Walt's favorite attraction?

WondersOfLife

Blink, blink. Breathe, breathe. Day in, day out.
Original Poster
Okay. So I'm having this Facebook debate with some guy who believes that Carousel of Progress was Walt Disney's favorite attraction. And it sparked my curiosity... Did Walt HAVE a favorite attraction?

I did my research, and the only answers I find are Pirates, Carousel of Progress, the Railway, "Walt didn't have a favorite," and "No one knows for sure, but you could catch Walt at such and such..."

Are there any academic sources I can find regarding this? Or is it just widely known that Walt never actually labeled any attraction as his favorite, officially? So people just assume which one was his favorite based on the connection to Walt himself.
 

Smiley/OCD

Well-Known Member
Considering he had a small scale rideable railroad built around his home, I would say that the RR would be his favorite. I had the opportunity to speak with the late Marty Sklar on 2 separate occasions and while Marty never mentioned an absolute favorite for Walt, he LOVED all the attractions he was involved with: HoP, IASS, JC, CoP, the RR and Tikis. I think every time an imagineer received the green light from him, that became his favorite.
 

mergatroid

Well-Known Member
My first thought was COP, must have read it somewhere or heard it said. The other consideration is that his 'favourite' may vary depending on his mood. For instance sometimes Space Mountain feels my favourite attraction but for very different reasons than The Haunted Mansion can depending on how I'm feeling on that day.
 

TwilightZone

Well-Known Member
I always assumed it was the carousel in disneyland (forgot the name) since he was inspired by a carousel to build the entire park.
But maybe that's a bit of a stretch.
 

MAGICFLOP

Well-Known Member
Technically, it only states that "he loved it." But that does not mean he did not love the railroad, pirates, tiki room, jungle cruise, the river boat, ect.
Ah, but no other ride says he loved it... Nor did he drag back from NYC

Its like asking, if he was alive today, what park would he like the most DHS or AK?

But, we can all be fairly certain he would love the fact the WDW found a way to make people pay $25 to park..
 

Maeryk

Well-Known Member
He personally owned the monorail, the steamboat, and I think maybe the train? I’d venture to say one of those were his favorite.

Train. Walt had a lifelong love of them, and they are deeply entwined in Disney history..both his own, working as a salesman on them, and the parks..as Disneyland basically grew out of Carollwood, his large scale toy train.. or miniature scale real train, in his yard.

Disneyland gave him the ability and space to get, and operate, real narrow gauge steam engines, and he often drove them around the park.
 

Robbiem

Well-Known Member
I think it is an easy answer. An innovator and visionary's favorite is the next one.

I think you’re right. When you read articles rhe thing Walt was most proud of was the cutting tech and innovation of the rides so when Disneyland opened it was Peter Pan due to its fly thru tech. Latter on it was the Matterhorn (first steel coaster), tiki room, mr lincoln, carousel etc because of the audio animatronics or the peoplemover and monorail because of their application to EPCOT city and the real world in general
 

Driver

Well-Known Member
CoP was Walt's own concept. And on property among CM's in general it is referred to as his favorite. However this is not concrete evidence to prove any point. Also to the mention of RR many backstage areas have archived photos of Walt's home RR. And we have video ( not a secret) of Walt playing with his children on the RR. IMHO opinion guessing what is his favorite could be a challenge, but it does make for some fun conversations.
 

Walt Disney1955

Well-Known Member
Ah, but no other ride says he loved it... Nor did he drag back from NYC

Small World, Great Times with Mr. Lincoln and CoP were all from the World's Fair and were all put in the parks. It is really hard to know. The answers here are sufficient. I will say this, Walt said himself that when he went on a ride he would always be looking at ways to improve it, so maybe he didn't sit back and enjoy things as much as he could have. Who knows really.

