Originally Posted By AutoPost This topic is for Discussion of <a href="http://www.LaughingPlace.com/Latest-ID-81588.asp" target="_blank"><b>Latest: Walt Disney's 1965 Walt Disney World Announcement Press Conference Rare Pics and Full Vide</b></a> <p>The always informative Disney and More blog has published several rare pictures of the 1965 press conference announcing Walt Disney World to the world with Walt Disney, Roy Disney and Florida governer Haydon Burns. Also included is a complete 18+ minute video of the press conference.</p>
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan That is really a great find! You just have to always wonder what might have been if Walt Disney lived another 10 or 20 years.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA Great footage. can anyone hear what Walts comments are re: the microphone? In the years I was involved at The Disney University at WDW, I never saw this live footage before. Interesting to hear Walt use much of the same verbiage he used in the EPCOT movie, including the very folksy term 'tackled.' Also, Governor Burns' son Bill Burns got hired at Walt Disney World in 1969 ,(wonder how he got that job!) and was Director of The Magic Kingdom for many years. Bill Burns left in 1993 to become President of Blockbuster Entertainment (don't do it Bill!) <a href="http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1993-08-07/business/9301280418_1_discovery-zone-funcenters-indoor-game-entertainment-centers" target="_blank">http://articles.sun-sentinel.c...-centers</a> When I started working at WDW in summer of 1986, the company had just finished EPCOT Center and many of the 1971 opening crew were still with the company. The key executives - Bill Sullivan, Bob Matheison, Dick Nunis and Bill Burns they all seemed like former military guys and had a very tough, no-nonsense, get-the-job-done attitude. They were a bit intimidating. And very different from the upbeat, cheerful, 'Disney' style of service that was expected of all cast members. In fact, Bill Burns had a very quiet, straight-faced demeanor.
Originally Posted By TP2000 Jim, your thoughts on the executives of the 1970's and 80's are quite interesting. That's not a concept exclusive to Disney either, many businesses had execs in those decades cut from the same cloth; white hetero men with lovely wives and 2.5 kids, often served a few years in the military, straight talking and easily understood in one or two sentences, hard nosed businessmen who expected results and worked damn hard 50 hours a week, but at 6PM they had a glass of bourbon or scotch in their hand and didn't talk work until the following morning. Those days, and those types of executives, are largely dead and gone. Now the average executive suite is a group of more diverse people who may have very little in common with each other; all races, creeds, genders, sexualities and political bents. The only thing they usually have in common is their employer, and they have a perspective of instant PR and "this will be on YouTube" whenever they say ANYTHING beyond their office door. The result is that what they do say is mushy and PC and happy-shiny. On the flip side, they are constantly at work and constantly in communication with their team via iPhone and email. Their day never ends, and yet the constant texts they send over the weekend to the team are often a fraction as useful as the blunt three sentence memo issued by Dick Nunis in 1982 on a Tuesday morning.
Originally Posted By sjhym333 Jim in Merced and I have talked about this before but we were both at Disney at the same time many years ago. So our experiences are similar. I think at one point a couple of years ago we decided that our paths had to have crossed at WDW. I worked for all of the old guard Disney guys. I reported to Bill Sullivan and Bill Burns for a couple of years. Sully was an interesting guys. Jim is correct that they all had a military air about them and Sully could be a tough guy at times. But on the other side I remember several key things about him. If my area had long lines he would call me down and give me grief about making guests wait (though I used to remind him that he had approved the staffing levels that created the lines. lol) but he would also roll up his sleeves and work with me to get the lines down. Some of fondest memories of Sully was he and I working a Grand Prix track, just the two of us in our shirts and ties until some extra CM's could get there. You wouldn't see that today. Sometimes in the later part of a day Sully would come in and sit down and tell Disneyland/Walt stories. It was in those moments that you realized how much he loved the park and the guests. Even today when I run into him he always talks fondly of our time together. Bill Burns used to scare the heck out of me. He would come into my office, no hello or anything, just a question or statement and then he would move on. I don't think I ever saw him smile. He was direct and was very serious. What was surprising to me was he always knew everything going on in the park. He would tell you when he wasn't happy but he would also pop his head in my door and say "Good job today" That was all he said. When he left Disney to go to Blockbuster to work on a project of stand alone video arcade experiences (sound familiar?) he came into my office his last day and told me that it was an honor to work with me and that he was proud of the work I did. I was floored. It was the most he ever said to me the entire time we worked together. A couple of other lower lever execs also left to join the Blockbuster project. It was an interesting time.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA sjhym333 -- thanks for your perspective --I always look back fondly on those years at WDW.
Originally Posted By 9oldmen It looks like the location of the conference is the "Cherry Plaza Hotel", which was formerly the "Eola Plaza Hotel/Apartment" building, and is now the "Post Parkside Apartment" building.
