December 24, 2010: Really Walt's Airplane?

[Werner Weiss]

The Claim: "An airplane on the Studio Backlot Tour is the actual plane that Walt Disney used to scout locations for what he called the Florida Project." I discussed the airplane with Jim Korkis.

Link to Is that Really Walt's Airplane at Disney’s Hollywood Studios? at Yesterland

Please discuss it here.

[Timekeeper]

Nice, I only knew briefly some info on the plane, thank you for looking a bit more into it!


Timekeeper

[DisWedWay]

Hello Werner and Jim, A friend told me about your article and was delighted to read the Mouse's History. I thought you might be interested in some of it's last History. A bunch of the WDI Designers for Euro Disneyland were set to take a trip to Paris in 1991 just before Desert Storm got going. The Disney company was afraid to fly us commercially do to the War, so anouther plan was made. Frank Well's had to be in Florida for a big meeting and then he would be flying on to Paris for some EDL meetings and walk abouts at the site. So WDI decided to fly us all down to Walt Disney World commercially, and then we would meet up with Frank and the Mouse when he was ready to go. Luckily his meetings lasted a couple days and gave me a chance to check up on some of my artifacts in storage there that would travel to EDL later by container ship. When we got the green light that Frank was ready, we all went over by shuttle to where the Mouse was parked. With the Big Mickey Mouse painted on the tail fin, they worried about it being a target so we were to land in an air field in Paris that was out of the way. We were all greeted by Frank Wells on boarding the plane and then about 11 of us, were placed in the kitchen in the back of the Mouse for the lenghty flight. We were stuffed everwhere even in the bathroom. Frank came back several times to check up on us and sample the chocklate chip cookies the attendant was making. He was busy most of the flight up front with his lawyer on business matters. We finally landed in what appeared as a deserted air strip outside of Paris and cabs were called to take us to our hotels off site. What an Adventure on the Mouse we all had.