It is true there is a specific mention of how much Walt loved CoP. Plus this was his baby and one of the last gifts he gave everyone. But as others have mentioned he did have a scale model train track that he rode in his backyard. I get the feeling CoP still wins here because trains were invented long before Walt, but CoP wasn't.
 

kjb101791

Active Member
I wrote a review under my wife's account saying Captain Eo was Walt's favorite. People were either confused or liked it. Both were the wrong response. I think the strongest arguments could be made for the Disneyland Railroad, CoP, and maybe throw in the fire engine, since it was kind of exclusively his.
 

yoda_5729

Well-Known Member
There can be an argument made for several. Whereas it is true that it is specifically stated in CoP that Walt personally liked it, none of the other classic attractions have small documentary spiels before talking about the creation or history of the attractions. Perhaps if Pirates or Small World had that, they'd also discuss Walt's love of the attractions.

That being said, Walt Disney always did love trains in general. One of his two windows on Main Street, the most obvious one, is on the center of the Railroad Station just as you walk into the park. I do think he had a strong passion for CoP, but I could arguably see that represented in other attractions as well. He had a great love of trains though, having one in his backyard, and having even gone to train conventions. Usually, when Walt was photographed on a ride, it was as the conductor of the train, and the way the parks are set up, the train has the most prominent positioning.

It could be argued trains are scattered globally across the world, and aren't generally that unique, whereas many of the Disney attractions can only be found in Disney parks. Walt Disney World's train is not Disneylands train, nor is it any other train. The Carousel of Progress today is not an exact copy of what Walt built back for the 1964 World's Fair. The very nature of CoP is that it'd evolve and change. Walt actually may not be as impressed with the ride now, as the company hadn't put the attention to it that he envisioned. Back in the day, people envisioned flying cars, but we're a long ways away from that. CoP allows you to imagine and envision where society is going and how it can improve, by looking back on what mankind has already done and accomplished in terms of problem solving. Walt may have loved that concept, but been disappointed that the world didn't evolve the way we dreamt it would back in the day. It has evolved in other ways though. In 100 years man went from never flying, to putting a man on the moon. It's amazing to think, but Walt died before Armstrong stood on the moon, but Walt envisioned that happening just as Jules Verne had. And, possibly someday, man will stand on Mars, but it's a long way off.

That being said, at least it's still around, and is pretty close to what it was back in 1964. For any physical attraction that didn't exist when Walt was alive, it's nothing but a guess as to whether he'd like it or not. That being said though, many of the attractions that were there when he was there have changed, so they aren't really the same thing as what he may have appreciated. Walt Disney World may have changed this, as the monorail became a method of sizable distance in Disney World as apposed to Disneyland's version. With Walt's love of progress and trains, he may have loved that, though he passed away before it was ever completed. I think it's safe to say most of the rides we envision as classic attractions, Walt appreciated. If I had to guess, I would suspect Walt liked Mad Tea Party, Dumbo, Matterhorn, Peoplemover, and others, but have never really heard a discussion involving them one way or another. Kilimanjaro Safaris is actually what Walt originally envisioned for Jungle Cruise, except it uses a jeep and not a boat. It's tough to say with anything new as to if he'd like it or not, but technically CoP and many others aren't the attractions Walt completely witnessed.
 
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World_Showcase_Lover007

Well-Known Member
I mean this in the most positive way possible. Not to be contrarian, but I think the entire debate of Walt having a favorite attraction is a rather irrelevant and a misguided notion. It so much deeper and richer than him simply having a favorite. I don’t think the question applies to his situation at all.
 

Smiley/OCD

Well-Known Member
I mean this in the most positive way possible. Not to be contrarian, but I think the entire debate of Walt having a favorite attraction is a rather irrelevant and a misguided notion. It so much deeper and richer than him simply having a favorite. I don’t think the question applies to his situation at all.

Look, is it ridiculous? Yes, because we'll never know until that time when we can meet him...but, in reality, it's just for fun, seeing what everyone's opinions and thought are...it's really no different that taking a poll to see what everyone's favorite pool slide is...(in another thread)...it's all in good insightful fun. Obviously it must have piqued your interest if you read ALL the opinions to add yours...
 

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