Remembering Walt: A Labor of Love
It was your typical California summer day in the late ’50s. Dick May was taking tickets in front of the Casey Junior Circus Train in Fantasyland when a woman at the front of the line asked, “Does Mr. Disney ever come around here? Before May could respond, a smiling man with a mustache and a wide-brimmed hat spoke up from behind her. “Yes,” said Walt Disney to the speechless woman, “I do.” Walt may have surprised the woman in line, but to May and his Disneyland co-workers during the Park’s early years, Walt’s presence was a regular—and often unpredictable—occurrence. In fact, he would often appear and be gone as soon as he learned what he wanted. “I was testing the Skyway one morning soon after the installation of the new cabins” May recalls. “I was watching them come in when Walt appeared and asked how they compared to the old…
