From Jungle Cruise Skipper to Disney Legend: 40 Years of Magical Memories at Disney

by William "Sully" Sullivan, Bob McLain (Editor), Jim Korkis (Contributor)

Four Decades with Disney

Young "Sully" Sullivan needed a job, and so in 1955 he applied for one at the brand-new theme park, Disneyland, where he was hired on the spot as a ticket-taker for the Jungle Cruise. Soon he was promoted to skipper, and then he met his future wife at Waltah Clarke's Hawaiian Shop across from the Jungle Cruise, and then he was assigned to projects ranging from the 1964 New York World's Fair and Epcot to Disneyland Paris, and then it was forty years later, and Sully was retiring as vice-president of Magic Kingdom in Orlando.

In his humorous, no-holds-barred style, Sully takes you on a whirlwind ride through his life, with stories coming at you faster than skipper jokes on the Jungle Cruise, including:

The raucous fraternity of Jungle Cruise skippers, and why they were known as "jungle bunnies"

Laugh-out-loud tales about dozens of Disney notables before they became notable

How Sully met the challenge of keeping Disney's attractions running smoothly at the 1964 New York World's Fair

Sully's integral role in the opening of three new parks: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Disneyland Paris

A happy ending to a fairy tale career, with a window on Main Street and recognition as a Disney Legend

Sully's never-before-told stories provide a unique, often irreverent glimpse into the history and culture of Disney theme parks.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction

148 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2015

Reviews

[☮ morgan ☮ · Rating 5 out of 5]

"But things have to change in order to go forward. You can't stand still. Walt knew that."

Really enjoyed these stories from the early days of Disneyland. It makes these people feel real.

[Daniel Butcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

From BetweenDisney.com


I am a really big fan of the World Famous Jungle Cruise! In fact the other day I told someone I dressed up to hangout with them, I was wearing my Jungle Cruise shirt just for them. Okay, it was mostly for me. And reading Theme Park Press' latest offering with a Jungle Cruise theme was just as much for me as slipping on that comfy and stylish tee.

From Jungle Cruise Skipper to Disney Legend: 40 Years of Magical Memories at Disney by William "Sully" Sullivan at first glance appears to be an autobiography of a former skipper with memories going back to Disneyland's opening year. But it is really much more. It is a story of a young Skipper in Sully who left his job to try out this Disneyland thing he saw on television. Sullivan started as a ticker taker at the Jungle Cruise and then began to work his way through a multifaceted Disney career. Yes, he did move from ticket taker to Skipper, but that was just the beginning. He would serve as a supervisor on Main Street USA, develop security plans for the 1960 Winter Olympics, helped run operations at the 1964 New York World's Fair (though he never met Mary Blair) and other tasks as assigned by the Boss himself Walt Disney. Eventually, Sullivan would leave California and join the Florida team joining the development of Epcot and eventually becoming the Vice President of the Magic Kingdom, having again started as a ticket taker. The book alternates between chapters written by Jim Korkis that provide context to Sullivan's experiences and those with Sullivan speaking about his life.

I have often called General Douglas MacArthur the soldier of the 20th Century. He was born in a Western outpost when horses were still standard equipment, fought through 2 global conflicts and ended his career with an arsenal that included the atomic bomb. Ironically this is how I feel about Sullivan! He was the employee of the first 40 years of Disney parks operations. He started as part of the ticket book system, followed Walt Disney as he expanded his entertainment pursuits, and ended with one price ticketing. Sullivan's career does more than define him as a person, but describes the history of Disney Parks as one observes him. The reader discovers quickly that Sullivan is a man who said yes when asked to do things outside of his expertise. And this tendency served him well as he went from assignment to assignment. All of these experiences made him a well-rounded executive who was focused on the the consistency of guest service across his areas of responsibility and those who worked for him.

With Jungle Cruise in the title, one does want the book to be funny. Honestly, there are no rolling around on the ground belly laughs. Though you will likely crack several smiles. Readers will learn a lot about Disney history, even if they are experienced Disney historians. I now know about orange ties and baby alligators in the early days of Disneyland thanks to Sully. Sullivan started in the Jungle Cruise and though he did not stay for long his recollections are filled with the fun of what he was doing. He liked working for Disney and enjoyed having a good time. And why would he not have enjoyed working for the Boss. His employment in the parks would lead him to meet his wife and enjoy what honestly reads as a highly satisfying professional career. And he will always be a skipper!

Really, if I wanted to use a word for From Jungle Cruise Skipper to Disney Legend it would be charming. One cannot be caught on Sullivan's words as he discusses Walt Disney and the need to train staff to treat guests the Disney way. It is full of admiration and care. Sullivan's admiration becomes infectious very quickly.

