The 626

When Walt Disney started to make films, he had a masterful plan. He dreamed that moviegoers would forget about the world outside for a few hours, and be engrossed in the world of fantasy he created for them. This same vision carried over into his idea for the Disney parks; guests could come to his parks and lose themselves in their own real-life, “make believe” world. He created & honed this concept at Disneyland, and practically perfected it at Walt Disney World.

The first place that you are transported to when you visit Walt Disney World is Main Street, USA. Many of Walt’s movie making techniques carried over into his theme parks, and some of the most amazing examples of this concept can be seen right on Main Street, USA. For example, Walt’s designers used the concept of forced perspective to make the buildings appear taller than they actually were; the first story of every building is tallest, but as you go up, each story gets progressively smaller to create the illusion that the buildings are larger than they really are.

To further create the illusion that Main Street, USA is thriving town in the early 1900s, a cast of characters was created to populate it. You may recognize some of them strolling about town, such as Mayor Weaver (who likes to remind you that election time is coming soon and remember to “Pull the lever and vote for Weaver!”), Scoop Sanderson (ace reporter for the Main Street Gazette), and even The Dapper Dans! But it doesn’t stop there! Take a walk down one of the side streets and you may be lucky enough to hear someone practicing their piano or taking singing lessons from one of the upper windows. Though these small touches may not even be noticed by the average guest, they all add to the illusion that Main Street, USA is a living, breathing town!

Another small, often under appreciated, touch that Walt had added to Main Street was the placement of the shop’s windows. Most windows are at usually a few feet off the ground, making it hard for anyone of small stature to see anything. When designing the parks, the shop windows were placed lower to the ground so even the smallest of children could look into them and see the wonders that awaited them inside. After all, why bring children at all if they couldn’t experience everything for themselves? While we’re on the subject of windows, that brings us to why we’re discussing Main Street today!

While his movies had the benefit of opening and closing credits, Walt’s park did not. Fortunately, Walt Disney was a clever man, and managed to sneak some tributes to those who helped him build his dream in places that guests may never even notice.

One of the most famous places for these hidden tributes is also on Main Street, USA. On the second and third stories of almost every building on Main Street, you’ll find windows advertising the various businesses that inhabit this turn of the century town. These businesses are witty tributes to the men and women who made the Disney parks what they are today.

Today I’ll be showing some of these windows to you (all from the Magic Kingdom), and explaining a little bit of the history behind them.

WALT DISNEY WORLD RAILROAD OFFICE
WALTER E. DISNEY

The first window that guests should notice is located on the train station, right before they walk into the park. Walt is named as the Chief Engineering, and rightfully so. Walt Disney World was mostly his vision and he was truly tasked with “keeping the dreams on track,” as the window says. On top of that, Walt is known for having a love of railroads in general. He even had a 1/8th scale working model steam engine railroad in his backyard in California. Having his window on the train station is more than fitting.

DREAMERS & DOERS
ROY O. DISNEY

Roy was Walt’s brother and long time business partner. Just before Walt passed away, Roy had planned on retiring. Rumors came up that he would sell the company off to the highest bidder just to keep it running. However, after his brother’s untimely death, Roy put off his retirement and charged ahead with keeping his brother’s dream alive. He continued on the project and saw it through to completion. He even had the name changed from Disney World to Walt Disney World to honor his brother and to ensue his legacy would live forever. Though many played a part in getting Walt Disney World off the ground, without Roy’s determination, it may never have actually happened.

ELIAS DISNEY
CONTRACTOR

This window, which used to be above the Emporium but is now located further down Main Street, honors Walt’s father, Elias. Elias worked a number of odd jobs over the years, such as a farmhand, railroad machine shop worker, and professional fiddler. This window refers to a failed Contracting business that Elias started in Chicago in 1895.

ROY E. DISNEY
SPECIALIZING IN THE GENTLEMANLY SPORT OF RACING AT SEA

Roy E. Disney is the son of Walt’s brother, Roy O. Disney. He was the Vice Chairman of the Walt Disney Company for many years, and served as a consultant for them. He was also Director Emeritus for the Board of Directors. Roy’s window refers to his love of competitive sailing, for which he also received an honorary Doctorate from The California Maritime Academy for his contributions to the sport before his passing. Listed along with him are his ex-wife Patty (they divorced in 2007) and their four children.

M.T. LOTT CO.
REAL ESTATE INVESTMENTS
DONN TATUM

Tatum was the first non-Disney family member to become the President and Chairman of the Board for Walt Disney Productions. He was also the first president of Walt Disney World. The businesses referred to on the window are all skeleton companies, used by Walt, to buy the land in Florida that would eventually become Walt Disney World Resort. As most of you know, if people knew Walt was buying land in Florida for something, the price per acre would have went through the roof. So, to keep things secret for awhile, Walt created these dummy corporations (all incorporated in other states) to throw people off the trail. Even though Tatum was never the president of any of these companies, they were all subsidiaries of Walt Disney World, which in turn, he was in charge.

