: Poppins
01/23/14 - Roger Rabbit's 20th
01/16/14 - A Tribute to Annette

I hope you enjoy listening to Michael.

Carol
It's a great day to be alive!!!

 

[ImTooExcitedToSleep]

Thanks Carol. I just updated that list and bumped the thread. Should be easier to find now.

 

[Disney Enabler]

Here are the additional shows that Tom mentioned.

09/20/15 - Disneyland at 60: Living History with Ben Harris: Part 2
09/06/15 - Disneyland at 60: Living History with Ben Harris: Part 1
08/11/15 - Windows on Main Street: Van France

Carol
It's a great day to be alive!!!

 

[Merry Mousketeer]

First and foremost, really enjoying the new show but I wanted to offer a little outsider constructive criticism...

The intro to the show in the disunplugged WDW podcast was excellent. The point that Disneyland at 60 is almost a prequel that leads into this WDW focused history I think is an important thing for future listeners to hear before listening to everything. I think that show should be edited and put up as an intro episode for those that find it in the future to really understand.

I'm finding it hard to locate all the Disneyland at 60 episodes to go back and listen to them. I think that show should move to it's own section so you can find it easier, just like connecting with walt is. It's great to say on the show that "the archives are at disunplugged', but I had to search to figure out it was posted with the other WDL shows and it's been interesting to find them all, especially the first episode.

there's 3 weekly shows that cover what's happening in wdl, wdw and universal florida. I think the discussion on the "pbs special" was a little out of place in the second episode. It was great information but didn't fit the rest of the episode. i'm sure both connecting with walt and disneyland at 60 will have a proper spot to add in what the pbs show covered and where you felt some important information was missing. It happens to be self contained and easy to edit out and put up separately for those that want to listen about it.

Again, I love the episodes, just wanted to offer some constructive feedback on where a few minor tweaks might enhance the show(s)

Thank you for your suggestions and for listening to the show! When the concept for Connecting with Walt was first discussed, the topic of having the Disney history segments listed together in a section of the site did come up. I believe that will happen once we have sufficient material. Many thanks to Carol and Tom for putting the Disneyland segments together in an updated list! I agree being familiar with Walt's experiences with Disneyland is crucial to understanding his reasoning behind his plans for the Florida Project.

Craig and I wanted to discuss the PBS documentary when it was still fresh in everyone's minds. Although I am not sure if we need to devote a full episode to the one documentary, you have given me an idea for an episode I will discuss with Craig. So, keep sending in those comments!

 

[MikeTaylor]

I love the old stories... I watched an interview with Bob Gurr talking about the design, junkyard finds, construction, and installation of the Viewliner... and of course, the first monorail...the inspiration from the one in Cologne, Germany, the building, the fires (and misfires), etc. 1959 expansion.

 

[beastlyprince]

Another great episode. It was interesting to find out the alternate attractions that were being thought of at WDW to differentiate itself from the
attractions at Disneyland. It would be very interesting to see actual maps of what Walt had in mind for the Magic Kingdom.

As mentioned in episode three seasonal climates made a huge impact in where Disneyland and Walt Disney World were built.
It was interesting to find out where Disney had searched for his new park.

When news of Disney's America was announced in the '90s I found it odd that the Disney Co. would select Virginia, being that Virginia's
winter temperatures are not meant for amusement/theme parks.

 

[Merry Mousketeer]

Another great episode. It was interesting to find out the alternate attractions that were being thought of at WDW to differentiate itself from the
attractions at Disneyland. It would be very interesting to see actual maps of what Walt had in mind for the Magic Kingdom.

As mentioned in episode three seasonal climates made a huge impact in where Disneyland and Walt Disney World were built.
It was interesting to find out where Disney had searched for his new park.

When news of Disney's America was announced in the '90s I found it odd that the Disney Co. would select Virginia, being that Virginia's
winter temperatures are not meant for amusement/theme parks.

Thank you for letting us know you are enjoying the show. In Episode 4 we touch lightly on a few attractions being considered for the Magic Kingdom and Walt's involvement in the planning of the theme park. As our series progresses, we will delve much more into the construction of the Magic Kingdom. If the series continues to be a success, I plan to someday explore attractions never built at Walt Disney World. I will talk about Disney's America, some of which came to be in the original Disney's California Adventure.

 

[beastlyprince]

Thank you for letting us know you are enjoying the show. In Episode 4 we touch lightly on a few attractions being considered for the Magic Kingdom and Walt's involvement in the planning of the theme park. As our series progresses, we will delve much more into the construction of the Magic Kingdom. If the series continues to be a success, I plan to someday explore attractions never built at Walt Disney World. I will talk about Disney's America, some of which came to be in the original Disney's California Adventure.

Thanks Michael.

Looking forward to episode 4. Exploring the attractions that were never built at WDW is an excellent idea.

If a 5th park was to be built at WDW I'd like to see a section of it be based on Disney and Pixar villains, a section that would bring back some of the
best closed attractions (in updated formats), and a section that would include these never built attractions that you mentioned. WDW is missing
attractions that correspond to some of Disney's classic movies.

