#3 Disney's Land: Opening Day & the Road to Expansion
30 Jan 2025 · 46 min
Liam Applegate summarizes the final part of a book about Disneyland, focusing on the chaotic opening day (July 17, 1955, often called "Black Sunday"), the media backlash versus positive public reception, and the park's quick improvements and expansions through the late 1950s and early 1960s. Key opening-day problems included unexpectedly large crowds (tens of thousands), counterfeit tickets and fence‑scaling, overheated asphalt and equipment in 101°F heat, ride malfunctions, food/beverage shortages, and severe traffic congestion. Major later additions (circa 1959) — the Matterhorn Bobsleds (tubular-steel coaster), the Disneyland Monorail, and the Submarine Voyage — helped turn the park around. The episode closes with Walt Disney's lung-cancer diagnosis and death on December 15, 1966, and reflections on perseverance, attention to detail, and legacy.
Questions this episode answers
July 17, 1955
"Black Sunday"
101°F
Seven miles
15,000 invited; at least ~28,000 (some estimates up to 50,000) showed up
Chapters
Welcome to the third and final podcast episode of the Disney's Land Book. I'm really excited because this episode is going to be really good. I have all my notes with me and I am ready to finish this book and move on to my next book, which I'm really excited. It is how to Make a Few Billion Dollars by Brad Jacobs. And I am about 50 to 60% of the way done with that in terms of reading. And we'll, we'll start on that book next week. But I am really excited to get that done and make a podcast episode about it and get that out to you guys next week. But in terms of Disney's Land Book, this was a really good book. And we're gonna go over it. Kind of the ending where this is like the opening day of Disneyland, like build up. So we've basically to recap the three parts or the parts that we've already done is the first part was kind of the intro to Disney, Walt Disney himself, kind of what was his early life. I. The conception of Disneyland. And then in the second part was kind of construction of Disneyland ideas, more ideas, trains, the Lily Bell, all these different ideas. And now in the third and last and and final podcast episode of the Disney's Land book, we are going to be talking about kind of the anticipation building up to the opening day of Disneyland, kind of the issues behind the Disneyland kind of broadcast, if you haven't seen that yet. And then we have the, just more problems. And then the, the most important part probably is the reaction from everyone. So this would be media reaction and the public reaction. And then we're also going to talk about like Disneyland and kind of what was their history after the opening day. So this will cover up from 1955, which is when Disneyland opened July 17, up until about 1960s. And then from there we will end the episode from where the book ends. And so this is going to be a really great podcast episode. But before we get into this, I have a huge announcement. And this might take a little bit, but this is a huge announcement. I created an Uncommon excellence premium feed. And basically what this is is you get the top 10 highlights of each book, you get notes for each podcast, like my detailed notes for each podcast that I do. And and another thing is you get mini episodes. So these are, these can range from 5 to 10 minutes, 10 to 20 minutes. Basically just episodes where I explain to you guys or I like, I come across like a really cool idea that I find in a book that I really want to expound, expand upon and I bring it to you guys. And so this is going to be awesome. This is a premium feed. The link is on my website and also going to be in the the description below. And I'm really excited about this because it's only $5 a month. And if you sign up with my link, I will give you a 5% off and it will be great because this is going to be an awesome journey. There's not a lot of stuff right now in the actual premium feed, but that's why we are on this journey together, right? So this, this is my third podcast episode on Disney's land. And that's why I'm giving you notes for every single podcast episode, my top 10 highlights of this book. But not only this book, upcoming future books, and then just like awesome ideas and many podcast episodes. And it's only for $5 a month, so it is very valuable and very definitely worth your time if you want to learn more and grow and just go deeper into this journey with me. And the, the whole idea behind this, especially like the mini podcast episodes, which I'm really excited about. And also the. So the mini podcast episodes I'm really excited about because I come across new ideas every single day. They're just little ideas and they're not even from books. I read just like quotes online that I could expand upon for like five to 10 minutes. And I love these quotes and I would love to do this. And also, if we get enough subscribers to this, I am willing to accept feedback of other things we can be working on. Whether that's building a community merchandise, whether that's, you know, creating an ama, which is an ask me anything. And basically you guys just ask me whatever you want and I can answer it. There are so many different ways. And if you, if you just want to click that link below and start this journey with me on the premium feed, I would love that. I really appreciate just the listeners out there. Even if you're not part of premium yet, I'm