The Mouse - Walt Disney's Personal Plane
As one of the many attractions in the pavilion The Mouse - Walt Disney's Personal Plane is sure to be a delight amongst many a Disney history buff! The plane sits on an elevated fenced in platform within the pavilion for all guests to view the iconic aircraft. A plaque is stalled on the fencing that reads:
"This Grumman G-159 Gulfstream 1, otherwise known as The Mouse, served as Walt Disney's personal aircraft when scouting out the land for his second theme park. The story goes that as The Mouse flew over Central Florida, Walt Disney became entranced by the beauty and decided this was the place for his vision of E.P.C.O.T. Today this plane is displayed here at The Skies Above Pavilion to remind us the legacy of Walt's dream that has led us all here today to EPCOT!"
2013 - 2017: The Mouse - Walt Disney's Personal Plane Cosmetic Update
Thanks to the marketing genius of Bob Iger, The Mouse got the much needed update that
everyone wanted. On February 28th, 2013 coinciding with the initial teaser trailer of Disney's Planes The Mouse garnered a set of eyeballs and a smile bringing it into the Planes universe! The plaque dedicating the The Mouse was replaced by a canvas like advertisement reading:
"Planes: Releasing August 9th in cinemas everywhere"
Signage later changed again in September to read:
"Planes: On home media everywhere, November 19th."
Signage once again changed on December 23rd to read:
"Planes: Fire & Rescue releasing July 18th."
Signage went unchanged until late August 2014 to read:
"Planes: Fire & Rescue on home media everywhere, November 4th"
Signage for The Mouse remained unchanged until a slight update advertised the following:
"Plans and Planes: Fire & Rescue available on home media now!"
Fans of Walt Disney's history and of Epcot were outraged by this smear on history. Many fans on online forums would wish for the stupid Planes elements to be removed to allow for the Mouse to return to its former glory. A rumor quickly began to spread that when signage was installed to promote Planes the original plaque for the plane was accidentally thrown away by some random intern. This theory quickly became accepted in fan circles due to the fact that the Planes advertisement remained in place until 2017, a whole four years after installation. Ahead of Epcot's 35th Anniversary on October 2nd, 2017, the Walt Disney Company announced that The Mouse - Walt Disney's Personal Plane would be returning to its original state. Fans everywhere celebrated with the death of the Planes advertisement and the return of the original plaque!