A self-described “Disney Child,” Kim Irvine forged her own Imagineering legacy by working to preserve and enhance the design and look of Walt Disney’s original magic kingdom, Disneyland.

After more than five decades with Walt Disney Imagineering. Kim retired in 2025 – very appropriately during the 70^th anniversary year of Disneyland Park, her main area of focus, energy and passion. Over her 55 years at Walt Disney Imagineering, the leadership of this prolific Imagineer has resulted in an enduring legacy of creativity and the highest standards across Disney Parks globally, but especially at The Happiest Place on Earth. “I just love this park” she said as she neared retirement. “I love to go out early in the morning, before the Guests arrive and just take it all in. The flower beds freshly planted, that familiar music playing, the Cast Members bustling around getting ready for the day. And I think “it is going to be so hard to leave this place. Like moving away from home for the first time.”

As Executive Creative Director of the Walt Disney Imagineering Anaheim office, Kim oversaw the concept design, color styling, exterior and interior design for most Disneyland projects. As she saw it, a large part of Imagineering’s role is the care and nurturing of the park that Walt created for “all who come to this happy place.” Kim noted, “Our Guests own this place. This is their park. We just take care of it for them.”

A Southern California native, this prolific Imagineer grew up with Disney as a living experience in her own home. “I was born and bred Disney”, explains Kim, “It has always been part of my life. Both of my parents were accomplished artists and taught my sister and I to draw, paint and sculpt from a very young age. I owe all my artistic talent to them. My father, Harvey Toombs, was one of Walt’s animators, starting in the early 40’s. It was there that he met my mother, Leota, while working together on a project.” Kim’s mother was Imagineer and Disney Legend Leota Toombs, who among her many accomplishments, left an indelible mark on the classic Haunted Mansion attraction as the face of Madame Leota in the Séance Circle and the face and voice of the “Ghostess” ((unofficially known as “Little Leota”) at the attraction’s exit.

When the Imagineers chose Leota as the fortune-telling face in the crystal ball, a life mask was made of her face. When Tim Burton’s The Nightmare before Christmas overlay was created for the Haunted Mansion and Leota’s incantation was rewritten in 2001, Kim was asked to recreate the role. It was an incredible experience to go through the same process that she had, especially memorizing that new incantation! “Funny thing is,” she explained, “that the technicians discovered that our life masks are so very similar that they can project her face on my mask and they match up perfectly! She would have loved that.”

Kim began forging her own path in 1970 as a model builder and painter at WED Enterprises. She worked in the famed Model Shop painting “it’s a small world” dolls and toys, feathering Enchanted Tiki Room birds, and building scale models for the soon to open Walt Disney World Resort. After the opening of that park, she began mentoring with soon to be Disney Legend and Imagineer John Hench, on color and its application to architecture.

In 1979, Irvine, under the direction of Hench and Disney Legend Marty Sklar, sought to open the first Imagineering office in Anaheim, California, in an era when WED’s emphasis had been on the new and expansive Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World.

“They became very concerned that there was so much focus on Walt Disney World and other new park prospects, that their “first born,” Disneyland, was not getting the attention it needed. So, they decided to create an onsite team that would focus primarily on that park,” Kim continues. “In those days, most of the Disneyland teams were men. There were very few women, except for in office roles. And, they had become very accustomed to having WED busy doing other things and making design decisions on their own. Naturally, choices were made with more concern for durability than aesthetics. So, they were concerned when there was this WED person now giving design direction…and she was a girl!”  They got over that very quickly, though, and we became a very tight group. We accomplished many fantastic rehabs and enhancements together. After all, we had one thing in common, [we] all loved that place!”

Kim’s artistry and leadership won out. Among many other projects large and small, she was instrumental in the design of Rancho Del Zocalo Restaurante, The Disneyland Dream Suite, the Disney dolls in “it’s a small world”, the Club 33 expansion, the Jolly Holiday Bakery Café, and many refurbishments of Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty Castle.

In 2011, Irvine became the first female recipient of the prestigious Buzz Price Thea Award for a Lifetime of Outstanding Achievements from the Themed Entertainment Association.

This self-described “second generation Imagineer” has mentored many Imagineers around the world. Her daughter, Ali Irvine-Wheeler, is now a third generation Imagineer, following the path pioneered by her mother and grandmother. Kim's other daughter, Emily Irvine-Haft excels in Kim’s other passion of gardening and landscape design. As for Kim, it’s about returning to the principles established by Walt and all those who helped to create Disneyland,

“My dear mentor, John Hench, used to tell me, as we would sit on a bench in this beloved park, “this is a place where people can play. Many of us forget how to play when we grow up. When people walk through those gates and hear that music and see Mickey or Goofy, they remember again!” To be an Imagineer and be able to provide a place where people, young and old, can play, is very fulfilling.”