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Walter Elias Disney was born in Chicago Illinois in 1901 a man that was known  to live through an age where motion pictures began. But he was a man with a big imagination full of dreams and creativity. Receiving over 900 honors from every nation, over 48 academy awards and 7 Emmys in his life time Disney was a very prosperous man throughout his career. Other personal awards he received were honorary degrees from Harvard, Yale, the University of Southern California and UCLA; the Presidential Medal of Freedom; France's Legion of Honor and Officer d' Academy decorations; Thailand's Order of the Crown; Brazil's Order of the Southern Cross; Mexico's Order of the Aztec Eagle; and the Showman of the World Award from the National Association of Theatre Owners. 

Walt Disney was one of five other children so he came from a very large family. He was raised on a farm near Marceline Missouri. At an early age he started to draw and when he was seven years old he was selling sketches to locals. In high school he devoted much of his time to drawing and photography. During the evening he attended the Academy Of Fine Arts.

In 1918 Disney joined the Red Cross during WWI he was to young to enlist for being a soldier. He drove an ambulance around where his ambulance they said was covered with drawing and cartoons. Everything Disney did seemed to be quite animated and imaginative. 

When WWI ended he returned to  to Kansas City and became an advertising cartoonist selling his first original animated cartoons. He then perfected a new method for combing live action and animated cartoon drawings. By 1923 Disney went to Hollywood with very little money, some drawing materials and one of his live action films he created. Roy his brother was already in CA and helped Walt construct a camera stand in their Uncle's garage. From their they received their first order to make a production which became Alice & Wonderland the girl trapped in a cartoon world. 

In 1925 Disney married one of his employees named Lillian Bounds. They had two daughters named Diane and Sharon. One of them passed away in 1993 which was on the board of directors while the other one married former president and chief executive officer of Disney Productions. Both daughters had ten children all together so the Disney family as you can see is quite large.

Mickey Mouse was created in 1928 and when I visited Disney World my sons got a picture with him. That is the one thing everybody knows worldwide is Mickey. Mickey Mouse was used in a silent cartoon called "Plane Crazy" before it got released sound came to motion pictures something which changed motion picture history. So instead of appearing in Plane Crazy Mickey made his debut in "Steamboat Willie" which was the worlds first full synchronized sound cartoon and was shown in the NYC Colony Theatre.

In 1932 technicolor was introduced and that was also the year Walt won his first academy award in a film called "Flowers and Trees". In 1937 he released "The Old Mill" which used multiplane camera techniques. Walt only wanted to perfect animation and as the years passed so did his cartoons. During the same year "Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs" came out which was the first full length animated musical feature and premiered in a theatre in Los Angeles. Then came many others like Fantasia, Pinocchio, Dumbo and Bambi.  

In 1940 Disney had his own studio constructed which would have over 1,000 animators, technicians, and story men.  Then during WWII the studia was used for government work where train videos as well as propaganda videos would be showed to soldiers in training for the armed forces. Their was also health films shown here by the US State Department. 

Then in 1945 Mary Poppins a highly acclaimed movie where live action was combined with a cartoon medium. During this time over 81 different features were created at this studio. After this time Disney became interested in wild animals and taught others conservation of the outdoors through his films such as productions like The African Lion and White Wilderness. 

In 1954 Disney was the first to present full color programming with programs like "The Mickey Mouse Club" and "Zorro" which were favorites. Eventually came movies like twenty thousand leagues under the Sea. 

In 1955 a $17 million dollar Magic Kingdom was built in California. The attractions grew so quickly that presidents, kings, queens, and celebrities attended this park from all over the world. This is really where Disney made most of his profits.  In 1965 Walt Disney directed alot of his attention to improving urban life in this country. He designed an experimental prototype community of Tomorrow what is known as EPCOT today which was a living showcase for the creativity of the American Industry. 

He once made a statement which you will find here which led to the creation of his Disney World. "I don't believe there is a challenge anywhere in the world that is more important to people everywhere than finding the solution to the problems of our cities. But where do we begin? Well, we're convinced we must start with the public need. And the need is not just for curing the old ills of old cities. We think the need is for starting from scratch on virgin land and building a community that will become a prototype for the future."

