Remembering a Walt Disney World & Disney Legend William Sullivan 1936 – 2024. Calling Bill Sullivan a Disney Legend is an understatement, especially for those whose love of Walt Disney World is steeped in the past. Mr. Sullivan’s name should be spoken about in the same terms as Roy Disney’s when it comes to the creation operations and opening of our beloved Park. Unofficially, Walt Disney World’s first employee.
Disney Legend William “Sully” Sullivan, who worked at Disney Parks in both California and Florida during his 38-year career with The Walt Disney Company, passed away Tuesday, July 16, at his home in Windermere, Florida. Sullivan was 88 years old.
“Few people have contributed as much to Disney theme parks as Bill Sullivan,” said Josh D’Amaro, Chairman, Disney Experiences. “His personal connection with Walt Disney and his incredible career spanning multiple decades and several destinations helped pass along Disney heritage to generations of cast members and guests around the world.”
Born April 18, 1936, in Fullerton, California, Sullivan studied architecture and eventually landed his first job in the aircraft industry. But everything changed on Sunday, July 17, 1955, when he tuned in to ABC-TV. “I watched the opening ceremonies for Disneyland,” he explained. “The following Saturday I went down and applied for a job. Monday I quit Northrop Aircraft, and Tuesday I reported to work as a ticket-taker at the Jungle Cruise.” Sullivan was 19 years old.
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While working as a Jungle Cruise skipper, he met his future wife at Waltah Clarke’s Hawaiian Shop, a store then located across the walkway from the attraction. He progressed from ride operator to operations supervisor at Disneyland, learning all aspects of the operation on the way. “I took a summer job, and I’ve been here ever since,” Sullivan said in an interview shortly before his retirement.
He was subsequently sent to northern California as a member of the operations team that assisted in the opening and operating of the Winter Olympics in 1960, where Walt Disney was in charge of Pageantry. Sullivan then served as assistant manager for the Disney-designed attractions at the 1964–1965 New York World’s Fair.
“Walt was a really warm individual,” Sullivan remembered fondly. “He had a great sense of humor, and he loved people. He was an executive, but not what you perceive as an ‘executive.’ He was a real team guy.”
Sully participated in the operations management of a number of lavish Disney film premieres, including Mary Poppins (1964) at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and The Happiest Millionaire (1967) at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre.
In 1968, Sullivan joined fellow future Disney Legends Bob Allen and Bob Matheison on the project management team for the massive Walt Disney World Resort project, then under construction near Orlando, Florida. Sullivan established the resort’s first security force and prepared operational layouts for Main Street, U.S.A.; Fantasyland; and the Transportation and Ticket Center. He was then enlisted to help establish the company’s first hotel division.
“I moved to Orlando in 1969 and moved the family here the following year,” Sullivan remembered. “We reached an agreement to manage the Hilton Inn South on International Drive with [Walt Disney World’s first hotel employee] John Curry. It gave us a base of operations to get to understand the hotel business, because we didn’t know anything about it. We also tried our hands at operating laundry facilities, at food purchasing. It was really a whole new world for us.”
By the opening of Walt Disney World on October 1, 1971, Sullivan was overseeing operations for Main Street, U.S.A.; Adventureland; and Liberty Square.
Sullivan later served a stint as director of PICO (Project Installation and Coordination Office), coordinating operational design input and installation of owner-furnished equipment at EPCOT Center (as the park was then called), after which he served as director of EPCOT Center operations. In 1987, he was named vice president of Magic Kingdom Park and was responsible for all of the park’s operations, including attractions, merchandising, transportation, entertainment, ticket sales, guest relations, costuming, foods, custodial, maintenance, planned work, and horticulture.
After working on the team that opened Euro Disneyland (now Disneyland Paris) in 1992, Sullivan retired in 1993 after 38 years with Disney—and without a single regret. “If I had to do it all over,” he said, “I’d do it all again tomorrow.”
He was named a Disney Legend in 2005 and published a memoir in 2015 titled From Jungle Cruise Skipper to Disney Legend: 40 Years of Magical Memories at Disney.
Two windows on Main Street, U.S.A. in Magic Kingdom Park pay tribute to Sullivan’s contributions: one, positioned above the Crystal Arts shop, lists him among the charter members of the “Windermere Fraternal Hall,” which also include fellow Walt Disney World opening team leaders Bob Allen, Pete Crimmings, Dick Evans, Bill Hoelscher, and Bob Matheison. The second window, located above the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor, references Sullivan’s love of hunting and fishing, reading: “Sully’s Safaris & Guide Service / Chief Guide / Bill Sullivan.”
Sullivan is survived by his wife of 65 years, Jacqueline Sullivan; children Laurie (Jeffrey) Wallace, Elizabeth (Paul) Hoffman, Matt (Stacey) Sullivan, and Kathleen (Dave) Riordan; grandchildren (Joe Coleman, Jessica (Eric) Gomez, Jake (Tara) Coleman, Briana (Jon Teasley) Hoffman, Kellan (Dahlia) Madeline Hoffman, Zachary Sullivan, Noah Sullivan, Matthew Sullivan, Luc Riordan, Nico Riordan, and Gabriel Riordan; great-grandchildren Addison Coleman, Logan Coleman, Jackson Teasley, Piper Gomez, and Sadie Gomez; and sister Virginia Gass.
