The Key To the Kingdom (50 page)

“You mean like a clue or a puzzle piece?” Hawk’s pulse quickened. “Did you bring the DVD with you?”

“Of course.” Shep produced the DVD from his backpack.

“Let’s go take a look at it. We can watch it at the Fire Station.” Hawk got to his feet.

“Oh, no,” Jonathan moaned. “Not another mystery.”

His words fell across the now empty chairs as his friends were both already up heading across the street toward the Fire Station.

“Here we go again.” Hawk stopped on the steps and followed Jonathan’s gaze to the castle. “Just another magical day at Disney World!”

He turned and raced down the staircase, his friends close on his heels, to begin a new quest.

A Story That Will Never Be Completed . . .
(Author’s Afterword)

W
ALT DISNEY ONCE SAID
about Disneyland, “It will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world.” The same can be said for Walt Disney World or any other of the growing number of Disney theme parks as they are constructed across the globe.

The story you have just read springs out of the imagination ignited within me as a child wandering through the Magic Kingdom before it ever opened to the general public. In the days prior to Walt Disney World’s opening, people would flock to the Walt Disney World Preview Center. (Today that building is known as the Amateur Athletic Union Headquarters.) As a wide-eyed kid I would look at the huge model of what the park was going to look like, I would watch Walt on film talking about his dreams for building the theme park, and then wander through the Disney merchandise. I remember thinking how amazing this place would be, but nothing really prepared me for the day I got the chance to walk down Main Street USA for the very first time. From that moment on I was a fan.

Eventually I would work in the theme park, I would become a collector of Disney memorabilia, I would find occasions to travel to the park and visit, and spending time at Disney World through the years has become a part of my DNA, the experiences have become a permanent part of who I am.

In Key to the Kingdom I have written not as much about the Walt Disney World that is, but instead about the Disney World that exists in the imagination of Disney fans all over the world. It seems fitting since Walt Disney as a storyteller always was igniting the imagination of his guests. I have taken a great deal of time to research the things I have written about and you can go on your own quest to find the Key to the Kingdom. I strongly encourage you to do so. Obviously at some point your journey would take you to places that the general public doesn’t have access to, whether these off-limit places exist or not, I will leave to your own imagination to decide. Moving the inaccessible places aside, there is enough to keep you hunting and searching for clues that will satisfy any treasure hunter with a love for mystery and Disney trivia.

On purpose I have given an almost mythical quality to the Imagineers of the Disney Company. The people who make up WDI are regular people just like the rest of us, except that they have a wildly creative slant on the world. Imagineers are the ones who ask “what if” and “why not” when most think something is impossible. Having met with and chatted with Imagineers, I have also discovered they take their art very seriously and they get to paint stories against the most unique canvas in all the world, the Disney theme parks.

Last but not least, you have heard it said that art imitates life . . . and vice versa. Someone asked me if the story I have written is true. I respond with, “It contains as much truth as
The Da Vinci Code
!” Somehow I think that pretty well sums it up. I hope you have enjoyed the story. On some level it is every Disney fan’s dream come true. What happens next? Remember what Walt said: “It will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world.”

Jeff Dixon
                        

Tree House Villas
           

Saratoga Springs Resort

Walt Disney World
         

B
IBLIOGRAPHY

The following resources were invaluable in understanding the background, history, operation, and attractions within Walt Disney World.

Birnbaum’s Walt Disney World
and
Birnbaum’s Disneyland 2007
. New York: Disney Editions, 2006.

Canemaker, John.
Walt Disney’s Nine Old Men & The Art of Animation
. New York: Hyperion, 2001.

Eisner, Michael and Tony Schwartz.
Work in Progress
. New York: Random House, 1998.

Gabler, Neal.
Walt Disney: Triumph of the American Imagination
. New York: Knopf, 2006.

Gordan, Bruce and Jeff Kurtti.
Walt Disney World: Then, Now and Forever
. New York: Disney Editions, 2008.

Green, Katherine and Richard.
The Man Behind the Magic: the Story of Walt Disney
. New York: Viking, 1991.

Hench, John.
Designing Disney: Imagineering and the Art of the Show
. New York: Disney Editions, 2003.

Holliss, Richard and Brian Sibley.
The Disney Studio Story
. New York: Crown, 1988.

———.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs & the Making of the Classic Film
. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1987; Hyperion, 1994.

Imagineers.
Walt Disney Imagineering:
A
Behind the Dreams Look at Making the Magic
. New York: Hyperion, 1996.

Jackson, Kathy Merlock.
Walt Disney: Conversations
. Jackson, MS: Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2006.

Kurtti, Jeff.
Imagineering Legends and the Genesis of the Disney Theme Park
. New York: Disney Editions, 2008.

Marling, Karal Ann.
Designing Disney’s Theme Parks
. New York: Flammarion, 1997.

Miller, Diane Disney and Pete Martin.
The Story of Walt Disney
. New York: Holt, 1957.

Mongello, Louis A.
The Walt Disney World Trivia Book (Volumes 1 and 2)
. Branford, CT: The Intrepid Traveler, Vol. 1, 2004; Vol.2, 2006.

Neary, Kevin and David Smith.
The Ultimate Disney Trivia Book
. New York: Hyperion, 1992.

———.
The Ultimate Disney Trivia Book 2
. New York: Hyperion, 1994.

———.
The Ultimate Disney Trivia Book
3. New York: Hyperion, 1997.

———.
The Ultimate Disney Trivia Book 4
. New York: Disney Editions, 2000.

Peri, Don.
Working with Walt: Interviews with Disney Artists
. Jackson, MS: Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2008.

Ridgeway, Charles.
Spinning Disney’s World: Memories of a Magic Kingdom Press Agent
. Branford, CT: Intrepid Traveler, 2007.

Smith, Dave and Steven Clark.
Disney: The First 100 Years
. New York: Hyperion, 1999; Disney Editions, updated 2002.

———.
The Quotable Walt Disney
. New York: Disney Editions, 2001.

———.
Disney
A
to Z: the Official Encyclopedia
. New York: Hyperion, 1996; updated 1998, 2006.

Snow, Dennis.
Lessons from the Mouse
. Sanford, FL: DC Press, 2009.

Surrell, Jason.
The Disney Mountains: Imagineering at Its Peak
. New York: Disney Editions, 2007.

Thomas, Bob.
The Art of Animation
. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1958.

———.
Walt Disney: An American Original
. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1976.

———.
Building a Company; Roy O. Disney and the Creation of an Entertainment Empire
. New York: Hyperion, 1998.

Thomas, Frank and Ollie Johnston.
The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation
. New York: Hyperion, 1995.

Vennes, Susan.
The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World (Over 600 secrets of the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom)
. Avon, MA: Adams Media, 2009.

Wright, Alex.
The Imagineering Field Guide to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World
. New York: Disney Editions, 2005.

W
EBSITES

These are some of the author’s favorite Disney fan sites that helped provide information and resources beyond the printed page.

The WDW Radio Show,
www.wdwradio.com/
.

Inside the Magic w/ Ricky Brigante,
www.distantcreations.com/
.

Jim Hill Media,
www.jimhillmedia.com/
.

Theme Parkology: 2719 Hyperion,
www.2719hyperion.com/
.

Resort Information,
www.mouseplanet.com/
.

Disney News and Information,
www.laughingplace.com/
.

Walt Disney World News,
www.wdwmagic.com/
.