Celebrating Ronald Reagan’s Birthday: Reagan and Disney

by Ray Keating

News/Analysis

DisneyBizJournal.com

February 5, 2020

President Ronald Reagan’s birthday is February 6^th. Reagan and Walt Disney were friends, so we thought it would be fun to highlight this relationship with some links to assorted Reagan and Disney moments.

First, D23 celebrated the relationship Reagan had with Walt Disney in a short film. As noted by D23:

On July 17, 1955, Ronald Reagan was one of the co-hosts of ABC-TV’s live coverage of the opening of Disneyland, and as Governor of California, starting a lifelong association between the future president and Disney parks. After leaving the Oval Office, one of his first public events was a return to Disneyland, where he officiated at the park’s January 1990 35th-anniversary celebration, proclaiming it “one of America’s national treasures.”

Watch the film here.

And here’s a “Monday Minute” from the President Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Foundation about Reagan and Disney:

And this clip offers President Reagan’s remarks at Epcot on March 8, 1983:

And check out Chris Lucas’ column for DisneyBizJournal about Reagan’s March 1983 remarks. Lucas noted:

On this day in 1983, President Ronald Reagan officially dedicated Epcot Center, which had been already open to the public for five months. This would mark the first time a sitting President was on hand for such an occasion at a Disney park. 

Ronald Reagan was a friend of and shared a lot of personality traits with Walt Disney. One of those was their eternal optimism and belief that tomorrow would bring a better day...

Reagan's remarks that day dealt mostly with the promise of Epcot and what it meant to his friend, Walt Disney, and to the world. He noted that the Disney Corporation had set up a fellowship program which would allow exchange students from countries featured in the World Showcase to come there and learn about America while also teaching visitors about their home and culture.

The technical side of Epcot was covered when Reagan spoke presciently about the speed of modern computers and how we were soaring into the 21st Century.

And how about President Reagan’s May 27, 1985, remarks at the President's Inaugural Bands Parade at Walt Disney's EPCOT Center:

D23 made a point about what Reagan and Walt shared: “Reagan instinctively understood Walt’s unique gifts—his homespun values, his confidence, his inspirational leadership, his celebration of the best of American virtues and values.”

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

By the way...

February 6th is President Ronald Reagan’s birthday, and we’re celebrating all month with REAGAN COUNTRY being the Pastor Stephen Grant Book of the Month. The Kindle price has been slashed from $7.99 to $2.99. Go to https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07C6J8RB6 

Signed books and sets are on sale at https://raykeatingonline.com/t/book-of-the-month

REAGAN COUNTRY is the Pastor Stephen Grant Book of the Month for February

REAGAN COUNTRY is the Pastor Stephen Grant Book of the Month for February. The Kindle price has been slashed from $7.99 to $2.99. Signed books and sets are on sale at www.raykeatingonline.com. Ray Keating, editor and publisher of DisneyBizJournal, is the author of REAGAN COUNTRY.

This pulse-pounding thriller features Stephen Grant, a Lutheran pastor, a former Navy SEAL and onetime CIA operative, with conflict stretching from the Reagan Presidential Library in California to the White House to a Russian Orthodox monastery to the Kremlin. And REAGAN COUNTRY has received high praise, including…

• “Must read for any Reaganite.”   - Craig Shirley, Reagan biographer and presidential historian

• “It was my great privilege that Ronald Reagan and I were good friends and political allies. This exciting political thriller may be a novel but it truly captures President Reagan's optimism and principles.”  - Ambassador Fred J. Eckert

• “If political intrigue and expansive narrative threads fit neatly in your wheelhouse, then the writing of Ray Keating never fails to disappoint… Another deeply researched and action-packed gem from the author. While the details remain cloaked in secrecy for much of the novel - a specialty of Keating's, never giving away too much too soon - the artfully crafted suspense is palpable. If you're a political junkie, this book will not disappoint, but remarkably, REAGAN COUNTRY also works as an adrenaline-doused romp that any suspense lover will struggle to bookmark before the final page.”   - Self-Publishing Review, ★★★★★

• “Keating … has accumulated an impressive assortment of characters in his series, and he gives each of them ample opportunity to shine… Tight action scenes complement the suspense (uncertainty over when the next possible attack will be)… The villains, meanwhile, are just as rich and engrossing as the good guys and gals. The familiar protagonist, along with sensational new and recurring characters, drives an energetic political tale.”   - Kirkus Reviews

