Walt Disney kidnapped the Vice President, Richard Nixon and his family in 1959 – although there was no sinister plot. The Nixons were at Disneyland to dedicate the brand-new, never-before-seen Monorail system.
It was a hot day, so Walt invited the Nixons into the Monorail’s air conditioned cab. It had to be on for the AC to work, of course, and since the state-of-the-art transportation was all geared up and ready to go, Walt thought it would be an opportune time to show the Vice President what it could do. So they took off. The problem? His entire Secret Service detail stood on the platform outside.
The Monorail made one lap, on its approach, Secret Service agents at the platform began running alongside as it slowed, until Nixon’s daughters cheered, “Again!” and the Monorail sped off, again abandoning the dismayed Secret Service who still lacked a Vice President to protect. Tricky Dick “roared with laughter,” according to Bob Gurr, the Imagineer in charge of the whole operation.
“You should have seen your expressions,” Nixon told the men when he exited the Monorail. It was later revealed that the Monorail had only made one lap on the track prior to that – it hadn’t been fully tested and Gurr was a bit concerned that it would catch fire with the Second Family aboard.
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