Yeah, I like the ones where they believe he flips in his grave over liquor at BOG or when CMs were allowed to have facial hair, Lordie.
Still there are things about The Man that are not such a reach to nail the things that were important to him. He was rather OCD. IMO he would not be amused with parks being out of order, in need of paint, emptying garbage cans quicker as he was a knitpicker. I'd go with the odds he would not endorse the breaking of themes in the lands of the parks. It seemed too important to him with the Magic Kingdom to not ever let CMs cross into different lands let alone letting one land physically bleed into another. He appeared to have standards for certain areas of his business that he didn't waffle and didn't seem to indecisive about.
While the Invasion of Animation into the world showcase is a toss up. That one I could argue either way. He introduced animation to the world in so many different forms and was certainly an opportunist. Then I recall how he really wanted an EPCOT type park and Frozen didn't exactly meet those standards. And finally the rational side of me plops me in the middle, our EPCOT isn't Walt's vision of EPCOT so who the heck could say if he would approve or not.
Me, I would like to think Walt smiles when he looks down at AK Safari. What he really wanted for the Jungle cruise.
^^^^^That up there. I've read 7 Disney biographies, read many other articles, and watched many a piece on the man. There are many aspects of the way he wanted his company to be run that just aren't up for interpretation.
Just 2 examples that still ring for me...
From John Hench's book "Designing Disney: Imagineering and the Art of the Show".
John Hench said that Walt wanted to use real leather straps, like the original coaches from back in the day, to suspend the stage coaches from their frames on that original ride at DL. John suggested using metal leaf springs because the people woudn't know the difference. Hench was immediately admonished by Walt for being a "bad communicator" and was reassured by Walt that the Guests would indeed notice and appreciate the attention to detail. Hench went on to become one of the most legendary Imagineers ever, known for his great attention to detail, especially when it came to story and color dynamics.
The other I remember reading about was, when Walt was incognito (with an Imagineer) in Disneyland one day, he witnessed a CM bussing an outdoor table at an eatery. This was being dumped onto that, that into this, much noise.
Walt quietly pulled the shocked CM aside and explained to him how all that needs to be done out of the view of Guests. Pretty sure that talk only occurred once. Although, who knows.
Yep, based on his having to let go of the real, live, wild animal thing for JC, I'm pretty sure Walt would like most of AK, especially the theming and, of course, the live animals.
Also, I've been to DL 5 times between '68 and '10, during my childhood and adulthood, and WDW 8 times between '88 and just this past Feb. only as an adult. Let's just say, I notice things...
