The Disneyland Resort is the only Walt Disney Parks Resort in California and will most likely stay that way forever. But what many people don’t know is that before Disneyland was conceived, Walt Disney had a dream for a ski resort in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
In the second season debut of his hiking podcast, Trail Weight, host Andrew Steven discusses Walt’s plan for the unrealized resort after Walt fell in love with skiing in the Yosemite Valley.
Steven’s podcast highlights Walt’s sincerity and generosity, and touches on how Walt made skiing more family-friendly rather than just a sport for the elite and wealthy. He endeavored to bring it to the masses, both on the screen and in real life.
Goofy’s “The Art of Skiing” was created to showcase skiing to the public and would become famous for being the first instance of Goofy’s signature holler, and for being the short that led to the “How To…” series that continued through 2007.
The Matterhorn Bobsleds was created after a trip Walt took to Switzerland, where he fell in love with the alps and desired to bring some of that magic back to Anaheim.
Walt Disney was known to the masses as a family man, who always wanted a place for families to come together and bond, a place that both adults and children could love. While he did realize this dream with Disneyland, it was sadly not meant to be for the Sierra Nevada Mountains location.
READ: Podcasts Around The Parks: New Show From A Familiar Source
Check out Season 2 Episode 1 of Trail Weight, titled Mineral King to hear more about Walt’s vision and how he shaped not only the world of skiing but the Olympics as well!
You can listen to Trail Weight wherever podcasts are found.