really appreciative of your time that you're spending with me. And I just want to make this journey well worth it. And so that's why I wanted to create this premium members only feed that could provide value to you guys. And so that's why when you click on my link below, you will get a 5% off for the first month. And let's get into the episode. So Disneyland, Disney's Land, Part three, the opening of Disneyland and the future of it. So basically it was a final rush in the summer of 1955. Disney had a opening date of July 17th. They couldn't push it any farther because ABC was relying on them to get it at that date. So they couldn't push it any farther. They basically built Disneyland in a year. When you think about it, Disneyland was built in a year. So the build up to this was landscaping. They had to get full grown trees. They spent a couple, like I think a whole chapter on it, where basically it's talking about the full grown trees and these trees. Like they would charge like 500 a tree. But they became relentless and resourceful, which is what any entrepreneur needs. They need to be. Or they were relentless and resourceful and they. There was a highway going in of that sort and they were bulldozing a bunch of trees and they were like, no, don't, don't bullet those trees. We'll buy them. So they ended up buying these trees for like $30 or $50 each was. Which was way cheaper than what they think they, what they thought they were going to pay for. And so they started, you know, putting those trees into Disneyland. Last minute attraction testing. And then they had to train the cast members, which is the very last part of our last episode that we just went over with French or France Van Arsendal where he basically talks about the handbook that he created. And so they're frantically trying to train these members. They're installing shops and restaurants and with that, the sponsorships, as we talked about in last episode, where it's like, hey, Kodak, do you want to buy this poster? They buy a poster for like $25,000 a month or a year and they put it up and they get to advertise. And that's how Disney made their money to begin with. And so they set up merchandise and food systems, shops and restaurants. And then basically they were, they had a frantic, they had frantic final weeks of construction. And this led to workers laying the asphalt on Main street on either the night before opening day or on opening day. And this was on July 17, 1955, basically. This is a crazy story. The heat is. It got so hot that next day on opening day that it made it bubble because it was so fresh. It made it bubble. And basically there was, there was women walking around in high heel shoes and they would lose their high heels and people were like losing their shoes in the asphalt and they would like run off with no shoes because the asphalt just like heated up too much and like not absorbed it, but like took it in, which is really weird, really funny. Also one of the choices that Walt made before. So there was a union strike. And basically Walt had to either choose between working drinking fountains or working toilets. And he chose the toilet toilets, which is great because if, you know, you don't get that working, you don't really have an amusement park. But the drinking fountains were unfortunate because people had to buy water. And you know, water is expensive. And they didn't like that. So now that's kind of like the build up to the opening day of Disneyland. And I love this, right? So the opening day of Disneyland is on ABC's live broadcast of opening day. And this is hosted by Art Linkletter, Ronald Reagan, who, side note, is going to become the future president for their time. And Bob Cummings and these three guys were to host ABC's opening day of Disneyland. And so this was one of the first or this was one of television's first live broadcast broadcast of this scale. And it reached 90 million viewers in just. Just in general. And that was basically 54 of the population. I have 54 popul. 54% of the population in my notes. But I believe that is the US because there was 169 pe. 169 million people in the US and so this was 54% of the population of the US at the time. And so the show had been leading up to this moment. And you can actually still watch it today. I'll link it in the show notes. Basically in the show notes, it's a full hour and 13 minute video of the opening day of Disneyland. And it's kind of. It's kind of deceiving because you watch and you're like, oh man, this is so nostalgic. This is Disney. This is the old Disney. This is awesome. This is Disneyland when it first opened. And you watch it and then you get into the behind the scenes. Also, just a side note before we get into behind the scenes of the opening day of Disneyland, side note on Art link letter. So he wanted to help Disney out, but he decided not to get paid. But it was only like 200 bucks. So he decided not to get paid the normal wage for a broadcaster. But he, he decided instead. This is crazy. This is absolutely genius. He instead decided to receive the photo concessions for Disneyland for the next 10 years. And Walt was crazy. And Walt said yes. He wanted Art link letter really bad. Because Art was a very prominent figure in the community in terms of broadcasting and television. And he really wanted him on. So he was willing to say anything or do anything to get him on. And so Walt agreed. And this is crazy. Because it made Art the highest paid