Walt Disney and Union Station

From the time Walt Disney’s family moved to Kansas City in 1911 until the young animator left for California in 1923, Disney’s path often led him to and through Kansas City’s train stations. Walt arrived at Union Depot in the West Bottoms in 1911, and he departed Kansas City in 1923 from Union Station with a dream, a film, and not much else in his suitcase. This building played an important role in Walt’s life, from welcoming and saying goodbye to family members to one of his first jobs selling sodas and newspapers to passengers. Union Station shaped many of Walt's early memories in Kansas City influencing Disney productions and theme parks in surprising ways.

Kansas City’s first train station was in the West Bottoms area near the Missouri River. Walt Disney’s family arrived there in 1911, when they moved to Kansas City from Marceline, MO. But that location flooded periodically, and railroad leaders decided to move the city’s terminal to its current location.

Union Station opened on November 1, 1914, and Walt’s life would intersect with Kansas City’s new rail hub in many ways. He secured a job as a news butcher in 1915, riding from Union Station to many destinations in Missouri, Kansas, and Colorado, selling newspapers, drinks, and candy to passengers.

One of Disney’s animators and Imagineers, Ward Kimball, also spent time in Union Station as a child. After hearing the long, slow announcements of arrivals and departures in Union Station’s Grand Hall, Ward created the famous Disneyland railway announcements in the same style, which are now heard at Disney Parks around the world.

Walt Disney watched his family depart from Union Station to move back to Chicago in 1917. Later, in 1922, when Walt was living at his new Laugh-O-gram Studio in order to save money, he would visit Union Station once per week to shower. And in 1923, when Laugh-O-gram when bankrupt, Disney left Union Station for California on a first-class Santa Fe train, carrying a few changes of clothes and the last film he made in Kansas City, “Alice’s Cartoonland,” which became the foundation of the entire Walt Disney company.

In 2024, the Disney company selected Kansas City’s Union Station as one of only three sites nationwide to host Disney100: The Exhibition, a century-long retrospective detailing the Disney company and its history. Exhibits trace local links to Walt, including a book he may have checked out from the Kansas City Public Library on animation, and the many films and creative properties that have made Disney a beloved name worldwide.

100 Years of Kansas City History, Kansas City Union Station. Accessed July 18th, 2024. https://unionstation.org/100-years-of-kansas-city-history/.

'Disney100: The Exhibition' at Union Station Showcases Walt Disney's Ties to Kansas City, Including a Library Letter, Kansas City Public Library. May 24th, 2024. Accessed July 18th, 2024. https://kclibrary.org/news/2024-05/disney100-exhibition-union-station-showcases-walt-disneys-ties-kansas-city-including.

History, Thank You, Walt Disney, Inc.. Accessed July 18th, 2024. https://www.thankyouwaltdisney.org/history.