Walt Disney World’s Hollywood Studios that is.
© Disney
If all goes as planned, early Friday morning (March 27, 2009), Imagineering will alter the marquee on the “One Man’s Dream” attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios adding “D23 Welcomes You.” The One Man’s Dream exhibit displays many items from Imagineering and from the Disney Archives. While the attraction itself will remain largely unchanged for now, it has added a D23 display case and could possibly see some enhancements in the future.
© Disney
D23 is a new fan club started by the Disney Archives a few weeks ago. It is a mini fan empire complete with a magazine, a fan expo, a web site, and now a theme park attraction. We spoke with Disney Archive Manager, Becky Cline, about the addition of D23 to “One Man’s Dream” and learned a great deal about this attraction and why Imagineering suggested the association with D23 and the Archives.
“Of the 400 assets in the One Man’s Dream gallery, nearly half are from the Walt Disney Archives’ collections. And many of those had never been available to the public before. Imagineering approached us and suggested that we present One Man’s Dream to the Disney fans,” Stated Ms. Cline.
The exhibit follows Walt’s life from his birth in Chicago in 1901, early years in the Midwest, to his move to Hollywood and the creation of some of the world’s most beloved films, characters, and theme parks, right through to his visions for the future,” stated Ms. Cline. “Artifacts on display include the animation camera table that Walt used to create his earliest Mickey Mouse cartoons, the miniature “Granny’s Cabin” that Walt built himself - based on the Disney 1949 film So Dear to My Heart, Walt Disney’s studio working office furnishings, Jimmie Dodd’s Mouseguitar from the 1955 Mickey Mouse Club, vintage Disney toys and character merchandise and original props and costumes from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Zorro and Mary Poppins. Disney’s theme parks and resorts are well represented too, from one of the earliest of Disney’s Audio-Animatronics figures, “The Dancing Man,” to beautiful WDI models for the recently designed and built Disney parks around the world.
The attraction “Walt Disney: One Man’s Dream” opened October 1, 2001, in conjunction with Walt Disney World’s 100 Years of Magic celebration, and was intended to be a temporary attraction. However, due to its popularity with resort guests, it remains open to this day. Housed in one of the soundstages along Mickey Avenue at Disney’s Hollywood Studios park, the interactive exhibit brings many guests their first glimpse of priceless Disney treasures and artifacts from across the history of the Walt Disney Company.
© Disney
Throughout the exhibit, “connection cards” tell the stories of Disney’s creations, from boyhood dreams to reality. In one of the attraction’s most fascinating features, Walt Disney himself talks about the most meaningful and emotional moments of his life through a rare collection of audio interviews, many heard publicly for the first time, which are triggered automagically when guests approach the various sections of the gallery.
Guests tour the displays at their leisure and then have the opportunity to view a short film about Walt Disney’s life, which explores the extraordinary hardships he overcame to become an entertainment industry legend. The film includes previously unseen footage, including Walt talking about his creation, Mickey Mouse.
The Walt Disney Archives are thrilled to have an outlet for sharing their treasures with the company’s fans. We attempted to find out if we could expect more D23 attractions in other parks, but there are no announced plans for a similar exhibit or D23 association at Disneyland in California or any of the other parks world wide. Though we certainly welcome the opportunity to experience gems from Walt Disney’s past whenever possible.
Our thanks to Becky Cline and the team from D23 for taking the time to speak with us about their first foray into the parks.
You can view D23’s official One Man’s Dream announcement HERE
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11 Comments, Comment or Ping
Monorail Man
Every time I visit WDW, I always end up spending way more time than I should in One Man’s Dream. Will be nice to see what D23 adds and changes to it.
Mar 27th, 2009
MickeyMaxx
“One Man’s Dream” is an absolute treasure. Each visit to the World, we spend time poring over each item, imagining the role it played in bringing the magic to the screen and to the parks. Having the D23 folks overseeing this attraction is a very exciting, and to me, unexpected development, even if it only means continuing enhancements to the Florida attraction. But one can’t help imagining the possibility of similar venues opening up at Disney parks around the globe.
Mar 27th, 2009
Rixter
I have spent many hours in this often overlooked gem. I hope that the D23 connection will raise awareness of this Disney treasure.
Mar 27th, 2009
Dustysage
Like the displays at the Opera House in Disneyland, One Man’s Dream is the sort of attraction best enjoyed by the die hard Disney fan. The casual guest may not care to learn about Walt’s boyhood dreams, but us Mouse House nuts eat this stuff up. I’m thrilled about this news, not because it really adds anything new to the attraction, but rather that it shows that Disney is committed to continuing to display their history and their archive treasures. This is a very good sign of things to come.
Mar 27th, 2009
sir clinksalot
I LOVE the One Man’s Dream attraction. I remember spending at least an hour in here on our last trip. It’s just amazing.
Will be interested to see what D23 will bring to the attraction.
Mar 27th, 2009
Zorro825
I was so disappointed that I missed out on “One Mans Dream” when I went to WDW last year. It closed early that day and by the time i made it there the doors were shut. Hopefully I’ll be able to check it out later this year when we go back
Mar 27th, 2009
NeverNeverland
One Man’s Dream is such an amazing exhibit! I can’t wait to see D23’s new additions whenever I next visit.
Mar 27th, 2009
yoyoflamingo
Glad to see that even though this was a temporary exhibit for the 100 years of magic, it’s still open. And now, with D23, hopefully it will be around for much longer still.
This is definite good news!
Mar 27th, 2009
Ride Warrior
D23 is gracious in their desire to share the archived, cherished memorabilia with fans ,,while inducing larger crowds to visit One Man’s dream at the same time. Am not aware of anyplace else in WDW that guests can personally experience the History of Walt and his company.
Mar 31st, 2009
pixie chick
Wow! This sounds like a great place to visit. We missed it last time, but I’ll definitely check it out the next time I go to the Studios.
Apr 2nd, 2009
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