broadcaster for that one show in the history of television. I just want to let that sink in. It made him the most or the highest paid broadcaster for that one show in the history of television. That's insane. I mean, like, the fact that you're genius enough to say, hey, I'll take photo concessions for the next 10 years for Disneyland, dude. Disneyland becomes a huge success in the next 10 years. It's crazy. And now, so we go into. That's just a side note on Art link letter. He genius, by the way. Genius guy. Basically, the next. The next thing that happens is. Well, the funny thing is most Disneyland workers remember the opening day, and they refer it. They refer to this as. They refer to the opening day of Disneyland as Black Sunday. And basically, Black Sunday refers to the disastrous opening day of Disneyland on July 17, 1955, when the park faced a series of unfortunate and chaotic events. Now, you may be wondering, well, that's interesting. You know, Black Sunday, that disastrous opening day of Disneyland. What are you talking about? Disneyland's awesome. Well, yes, Disneyland is awesome now, but what few people know is that Disneyland wasn't great or wasn't awesome the first day because they were so frantic about getting everything in that there was a ton of issues, which is to be expected when you first launch a product. Right? That is a typical thing for entrepreneurs. Like, you're gonna have to tweak some things in order to be perfect at what you do. Unless you've already done it before. But no one in that industry, especially the amusement park industry, there wasn't such thing as Disneyland. And so that's the thing where it's like, okay, yeah, that's really cool. But now, like, disastrous. All right, so let's dive into what I mean by disastrous. All right, the ticket and crowd issues. So the park had expected 50,000. 15. Sorry, excuse me. 15,000 invited guests. But 28,000 people, or more like it ranges. Some people said, no, no, it's 50,000 that showed up. But at least 28,000 people showed up. This is crazy, because. So you. You wait in the huge line, and there were counterfeiters. So you had to wait in a huge line to get into Disneyland. You paid to get into Disneyland. And the ticket system was a little bit weird back then. And I'll go in deep into this in the next couple. In. In the. In a little bit, where basically they had different types of tickets for different types of rides, but you had to pay a base fee to get into the park to experience, like, free Stuff. And so basically there was counterfeiters that had duplicated the invitation tickets and were giving it to people. People were literally scaling fences to get into Disneyland on opening day. This was crazy because people, I. I just picture in my mind a wood fence with like a Disney shop on one side and then kids on the other. And it literally says this in the book. Not. Not the. The kids or whatever. But there were people that would bring out. They brought a ladder to scale the fence, and they would charge people to go up the ladder and get into Disneyland, which is crazy. So they did that. They were scaling fences to get in. The traffic on the road to LA, from LA to Disneyland or Anaheim was backed up for seven miles. Seven miles. The temperature reached 101 degrees Fahrenheit. That's Fahrenheit causing people to faint in the long line. So people were fainting. You had 20, 28,000 people showed up. You had a road. This is why the opening day of Disneyland is called the largest traffic jam in Orange county history. In Anaheim, or in. For a California county, or Orange county is where Anaheim is located. And so. But you had people fainting. You had the Afghan, the asphalt boiling just hot because they poured it fresh that morning. So there was so many things going on that it's like, man, there. And like, we're not even to other issues. So there was ride and attraction issues. The Mark Twain riverboat nearly got capsized from too many passengers. This is because this guy that was laying all these people on was told, hey, let 200 to 250 people on at most. And so he was letting people on. And basically what ends up happening is he. He had a little clicker, like a pen clicker, and he clicked it and it kind of had many people. And he started clicking it and he forgot and he didn't realize. And he was talking to people. He got so into his job that he was just like, oh, yeah, this is cool. And so 500 people, twice the amount that are supposed to be on, accidentally got let on. And that was crazy because they were actually filming on the boat. And so it was funny in one of the scenes for the opening day of Disneyland, they push off, or they. They don't push off. They're going around and they have this star that our art link letter is talking to called Irene Dunn. And she's like, whoa, did you feel that? And she's like, oh, yeah, that's right. We're just pushing off. But in reality, because they. The boat, like, kind of shook a little bit or kind of, like, dipped a little bit. And she felt that. And he was like, oh, don't worry about that. That's just. We're just pushing off. When in reality they weren't pushing off. There were so many people that it. It got to. It. It got to a big problem. So 500 people were accidentally let on. The Peter Pan. The Peter Pan ride and the Dumbo ride broke down, repeated repeatedly, and Fantasy Land was closed most of the day due to a gas leak. And the Autotopia, if you've ever seen audio Autotopia, where