This evening at a media preview for D23 Expo 2022 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Southern California, the Walt Disney Archives unveiled Walt Disney’s Grumman Gulfstream aircraft known as the Mickey Mouse One, which will be on display this weekend for the first time since 2014.
The airplane has been restored and painted back to its original colors and is currently situated in the Arena area of the convention center.
What’s happening:
- Mickey Mouse One, the famed airplane once belonging to Walt Disney, has been restored, repainted to its original colors, and is now on display at the Anaheim Convention Center in Southern California (across the street from Disneyland Resort) for this weekend’s D23 Expo 2022 fan convention.
- The plane will be part of the Walt Disney Archives’ “Step in Time” exhibit, which “lets D23 Expo attendees explore Disney history right on the show floor,” though Mickey Mouse One itself is housed in the convention center’s arena.
- Also part of the exhibit will be “specially selected items” that represent the history of the aircraft, such as a customized instrument panel that Walt would use to monitor flight conditions, a telephone handset used by Mr. Disney to contact the pilot directly, and a flight bag decorated with none other than the airplane’s namesake, Mickey Mouse.
- Tonight Disney CEO Bob Chapek also announced that Mickey Mouse One will find a somewhat more permanent home at the Palm Springs Air Museum, near Walt’s old stomping ground Smoke Tree Ranch.
- A new exhibit will be constructed at the museum and open on Walt Disney’s birthday: December 5, 2022. It will highlight the history of the plane– also known affectionately as “The Mouse”– and showcase its significance to The Walt Disney Company’s history and its relevance to the Palm Springs Area.
What they’re saying:
- D23: “What happened to Walt’s plane? ‘The Mouse’ returns, landing at D23 Expo – the Ultimate Disney Fan Event.”
- Rebecca Cline, Director of the Walt Disney Archives: “We are so happy to have Walt’s plane make a ‘landing’ at the Palm Springs Air Museum, just a few miles from where Walt and his family had vacation homes at Smoke Tree Ranch. It is the ideal setting for this incredible icon.”
Those who are interested enough in Walt’s plane to want a souvenir of their experience can purchase an assortment of memorabilia such as toys, a replica pillow, phone cases, hats, a tumbler, a tote bag, and more– all themed to the aircraft– via Amazon, who also served as sponsors of the exhibit.
D23 Expo 2022 officially gets underway tomorrow, Friday September 9th.