The Mickey Mouse Corporatocracy: Walt Disney’s Plan to Build a Futuristic Utopia 

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A Megaproject video on the whole of Disney World would be pretty cool Simon.

A MegaProjects on Disneyland and Disney World needs to be done!! Also a video on Universal Studios or Warner Brothers basically any of the major production companies that had a key role in the beginning of Hollywood

Sometimes it occurs to me that my family members probably wonder why I'm listening to the same British guy constantly, unaware of the unusual number of channels this man hosts.

Simon is the best teacher ever. Everything you could ever want to know this man can tell you about. I've learned a TREMENDOUS amount of the world from his various channels and I will forever thank him for that.

I've been following this story since the 1980's. Company towns have been a feature since colonial days. The technotopia didn't get off the ground because Walt died. That's probably for the best because when any organization eliminates negative feedback loops, rot sets in and the entire castle crumbles. Checks and balances are the key. Fail to check unlimited power and excesses will destroy everything. Balance out the power so that no single entity can destroy everything, and decay is delayed.

"... surrounded by businesses that Walt thought were tacky and exploitative" 😂🤣😂🤣😂

I started WDW August 13, 1971. Diz opened 1 October 71. One thing we where taught during the four days of training the early people got, was that Epcot was Walt's big dream. Part of the "Enabling Legislation" Florida passed was that they where pre-approved by the State for a Nuclear plant. I've never had that confirmed, but that was usually stated as one of the "little known facts" of that legislation. What else? Hours of stories I could tell. You do well with this part of the story, my congratulations to you. Oh, by the way, yes we where all "working for the Mouse". Very true. After you had been there a several of months, you no longer had "pixie dust in your eyes". Another common saying among Diz "cast members". I was on the opening crew, in Food Division, for the Contemporary Hotel. It was way behind schedule. The last restaurant opened for the public New Years Day 1972. The trouble US Steel had building it, and the story of the Contemporary build is a potential Mega Project story on it's own,

It is sort of creepily impressive how, after failing to build a city, Disney has slowly been absorbing the entire world.

Pentagon's design is to allow anyone at a relatively decent pace can be from one location to another in less than 12 minutes. Perfect example of the hub and spoke design.

4:24 company towns 7:25 that happy place 10:10 a never(regulated) land 23:33 Epcot realized

Walt Disney, the man, is deeply significant to me. My great uncle was a famous Disney singer who voiced Jiminy Cricket. Uncle Walt felt sorry for my uncle, who struggled with drugs and alcohol, and loved his beautiful tenor voice. So he would offer him jobs, and even paid for his gravesite upon his death rather than let him be buried in an unmarked pauper's grave. I regard him as part of my family and my legacy. I too love to sing, and regard Walt as a friend of my family. He had a lot of flaws and he was a product of his time, but I believe in my heart he was a good man who wanted to make life better for humanity.

There is a lot of darker history to Disney in Florida, like the cutting down of all native trees because they turned the lakes brown and having the employees chase the native birds out with baseball bats, to an escaped lion from the animal kingdom, even the story of 2 boys who were killed after being in a high speed chase from Disney’s private security force. They even succeeded in creating their own city ‘utopias’. The first was called Country Walk and was outside of Miami. In 1992, 90% of the homes were destroyed by a hurricane and lawsuits arose against the developers for cutting corners and using cheap construction practices. After Country Walk was destroyed, Disney shifted focus and tried again this time creating the town called ‘Celebration’ which is still around today just south of Orlando. Florida journalist Carl Hiaasen wrote a great book about Disney called Team Rodent that talks all about this dark history.

The University of Central Florida also has a layout that is said to be directly related to Disney’s idea of Epcot. Our library is the centerpiece of a massive spoke and wheel design! Even though it’s one of the largest university campuses in the nation it only takes 10-15 minutes to go to any point across. Disney world is just a couple of miles away.

He may have been a difficult man to work for, but if there's one thing you can't accuse Walt Disney of it's _thinking small._

The design of cities using the hub and spoke design was actually used by Walter Burley Griffin in his winning design for Canberra, the capital of Australia, in 1913. This design became reality and can be seen today in the layout of Canberra. Another topic for a mega project?

If anyone's interested : Defunctland here on YT has covered some REALLY in depth analysis of WD and his shenanigans. Have a look at his stuff if you can, he's done some years worth of research on Walt!

Honest truth. My friend and I where in college and started "brain storming" a city we called "Millennium City", and it kinda looked like what Disney was designing. We had no clue about any of his designs. It had a mile high tower in the middle. And each ring out was designed to have specific functionality. Power was as "Green" as possible..... so forth and so on. It ws cool but nearly impossible to do.

