On my recent trip to California, I got the opportunity to do something that not a lot of people have gotten to do. I got to tour Walt Disney’s Office. This is the actual office suite that Walt Disney occupied during his lifetime. When you see him sitting behind a desk on TV…that’s the desk I saw. 😀 Pretty cool, right? Walt Disney’s office includes many cherished Disney items, memorabilia and awards that he won during his time as the supervisor over Disney and all it’s properties. You can just imagine the work and time that Walt Disney himself put into making the company one of the best entertainment businesses in the world. I left feeling a little more connected to Walt Disney and his dream.

A Tour Of Walt Disney’s Office

Walt Disney’s office was number 3H from 1940 until his death in 1966. He would arrive to work at 8:30 a.m. daily and he left at approximately 7 p.m. each night. After his death, his personal secretary, Tammy Wilck, remained on with the company for two years. Walt Disney’s office was then closed. It was re-opened in 1970 when Dave Smith founded the Walt Disney Archives and inventoried everything in Walt Disney’s office. After the inventory was completed, the office was remodeled and then Disney President and CEO Ron Miller occupied the office. It was remodeled again in 1985, after which Frank Wells and Micheal Eisner occupied the office. In 1991, Roy E. Disney, Walt’s nephew, took over occupancy of his uncle’s office. The office has also been occupied by other Disney producers, such as Shaun Cassidy, Ned Nalle, Marc Cherry and Sabrina Wind. In 2015, it was again renovated and restored, but this time to the way it looked when Walt Disney occupied it. Walt Disney’s office is now a permanent exhibit that honors the man that made Disney famous.

Walt Disney’s Office is broken down into four segments. The first is the Secretary’s Office. No one got in to see Walt Disney without an appointment. His secretary and receptionist made sure of that. They were also responsible for making sure that he kept to his schedule and appointments. The second segment is the Formal Office, where Walt Disney spent time answering letters and auditioning composers at the grand piano. This is also where several auditions were held for the voice characterizations for several Disney films. In this part, there was a gold automaton bird. This bird once inspired Disney to develop what is now known as Audio-Animatronics® Technology. If you ride the Pirates Of The Caribbean ride at Disneyland or Disney World, you will see ample evidence of this! It would become one of Walt Disney’s more popular inventions. This room also houses several gifts from around the world that Disney cherished as well as Norman Rockwell sketches of his daughters as well as several books by well-know authors like C.S. Lewis. This was also where Disney would retreat to for some down time. I can definitely appreciate that.

The third segment is the Working Office. This is the office where Walt Disney held daily meetings with producers, directors and advisors. Some of these meetings were said to be so large that many people had to sit on the floor. This is also the room where he met with his brother, Roy O. Disney, and began work on some of the concepts that would not get completed until after his death, such as a new theme park in Orlando, Florida based around the family of the future, known as EPCOT.

The fourth and final segment is the Private Room and Gallery Space. Although it was designed to be like an apartment, Walt Disney rarely used this part. He took physical therapy here later in his life and would sometimes come here to relax. It is now used as a gallery space to showcase the timeless work that was done by Walt Disney.

Check out the rest of my pictures of Walt Disney’s office as well as my pictures from the Disney Archives on Flickr.

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