In 1964 Disney did just that purchasing over 43 square miles of virgin swamp land here in Central Florida. This land was twice the size of Manhattan Island. He had dreams to build a new Disney world full of entertainment, hotel resort vacation center, and a theme park. He also wanted to build his Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow. It took over seven years of planning and preparations including 52 months of construction of the lakes, man made rivers, rides, castle, walls, walk ways, building etc and by 1971 Disney World opened its doors where some of the first guest were greeted by Mickey Mouse. Epcot Center opened in 1982 however Walk Disney would not live to see this dream. 

Walk Disney died in 1966 just before his death however he started the California Institute of Arts which was a college level professional school of all creative and performing arts which was founded in 1961.  Combing the idea of  two schools in  Lost Angeles called the  Conservatory Of Music and Chouinard Art Institute his school would teach under one room all performing and creative arts. Even after his death Roy supervised and continued with the production of movies such as soon after Walters death came the Jungle Book. 

We did some Walt Disney Investigation already if you recall such as Ponceannah Cemetery where his maternal Grandparents are buried at and even his homestead here in Florida which currently residents live in. We also visited the Gamble House a place where Disney stayed at as a guest at one time. The Gamble place has a replica of the Snow White Cottage. So investigating places that are connected with Walt Disney has started long before we visited Walt Disney World. 

More In Depth History Of The Magic Kingdom

In 1964 Walt Disney started purchasing millions of dollars of swamp and farmland here in Orlando Florida. Nobody knew who was purchasing the land some thought it was Howard Hughes or Kennedy Space Center. Walt Disney did not make his announcement till 1965 when he stated he would be the worlds most spectacular theme park one even bigger then Disney Land. Walt Disney was purchasing at times as high as 20,000 acres of land. When the park opened in 1971 it employed over 12,000 people and had twenty million visitors. Orlando before this was just a quiet citrus town and because of the theme park it instantly grew into a major city. Then two years after Disney World opened then came other attractions like Sea World which we also investigated for paranormal activity. In 1990 Universal Studios opened and Islands of Adventure in 1999.  Eventually the Hard Rock Hotel came to Orlando. So over the years Orlando has grown to a town full of entertainment and many theme parks Disney World still being the biggest. 

 Bob Hope and Julie Andrews were some of the first celebrities to enter the Magic Kingdom when it opened. Eventually in 1982 came Epcot center then in 1989 Disney-MGM Studios came to be. Eventually two more water parks were added, a dozen resorts, a shopping village, restaurants, campgrounds, recreation facilities, a steamboat, monorail, ferry, train, and in 1998 the Zoological Animal Kingdom. Although Disney World is divided into five enormous theme parks the one we will focus on is where it all started which is Disney The Magic Kingdom. Since their is so many photos and history if we do anymore Disney Theme Parks other then the Magic Kingdom they will be on their own pages in the future in other sections. As we do have plans eventually to investigate Epcot, The Animal Kingdom and Probably MGM. 

The reason for Disney World's construction was that Walt Disney had a dream. When in 1955 he opened Disneyland he did not purchase enough land which restricted alot of what he wanted to do with the theme park.  Roy and Walt decided on building the Magic Kingdom in Orlando since Florida had nice warm weather year around. Disney almost purchased 40,000 acres and each time he made a purchase it went up started from $183 per acre all the way up to a $1000 an acre. People often took advantage of the fact that Walter was a wealthy man. But this did not stop his dream as it took around $400,000 to build the Magic Kingdom.  When the park was built Walt Disney stated that he did not want to the public to the world they live in while they are in the park but rather to feel as if they are in another world. He built the park for parents and children to have fun together. Hence the name Disney World. Does it feel like its a world of its own? You bet I mean by the time you take the ferry across the lake or monorail and enter the kingdom you have forgotten about the world that exist outside of this mystical  place.  I do not even think I could compare anything to this place just driving around Disney World its like a city with roads leading to various theme parks it truly is an amazing place. 

What saddens me perhaps most is that Walt Disney died in 1966 and never got to see Disney World after it was complete or Epcot which would show some of the most advanced scientific advancements. When the theme park opened up the name Disney World was changed to Walt Disney World as his brother Roy wanted everybody to remember Walt and his dream. 

Within Disney World their are over twenty resorts and now 47 square miles. Their is Downtown Disney and Disney boardwalk. Every night the Magical Kingdom puts on a fireworks display right over Cinderella's Castle. Then twice a day is a magical parade with all the Disney Characters. Tigger, Pooh Bear and Friends walk around greeting others while Pinocchio dancing around in a snow globe. 