they go around and they drive these cars, they were actually. The Autotopia cars were based off of a Ferrari car and they had aluminum bumpers, which they later changed that because that wasn't the best. But the Autotopia cars kept breaking down. And so that was just the ride and attraction issues. We've had ticket and crowd issues, and now we have food and, like, a food crisis, beverage crisis, basically. Vendors ran out of food and drinks early into the day, so people were really thirsty. Many restaurants closed early just because they ran out of supplies. The food service was overwhelmed by the unexpected crowd size. Like, at some point, like, we haven't even got to the part where there was actually trouble on camera. Like, at some point you just realize, like, you got to realize if you start, if you create a product or anything, you got to realize that there's going to be, you know, come bumps, there's going to come trials, tribulations, there's going to come a. Like, there's going to have. It's going to have a lot of things come at it that you don't expect. And you got to be ready for it. So that's why after we get through this, like, Disney really works on innovating and improving what he's built because he knows there's something there. And that. That's the thing, right? If you know there's something there in your product, even though it might not be finished or perfect, the thing is, you gotta realize, like, hey, yes, I. I see that. But now, like, I see all the media's reaction. I see all the reaction from normal day people. I see all that. How can I make this better? To the point where, you know, I'm making this a valuable product and making this someone, like, worthwhile for someone. And so, like, that can go the same. That can be the same for this podcast, right? I'm just starting out. There's a lot of different things that, like, you know, this might not be the best quality yet, but that shouldn't discourage me, especially to not try to get the best podcast episodes on Spotify or on whatever podcast player that you're listening to. Um, it shouldn't stop me from trying to create the best podcast episodes in the world. And what I mean by that is not like best audio or like, yes, that all plays a part, but literally create the most value for the people you who are listening. I want to create the most value for the person listening to this. And if I can change someone's life just like Disney did, or if I can change someone's life and leave an impact and a legacy that is, that would mean more, more to me than, you know, people telling me, hey, you can't do this or whatever. Like, if I can push through and persevere. This is what Disney is teaching us, right? Perseverance, right? Even when people tell you, hey, this is, this doesn't look good. Like my, you know, certain things might not look great, but it's going to get better if you try. You gotta try. And this is what Disney did, right? And so here, let's get back to just more chaos, right? This is just behind the scenes. If you watch, this will be a fun part. If you've watched the Disneyland opening day on film, it's like an hour 13 minutes. I've already mentioned that, but it's an hour 13 minutes. And basically behind the scenes of this chaos was. So we've talked about, it was a really hot day, 101 degrees. The heat caused technical equipment to malfunction, microphones frequently cut out mid sentence and cameras overheated in the 101 degree weather. Basically just a lot of stuff going on. And this is really important because this is the reaction from the people. So the media reacted with. They just ruthfully criticized Disneyland. They thought it was disastrous. Everyone thought it was disastrous. One headline actually read, quote, the 17 million. The 17 million dollar people trap that Mickey Mouse built. And I think that's really funny because it's like, yes, you can have a ton of stuff. Disney can have a ton of stuff thrown at him. And ultimately it comes down to this is your reaction. Oh, you're right. And I'm gonna step down and, and not do this. The thing that I love the most, not do this in order for you to feel satisfied. Or is my reaction, No, I believe in my product so much that I'm going to innovate it. I'm going to improve it if it's the last thing that I do. That's really what this comes down to. You can read headlines. If you're someone like Elon Musk, where you get criticized all the time, does that make you want to fold if you're that person? Or does that make you want to stand up and say, no, I believe in what I do. That's ultimately what it comes down to. And that, that's what I challenge everyone listening to this. That's what I challenge you guys who are listening to this. Like, when you face pressure, are you the person, the type of person that, that is willing to step, is the person that has to step down because they just can't handle the pressure. They can't handle what the media says, they can't handle what your friends say, right? Or are you the type of person that says, no, you know, I'm going to do what I love to do, even if it's the last thing that I do. I'm going to put my heart and soul into this. And this is what Disney does. He does this. Even though journalists, they called it, quote, Walt's Folly, mocking the park's operational failures. You know, the reports that they made highlighted malfunctioning rides, food, short food shortages, counterfeit tickets, and the heating that caused the asphalt to, you