Happy Father’s Day to the Dad Who Started It All
Today I want to wish a very happy Father’s Day to the dad who started it all – Walt Disney!
Without Walt, we wouldn’t have the theme parks that span the globe that we all love so dearly.
Walt and Lillian
Walt Disney married Lillian Bounds in 1925.
“I think that Dad was smitten with my mother almost immediately. It was probably mutual. It was a sweet courtship.”—Diane Disney Miller
Family man
For Walt, family always came first. Walt held that a man should never neglect his family for business. He rarely brought work home.
In December 1933, Walt & Lilly were overjoyed with the birth of their first child, Diane Marie. Three years later, they adopted Sharon Mae.
Daddy’s day
Walt was a family man who loved coming home and looked forward to Daddy’s Day on the weekends. He even drove his girls to school every day until they were old enough to drive themselves.
“We weren’t raised with the idea that this is a great man who is doing things that no one else had ever done. He was Daddy. He was a man who went to work every morning and came home every night.”— Sharon Mae Disney
The inception of Disneyland
“Saturday was always daddy’s day with the two daughters. So we’d start out and try to go somewhere . . . I’d take ‘em to the merry-go-round and different places. And as I’d sit there on a bench, you know, eating peanuts while they rode the merry-go-round and did all these things, I felt that there should be some kind of an amusement enterprise built, where parents and their children could have fun together. So that’s how Disneyland started.”—Walt Disney
Fun at home
The Disney family home was located on Carolwood Drive in the Holmby Hills section of Los Angeles. There, Walt indulged in his love for trains. He built the Carolwood Pacific Fair Weather Route, a half-mile track that crisscrossed the home’s lawn and flowerbeds. On the track he ran his beloved miniature steam locomotive, the Lilly Belle.
Happy Father’s Day, Walt Disney!
Walt Disney adored his two daughters and his 10 grandchildren. He could be seen at Disneyland with them quite often.
Because of Walt Disney generations of families have been able to make magical memories at Disneyland, Walt Disney World and Disney destinations around the world.
So on this Father’s Day, I want to say thank you to the dad who started it all.
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