Sams Disney Diary: The Podcast

What does Mineral King, X Atencio, Winnie the Pooh, Marc Davis, and a Vacation Hoedown all have in common? None other than the Country Bear Jamboree… Well, The story goes something like this… In 1965, with Disneyland celebrating its 10th anniversary, the 1964-65 New York world’s fair a success – creating 4 attractions that would soon be relocated to Disneyland – and the land acquisition for the Florida Project secretly underway you would think Walt had his hands full, right? Wrong. When the Sequoia National Forest invited proposals for a ski resort in California’s Mineral King Valley, Walt Disney Productions including Walt Disney himself envisioned an “American Alpine Wonderland”. A Ski-Resort that would include a five-story hotel with over a thousand rooms, a movie theater, general store, pools, ice rinks, tennis courts, and golf courses not to mention the actual ski complex which would include 22 lifts and gondolas with ski runs four miles long. The complex would also feature 10 restaurants.