know, trapped guests, shoes. And some media outlets dismissed Disneyland as just another carnival. They thought it was too expensive and too ambitious to last. Now just think about that, right? If you're Walt Disney, you spent years, ultimately like 20 years on this, thinking about the idea, building it, just having it in your mind, constant, constantly, right? You love it so much. And you release your first. You release it, you open it to the public and the first day, it's a disaster. What is your reaction? That's my question for you. What is your reaction? In Walt's case, he took that and used it as fuel and he said, you know what? I will try the hardest thing. I will innovate, I will improve it, I will do whatever it is that I need to do in order to make this better. Because I love this thing so much and I think this is great. And so the public, actually the public reacted to it far better than the media did. Middle class families embrace Disneyland immediately, almost immediately. The parents love the clean, safe and family friendly atmosphere. Which was a car, sorry, A stark contrast to what we were talking about with Coney island, right? Dirty, chaotic, ugly. The employees just didn't want to be there. They didn't like you or they like all these different things. And so that's the thing, right? That's the thing, right? And so Disney actually hit it off with the, the actual people and not the media. Because the media is always going to be corrupt and always going to have that sort of bias to what they want if you don't give them what they want. And so the public reacted to this far better than the media did. And they actually loved it. They spread it by word of mouth, which was really quick. And the guests were amazed by the immersive environments, high quality attractions and attention to detail. Attention to detail. You hear that? Attention to detail. That's crazy. That's like what we've been talking about, right? Uncommon. Being uncommon and being excellent in what you do is paying attention to the details. Whether that is the very smallest thing. You know, paying attention to the details is really important. And so by 1956, Disneyland had a just, it was firing on all cylinders. They added Jungle Cruise, Storybook Land and Tom Sawyer's island and that really helped them with success. And so now I really want to get to Disneyland's ticket system because this is something if you've been to Disneyland, you don't really know about unless you're like a little bit older view or you've experienced basically anywhere from 1955 to 1982. Because they started phasing the system out in 1982. And so this was cater, this is categories of the tickets. And basically they had A to E tickets and an A ticket was simple attractions like the Main street vehicles. And in 1955 this was, in 1955 this was 10 cents. A B ticket are slightly more engaging rides, but think about like little kid rides, that's 25 cents. And you would pay for each ride. So you would pay to get into the park and then you would pay for each ride that you go on. And however many times you ride on, you would pay for that. And so a sea ticket is mid tier rides including like this would be the Mad Tea Party or Peter Pan's flight and that would, that was worth 40 cents. And then they didn't install a D ticket or an e ticket until 1982. And so the D ticket was throwing rides or experiences like the Jungle Cruise and then an E ticket which, that was the best ride. And so an E ticket was the best ride. And that included Matterhorn Bobsledge, Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion. And actually if you, if you don't know in the E ticket became a legendary term. And so people actually use that and it just means that a top tier must have experience. So the E ticket actually came from I think Disneyland or they were the first to Use it. And it became a legendary term. And so that's why, you know, first class on a plane or something that that's what you would call an E ticket. And so that's. That's all that means if you've ever heard that before. I didn't until I actually read this book. And so I thought that was really fascinating. I thought that'd be cool to share with you guys. So. And then by 1982, Disneyland started to phase out of that ticket book system in favor for what we see today, which is the all inclusive. Hey, this is your one set price. And so and this is really crazy on within like a. For the first couple weeks of Disneyland opening or the first couple of years, the total price for a whole day at Disneyland for a family. This is unbelievable. This is crazy. This is food hotels and Disneyland itself with all the rides. $29.65. That's crazy. That's absolutely insane. $29. That was food, hotel, like everything you can think of. $29.65. And so that's crazy. Something about that is like you don't normally. Well, we have inflation nowadays. So everything, granted everything is going to be more expensive. But that's still crazy that that's a lot. It either shows you that was a lot of money for them or Disneyland wasn't really expensive. So that was really cool. And now we get into improvements of Disneyland. And so with these improvements, there is a show that Disneyland decides to air for the special release of these three major additions that Disneyland is going to open to the public in 1959. So they decide to call the show Disneyland 59. And Disneyland promotes. Promotes the big expansion with a nationally televised special featuring. And