You’ve heard the stories; you’ve heard the rumors…but is it true…did Walt Disney have
a home in Disneyland? Well yes, he most certainly did, and this is the story
about the apartment and how it came to be. If you’re new to being a Disneyland fan,
you may or may not have heard that Walt Disney himself oversaw the construction of Disneyland,
approving or rejecting every little detail that was installed…and his constant tweaking
of everything in the park didn’t cease until his death 11 years after the park opened.
Disneyland isn’t just some amusement park, so if that’s what you’ve come to believe,
you better just leave those thoughts at the door. Walt set out to create a theme park...
a place that was carefully crafted to be the most immersive,
detailed, and controlled environment ever brought to the amusement park business.
I could go on and on about Walt’s concerns with sight lines, research into garbage collection,
and even the special effects built into his rides…but that’s not what this video is about.
Like I said, nothing quite like this had ever been done before, especially on a scale of this size.
And the only person who truly knew what Disneyland should be, what it should look like, was Walt Disney himself.
He dedicated the rest of his life, not to his movies, but to Disneyland. That being said,
all that dedication to his Anaheim park meant that it wasn’t feasible to drive down
from Los Angeles several times a week to keep an eye on his magic kingdom. It was sometimes
imperative for him to stay close by…and how much closer can you get than INSIDE Disneyland?
Walt recognized the importance of a living space for himself at Disneyland, early on
in the conceptual phases. He could have easily built his apartment above any shop on Main Street,
but he felt that what made the most sense was to have it above the Firehouse,
you see, it offered views of his beloved Disneyland Railroad, it was in extreme close proximity to
Disneyland’s City Hall, where lots of the park's operations were managed, it was also free from
the busy shops on main street, and last, but most importantly…Walt always loved
the idea of waking up in the morning and sliding down the fire pole the way the firemen used to.
The Firehouse was one of the first structures to be completed at Disneyland
that way Walt could inspect the construction progress and give commands and instruction
to his Imagineers whenever they had a question only the boss could answer.
Walt and his wife Lilly loved old Victorian and Edwardian décor and styles,
in fact, all of Main Street USA takes place in these two time periods. But while WED
Imagineers created the interior designs of Main Street themselves, Walt gave Lillian free reign
to design the apartment above the firehouse. Now lets first take a glimpse at the layout.
The only way to enter the apartment is through the door which is located on the back side of the
building accessible by a staircase built ONLY for Walt’s apartment. The apartment has one closet,
one vanity, one bathroom, one main living area, and an outdoor patio. Disneyland was built on a
tight budget, and everything in the apartment had to be as minimalist as possible…
nothing more extravagant than a hotel room. The whole space is approximately 20 feet wide by 25
feet long, making it a 500 square foot space. Once inside the apartment, a short hallway leads
you to the closet on your right. Once you pass the closet you find yourself in the family room,
you may notice the prevalence of a certain color…cranberry red,
Mrs. Disney’s favorite color. With the help of studio set designer Emile Kuri,
Lillian designed and put together every detail of this apartment, and you’ll see a lot of
small touches to this room in particular which makes it economical yet stylish.
This room serves multiple purposes as the eating, sleeping, and lounging room. On the back wall,
is a small kitchenette with a mini fridge, a dish sink, and cabinetry for the wares.
Food would have been cooked in pots and pans over a portable hot plate. But Walt rarely cooked...
instead, you’ll see there is a sandwich hot press…Walt was fond of having grilled cheese
sandwiches, often with a can of stew or can of chili. He would have also kept plenty of saltine crackers here.
And to wind down at the end of the day, there would have been a decanter of
scotch on hand, so Walt could sit back with one of his favorite drinks: a black and white scotch.
The whole kitchenette could be tucked out of sight thanks to a set of folding doors.
You’ll also notice by the hallway window is a chair, a mirror, and a hat rack.
Walt often scrambled to find his coat and shoes in the morning, so
Mrs. Disney made sure he had a place for both, and nice chair with which to sit and put on his shoes,
and a mirror so he could check his tie on the way out.
I know that in the images I’m showing, the furniture is often arranged differently,
but I’ll get to that later. The room had two rocking chairs, Walt would sit in one of them,
listening to his favorite tunes from an antique gramophone and smoking a cigar.
Lillian could be found sitting in the other one, reading a magazine or book and sipping a cup of tea or coffee.
Sitting against the south wall of the apartment is an authentic Regina Music Box,
this one is the upright changer music box model, it is designed to play chimes and other melodies.
You can see two very large, plush, red couches.
These are interesting because each one can pull out to be used as a full-size bed.
And when I say they are pull-out couches, I mean that these didn’t unfold, these were
simply rolled out from underneath the cabinetry behind the couches, they are solid-built beds.
If family was visiting, this room could accommodate Walt and Lilly on one bed, Roy and
Edna on the other bed, and their grandkids would sleep on the floor in front of the kitchenette.
You’ll notice that some of the windows have very long curtains,
they didn’t exactly fit the length of the windows. The reason is because this
apartment had low ceilings due to the fact that the building is designed in 5/8th scale.
To make the apartment look a little taller, Lillian had curtains placed that were extra-long, to give the
illusion of height…today this is a common practice among interior designers faced with low ceilings.
