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PROLOGUE
It Takes People
It has often been said, even originally by Walt Disney himself, that The Walt Disney Company was all started by a mouse. Perhaps it could be said, then, that the Disney parks were all started by a polo injury. For it was after Walt suffered a back injury playing the game in the 1930s that his doctor encouraged him to find a new hobby.
Walt had a love of miniatures and of railroading; thus his new hobby turned out to be miniature railroading. Walt immersed himself in his railroad hobby, working after hours in the studio Machine Shop, where he eventually built his own miniature steam engine, the Lilly Belle. With this little locomotive, Walt’s imagination and creativity were forever set free from the limitations of the two-dimensional world of the Disney animated movies—to roam in a new and exciting three-dimensional world.
On December 16, 1952, with his mind full of new ideas, Walt formed his own creative company, WED Enterprises (now Walt Disney Imagineering), to develop plans for a family entertainment venue, which came to be known as Disneyland. There would be no miniature train in this park; his interests and ideas had progressed to the point where everything would now be life-size. He wanted his park to be of the highest quality, like his motion pictures, and he hired only the best people to assist him. Some were already on his staff, working at the studio in Burbank; others would be hired specifically for the project. But they all shared one characteristic: a belief in an idea that existed only in Walt’s imagination and that had never been realized before.
Today the idea to build Disneyland seems like an easy decision. At the time, however, the risks for all involved were great, and success was far from guaranteed. But the crowds came on July 17, 1955, and they have continued to come ever since.
Walt Disney World was risky in another way. Built partly on swampland, the “Florida Project” was, at the time, the largest privately funded construction project in the world, costing $400 million. The 1964–1965 New York World’s Fair, which featured four Disney-created attractions, proved the viability of and interest in an East Coast park. Roy O. Disney, who headed the project after Walt’s death in 1966, built a vacation kingdom that is still the most visited resort destination in the world.
This book is about the men and women whose creative visions, tireless efforts, “can-do” attitudes, teamwork, and ability to dream have brought a smile to the face of anyone who has visited a Disney park. The ultimate honor for these cast members, as employees are known, is to have their name emblazoned on a window on Main Street, U.S.A.
To the typical park guest, these names appear to be the calling cards of make-believe shopkeepers. In reality, the names belong to the “all-stars” of the parks’ histories. As one walks down Main Street, U.S.A., these names are the opening credits to a show like no other.
In 2009, I worked with the Disney Editions team to write a twenty-four-page paperback called Windows on Main Street: Discover the Real Stories of the Talented People Featured on the Windows of Main Street, U.S.A. It featured a short biography on forty-five individuals who had been honored at the parks. Now, with the opportunity to write a much larger, 352-page book, I have dug even further into the research and created this extensively updated and expanded volume. On the following pages is a complete listing of talented people and their extraordinary accomplishments.
They are all responsible for bringing Walt’s park ideas to reality. And all it took was faith and trust . . . and just a little bit of pixie dust.
—Chuck Snyder
Fall 2023