Disney continues to thrive till this day with millions of vacationers, tourist, and visitors from all over the world. Today many movies are still produced even Disney Games like Kingdom Hearts. Lets not forget the Lion King Either. The Disney family today takes good care of Disney World and of course movies still continue to be produced. 

In May of 2005 Disney theme parks will be celebrating 50 years of existence. So that gives you an idea of how long they been around. Now Disney is expanding into other areas for example Hong Kong. Although nothing will ever be like Disney World. As a child I grew up always wishing I could go to Disney World. I begged my parents and grandparents when I was a little boy. Always every year I was like Mom can we go to Disney World. As a kid I use to see photos and just dream of it but nobody would ever take me. Then as I got in my twenties I wanted to go so bad but I was just to poor to take a vacation or go. It is so ironic that now I live only a 45 minute drive away from here. To be able to visit here and take my own kids meant more to me then just a paranormal investigation it meant some closer in alot of ways giving my sons something I never was able to do when I was a child. 

When you walk around Disney their is a real magical feeling here. I do not even know how to put it into words. I guess being psychic to a point and empathetic the energy here is so overwhelming you can feel it flowing through your veins no matter where you go. When you walk around Disney World the one thing that comes to realization is all that has been put into this park. Over the years the millions of visitors, actors, artist, ideas, dreams, romance, love etc that has been put into this park it really is amazing. Maybe magic is real after all I mean walking around the park you tend to forget all your problems and even if its just for a few hours the truth is that this really is a world of its own. It is a place of happiness not evil, no impurity, no sadness even. So many places we investigate are sad, vandalized, impure yet Disney world is a place where even the parents can become kids all over again. The music during the parade and dancing characters makes you feel as if you are in a magical world where Pooh Bear is alive or where Cinderella loses her glass slipper. Speaking of Cinderella she is so damn cute damn its love at first site I swear it lol. 

But when you sit down and you think about it everybody has put a part of their hearts and minds into Disney World that is alot of energy. Do you ever notice that places where others put a part of their soul into are places they do not get damaged by natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, or other storms. So maybe this place is a magical kingdom or maybe it comes down to the fact that so many special moments are shared within Disney World that all bad nightmares cease to exist here where only good can happen. 

Over the years many rides have come many have gone so I really do not want to talk to much about the attractions as in a few years some might no longer exist or be exchanged with something else. But I will talk about some like the Haunted Mansion where you ride in this cart all around the mansion as you see ghost, the talking heads and talking crystal ball. Then you have the old steam locomotive trains the one we road on was used in 1927 in New Mexico. Then their is Tom Sawyer Island where you can explore mines, tunnels, a windmill, rope bridge, and of course Fort Langhorn. The one thing that amazed me the most is the Giant Steamboat which is three stories high and travels around the Tom Sawyer Island. Although a replica it is much like the ones that use to travel the Mississippi years ago. Then their is Space Mountain which is a giant roller coaster in the pitch black. Also their is the Mad Tea Cups where you can spin till you turn green. A new attraction called Buzz Lightyear is cool you can shoot laser guns and earn points. Then their is the Peter Pan ride which you travel over a town and meet captain hook himself. One of the freakiest rides is the Pirates Of The Caribbean where your ride in this dark tunnel on a boat and see robotic pirates some are very disgusting or mean looking.  Then you can visit toonland where you can meet some of the Disney Characters and go into their houses. Also in Disney is the Cinderella's Castle and yes this is a real castle with towers and at night it changes different colors. You can enter the lower floor of the castle only to look at some of the beautiful mosaics. Then near downtown is Liberty Square which is meant to look like a colonial town with the Liberty Tree, Bell and Town Hall. This area has the Hall Of Presidents. Then they have the Pooh Bear and Snow White Ride which you can sit in a cart and see your favorite characters from the movie and show. If your feeling really daring you can take a hike all the way up to the top of the Swiss Family Robinson Tree which is a giant tree with various displays or tree houses. Then if you want a good cool down head up to Splash mountain for a nice water ride which has a few drop offs. Then their is frontierland which looks like the old west or downtown Disney which has many shops and restaurants. You can sit down next to a Walt Disney Statue enjoy a daytime lunch. Then as the sun goes down get on a Jungle Boat cruise and go under a water fall or into a temple. On your way see some African Animals or a tribal village. Then as its dark take an elevator all the way up and board the Astral Orbiter which is rockets that go in circles high up. Although their is more here you definitely can see how much fun this place is. So to be able to investigate paranormal activity and have fun all at once was like being a kid in a candy store. 

