Industry standards were also set beyond the dinosaurs. The whole pavilion was a huge smash.” Documents show that guests would wait hours to ride the attraction for a glimpse of the dinosaurs. “The dinosaurs were a big hit,” Linhart said. The total immersion of the senses displayed in the dinosaur scenes on Ford Magic Skyway, though, was a new level of storytelling that would soon be used at forthcoming Disneyland attractions, like Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion. The use of synchronized movement and sound was first on display, although to a much smaller degree, with Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room. The dinosaurs would revolutionize theme park technology as we know it, setting a precedent and introducing guests to figures on the grand scale that they would come to expect from Disney parks’ attractions. “Walt realized that the World’s Fair would be a great place to expand that technology, expose it to many more people, enhance it and get it more out there,” added Linhart. This new and groundbreaking entertainment medium showed guests the most life-like dinosaurs they had ever seen before, which moved and even grunted.
For many, this was the first time they saw audio-animatronics with their own eyes. Some 15 million people attended the show during its two-year run. His grandest display of showmanship? Forty-six towering dinosaurs, marking one of the earliest and grandest displays of audio-animatronics. “It was a big undertaking for Disney, but allowed them to expand their Imagineer technology and audio-animatronic technology,” Linhart said. He used the opportunity for his Imagineers to research new technologies and never-before-seen storytelling methods, on the dime of the mega-corporation. The partnership at the World’s Fair would not only prove to be beneficial for Ford, but for Disney as well.
The result was Ford Magic Skyway, an attraction narrated by Disney himself, that would transport guests aboard actual Ford motor vehicles as they “time traveled” to different periods, including the era of the dinosaur. Naturally, they thought of Walt Disney and his Imagineers at WED Enterprises, who were making waves at the time for the technologies used at Disneyland.
This ultimately set the trajectory for theme park innovation as we know it.ĭuring the planning stages of the World’s Fair, Ford Motor Company was looking to partner with a pioneering visionary for a unique exhibit that would showcase its new automobiles. Fueled by some of the biggest corporations at the time, it was also a pivotal moment for Disney as it was his first big reach to the East Coast, years before Walt Disney World was built, and a chance to flex his creative muscles.Īt the Fair, Disney spearheaded the creation and design of four exhibits that would lay the groundwork for much of what Disney parks offer today. It all goes back to the 1964 World’s Fair held in Queens, New York - a hotbed of inspiration and a promising peek at the future where technology merged with creativity and passion. You can’t miss the staggering heights and breathtaking size of these three-dimensional, audio-animatronic dinosaurs, but many overlook their historical significance.
Primeval World, a diorama that is part of the historic Disneyland Railroad, is something that many casual guests pass by without a second thought. A fourth Disney exhibit at the fair never fully made it to parks, but millions have passed by one of its most impressive elements every year at Disneyland. Three of Disney park’s most iconic attractions came from the event: It’s a Small World, Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress and Great Moments with Mr. The groundbreaking 1964 New York World’s Fair was a creative playground for Walt Disney and his Imagineers, a chance for the greatest visionaries of the time to experiment before a global audience.