Q : I was wondering whatever happened to the magic stores that were in the Magic Kingdom? One was located right on Main Street and the other was behind the Castle, as you walked through the Castle it was located to the right. They sold all kinds of tricks and had great masks there that you could buy. My first trip there, I bought the Gorn mask from Star Trek and a great Wolfman mask and Wolfman hands. That was 39 years ago!
Scott, Somerset, Pennsylvania
A: Merlin’s Magic Shop was in Fantasyland at the Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom from 1972 to 1986.  It became Mickey’s Christmas Carol, and then Sir Mickey’s. The House of Magic on Main Street, U.S.A. (1971–1995) closed to make room for the Main Street Athletic Club store and later the Hall of Champions.
Q : When did Tony Baxter join Walt Disney Imagineering?
Paul, Evanston, Illinois
A: Tony Baxter started his Disney career as a teenager working at Disneyland, but he became an Imagineer in 1970. One of his first Imagineering jobs was to work with Claude Coats on Snow White’s Adventures for the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. Tony was honored this year at the D23 Expo as a Disney Legend.
Q : You answered my question in Jan. 10 – Feb. 4, 2013. Just wanted to let you know after hours of searching on YouTube for the advert I was talking about, I found it!! For some reason, it is in German but I saw it in English when I was younger. It’s also called Euro Disney, but it definitely looks like Walt Disney World to me! For a look at it here’s the link—http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uCeOaQHnno—showing the child on a 3D attraction with Winnie the Pooh. It’s bringing back so many magic memories! And what was Michael Jackson’s involvement with Disney?
Louise Orlando, Florida
A: I am pleased that you found it. Disneyland Paris opened in 1992, so in order to have a television commercial available for showing in France before the opening, when the park was still under construction, they used one produced at Walt Disney World. The dialogue and narration of the commercial are actually in French. Michael Jackson appeared in a Captain Eo attraction for the Disney parks, including one in Discoveryland at Disneyland Paris.
Q : What was the story of the idea of the busts in the Haunted Mansion that follow you when you walk by, discovered when Imagineers were working on Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln?
Avi, Irvine, California
A: According to Jason Surrell in his Haunted Mansion book, “The moving bust illusion was one of [Imagineer] Rolly Crump’s so-called happy accidents. As part of their research and development for The Hall of Presidents [which had been going on since the late 1950s], Imagineers had created a mold of Abraham Lincoln’s face, an artificial life mask of sorts. One day Rolly and Yale [Gracey] happened to stroll past the backside of the face, and as they did so, realized that from the reverse angle, it appeared as though Honest Abe’s eyes were following their every move.”
Q : Who came up with the idea of Disneyland Park’s Fantasy Faire?
Paul, Evanston, Illinois
A: Tony Baxter and his team at Walt Disney Imagineering found that the prime Plaza Gardens area of Disneyland was underutilized and thought that it would make for a nice expansion to Fantasyland. Tony recruited Dutch ride designer Michel Den Dulk, formerly from Europa Park, to join Walt Disney Imagineering and become creative director of Fantasy Faire.
Q : There are so many great ideas The Walt Disney Company comes up with that they shelve. Is there a project you would have liked to see that got shelved? Also, do they ever decide to do a project again after it’s been decided no to do it?
Lexi, Seattle, Washington
A: Discovery Bay, announced in 1976 for Disneyland, is a project I would like to have seen. The project, planned for Frontierland where Big Thunder Ranch is now located was described: “Having as its roots a ‘San Francisco of the 1850s-1880s,’ the theme area would bring to life a time and place that climaxed an age of discovery and expansion. [It] would reflect the influx of opportunists, dreamers, and adventurers that poured into this cultural melting pot after the discovery of gold.” No Disney project is forgotten completely; great ideas never really go away. A DisneySea nautical themed park, planned in the early 1990s for Long Beach, California, finally came to fruition as Tokyo DisneySea in 2001.