As someone who was a central Florida resident for 9 years before I moved, Disney has a major effect on the entire area. During peak inflow and outflow times of the park (noon and 10-12 PM respectively) that entire stretch of I4 tends to back up- especially at night when everyone is leaving at the same time. I-4 is already a very busy interstate that has a high accident rate and huge amount of traffic daily, but somehow it just works. Prices for just about anything are elevated in a good 50-80 mile radius around the parks (double to sometimes even triple normal values when right by them). Thats not to say theyre a bad thing though, theres two seasons in Florida: Snowbird season (old people in the winter) and tourist season in the summer (pro tip: GO TO FLORIDA IN THE FALL! That is if you don’t want to be a lobster). Theres an influx of millions each time, and the businesses use that. The parks themselves are pretty well built too, they’ve gotten surprisingly good at traffic management lately and have an extensive bus transit system (only magic kingdom has monorails). All in all that place feels less like a park and more like a sprawling city.

Simon, you missed one thing. Before Florida, Walt tried to make a very public attempt to build in New Orleans East. Politicians and land owners all wanted in on it. This made him move quietly in Florida.

It's been a running joke with cast members about there being a "weather dome" when guests complain about the heat or the rain. It never ceases to be amusing.

Towards the end of your video when Walt is standing in front of the diagram of DisneyWorld, he reminded me of Howard Stark doing the same things. Maybe he was the real-life Howard Stark. Always looking to the future beyond anyone's imagination.

Another incredibly written and narrated story! Especially as a native Floridian (Yes, I AM FLORIDA MAN.... 🤣) I love the in depth history, I had known some, but never as in depth. I also love that the idea of Walt was for people to "escape the rat race" by going to what we as locals would call the "Rat Palace"! 😅 You cannot discount the vision, and the global impact that that company has had. Good or bad.

"Tacky and exploitative" - So ol' Walt pretty much predicted his own creation's future then, with the high prices and plastic facades of a fairytale kingdom... :P

Some 20 years ago Disney offered a program in FLA. called The Disney Institute. It was a week long stay at Disney World, but it focused on education. You could select from classes on Animation, Topiary, even cooking. In addition there were programs such as an Architecture Tours (See the Eyesore in I 4) and backstage visits. One early morning Rivers of The World Tour took place before the parks opened and was a boat ride between parks exploring how it all was interconnected. Unfortunately, THAT got cancelled due to to an encephalitis outbreak and with mosquitoes particularly active in early morning, a good thing too. But my topiary (Mickey Mouse, of course) made it all the way home and thrived for several years though no longer resembling anything close to a mouse.

Yes, definitely want to see a Megaproject on the creation of the Disney theme park(s), please

Another disturbing and infuriating fact: after DisneyLand opened, the Florida aquifer ( where the states drinking water comes from ), dropped TEN FEET. IN THE ENTIRE STATE. I grew up in Florida, and wouldn't be upset to see Disney disappear.

Your '' Megaprojects '' series is excellent. Thanks for the entertainment.

I'd love to see a MegaProjects on Disneyland and Disneyworld! Very interesting video.. well done Simon and team! 😊❤

Please cover all of the Disney parks as Megaprojects videos. I'd love to see your take on them, and would love to get more info on both Tokyo and Paris' parks.

Impressive vision Thanks for sharing your thoughts with all of us 👍😀

Simon, if y'all think it COULD be a mega projects episode, then I wanna see it. Every time.

Absolutely would LOVE to see a Megaproject video on Disneyland! Maybe even one for Walt Disney World as well!

Outstanding presentation! 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

Yassss! I wanna see a megaproject of Disneyland. And yes any Disney megaproject now that I think of it. I live in Florida about just over an hour from Disneyworld. And would love to know more.

I used to live near to what I believe is the first industrial owned and constructed town in history. It is called Saltaire was built in 1851 by Sir Titus Salt. He built a massive mill and planned town for all the employees. They were paid in his money and he owned the shops, schools, hospital, churches and housing. It has Greco/roman architecture unlike surrounding towns and is now a Unesco World Heritage site. If you were caught with alcohol you lost your job and home as he was. It's actually quite beautiful and was apparently a vast improvement for mill workers who were basically slaves withbut even basic rights at that time. They would live in disease filled slums but he provided bathhouses, washhouses for clothes, a library, concert hall and gymnasium. Also a large beautiful park with a bandstand that is still super popular. The old mill now houses art galleries and it is a very popular place to visit.

