Walt Disney to Be Brought to Life with Audio-Animatronics in 2025: 'Walt Disney – A Magical Life' Revealed

Aug 11, 2024 in "Disneyland Resort"

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Walt Disney - A Magical Life Concept Art

Posted: Sunday August 11, 2024 11:17pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

For the first time ever, when it debuts in 2025 at Disneyland, you'll actually be able to see Walt Disney through the magic of Audio-Animatronics technology in "Walt Disney – A Magical Life."

Walt Disney - A Magical Life Concept Art

Walt Disney Imagineering's first Audio-Animatronics figure of Walt Disney is being created for this very special experience. "I speak for our entire team when I say there is so much pride and excitement for everyone involved in this endeavor," Josh D'Amaro told the crowd.

The past, present and future are coming together, giving visitors the chance to imagine what it would be like to stop by Walt's office. Who knows what he might be dreaming up inside? Only time will tell with Walt.

"Walt Disney – A Magical Life" will debut inside the Main Street Opera House, and after its initial run, the attraction will play in rotation with "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln." A fitting acknowledgement of Walt's significant advances with Audio-Animatronics about 60 years ago when he first introduced the groundbreaking technology.

"Creating our first Walt figure is a huge responsibility, and we've brought members of the Disney family along with us for every step of the journey," Josh continued on stage. "His great-nephew, Roy P. Disney, visited the Imagineering campus recently to see our progress. And he's here tonight. Thank you, Roy, for helping us fulfill this dream."

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VJ1 hour ago

Nope, it was also always called The Happiest Place on Earth.

chadwpalm23 hours ago

A billboard in the 50s.

chadwpalm1 day ago

This is the guidebook spring of 1971: This is fall/winter of 1972 after WDW opened: TWDC rebranded the park as "The Happiest Place on Earth" to not confuse it with the newly opened Magic Kingdom in Florida.

chadwpalm1 day ago

Nobody said it was the "official" name, but it was definitely a moniker that Walt Disney came up with to describe the theme park. Every Disneyland guidebook up until WDW opened called Disneyland "Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom" except the ones that quote Walt (or like in your video) because he wasn't a narcissist. 816382

ProjectXBlog1 day ago

If you look at ticket books from the ‘70s and earlier, a lot of them have the nickname front and center.

Consumer1 day ago

Didn’t the People Mover refer to Disneyland as the Magic Kingdom?

Disney Irish1 day ago

It does, and its been there for as long as I can remember, at least since the 80s or 90s. Which is why this whole thing is silly, and why its basically just trolling now by that poster.

SuddenStorm1 day ago

Doesn't the Main Street train arrival spiel go "for a grand circle tour around Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom"? Does anyone know how long that's been in place? My guess is decades, but I don't know for sure.

VJ1 day ago

1. Why would he say Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom? He is Walt Disney. 2. I don't know about anyone else, but I haven't once said that "Magic Kingdom" is or ever was the official name of Disneyland. Just a secondary name or descriptor of what Disneyland is: a magic kingdom.

Disney Irish1 day ago

You're playing semantics here and you know it, and keep doubling down which at this point is just trolling. The park has been unofficially known, and even officially stated, as Walt's Magic Kingdom. Just accept it and move on. :)

Phroobar1 day ago

He said Magic Kingdom. He didn't say "Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom" or "My Magic Kingdom". If you want to be exact about it. It was the never the official name of the park.

VJ1 day ago

Disneyland has been referred to as "Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom" since before the park opened, and by Walt himself in the below video from 1962. "After many hectic yet happy weeks, the big day arrived! On July 17th, 1955, we opened the gates to all people from all over the world to enjoy this magic kingdom with us."

Figments Friend5 days ago

Thank you for the update! Hope you have been doing well. 🙂 -

Old Mouseketeer9 days ago

If we can pause the Magic Kingdom pie fight for a second, I have some news about the DL Opera House. A friend was working backstage near the Opera House and the emergency exit doors on the north side were open and the inner curtains were, as well. They could see into the Lincoln Theater and it was a big surprise. There is now a big pit inside the theater and stage where they have dug a new basement or expanded the old one. They could see through the theater to the edge of the proscenium on the south side. From the stage to the fourth entrance door was now a deep basement lined in concrete. At the front of the audience row that lined up to the fifth entrance door was a new pony wall (half wall) framed out in wood. It was hard to see in the construction lighting with the bright sunlight outside, so from that angle they could not see how deep this new basement goes down. From what we have seen in other attractions, especially the turntables below the side boxes of CBJ, Audio-Animatronics require several feet of infrastructure below the floor. Given the size of the turntable in the rendering with the wall of Walt's office behind it, it's easy to visualize the excavation having to go to the edge of the existing stage. The fact that it extends this far into the house is interesting. Needless to say, there are many months of work ahead!