Defunctland: Walt Disney’s Childhood Amusement Park, Electric Park
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In this episode, Kevin discusses the history of Walt Disney’s childhood amusement park, Kansas City’s Electric Park and all of its attractions, including Hale’s Tours of the World, the Loop the Loop Coaster, and Alligator Joe.
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@Defunctland
April 8, 2026 at 10:23 am
Hey everyone! Hope you enjoyed the episode! One correction, the first photo showed is actually NOT a photo of Buffalo Bill Cody but a photo of the similar looking Wild Bill Hickok which would be a much funnier mistake if it wasn't the first image of the video. Regardless, have aa great week and make sure to hit that bell icon or whatever. Thanks!
@thegreatarcanist890
April 8, 2026 at 10:23 am
11:58 "Not as rough as last season"
@curtiseisenbeis2484
April 8, 2026 at 10:23 am
I like the creativity of and history of your videos. More amusement park defunctland.
@Bunnyearsandbearpaws
April 8, 2026 at 10:23 am
The MURDER (not hunting) of those buffalo were part of the efforts to genocide indigenous people. And irreversably affected their numbers. Something they then BLAMED ON INDIGENOUS PEOPLE. sorry ive hardly gotten into the video, and im sure its great and im gonna watch it. Just desperately needed that off my chest first.
@kinglokimrvegas8687
April 8, 2026 at 10:23 am
0:27 they don't talk about how shitty of a person buffalo bill really was
@RageGearFilms
April 8, 2026 at 10:23 am
16:05 I swear my brain is broken. "With a height if 80 feet" sounded so damn similar to "the bite of eighty seven" im gonna jump off a cliff
@bennymora3086
April 8, 2026 at 10:23 am
In some ways Walt Disney always remained a kid at heart. When he took his daughters to the merry-go-round in Griffith Park, he’d get on a horse and ride, too. That started Walt thinking. What if there were a place where families, not just kids, could go and have fun together. It would be like an amusement park, only cleaner, different, better. It would have a village like Marceline, Missouri. Stores would sell Disney clothes and toys. There'd be a little railroad, a movie theater, and rides. Lots of rides.
@gwembolyn
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
7:47 his pet alligator named pneumonia
(not really)
@flandolls
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
They really were just letting anybody do anything in the early 20th century huh
@joannaKreke
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
“A lightbulb went off in his head the answer….a lightbulb” 😂
@TbdMANN
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
A dollar from a fresh lemon?.. was that a joke that just knocked off my bowler hat?
@theholyduck5520
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
Imagine how different the world would look if Walt Disney's dad had never lost that farm.
@charleschris4123
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
Head down the part that bears his name is being dismantled. Everything that Walt Disney loved is purposely being destroyed. Disney has lost its magic and unless someone were to purchased the Disney corporation I don’t think it can recover
@mndlessdrwer
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
I've always been curious if anyone ever sued the government over their rather arbitrary prohibition amendment. Like, it impacted at least dozens if not hundreds of thousands of people directly by killing off a bunch of jobs in alcohol production, and it can't have been good for local economies in those areas. Did nobody file against the government for these economic losses?
@TwesomE
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
Well how to have kid walt to not be inspired by all those seeing around him in this place? In a country that those years also had a unique development close to other countries around the globe it was the right opportunity to build what he build in the future! You can see the bits & tats disney took his ideas like the small railway in the amusement park and all!
@sundrenchedmelancholy
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
Ok. I understand why Disneyworld has an electric parade now.
@sarahshanahan2222
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
Why did electric park shut down.?!
10k people a day?
They ran out of room…
@kellymccubbin5037
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
This is such a terrific video. I'm a little curious, though, about the Scenic Railway. I think it might be a bit of a legend that it was a train that circumnavigated the park as in Disneyland. I keep looking for any plan or image that shows that, and I can't find it. I think, though I'm no expert, that the Scenic Railway was a smaller steam train, more of a kids ride, that was loosely connected to the Scenic Coaster next to it which hugged about a quarter of the park's perimeter. I'd love to be wrong about this, though, but the Walt story is much better if I am.
@LAB_California
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
Npt going to lie, Electric Patk sounds really cool.
@anhichiban
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
What’s the song at the end? 20:31
@ghjcmo
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
I stopped watching almost immediately when you showed a picture of Wild Bill Hickok as if that was Buffalo Bill.
@JudeKS10
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
Wait a few million back then or a few million today? Either way its a lot but still
@BunnLilah
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
You know, sometimes we complain about movies or TV shows being terrible and then you tell me that people went to go look at light bulbs for entertainment in this time period…maybe entertainment isn't so bad right now lol
@lnerj50productions32
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
Why does the santa fe railroad keep appearing in these videos
@drewbeedoobeedooooooo4821
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
You’re gonna go down in history, man
@Blackrose29-q3t
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
This park movie: meet me in St. Loui ?
@PositivePowerPeter
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
“…………. Unfortunately”. I hate YouTube so much
@wolf2912
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
We in the Nordic countries of europe pride ourselvs beacuse copenhagen tivoli park was one of insparation for Disneyland
@Jonfarm52
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
The absolute sarcasm dripping from your words as you describe the idiotic and almost cartoonish situation of the guy climbing onto the roller coaster track to retrieve his hat and then suing the park was peak comedy
@sydneyhamilton2575
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
Disney Delivering Newspapers In The Winter As Heard In Saving Mr. Banks
@Thegreyturtlemodelrail
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
Aligator joe is the most florida thing ive ever heard.
@michjesto2038
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
Eureka
@antonstroms407
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
This is so cool. It's very interesting to see turn of the century architecture in the early 1900's, from the point of view of an amusement park. I really appreciate all of the history! Thank you.
@RoseAbrams
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
this feels like a superhero origin story
@kryw10
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
I had relatives who went to and remembered Electric Park and later, Fairyland Park. Well done.
@rob41137
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
I wonder how things panned out for young Walt?
@thirdiprodigy3579
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
My brain for a moment thought the gators name was pneumonia 😂
@flanthief
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
Wow this is really telling of what directly inspired downtown Disneyland
@kainicdub
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
Thank you for Defunctland.
@mongoose6685
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
0:50 Tropes? You are aware that natives did raid settlements and kill colonists before they were placed on reserves?
@Ivytheherbert
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
After hearing some of the stuff he did later in life, it's weird to think his origin story includes details like "Red Cross veteran who befriended a small mouse"
@Idlccnt
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
Why is Walt kinda… 😏
@NathanTarantlawriter
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
I love the thought of accidentally releasing gators in Kansas city. There's got to be some stories there!
@Pats0c
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
The further back you go, the more like Forest Gump these famous people are like. They're literally everywhere and just haphazardly stumbling into events and into each other.
@averyb9568
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
I thought these names sounded very familiar and it turns out its because I biked around there pretty often when I lived at the top of clif drive. Super upsetting to see there was a super fun looking place right there 😅
@DoingStuffWithDiana
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
7:46 “he would die in 1915 after losing his battle to…..pneumonia “
I AM DECEASED you got me ffffckin good 🤣
@lizzysmith1096
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
You might be the best narrator of all time.
@davyannajones
April 8, 2026 at 10:24 am
Those fires sound like insurance scams