The Soviet Union was not a friend, it was the "Enemy of my Enemy is my friend." now the term is a "frenemy." WED based on Walt's initials. Thanks for your time and work.....

Thank you for your Insight on this Simon. I have always been a fan of Walt Disney's idea of what Epcot was going to be, however nowadays looking at how much technology can actually enslave, instead of liberate it kind of makes me cringe.

I enjoy your content, please keep it up

As a very young boy my family lived in Kissimmee Florida. I vaguely remember the wooden buildings and dirt streets. It wasn't much more than a wide spot in the swamps. My parents moved to Vero Beach in the early 1970s and when my grandparents came to visit us in Florida they took us to the brand new Disney World park that had just opened. We stayed for a few days in the RV park and I remember there was a small boat that took us across the lake to the main park. The park was brand new then and I remember how magical it seemed (I think I was 11 years old). One other thing: At the RV park was another couple that had an RV that my grandfather went over to talk to. It looked like an airplane fuselage with wheels and I saw it again later on TV in a series called "Ark 2" a couple of years later.

The hard jump cut after his gulp of swamp drink was really funny, almost as funny as him slightly struggling to talk immediately afterwards 😂😂😂

This is an awesome video. I love Disney World, I used to live in Orlando when I was attending college there and I was dating a chick whose mom was/maybe still is a high up manager there and we could go there free any time we wanted. I wanted to go there all the time... and we did. It was amazing and so much fun.

Yup! Good as always Simon you and the team pulled off another good episode and while"WINGING IT", you think up D-Land on mega... (Yes I am sub to both and others 👍) Definitely do D-Land on mega!

Yes please walt Disney world mega project!!! Simon whistler is the only reason I use RU-vid! Keep it up fact boy!

Pullman does not exist as a municipality, actually. It’s merely a neighborhood in Chicago featuring a national historic site.

I was a small child when Disney died. My first question was: what is going to happen to the park? Little did I know that one day I would become a cast member at Walt Disney World. This is the best job I ever had.

A megaprojects video on Walt Disney world and the other parks would be a must watch!

Well that makes two mouse utopia experiments that failed.

Saw the title and was wondering why it's not a side project. Then I remembered the power of the Mouse.

Doing good Disney big projects will be a fun video to watch. You could even make it a series.

back when disneyland first opened anyone could go now its so expensive it isn't worth it i meran who wants to spend over a thousand dollars a day just to wait hours in line for a ride even the restaurants are way over priced its not for the regulars anymore

Disney World Megaproject! Let’s go!

One of the best Mega Projects that never was, and the funny thing is the concept all makes sense

Innovative hub and spoke design? Like Paris or DC or lots of earlier places that never really surpassed grid systems?

Mega project about Disney sick idea!

Hi Simon I love all your channels and think I might have an idea for a video. I have just finished building a model ship called Red Dragon, it is Chinese junk ship and I would love to learn about it as either a mega or side project.

I've been there as a kid, and it's even more impressive to this day. All that land all that planing, it's amazing, it is a wonder.

The technology would have been updated whether or not the residents wanted it. Imagine some company men bursting into your house and taking out the oven.

The Orlando Sentinel reporter who broke the Disney World story was a woman named Emily Bavar. Her recollections of her conversations with Walt are worth looking up if you're a Disney nerd! Would love to see you do more Disney videos, there are so many fascinating stories!

great video, would love to see more theme parks, maybe UK ones like alton towers maybe? blackpool pleasure beach?

Perfect timing since I’m going to Disney World Saturday.

YES do a mega project on the construction!

Walt would be PISSED so see how the current corporation is treating staff.

Absolutely would love to see videos on the parks themselves, both the successful and failed ones.

Whether u love or hate Disney, you've gotta admit he was ridiculously successful at doing things nobody even tries anymore

The guys at Donut Media have an episode of their podcast talking about the disaster of Fordlandia. It's a fascinating story, and the guys are a fun group

4:30 - Chapter 1 - Company towns 7:30 - Chapter 2 - That happy place... 10:15 - Chapter 3 - A never(regulated)land 16:30 - Chapter 4 - A great big beautiful tomorrow 23:35 - Chapter 5 - Epcot realized

If you haven’t yet, please look at Celebration, Florida, the town that Disney once owned but then sold. It’s right next to the Florida park and was an attempt to try to build the utopia city again.

There is a Walt E. Disney suite at the Grand Floridian resort, it’s amazing

"What's all this I'm hearing about not wearing the purity rings, haha?"