The theme park is impossible to explore all in one day. The one thing that amazed me is the wonderful pieces of history here like the old-time movie viewers or old paintings in one of the train stations. The park has so much to see their is wild birds, ponds, landscaped hedges, a rose garden, even a restaurant where you can eat with your favorite Disney Character. The arcade in Tomorrowland is huge and looks like your in a giant spaceship. The park is more then just about a few rides I mean just touring it is an adventure in itself and you can do that by Steam Engine Trains, Steam Boats or just hiking on foot. That is why I took so many photos of it to show those who browse our site what I experienced on my first visit here covering almost all of the Magic Kingdom. Now let me talk a little bit about the Hauntings and ghost of Disney World something very few are aware of or really even know about but now we bring them to you.

Ghosts & Tragedy Of Walt Disney World

Over the years many tourist and even employees have claimed to have a ghost story while working or visiting here. Sure during Halloween they decor the theme park with pumpkins and autumn colors but their is more to Disney then what the public tells you as far as Haunting's go. But honestly we are one of the first if not the first paranormal group to actually investigate Disney World come back with some mysterious photos and document it all. When I visited here I was up against the wall as I had to not only enjoy the theme park but focus on energy, entities, and the supernatural. One of the hardest things to do is a daytime investigation especially one where their is 1000s of people just walking around you. So our first investigation your going to see alot of daytime and equally night time energy shots as well as some faces and unknown entities. The unknown entities I believe are native American in origin the reason I say this is because Central Florida was Seminole land at one time. 

The first haunting we will talk about is the one on the Pirates Of The Caribbean ride. They say the ghost of a man by the name George haunts this ride. Their is an area called the burning city on the ride where George a welder in 1973 climbed atop of to work on. He lost his balance and fell to his death. Many employees have ran into this ghost and they say sometimes the ride will shut down by itself. I read a story about a person who was on the ride while it shut down. But its said that the employees will tell George good morning and Goodbye at the beginning and end of the day. I could not find any articles dating back to the 70s in accidental deaths but its a good possibility this occurred. You can feel a very strong presence inside the tunnels of this ride especially in the burning city even before I did research on it.

Then their are rumors about the Haunted Mansion having supernatural activity are no surprise to me. Their is a story about a woman that came to Disney World with ashes of her little boy who loved this ride. She asked for permission to scatter the ashes inside the attraction but Disney said no. The lady still did it anyways and people tend to see a young boy named Timmy near where the doom buggies are exiting in a red hat crying. Then their is a story about an area where employees can look through a mirror to see if anyone comes down the speed ramp in the unloading area. The CM behind the mirrors saw a figure heading towards them perhaps coming to relieve them of their shift or too replace them for a different ride.  The figure then vanished then moments later she seen the same figure after some people passed by. Eventually when nightfall came the figure approached her unable to talk he reached out and touched her. When she looked up he was gone and quit out of fear. They say that the Disney Land and Disney World mansions are similar in Haunting's. Some say that the glued tarot cards sometimes are moved, the ride stops for no reason, that ghostly children are seen in the ballroom, and strange characters that are not supposed to be part of the attraction. When Walt Disney started the Haunted Mansion Idea it was meant to be a retirement home for ghost where they could spend an eternity do what they do best which is haunting in the afterlife.  Of course some of these stories correlate with Disneyland the Disney World Haunted Mansion has similar stories based on various reads I have done. I mean think about it a dark haunted mansion with halls, rooms, chambers, and eerie figures ANYTHING can hide in here and watch from the beyond. 

One of the rules of Disney World Policy is not to declare death within the theme park. But every theme park has some accidental deaths or people who become irresponsible which causes tragedies. Out of all the millions of visitors each year tragedies are very minimal in Disney World unfortunately Disney Land has suffered perhaps threefold the amount of tragedies like a plane crash in the parking lot, a couple deadly falls, a drowning, a ride skipping off the tracks, someone hit by a monorail and the stories go on. You probably will not hear stories like this in Disney World but I will talk about a few.  The reason why I want to talk about deaths within the park is perhaps to show you one of the reasons perhaps paranormal activity is so great here at least that may be part of the reason. 

