Thursday Night: “Cory Meets World” Interview with Disney Legend Tom Nabbe

by Ray Keating

News

DisneyBizJournal.com

April 22, 2020

At 8:00 PM EST on Thursday (April 23) night, the “Cory Meets World” vlog will air a live interview with Disney Legend Tom Nabbe.

This looks like it will be an evening well spent, with an official Disney Legend inductee being interviewed on this engaging vlog featuring Cory and Stephanie.

The “Cory Meets World” YouTube channel reports the following about Nabbe: 

Tom was at opening day of Disneyland and the next day was hired as a “newsie,” hawking The Disneyland News to Main Street guests. In 1956, Walt Disney recognized the Tom Sawyer in a young Nabbe, and he became the “Luckiest Boy in the World.” That’s what the cover of the April 7, 1957 issue of Parade Magazine said, beneath a full-color photo of Tom dressed as Mark Twain’s paragon of American boyhood. One job requirement was that Tom had to keep a C average in school. So, every quarter, Tom brought his report card directly to Walt for inspection. 

In 1971, Tom was transferred to the newly opened Walt Disney World in Orlando, where he started as manager of the Monorail. He also helped in the opening of Disneyland Paris. 

Forty-eight years later, in June 2003, 60-year-old Tom retired from his job as manager of distribution services at Walt Disney World. He was the last working member of Club 55, a group of original Disneyland cast members named for Disneyland’s inaugural year and for their chief qualification of membership—a paycheck from Walt Disney dated 1955. 

Shortly after his retirement, Tom received the highly selective honor of having his name on one of the windows down Main Street at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. 

In 2005, he was inducted as a Disney Legend during a ceremony that took place at Disneyland.

Okay, count us in!

By the way, Nabbe has written a book about his experiences - From Disneyland's Tom Sawyer to Disney Legend: The Adventures of Tom Nabbe (Disney Legends) (Volume 2). 

In addition, “Cory Meets World” offers some merch and you can subscribe to their YouTube channel. Enjoy!

Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and author of The Disney Planner 2020: The TO DO List Solution (now available at a deep discount) and the Pastor Stephen Grant novels. He can be contacted at  raykeating@keatingreports.com.