Disney Legend William Sullivan has passed away at the age of 88. Sullivan began his Disney career at Disneyland in 1955. He shared that “I watched the opening ceremonies for Disneyland. 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.” At the time, he was 19 years old. This began a 38-year career with Disney. He passed away on Tuesday, July 16, at his home in Windermere, Florida.
“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.”
Sullivan began at Disneyland as a ticket taker. He then became a ride operator, where he became a Jungle Cruise skipper. While doing this, he met his wife at Waltah Clarke’s Hawaiian Shop, a store then located across the walkway from the attraction. He eventually became an operations supervisor while at Disneyland. As his career progressed, he learned all aspects of the operation at The Happiest Place on Earth. “I took a summer job, and I’ve been here ever since,” Sully said in an interview shortly before his retirement.
His next project had him heading to northern California as a part of the operations team that helped with the opening and operating of the Winter Olympics in 1960. Walt Disney was in charge of the pageantry for this. Sullivan then went on to serve 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.”
Known as Sully, he also participated in the operations management for a number of Disney film premieres. This included Mary Poppins (1964) at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and also The Happiest Millionaire (1967) at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre.
1968 saw Sullivan joining other future Disney Legends Bob Allen and Bob Matheison on the project management team for the Walt Disney World Resort project. At this point, it was under construction near Orlando, Florida. Sullivan would establish the resort’s first security force and also prepared operational layouts for Main Street, USA, Fantasyland, and also the Transportation and Ticket Center. He then helped 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.”
When Walt Disney World Resort opened in 1971, Sullivan was now overseeing operations for Main Street, U.S.A.; Adventureland; and Liberty Square.
His career continued and saw him serving for a time as the director of PICO (Project Installation and Coordination Office) and coordinating operational design input and installation of owner-furnished equipment at EPCOT Center (as the park was then called). After this, he served as the director of EPCOT Center operations. Then, in 1987 he was named the vice president of Magic Kingdom Park. In this role, he was responsible for all of the park’s operations. This included attractions, merchandising, transportation, entertainment, ticket sales, guest relations, costuming, foods, custodial, maintenance, planned work, and horticulture.
His career wrapped up with Sullivan working on the team that opened Euro Disneyland (Disneyland Paris) in 1992. The following year, Sullivan retired in 1993 after 38 years of service with Disney. He did so without a single regret he said. “If I had to do it all over,” Sully shared, “I’d do it all again tomorrow.”
In 2005, he was named a Disney Legend. In 2015 he published a memoir called From Jungle Cruise Skipper to Disney Legend: 40 Years of Magical Memories at Disney. He now has two windows on Main Street, USA at Magic Kingdom. One of them is above the Crystal Arts shop. He is listed with other charter members of the “Windermere Fraternal Hall,” including fellow Walt Disney World opening team leaders Bob Allen, Pete Crimmings, Dick Evans, Bill Hoelscher, and Bob Matheison. The second window is above the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor and says “Sully’s Safaris & Guide Service / Chief Guide / Bill Sullivan.” This is in reference to his love of reading, hunting, and fishing.
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.
Daps Magic sends its sincerest condolences to the family and friends of William Sullivan during this difficult time.