• “President Ronald Reagan's legacy will live on in the U.S., around the world and in the pages of history. And now, thanks to Ray Keating's REAGAN COUNTRY, it will live on in the world of fiction. REAGAN COUNTRY ranks as a page-turning thriller that pays homage to the greatest president of the twentieth century.”      - Tom Edmonds, producer of the official documentary of President Reagan,  Ronald Reagan: An American President

• "REAGAN COUNTRY is a story of unexpected adventure. I have come to expect adventure for Rev. Stephen Grant in and beyond St. Mary's Lutheran Church (LCMS), but I did not expect this kind of plot. In an America where a large percentage of college students naively prefer and/or promote socialism over capitalism, 'Russia's Reagan' shows the promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for the people who had been oppressed by socialism and communism. If only! ... Reflecting on the series to date, one strength is the knowledge and research of the author. He becomes, if he is not already, a subject matter expert on the topic at hand. Reagan. Comic books. Wine. Baseball. Everything comes off as authentic, accurate, and well-informed. Keating's creativity also avoids the formula of so much fiction in that we are not merely back to the 'status quo' at the end of each installment. He develops characters, relationships, and situations in believable, realistic, human ways. We are primed, wanting more."  - Lutheran Book Review

Go to https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07C6J8RB6

President Reagan Dedicates Epcot Center

by Chris Lucas

Guest Column

DisneyBizJournal.com

March 8, 2019

On this day in 1983, President Ronald Reagan officially dedicated Epcot Center, which had been already open to the public for five months. This would mark the first time a sitting President was on hand for such an occasion at a Disney park. 

Ronald Reagan was a friend of and shared a lot of personality traits with Walt Disney. One of those was their eternal optimism and belief that tomorrow would bring a better day.

Epcot Center, which opened shortly after Reagan began his first term, was the perfect embodiment of the hopes and dreams both Reagan and Disney held for the future of America and the world. It was only fitting then that Reagan would accept an invitation to help christen Epcot. 

Unfortunately Reagan's busy presidential schedule did not allow him to make the actual opening date of October 1st, 1982, so an alternate date was chosen for a "second grand opening" with the President.

On March 8, 1983, President Reagan arrived at the Walt Disney World resort, escorted by Dick Nunis, president of Walt Disney World, and several hundred math and science students from Central Florida.

President Reagan's first order of business was to take in the American Experience attraction in a theater full of students, which he said he found incredibly moving. (Ever the comedian, Reagan joked at his surprise about seeing the show with all those students and not getting hit with a single spitball.) He then made an afternoon speech at a podium set up right on the World Showcase Lagoon, directly opposite Spaceship Earth.

Reagan's remarks that day dealt mostly with the promise of Epcot and what it meant to his friend, Walt Disney, and to the world. He noted that the Disney Corporation had set up a fellowship program which would allow exchange students from countries featured in the World Showcase to come there and learn about America while also teaching visitors about their home and culture.

The technical side of Epcot was covered when Reagan spoke presciently about the speed of modern computers and how we were soaring into the 21st Century. The students got his attention once again when he pointed out that their aptitude at video games and digital devices would make them better prepared for the future than his generation. The crowd burst into laughter when Reagan pleaded with the youngsters not to tell their parents that the President told them they had his permission to spend all day playing video games.

Reagan followed this with a joke about a student whose teacher scolded him for getting everything wrong on his homework by saying "I don't know how one person could make all those mistakes!" The student's reply: "One person didn't, my Dad helped me make them!"

Finally, President Reagan reached out to the young girls in the group, encouraging them to pursue careers in math and science, citing Sally Ride - who would soon be the first female on the space shuttle - as an example to look up to.

It was a great day and Reagan concluded by telling everyone that he enjoyed his time at Epcot Center and looked forward to returning sometime soon.

Just a few years later, Reagan would be back at Epcot, making history again. On Memorial Day, 1985, he hosted the first Presidential Inauguration Parade outside of Washington, D.C. since the capital was moved there in 1801.

Chris Lucas is the author of the forthcoming book Top Disney: 100 Top Ten Lists of the Best of Disney, from the Man to the Mouse and Beyond.

Get Ray Keating's Reagan Country: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel 

at Amazon.com 

or signed books at www.raykeatingonline.com