Grew up in central Florida and you just educated me

An example of a successful company town in the UK is the village of Bournville, created by the Cadbury brothers. They provided their employees with quality houses and great public amenities, good working conditions, relatively high wages for the time, and pioneered pension schemes, joint work committees and a full staff medical service. Today, it's still known as one of the nicest places to live in England!!

I'd absolutely love a Megaprojects on Disney World as a whole.

Yes to a Disney World Megaprojects

very well done Simon. AS USUAL.

There was a company town established by Erwin Mills in Eastern North Carolina. They built an entire town complete with homes, stores, a hospital and a trolly system. There was also a bus system that picked up workers living on farms outside of the company town. Everything was owned by the mill and they also issued their own currency or scrip for purchases at the company stores. Far from disastrous the little village still thrives today. The mill was the world's largest producer of denim and if you owned clothing made from denim back in the 60's it's a safe bet the cloth was made in Erwin NC.

The corporations did it mate, it's called the USA and it's mandatory Nation Clients.

Simon 100% need a Megaprojects videos on Disneyland and Walt Disney Word

I would love to see a follow up video!

Saltaire in North England is a good work town. They even educated their Child workers..

The idea that company towns were soul-destroying places, doomed to collapse once company owners realised that they couldn't control their employees entirely, was not completely correct as many of the places here in the UK - Port Sunlight, Saltaire or Bourneville - have actually thrived over the years, though they still maintain some of the foibles thrust upon them by their creators

The city transportation setup sounds like a good idea....until a hurricane rocks up.

The rumble strips across the Disneyworld private airstrip (at least used to) play out the main theme of "its a small small world" while planes were coming up to take off speed. Courtesy of The Imagineers.

Problems not mentioned: Walt wanted large companies to display their latest technologies that would be installed in all the houses. It was not thought that any companies would be keen to want to show off what they're working on to the public and two, it would be unlikely to be able to have those technologies installed in all 20k homes. Also, it was not known how often these technologies would be installed. Another problem to be worked out was voting rights. Originally, Walt said no one would have any voting rights and he alone would decide on everything. Also, he wanted everyone living there to be of working age, and all had to be working. This doesn't say what would happen to children or seniors. There was lots of things proposed that were unclear how it would work or if it would work. Some say this would be impossible to implement and some say that Walt would find a way to make it work. Or who's to say this would be his final word on his ideas? All in all, I believe any of the systems for the neighborhoods could be put in place like the courts, shared court middles with no cars except behind the houses to go to the roundabout to the roads, people movers to take people to work from the courts, and monorails to the further places, three level downtown that had supply trucks on the bottom, autos in the middle, and pedestrians only on top, with the public transit above the pedestrians and a whole circle city. The rest would need to be worked out or sacrificed. in my opinion.

Whistler... Can you do one pull up? A lat pull down is basically a wide arm spread pull up .. but instead of pulling up to your chin .. you put your head forward pulling your shoulder blades up to the bar. palms forward oncourse .. I used to generally do a wide spread pull up to the chest then to the shoulder blades back and forth.. . now a days they have pulleys and machines were you sit down and pull a bar connected to a cable .. down..

There were a number of company towns in The Upper Peninsula of Michigan including one by Ford.

Dude... 1 minute, 30 seconds of advert? They better be paying quite well, because that is insane.

Pullman today is a neighborhood in Chicago.

Yes please! I’d love to see a Megaprojects video in Disneyland.

I agree we need a video on the construction of Disney World

You should do a video on Pullman, how the town and company changed Chicago, especially when it became part of Chicago

This story is pretty much a script for the Bioshock video game. Only difference, it was not under water.

Disney's beard in buying up the property was a gentleman who was already building gi bill housing tracts in the orange groves, and was rewarded handsomely for his silence, and ability to buy land for less than the going rate.

Do we want a Megaprojects video on Disneyland? YES!!

A Walt Disney world video would be awesome

Oh yes so a Disneyland Megaproject, then a Disneyworld… in fact all Disney parks pleeease Simon 👍👍

While Walt & Roy seemingly had pure intentions this is actually one of the greatest dystopias thatcould have ever exsisted. Forget conpany town this is a Corpo city, and I'd say terrors only cemented with how modern Disney acts.

Definitely do a MegaProjects video on Disneyland, please, and maybe a separate one on Disney World, too.

You should do an episode on disneys insect control its all beneficial insects and biocontrols its amazing

I’d love to see a Megaproject about the entirety of the Disney World parks…