This 5th park should include:

"Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs" - updated version
"Pinocchio" - updated Disneyland version
"Mr. Toad's Wild Ride" - updated version
"Cinderella" - new attraction
"Alice In Wonderland" - updated Disneyland version
"Sleeping Beauty" - new attraction
"The Jungle Book" - new attraction; this should actually be built in the Asia section of Animal Kingdom
"Aladdin" - DCA's show
"Monsters, Inc." - either a new attraction or the version from Tokyo (Monsters Inc Ride and Go Seek); this could possibly be added to Hollywood Studios as an addition to Pixar Place after the Toy Story expansion is completed

 

[SamSam]

Thank you Craig and Michael, I love this series. The history and they way the two of you work together is perfect. I've listened to the first 3 twice, there's so much information in each one that I enjoy a second listen to make sure I didn't miss any thing. Thank you both!

 

[Accident]

Great episode. As I was listening I kept thinking of some things I had learned from a couple different backstage tours around WDW and wanted to share them.

This article while I can't say anything for it's accuracy goes into more detail in how they were able to route calls via attorney to keep secret. It's actually more on who established the plan to keep things secret and probably some information that will be upcoming in a future episodes. It's an interesting read.

Keys to the Kingdom tour goes into a little more detail in how the land was purchased. Specifically the point that kept coming to mind is disney was not connected to any of the corporations at all. Walt and Roy's friend Donn Tatum was entrusted to buy the land and later hand it over to disney. This is why he has the entire window to himself next to the window with the list of corporations that were formed.

I'm surprised Joe Potter hasn't entered the picture yet. My understanding from one of the backstage tours at WDW is he was very prominent in the choice of location and his ability (from experience with the Panama Canal) on how to divert the water and dry it up and where you can still see the channels dug roadside that even today move rain water away from the developed land. A picture of Joe with Walt and one of the last known photographs of walt on the florida property is proudly displayed and pointed out in the utilidors

One of the backstage tours made mention that the world's fair, in part, was a test to see if how the east coast residents would react to a theme park to test the waters before moving forward with any commitments. I would be interested in hearing more about this, I know the worlds fair had a lot of different angles disney was using but this one seems to be glanced over even though it's part of the behind the scenes tour information you learn.

 

[Merry Mousketeer]

Great episode. As I was listening I kept thinking of some things I had learned from a couple different backstage tours around WDW and wanted to share them.

This article while I can't say anything for it's accuracy goes into more detail in how they were able to route calls via attorney to keep secret. It's actually more on who established the plan to keep things secret and probably some information that will be upcoming in a future episodes. It's an interesting read.

Keys to the Kingdom tour goes into a little more detail in how the land was purchased. Specifically the point that kept coming to mind is disney was not connected to any of the corporations at all. Walt and Roy's friend Donn Tatum was entrusted to buy the land and later hand it over to disney. This is why he has the entire window to himself next to the window with the list of corporations that were formed.

I'm surprised Joe Potter hasn't entered the picture yet. My understanding from one of the backstage tours at WDW is he was very prominent in the choice of location and his ability (from experience with the Panama Canal) on how to divert the water and dry it up and where you can still see the channels dug roadside that even today move rain water away from the developed land. A picture of Joe with Walt and one of the last known photographs of walt on the florida property is proudly displayed and pointed out in the utilidors

One of the backstage tours made mention that the world's fair, in part, was a test to see if how the east coast residents would react to a theme park to test the waters before moving forward with any commitments. I would be interested in hearing more about this, I know the worlds fair had a lot of different angles disney was using but this one seems to be glanced over even though it's part of the behind the scenes tour information you learn.

Hello! Great feedback! Yes, the land purchases were a wonder in how they kept Disney's participation a secret. You will enjoy Episodes 4 and 5 as we get into site preparation, which includes Joe Fowler and the drainage canals.

I did a whole episode on the 64 World's Fair for my "60 Years of Disneyland" series on The DIS Unplugged Podcast: Disneyland Edition. Since I consider that series to be a companion to this show, I did not see the need to repeat it. However, the belief that Walt participated in the Fair to determine if East Coast audiences would respond to Disney-style entertainment is a commonly-held fallacy. On the opening day of the fair, Disney completed their first land purchase in Central Florida. So, by the time the Fair had started, Walt had already made his decision about building in Florida.

Thank you for listening and for sharing your knowledge. I enjoy hearing from others who are interested in Disney history and its impact on society.

 

[Grumpy247365]

This series has been awesome so far. I am impatiently waiting for the next episode. Kudos to all involved with this; it's amazing.

 

[Jennygt]

I really enjoyed listening to instalment #3 today. I was at the gym, shopping and driving around with Michael and Craig all morning. I think you guys are a good combination, love how you mesh and interact with each other. Looking forward to more!
Thanks!

 

[EricInPA]

The Kennywood talk on Episode 3 brought a big smile to this Pittsburgher's face.