Walt Disney: Family man

Walking around Disneyland, we all somehow get the feeling that we’re comforted by a sense of home. We’ve left the real world for a place imagined and built on a great love for the childhood experience.

And looking up at the small light emanating from the apartment over the fire station on Main Street, we imagine that there’s a loving grandpa, Walt Disney (or Uncle Walt, as he was called), sitting up there looking down on us.

What’s wonderful is that Walt’s actual grandchildren talk lovingly about their time spent playing inside his Disneyland apartment. They recall spending the night in the little cranberry-red home away from home, which was decorated in the Victorian style straight out of the childhoods of Walt and his wife, Lillian.

Walt had two daughters - Diane and Sharon - and 10 grandchildren.

When five of his grandchildren spoke about him at the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco some years back, they recalled a grandfather who reveled in his time with them. One poignant memory took place during their frequent travels with their grandfather. Walt would sit at a park reading scripts, and the grandchildren would run around him, playfully placing things on his head or bringing him into their games. They said rather than get annoyed, Walt would laugh along and take great delight in their frivolity.

Grandson Chris said when they spent time in the Disneyland apartment, they often heard the chants of the headhunters’ village on the Jungle Cruise ride. That sound still sticks in their heads as a sweet memory of their time in the park.

Some of the grandkids even had their own Autopia cars.

They said Walt would put lots of pre-autographed notes in his pocket before he left the apartment, in anticipation of all the fans who would inevitably stop him.

We all feel like we’re walking hand in hand with Walt Disney as we stroll down Main Street. It may be the way they pump in the smells of baked goods and popcorn to entice a positive feeling. Or the clean, nostalgic street with the vintage stores that remind of us an Americana most of us never actually experienced.

Part of the inspiration for Disneyland came when Walt sat at Los Angeles' Griffith Park watching his daughters joyfully ride the carousel. From that simple vision, he created something epic and abidingly special.

Walt’s daughter, Diane, who ended up founding the Walt Disney Family Museum, said despite her father working so hard to create his Disney empire, she and her sister, Sharon, enjoyed a fairly normal family life. They lived in a nice house, but they had two attentive, loving parents.

In a letter to his aunt in 1954, Walt wrote, “(Diane’s) husband is in the service - he’s stationed at Fort Ord, which is near Carmel. So, we’ll all be together up there … and I’m going to be a grandfather … We’re all very happy and excited about this coming event.”

In another letter years later, he wrote, “I don’t know if you had heard about the BIG news … the birth on Tuesday, Nov. 14th, of Walter Elias Disney Miller. Diane finally decided to name one of her sons for me.”

Walt was quoted as saying, “A man should never neglect his family for business.” Luckily, through his business, he created a little slice of home and family for all of us.

And they keep the light on in his little apartment over the Main Street fire station, so we know Walt's always with us as we enjoy the park with our families.