Sure, the Jungle Cruise is what gets you in the door as you pick up From Jungle Cruise Skipper to Disney Legend: 40 Years of Magical Memories at Disney by William "Sully" Sullivan. But gets you to stay is the historical evolution of 40 years of Disney parks. For those years when a major advancement in the history of the parks occurred, Sullivan was generally there with his can-do attitude and commitment to Disney quality. And as a reader you will feel overjoyed to spend some time immersed in Sullivan's world.


Review Copy Provided by Theme Park Press

[Hots Hartley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspiring read.

The best part is the exclusivity of the stories, and the unique turns of phrase used from time to time. I love the chapter, "It Takes People," where he goes down the list of his coworkers, offering unfiltered opinions about the personalities. He pulls no punches, and tells it like it is, unlike Disney Editions books that whitewash everything. Sully's personality comes out in the telling. He's just a regular guy, but he holds strong convictions:

ーーーーー START SNIPPETS ーーーーー

"I wanted to go out to Disneyland for the fun of it, to see who I could meet, but I hadn't planned to stay there very long. I went there for a summer to decide what I really wanted to do and ended up staying for thirty-nine-and-a-half years." (10)

"We were just making it all up as we went along." (17)

"We weren't fearful of [Walt] like you can be with some bosses." (22)

"Walt always listened to his people working the rides. He figured they knew what wasn't working and probably what should be done to fix it." (24)

"We were always courteous to our guests. They were paying our wages and we waned them to keep coming back." (26)

"You learn a lot putting on a character costume and going out into the park. The kids come up to you with these big smiles. It was an amazing experience to see the park through those eyes." (36)

"Walt knew how VIPs like presidents were being treated, but he wanted to see how the guests were treated." (49)

"The biggest problem at the Magic Kingdom was pigeons. The fish and game department gave us a copy of a tape with the sound of a wounded bird that we used to play over the loudspeakers to scare them away. Then they got used to it and it was no good." (65)

"It was [Dick] Nunis who drove the first monorail through the Contemporary. The workers all stopped working to see it." (66)

"The Disney art directors wanted to paint [the Chinese junk in the lagoon], but the wood was teak. You can't paint teak because then it can't breathe and the whole thing just rotted." (69)

"Once construction started it took three years to build Epcot Center. More than 10000 construction workers from 18 unions were hired to pour cement, install beams, and clear away 54 million cubic feet of dirt. There were 22 general contractors and 500 subcontractors involved in what was the nation's largest private construction project that ended up costing over a billion dollars." (73)

"[Jack] Lindquist took out a full-page ad in twenty-five top newspapers and almost got fired because Disney had never paid for publicity before." (79)

"The College and International Programs were something set out by the boss. You had to be first- or second-generation from that country before you could work there, so each pavilion would be populated by authentic workers and servers." (80)

"That's the business. It is hard sometimes. We got rid of some of the best, but when things picked up we brought them right back on. That's one of the things Disney did differently. Let 'em go, but bring 'em back on if you can. Be firm, fair, and consistent." (83)

"Tokyo Disneyland is beautiful, and has its own little personality… The food is phenomenal and they've done interesting things with their merchandise which the guests go crazy over. There are so many people over there who love the park and they come back and back and back. They are there all the time, and the performers have groupies. They are Disney fanatics. I rode their Jungle Cruise, didn't understand a word the skipper said, but I knew exactly what he was saying at the same time." (85)

"If there is any difference in the parks, it is more a difference in the weather. People are people. If you treat them nice, they'll treat you nice, and that's what we did. We treated them as guests, not as customers." (87)

"I spent maybe $495 a square foot on the Magic Kingdom Main Street, but in France they spent $1495 a square foot." (90)

"People keep asking me what makes Disney different and I tell them it is this detail and the quality of the workmanship. It was the quality in our shows. The quality in our people. The quality of the wardrobe. The quality of the good. The quality of the merchandise, the landscaping, the maintenance. The whole package." (91)

"A stage set is lifeless until actors bring it to life and become part of the overall design." (93)

"There are many amusement parks in the world, but guests come to the Disney parks because of the people, often working completely without any recognition, who help provide the magical moments." (93)

"Walt was using the [Denver Celebrity Sports] Center as a training ground for something bigger. We didn't know it at the time, but that something turned out to be Walt Disney World. We sampled everything." (96)

"Another straight-arrow lessee was Bo Boyd, who ran the Emporium. But Walt took these things away from the lessees because nobody could run it the way Walt wanted it done. And he was right. In the beginning, he just didn't have the money to do it all. But as Disneyland started to make some good money, Walt let all the leases drop." (98)

"If you're going to have a good organization, you've got to build a great foundation. That's what Van was doing [with training and documentation] -- building the foundation." (102)

"Walt Disney's philosophy was that everything had to be show. Not only the attractions, but the food and the merchandise all had to be show." (103)

"Ron [Miller] was a good guy, but miscast in the executive role. He was a great big jock. He appreciated us and didn't hesitate to tell us. That type of thing didn't happen much later." (104)

"Frank [Wells] was always late. He'd call me in the middle of the night. He must have been an insomniac. He'd call Saturdays and Sundays to ask my opinion." (106) ← (This is just like me!)