this is crazy. I don't know how they keep doing this but Vice President Richard Nixon and his family. So Vice or Richard Nixon became a vice president. And he was one of the guys that Disney got to host Disneyland 59 and so after Disneyland's opening in 1955, Walt Disney quickly sought to expand and improve the park. So three major additions, just like I mentioned and enhancements came between 1959 and the early 1960s. These were the three. So you add one. The mattern horn bobsleds. This was the world's first tubular steel roller coaster. And this was inspired by Walt's visit to Switzerland. Basically he went to Switzerland and he loved the Swiss Alps and modern hornets based off of that. And this was like one of the first high speed bouncer. This was the first high speed mountain ride. And it added thrills and it actually set new standards for designing how you design a roller coaster. Because think about it, you don't think of like, I believe it's like a thousand feet. It's like a thousand foot mountain. You don't. That's not something you think about. And so that's crazy because that, that, that's what happened. And so it is really cool. And so now you have Matterhorn bump slits, but there was two more. So you have the Disneyland monorail. And this was the first daily operating modern hell monorail in the Western hemisphere. Basically, Walt went to Switzerland and he saw what they called it, they called it a monorail. And he saw it and he was like, wow, this is really cool. But he had to make some changes to it, make it a little bit scaled down. And he really designed it to represent the future of urban transportation. And initially it was just a short loop getting you to like, different places. But then it later expanded to connect Disneyland to the Disneyland hotel, which is really cool. So people don't really think about the Disneyland monorail as a ride, especially when you go there. I, I think I've been on it once. But the actual Disneyland monorail is actually like, was truly inspiring for that time. Especially for amusement park. There was no such thing as that. And then matter on bobsleds was legendary. Like I've been on that ride so many times, it's awesome. And so that's kind of what you expect when you go there. That's like a top ride. And I, I could only imagine in 1959 this, them getting that and like how crazy that must have been for people that had never seen a ride like that. Whenever you go to Disneyland now, you always think of that ride and you're like, wow, that was a great ride. So I think there's something about that, like 1959. The fact that they were building something like that in 1959 is pretty crazy. And then the third major addition that Disney added to Disneyland was the Submarine Voyage. And it was basically a cutting edge underwater adventure. And if you've been on it, I think they renamed it to like Nemo. Basically it's Nemo's Submarine Voyage. And for this it was a theme inspired by 20,000 Leagues under the Sea. And 20,000 Leagues under the Sea was right. It came right in Disney's time. He actually, I think he made it, that was their first live action film. And so 20,000 Leagues under the Seas or under the Sea really had a big impact on Disney. And so he wanted to kind of make a ride based off of that. And so actually it is pretty cool that that was the original ride. And so they also. So when I talk about improvements, this is what I mean by improvements. They wanted to enhance and expand some of the rides. So Autotopia, they increased the track length and they updated the vehicle design. So they got rid of the aluminum and they put in new things that would more rubber, like what you see on bumper carts. Now that. That was partly created from the design of Disney in 1959. So they improved that, got the cars all running, made them better. And then Jungle Cruise, they enhanced the animatronics and they added some humor into kind of the whole ride. And they just made it a better ride than what it was. The ana, like the animatronics, like, you know, the elephant, like if you see an elephant, it was like so heavy that it would be sinking in the mud. But then they fixed that to where it's now better. And so. And that was one of the stories in the Disney, Disney's Land book. Then they also, they improved theming and mechanics on rides like Peter pan's Flight and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. I've been on Peter Pan's Flight, I don't think I've been on Mr. Toad's wild ride. I don't know if they have it anymore. But it sounded like that was a major ride to begin with. In the early days of Disneyland, that was one of the most popular rides there. And so basically the. These were the main things. So they had three major additions and then enhancements and expansions of multiple rides. And this is what really leveled up and really helped Disneyland 59 succeed. And it actually encouraged Walt to keep expanding and eventually led to Disney World and Epcot and beyond. And basically Disney started working on rides. So this is the 1960s. He starts working on rides like Pirates of the Caribbean or Caribbean and then Haunted Mansion. And then he starts working on Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, in the Epcot. And now we get into the part of Disney where in November 1966, Walt Disney was diagnosed with lung cancer after years of heavy smoking. I read somewhere that he wanted to keep his public image without that, so he would actually