Next let’s move on to the powder room. It probably doesn’t need to be said that Lillian would have a
vanity separate from the bathroom, so she wouldn’t be disturbed if Walt needed to take a shower.
Now, we move on to the patio stairway. In the 1950’s this is where the firepole
leading downstairs, would have stood. But Walt faced issues of guests trying to climb the pole
to get into his apartment, with one person actually succeeding. He forever sealed off
the firepole in the early 1960’s with a new stairway leading to a newly created patio
on the rooftop of the building next door. The outdoor patio not only overlooked Main Street,
but in the early days, it also offered some views of the Jungle Cruise,
but the trees eventually grew in blocking all sight of the attraction. And in a twist of irony,
the trees in front of the veranda have also grown in, limiting the view of Main Street.
You might be wondering how on earth did Walt expect to entertain guests, or even his family,
for that matter…with such a tiny apartment? Well he asked himself that question too.
Originally, the apartment was designed just for Walt, with the idea that he could stay in close proximity
to Disneyland on days he had available. And maybe once in a while, Lilly or Roy would stay there to
enjoy a weekend in the park. But Walt found that more and more, he needed ample space for his
family to sleep, because as Walt and Roy’s kids grew up, they wanted to bring their children too.
In 1963, work began on building New Orleans Square,
an area of the park that would house the parks two most iconic attractions.
Most of New Orleans Square was designed with space for upper floors, and Walt insisted on finding use
for those spaces so they didn’t go to waste. He had plans to build a private club, as well as a
jazz club, and lastly, there was room leftover to create a rather spacious apartment for his family.
This apartment was designed to have a large bedroom for Walt and Lilly, then another large
bedroom for Roy and Edna, a living room that could convert to a sleeping space for the grandkids,
there would also be an enclosed courtyard for privacy, then a balcony overlooking
the Rivers of America, also a large Dining Room to properly host the family or guests,
there would be a proper sized kitchen and pantry, and plenty of private bathrooms.
And the old Apartment on Main Street could be used for either Walt or Roy’s family.
New Orleans Square opened to the public in 1966, but the apartment above Pirates of
the Caribbean hadn’t even been started on yet. It was just a large empty space.
Then, Walt died unexpectedly and he would never have the chance to complete the new family apartment.
For a while, it was difficult for Lillian or even Roy to stay at the apartment on Main Street
because it brought back the pain they felt from Walt’s passing. The Disney Family continued to
use the Firehouse apartment on occasion, mostly for the benefit of their grandkids.
After the death of Walt’s brother, company CEO Roy Oliver Disney, the use of the Main Street Apartment became less frequent.
And Lillian Disney began slowly removing items from it and placing them in storage.
Eventually, the company made efforts to preserve the apartment by furnishing it with similar
items it used to have, and it was offered more consistently on their Guest Relations
tour schedule. Now it remains a carefully maintained and preserved space in the park,
available for viewing at a hefty price. The company likes to have its tour guides tell
the guests that the apartment’s belongings were left just as they were, the day Walt Disney died.
And you can see why…people then think that they’re walking through a moment preserved in time.
But that’s not quite the truth. Much of the furniture and decorations are not original,
they’ve also changed out the carpet a few times, and had to reupholster the furniture due to aging.
Also, as legend would have it, someone had plugged in the toaster and somehow created a fire,
which was immediately put out by one of the overhead sprinklers,
the sprinkler had caused water damage to the furniture, the walls, and the floors…
thankfully the furniture was quickly restored, but other damaged features had to be changed out.
As for the space above Pirates of the Caribbean, the Disney company
ended up building a luxurious-looking art store called the Disney Gallery,
and it opened in 1987. I have fond memories of walking up there in the Disney Gallery,
it was really a unique experience, especially being able to climb the stairs.
The Disney Gallery remained up there until 2007 when Disney converted the space into the Dream Suite.
The Dream Suite was meant to be a final realization of Walt’s apartment.
Though, all they had to go on were a few art renderings,
but I’d say what they created must have been close to what Walt would have wanted.
Walt and Lilly’s bedroom was designed to have two power outlets per wall,
because it was said she liked to move furniture often and had difficulty plugging in the lamps
when the cords didn’t reach the outlet. Roy and Edna’s room became more of a generalized
bedroom, complete with models of Disneyland rides and features. The Dream Suite was available for a
free stay to randomly chosen park guests during the “Year of a Million Dreams” celebration,
lasting from 2007 into late 2009.
After that, the dream suite was mostly abandoned.
In late 2018, the Dream Suite was given a minor conversion into a new luxury restaurant called
“21 Royal”, named after the address of the entry on New Orleans Square’s Royal Street.
For a price tag of $15,000, you and 11 others can enjoy a meal in the Apartment’s private
dining room, called…the Blue Room. And then have access to explore the apartment.
Walt’s Firehouse apartment can still be accessed for a price cheaper than that.
And while you’re up there, you may notice a single lamp in the center window,
burning bright all through the day and night. Whenever Walt stayed in the apartment, the cast
members would know he was there because at night, the light would remain on until he went to bed.
Sometime after his death, a tradition began. One that meant leaving the light on day and night,
all year, every year…to signify that even though the man is no longer around, his spirit of hope
and imagination is still present…forever burning bright…for all those who come to this happy place.