"Michael [Eisner] decided he wanted to do it all on his own after [Frank's death] and that's when he got into trouble because nobody can do it all on their own." (106)

Lillian on Disneyland's Opening: "Everything went wrong. All of the equipment wasn't working and it was really pretty. I was home and heard all these things that were happening out there, you know. But it turned out to be a beautiful place, too." (117)

Diane on Epcot's Charm: "It's a wonderful, beautiful, physical thing. But without the right people in it, you walk through it and that's it. And I think the quality and kind of people that are working here in the shops, everywhere here, and [their] enthusiasm and friendliness, that whole feeling, I think that's what you have got to keep working at." (119)

Jennifer on Guest Demographics: "You walk around here and at Disneyland, and most of the people who come are Japanese." (119)

Diane on Epcot's Ideal: "Epcot would be a center for ideas from all over the world. Important things would happen here. You start out entertaining beautifully and through that you build an audience and you begin to educate, begin to do other wonderful things, and they all happen here." (121)

Diane on Walt: "I think Dad really was at heart an entertainer… I think that's what he hoped to create in Epcot, that center where wonderful things would happen, maybe scientific conferences. All the great minds of the world together here at this wonderful place. Create a congenial atmosphere and wonderful things will happen, like CalArts where he waned to get all the arts together. I think he really was an entertainer. He felt that was his expertise, but that doesn't mean you can't do something beyond that." (122)

ーーーーー END SNIPPETS ーーーーー

Still, the book jumps between Sully's first-person voice and the interviewer's third-person perspective far too often. It also spends too much time talking about Walt, glorifying his down-to-earth style when Sully himself should be the subject of the book. After all, Sully is the one that doesn't have 100s of biographies and business books written about him.

Despite its grammatical errors and sloppy divergences, the book inspired me. It reminded me that even we normal people can do extraordinary things if we stack good days together and work well with people. I feel like I want to start a Disneyland -- no, a Honmon Land -- of my own tomorrow. This book renewed my sense of purpose. It is a testament to the power of good people in the service of a great idea.

It's also a scary reminder of how big companies can slowly ruin something that was once so idyllic, simple, and down-to-earth. Sully constantly cites the good ol' days, of making things up, of the Wild West (literally), of the innocence of doing theme parks for the first time. The final interview with 80-year-old Lillian drives home how much present-day Disney has changed things for the worse by overextending itself in the USA. Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea remain a beacon for the days Sully describes in this book.

[Philip · Rating 3 out of 5]

The anecdotes can be interesting, but could use a tighter edit, especially if that edit added context for some of the statements that seem to come out of nowhere and just hang there

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this book. The stories were lovely. Sully knew Walt when Disneyland first came to be built and worked for Disney his entire career until he retired. It was fascinating reading about Walt’s vision through the eyes of one of his friends and cast members (because there are no employees at Disney).
Many people think Walt was a dictator and greedy. He was NOT. The proof comes from this author, Sully, who knew Walt, worked for him, respected him and admired him. Sully will set you straight if you have any negative feelings about Walt Disney.

The problems I had with this book were the author’s pretty sexist comments within his stories. Maybe that’s just a reflection of the times, but I would’ve hoped the editor and/or publisher would have advised the author better, especially since this book is ultimately a reflection on Disney. The organization of the book was also strange. The parts written by Sully were all over the place and not very connected. It was pretty confusing at times.

I still recommend reading this book if you are a Disney imagineering fan. I would also read it if you think you “know” Walt and have negative feelings about him. I don’t know how you could think poorly about Walt after reading this book.

[Leila Kern · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book for the entertaining stories about the parks and people. I am a Disney Fan and love to read about anything Disney. I love the creed "Safety, Courtesy, Show, Capacity". This signifies everything Disney to me and keeps me coming back to the Parks. Everyone needs to embrace the "child" in order to live. And, William "Sully" Sullivan appears to have done just that. I get the feeling he loved his job no matter what it was at the time. NAND, to be so lucky to have known Walt a Disney and be "mentored" by him is icing on the cake. Thank you for this book!