like, get rid of the cigars. Like, it's not really common in photos because he wanted to preserve his image. But he, he was a heavy smoker, in other words, like a chain smoker. But by early December 1966, his health declined rapidly. And on 19. On December 15, 1966, just 10 days after his 65th birthday, Walt Disney passed away at St. Joseph's Hospital. His official cause of death was circulatory collapse, and this was due to his lung cancer. And that's where the author of the Disney's Land book leaves us. And he. He goes on to explain, like, kind of what going back to Disneyland is like for him. And the author weaves the very end of this, the very end of the story into such a poetic and beautiful ending. I really recommend you getting that, getting this book just like, just to read that it, like the very end of Walt's life. And, you know, as I'm reflecting back on these last three episodes, because for me, each. Each episode is a week long and I read the book and everything. So this. This has felt like a long journey in this book. And so I think looking back on this story, this story was an incredible story of perseverance. Walt showed incredible perseverance. He also showed what it was like to pay attention to the details. And then ultimately it showed the success of a visionary who changed the world through the invention of an amusement park. And I think the crazy thing is that Disney, you know, he did change the world. When you think about it, he invented the amusement park. If we didn't have that amusement park, we wouldn't have 14 different locations in the world. If we didn't have that, we wouldn't have Universal Studios. With, you know, Universal Studios in California or in Florida. Like, we wouldn't have any of this. And so even, like, Disney was a pioneer in the animation industry, we wouldn't have any of his movies. And so if he did not persevere, we wouldn't have those movies. If he didn't pay attention to the details in Disneyland, ultimately people wouldn't have. They would have rejected it. It probably would have closed. And if he wasn't a visionary, he, like, the whole story wouldn't have been there. So I think it's really just looking back on this whole story and reflecting on shows that, you know, your legacy is really important. And this, his legacy impacted the whole world. And so now what we need to make sure that we do is our legacy leaves an impact on the people that we. That we like. If we want to change the world, we need to look at our legacy and what kind of legacy you want to leave. And ultimately that starts with the people around you, right? Are you leaving a good legacy? Are you treating people nicely? Are you being a good husband or father or being a good parent or whether that's a family or friends or just anyone? Are you leaving a good legacy in where you're at. And so I think that's my encouragement to you through this story is like, you know, Walt died on his 65th birthday. And I think it is. It should be encouraging to all of us to say, all right, this is what Walt did great. This is what Walt didn't do great. And now let's take the good parts out of his life and really condense that down and understand how we, what we can do different. And that, that's ultimately the whole goal of the podcast. Right. You know, even though Walt passed away on his 65th birthday, that shows you that life is short. So whatever you want to do, you got to do it now. Whatever you love, do it now. Pursue that with excellence. Uncommon, uncommon excellence. Pursue that. Do whatever you have to do in order to get that. And, you know, but keep in mind, you know, the type of legacy you want to leave behind. Do you want to be a good family member? Do you want to. Do you want to be a good leader? Do you want to be. It really starts with your why and your how and the legacy you leave behind. And Walt, you know, he left behind Disneyland, Disney, which are truly, they're huge companies, really big companies, and they have been declining over the last 10, 20 years. But the early days of Disney were really good. And so that's what I really encourage everyone listening out, listening out there to this, just really absorbing this information and taking it in your own life. Like, life is short. What kind of legacy do I want to leave behind? And what. What should I be thinking about in this next year? Because we're. It's almost February. It's already almost February, right? It feels like Christmas was, you know, a couple days ago. So I think, what do you want to do in your life? And go get it done. And I will leave a link in the description below. If you want to buy the book, you'll be supporting the podcast with no additional charge to you. And if you want to go check out the premium, that is where I will personally be sharing my highlights of every book you get, many podcast episodes. And, you know, this is the gift that keeps on giving. And I, I would really love it if you guys could just go over there and check it out. And again, with my link down below, you will save a 5% off for this one month, for your first month. And so I really appreciate you listening to this episode. And now we are on to our next episode or our next book, which is how to Make a Few Billion Dollars by Brad Jacobs. I'm really excited about that. Brad is a billionaire who has started rxo, GXO and xpo, all which are billion dollar companies. And so I'm really excited for you guys. Thank you. And I will talk to you again soon.

