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.41 But this conservative man had become an advocate for a city of thefuture that could function only as a totalitarian enterprise.EPCOT was not the only questionable project that absorbed Disney s timein 1966.Another was the Mineral King ski development, which was, beneaththe glitter, a highly dubious use of a fragile valley.Disney had said of Min-eral King in 1965 that it was a natural extension of what I ve been doing allmy life, and a recreation project, not an entertainment center, 42 but PeterBrowning, writing a few years later, identified a fatal flaw:Disney estimates that 60 per cent of the visitors to Mineral King will come inthe summer.Many of them will make the trip simply because it is there to bemade; it will be a nice one-day jaunt.But many would not make the drive ifthere were nothing at the end of the road such as an excursion train, cafe-terias, shops, and an audio-visual presentation to provide entertainment.The Disney development itself would be the major attraction at Mineral King.For all that some visitors might care about the surroundings, it could just aswell be located in the Mojave Desert or Los Angeles.43In other words, the distinction between entertainment and recreation wasmuch more significant than Disney thought, at least in this case.He under-stood entertainment That s our business, as he said at his 1965 Floridapress conference but recreation s complexities had eluded him.Measuredagainst the damage to the Mineral King Valley that would inevitably ac-company growth to meet what Disney called the ever-increasing publicneed, his statement that it won t ever be finished had a far more ominouscoloration than when he made such a vow about Disneyland.3 1 2 he drove hi ms elf ri ght up to the end Walt Disney had committed himself to two ambitious but badly flawedideas.Perhaps he could have salvaged one or the other, with time, but as ithappened, he had only a little time left for Mineral King, or EPCOT, or any-thing else.On June 23, 1966, Disney wrote to his friend Eisenhower: Grandma andGrandpa Disney and all of the Disney clan (including our seven grandchil-dren) have chartered a yacht out of Vancouver for two weeks to cruise theinlets of British Columbia.Our trip will end on the 13th of July which hap-pens to be the 41st anniversary for Grandma and Grandpa. 44 As always, Dis-ney took work along. I don t know how many things he took on the boatto Vancouver, read em all, Ron Miller told Richard Hubler. He even tookone book on how to select faculty for colleges, because he had CalArts, whichwas of great interest to him. At that time, Miller said, Disney was alreadyscheduled to go into the hospital and have his back looked into.I noticedhe was having a helluva time with his leg.[The pain] came down and it both-ered his hip.Whenever he would get in a rowboat or anything, he wouldhave to literally do this to his leg [indicating lifting his leg, as though step-ping over a low fence].It was the damnedest thing.And that s as far as thewhole family, or anyone, knew was the extent of his illness. 45Later that month, Disney underwent hospital tests that indicated that sur-gery might relieve the nagging aftereªects of the polo injury to his neck al-most thirty years before, but he held oª scheduling any such operation.Overthe next few weeks, other people were struck by the signs of his poor health.On September 19, 1966, Disney and Governor Edmund G. Pat Brownof California held a news conference at Mineral King so that the governorcould declare publicly his commitment (backed by three million dollars infederal funds) to the new all-weather road that was one of the Forest Service sconditions for letting Walt Disney Productions develop the valley.The pressconference was scheduled for noon, but it was delayed when both Brownand the press buses ran late.It was unseasonably cold, with cloudy skies, in-termittent rain, and a temperature around 20 degrees.Disney and the rest ofhis party flew into the Visalia airport in a company plane and then drove toMineral King in a motorcade.Robert Jackson, a Disney publicist, wrote later in a brief memoir of theoccasion:By mid-September, it was known within and outside the organization that Waltwould enter the hospital in November for a check up and for therapeutic mea-sures. It was no surprise, then, that Walt s appearance drew comment of con-dreami ng of a ni ghtmare ci ty, 1 965 1 966 3 1 3 cern from two members of the press, both of whom mentioned to me that hedid not look well.I attributed his fatigue and pallor to the high altitude andcold.Following the official press conference, Walt excused himself and wentinto.a combination café and general store operated by.long-timeresidents of Mineral King.Walt was warming himself in front of a wood-burning stove when I entered to tell him that members of the press requestedhis return outside.They wanted photos with Governor Brown taken againstthe scenic beauty of Mineral King s southern area.Walt s complexion was ashen, and this is the first time that I became trulyworried about his well-being.In a very quiet manner, Walt asked me todelay the photos for a few minutes until I catch my breath and can rest awhile. .Walt came out a few minutes later and posed with Governor Brown.The entire group then ate box lunches embellished by hot baked beans andplenty of coªee, which helped only temporarily to neutralize the cold.46On October 9, 1966, Mark Kausler, a freshman art student at the Kansas CityArt Institute the school whose classes Disney attended fifty years beforeheard a rumor that Walt Disney s coming to visit the dean! Disney had flownto Kansas City the day before to accept an award presented by Eisenhower ata People to People banquet (that international goodwill organization was head-quartered in Kansas City).He had added a visit to the art institute, un-doubtedly as part of his informal research for CalArts.Kausler was skepticaluntil a car drove on to the campus, and from my dorm room I could see WaltDisney getting out of the passenger seat and walking into the main buildingon campus where the dean s office was. A crowd of autograph seekers gath-ered. After what seemed like years, Walt, the dean and some staªers came outof the ivy covered building.Trembling like the true fan-boy I was, I stam-mered, Mr.Disney, would you sign my book [Bob Thomas s Walt Disney, theArt of Animation] for me, please?
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