PSEUDONYM REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT COMPANY
ROY DAVIS, BOB PRICE, & BOB FOSTER

Much like M.T. Lott, this window also refers to the process in which Walt bought up land for Walt Disney World. When Roy O. Disney was visiting Florida real estate agents and looking at possible locations for the future Walt Disney World Resort, he would do so under the pseudonym of Roy Davis. Bob Price was the pseudonym of Robert Foster, who used the name to deal with landowners in the area.

GENERAL JOE’S BUILDING PERMITS
GEN. JOE POTTER

Walt hired Major General William “Joe” Potter as the first official Disney employee in Florida. Under his watchful eye, he oversaw the construction of turning 300 acres of Florida orange groves into the Magic Kingdom we know and love today. He was the park’s Senior Vice President after it opened, and retired in 1974. General Potter was named a Disney Legend in 1996. Dick Nunis, former Chairman of Walt Disney Attractions, once said that “…without Joe Potter there would be no Walt Disney World today."

PLAZA SCHOOL OF MUSIC
B. BAKER, B. JACKMAN, G. BRUNS

All three of these men are known for creating some of the most memorable tunes for Disney’s theme parks.

Buddy Baker, who was named a Disney Legend in 1998, scored many of Disney’s movies, and with X. Atencio, co-wrote “Grim Grinning Ghosts” for The Haunted Mansion.

Aside from providing the voice of Goofy in the 1950s, Bob Jackman was also the manager of Disney’s music department. He specialized in writing cues, small snippets of music that were adapted from longer selections, which acted as lead-ins or exits from scenes. He co-wrote the “Swisskapolka,” heard while climbing the Swiss Family Treehouse in Adventureland.

George Bruns composed quite a number of the area music heard around the park, but is most known for composing that famous pirate anthem “Yo-Ho (A Pirate’s Life For Me).”

FASHIONS BY JOHN
DRESSMAKING, HEMSTITCHING, & PICOTING

This window honors the original costume department leaders at Walt Disney World: Tom Peirce, Orpha Harryman, Ken Creekmore, Alyja Paskevicius, & John Keehne. This window is also notable for one other reason; it used to include a sixth name!

A former Show Quality Monitor told me that a few years ago he was in charge of building an index of all the windows on Main Street. When researching for this window, he found information on the five names that currently are on the window without much difficulty, but on the sixth, he was coming up short. He eventually wrote to the corporate personnel archives to ask what that person did for the Company. They replied that he had worked for Disney…but only for about four months! The mystery became a bit clearer when it was discovered that this mysterious sixth person had spent those few months working in the sign shop and his job had included painting and touching up (you guessed it!) the windows on Main Street! Apparently, he thought that five names didn’t balance well when they were split three and two, so had inserted his own name to make the pair of windows come out even.

The name stayed on the window close to ten years before it was found out. As you can see, the current sign shop quickly corrected that problem!

SEVEN SUMMITS EXPEDITIONS
FRANK WELLS

The late Frank Wells was the former Walt Disney Company President and Chief Operating officer. Wells joined the company in 1984 and, along with Michael Eisner, was an integral part of helping save the company from financial disaster during his time there. Wells, who tragically died in 1994 in a helicopter accident, was known for his sense of adventure. His window, located on the third floor, is the highest of all the windows on Main Street. Seven Summits Expeditions refers to Wells’ goal of reaching the summits of the tallest mountain of all seven continents. He managed to climb them all except for Everest, after making the attempt twice.

WALTER E. DISNEY
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN & MASTER PLANNING

The last (but certainly not the least!) window I will mention brings us back full circle. Walt’s window overlooking the castle and the park’s main hub not only honors the man himself, but also the Imagineers who were instrumental in bringing Walt Disney World to life. Richard Irvine, John Hench, Edward Brummitt, Marvin Davis, Fred Hope, Vic Greene, Bill Martin, and Chuck Myall all worked for WED Enterprises and helped design the architectural and show elements that went into the Magic Kingdom.

Though I did mention quite a few of the windows on Main Street, I merely scratched the surface. There are countless others honoring the many incredibly creative people that helped bring the Magic Kingdom to life. In fact, Disney recently released a short book detailing some of the windows featured at both Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom. Much like this article, it only features some of the windows.

So, the next time you take a stroll down Main Street USA, be sure to take a minute to look up at these windows and appreciate the work that these people did that went into creating the happiest place on Earth.

Do you have a favorite window that you always stop and admire while walking along Main Street? Leave a comment and let me know why you like it so much. I'd love to know! Also, if you have any windows that you'd like to know more about that I didn't explain here, let me know in the comments below, and I'd be happy to tell you the story behind it.

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If you enjoyed the column, or have any questions, comments, or gripes, please feel free email me at [email protected] or leave a comment below. I'd love to hear from you!

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