ONE WAY WITH WALT: BLOG
This blog follows Christopher’s journey on “One Way with Walt.”
DAY 3: SUNDAY, JULY 30, 2023 (PART 2)
Our next stop was LaJunta, CO, where we hopped off for some fresh air.
We passed through Raton, New Mexico and Las Vegas, NM (not Nevada).
We saw lots of different terrains en route as we continued our westward traverse following in Walt’s footsteps.
I gave away a copy of “The Walt 100” book to our rooming neighbor on the train because she had a good friend who is a big Disney fan. This made her day,
We had dinner with new folks, including a Naval i intelligence officer based in DC, and a math professor from Arizona State University.
Before heading to sleep, we watched Walt’s first Laugh-O-gram film, Little Red Riding Hood and Alice’s Wonderland.
DAY 3: SUNDAY, JULY 30, 2023 (PART 1)
This post was co-authored by CWT and Kristin.
Let’s get you up to speed. Our train was 2.5 hours late so we finally departed Kansas City at 1:15am. Unfortunately, Kristin twisted her ankle on the last step as we descended to our train. So we immediately iced it and then headed to bed. Each of us only slept about 3-4 hours. We had a very nice hearty breakfast.
Our mid-morning celebration called for popping some champagne (since we were too exhausted to do it last night and distracted by Kristin’s first aid needs) and toasted to Walt and his decision to head to Hollywood.
Train experience synopsis so far is smaller living quarters, an even smaller shower (quite the experience there), and very friendly people!
We have enjoyed many views of the heartland of America from the observation car and started making new friends from Wisconsin, Colorado, Illinois, and Ohio. Every person we have met ultimately leads to questions about our shirts/mouse ears and results in everyone being surprised about Walt Disney & excited for us & our adventures!
We played a Walt Disney version of the game “Love Letter,” which was a CWT original knock-off, which Kristin won! We also did some reading about Walt’s time in 1923, especially his time arriving in Los Angeles.
We are about to have a late lunch after we entered the Mountain Time Zone. We are still in Colorado and New Mexico is next.
DAY 2: SATURDAY, JULY 29, 2023
Today was a full day of adventures in Kansas City!
WALT OF THE DAY FUN FACT
On this date in 1922, Walt released the first Laugh-O-gram film, Little Red Riding Hood. It was written, produced and directed by Walt.
LAUGH-O-GRAM SITE
Kristin and I started with a VIP interior tour of the Laugh-O-gram Film Studios site at 31st and Troost. Gary Sage of Thank You, Walt Disney hosted us to show us the current state of the building and described the latest fundraising success and what’s planned in the space for the future. We are grateful for Gary’s time and look forward to what this space will look like one year from now. In the carousel below, you’ll see a photo from this visit.
PEDICURES IN HONOR OF MICKEY AND MINNIE
At Kristin’s request, we received pedicures (and manicures) in preparation for our travels to California. We decided to “brand” our big toes respetively with colors/imagery representing Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse (see photo below).
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF TOYS AND MINIATURES
We then ventured to this really cool museum on the campus of the University of Missouri Kansas City (UMKC). There, we saw quite a few Disney character toys from the 1930s and beyond. Plus, they had an entire floor dedicated to miniatures, which was one of Walt Disney’s hobbies!
UMKC’S KANGAROO
Kristin and I headed to another part of the UMKC campus — to the Student Union, where you can see the 1938 Kangaroo that Walt drew as the mascot for the school. See below for the photos. You might see some resemblance to some of the early Disney characters. Just saying.
KANSAS CITY ART INSTITUTE
Then we drove by KCAI (see photo below) where Walt once took art classes to learn some drawing skills.
In between these Walt sites, we also had KC BBQ at Q39 and checked out the large outdoor sculptures at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
Then we concluded our day with dinner at Il Lazzarone in the City Market district where we enjoyed caprese salad and a wood-fired oven pizza!
Next up: we head to Union Station to depart on ONE WAY WITH WALT!
DAY 1: FRIDAY, JULY 28, 2023 (PART 2)
Tonight, we had 2 Walt related moments.
First, the night before Walt left Kansas City, he had dinner with Edna Francis, who was dating Roy Disney, Walt’s brother. On our night before departing Kansas City, we dined at Extra Virgin, a meditarranean restaurant.
Then, we walked to the Muehlebach Hotel in Downtown KC, where Walt stayed at least twice. Walt’s first visit to the hotel was in 1931 with his wife, Lillian, while they were en route to Washington, D.C. According to Kiddle, Walt and Roy (and their partners) stayed a second time at this hotel in July 1956, just before they went to Marceline, Missouri for the dedication of the Walt Disney Memorial Park and Pool.
DAY 1: FRIDAY, JULY 28, 2023 (PART 1)
Welcome to the first entry!
Today is the eve of departing on tomorrow’s one-way train ride from Kansas City to Los Angeles, 100 years after Walt Disney purchased a one-way first class ticket from KC to LA. I came up with this idea 5 years ago and it’s now becoming a reality.
I recruited my fellow Bronco and former Student Orientation Coordinator and dear friend, Kristin (Petrucci) Gartner, to join me on this epic adventure.
Today, she flew from Minneapolis to KC and I flew from Detroit to KC. Since our train does not depart until Saturday night from Union Station, we will spend the day exploring Walt and non-Walt sites in Kansas City, especially since I was just here 20 days ago with my 2023 Walt’s Pilgrimage class.
So follow along on this journey to see how it goes!