One death I read about was on Space Mountain of a man who stood up and was decapitated. Every site you read says its urban legend. Some employees say it did happen others say it was covered up or kept on a lowdown. I did read a news article a couple years ago about this I know I did because I sent it out long before I lived in Florida. Maybe the news got the story wrong who knows but their is a story about one man who road on Space Mountain and came out of the ride slumped over. I guess an object hit him in the head with great force that he suffered memory loss, brain damage and paralysis to his left arm. Although I heard about many other deaths related to Space Mountain perhaps heart attacks. But even so they will not be talked about because most people end up dying later at the hospital rather then in Disney World itself. 

Then we have a sad story which happened on Splash Mountain which is a fairly gloomy ride in my opinion. But a tourist was killed when he jumped out of one of the logs in an attempt to exit the ride. The man panicked and he wanted off. They say this was Walt Disney World's only guest fatality and I guess what happened was when he got out of his log another one behind him struck him killing him. 

Then we have the story about a park custodian who was cleaning the platforms of the Skyway up when it mysteriously started up and he fell to his death. As he fell 40 feet he hit a tree and landed in a flower bed. I believe from what I read the cast members started up the ride just after the park opened up and were unaware he was on the narrow skyway platform cleaning.  When the ride started up the custodian tried to grab onto the approaching gondola and failed to climb inside slipping only to fall to his death. The ride was closed but not due to his death just that it had other problems like people spitting from up above at park tourist.

Speaking of accidents in 2002 one of the ferry boats slammed into a dock in the Seven Seas Lagoon. Eight people were injured and six were treated & Released. The ferry boats are fairly fast and you have your choice whether to take the monorail or ferry across the lagoon to get to the magic kingdom.

Then we have a real sad tragedy that occurred during the Magic Kingdom Parade. A worker dressed up as Pluto  became caught between the second and third sections of a three part float where it was about to enter the parade route from backstage. He fell and was run over only to be crushed by the float. He was killed instantly by the third section of the vehicle. 

Then their is a ghost story people often tell about seeing a tan figure walking towards Cinderella's Castle. Alot of people have seen this ghost even people that our fans of ours have told us a little bit about the strange ghostly happenings around the castle. I feel something is their I just do not know what perhaps Walt Disney himself. 

So these are just a few of the deaths and ghost stories about Disney World. Of course other theme parks in Disney and across the world have ghost stories of their own. But the park has alot of energy in the air. I mean all the way from the land to the efforts put into the park to all the energies brought here it truly is a world of its own. 

The last thing I would like to talk about is Walt Disney's Death which also has a strange twist to it. In 1966 Disney's health begin to decline where he entered the hospital in Burbank Ca. He had pain in his neck and back. An x-ray revealed a tumor some say he had tumors in his left lung the size of walnuts and was advised to have surgery. He did not have the surgery right away but reentered at a later date to have his lung removed which was found to be cancerous. Two weeks later during Thanksgiving he collapsed in his home in Palm Springs CA and driven back to the hospital. Since the Disney Studio was across the street from the hospital his brother Roy ordered that the lights stay on at all times. Walt Disney would ask the nurses to prop him up so he could see the studio. A few hours later after Roy ordered the lights to stay on December 14th Walt took one last look at it before passing away on December 15th. The cause of his death was acute circulatory collapse and was listed as cardiac arrest. But here is the strange part of this scenario is that Walt Disney's widow did not die until 31 years to the day of her Husband's death. Her birthday was on the 15th of February the same number day as he passed on and Lillian the widow died December 15th 1997 a day after Walter's death. Their adopted daughter died from cancer February 16th 1993 the day after Lillian's birthday. Do you see all the similarities in dates and months? Perhaps its an oddity in itself. 

The fact is that the entire history of Disney World all the way to this day has some level of strangeness to it. Not necessarily in a bad way but the truth is that maybe a higher divine force is at work here and now we get to bring it all to you in a journey so many get to take with me by browsing our site and investigations of this Magic Haunted Kingdom.

© By

Rick-AngelOfThyNight

To see more photos click the prologue buttons further below by clicking the buttons. I had so many photos I had to make more then one photo page. I took photos in every area of the Magic Kingdom!