WI: Walt Disney lives to 80?

Walt Disney, a heavy smoker, died of lung cancer at the age of 65 in 1966. But what if nature had been better to Walt and he avoided cancer? His father, Elias, lived to 82. His brother Roy lived to be 79. So what if Walt lived to be at least 80?
 
I don't think much would change. I remember reading an article in 1981 that remarked how little in the Disney company had changed it was as if Walt was still running the company. It would have been nice for him to see Disney World.
 
I don't think much would change. I remember reading an article in 1981 that remarked how little in the Disney company had changed it was as if Walt was still running the company. It would have been nice for him to see Disney World.

Would he have made any differences at all? I can't believe nothing would have been different.
 
Walt Disney, a heavy smoker, died of lung cancer at the age of 65 in 1966. But what if nature had been better to Walt and he avoided cancer? His father, Elias, lived to 82. His brother Roy lived to be 79. So what if Walt lived to be at least 80?

He would have lived to see his country lose the Vietnam War, the Hippie movement peak, the release of Deep throat, Watergate, the Iranian Hostage crisis, Jimmy Carter malaise and Marlon Brando getting fat.

For a right wing guy like Walt Disney his final years would be like seeing all his nightmares come true.
 
I dunno - if he lived another twenty years, he would preside through what was considered the dark age of Disney, between hsi death and the Little Mermaid. We may see a lot more films when we didn't OTL, giving us more than a few more classics.
 
He wanted to turn Epcot into a futuristic city. Investors were scared shitless and it was only Walt's reputation that allowed them to even consider it.

When Walt died, Epcot just became another theme park.

Had he lived longer, it may have come into fruition. Walt was designing Epcot City on his death bed. I don't think he would have relented unless it was a complete bomb.
 
Here's an interesting thought. We'd probably see a VERY different Epcot.

A lot of Disney Geeks, like myself, believed that the EPCOT City wouldn't have been constructed. There is also the probability of Mineral King, a Disney ski resort being constructed in the Sequoia's. IOTL, Mineral King was cancelled due to environmental concerns and battles, but some believe that Walt would've prevailed and the resort would've opened by 1973.
 
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