What Would Walt Do?: An Insider's Story About the Design and Construction of Walt Disney World

by D.M. Miller

Before Walt Disney died in December 1966, he assembled a dedicated team to create a new theme park near Orlando, Florida. Walt's brother Roy would eventually name the attraction Walt Disney World so that no one would ever forget whose dream it was. People who had worked for Walt since the 1950's designing, building, and operating Disneyland in Anaheim, California anchored the team. Team members were guided in the years after Walt's death by asking each other, "What would Walt do?"; This question was asked countless times during the design and construction of the huge theme park. It was asked about issues involving quality, creativity, safety, and the guest experience. The team usually knew the answer would be that Walt would have done the right thing. The team knew what that right thing was, and they always did it, regardless of cost. This book chronicles the experiences of a young Florida engineer who served the team during construction of Walt Disney World from 1968 to 1971. Mr. Miller suggests that Walt Disney World may be the highest quality construction project ever built.

124 pages, Paperback

First published March 21, 2001

Reviews

[Greg Teakert · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you can imagine what it would be like to listen to your slightly anti-union grandfather or older uncle tell you rambling and sometimes repeated stories about his time working on the construction of the Magic Kingdom at Disney World and what lead up to it, you'll have a pretty good idea of what this book has to offer.

While it isn't bad, a good editor could have added a star or two to the rating on this book.

[Patty · Rating 2 out of 5]

A less than entertaining look back at the early history of Walt Disney World. Somewhat rambling; could have used more editing, but it does feel like a nice chat with one of the engineers who was there at the beginning. There are only a few hints of Disney magic.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Poorly written and edited. Obviously self-published as the book has many grammatical errors and repeats sections of story multiple times. One man's rant against Disney.