Disney Legend Harrison "Buzz" Price dies

by Leah Zanolla
Aug 16, 2010

Harrison "Buzz" Price, the man who recommended the sites for both Disneyland and Disney World, died August 15th at the age of 89. Price was originally asked by Walt and Roy Disney to conduct economic feasibility studies as they prepared to build Disneyland in the early 1950's. According to a statement released by his family, Price clearly remembered Walt requesting his help. "I asked Walt if he had a bias about the location for his Magic Kingdom," Price recalled years later. "'Absolutely not!' he said. 'You tell me where the best location is.'"

Walt Disney must have been pleased with his choice of Orange County, because over the years it is estimated that Price ran over 150 feasibility studies for the Disney Company. Among those studies were the feasibility reports on the locations for Disney World and Tokyo Disneyland. He also conducted similar studies for World's Fairs, Six Flags, Sea World, and Universal Studios. Diane Disney Miller, Walt's daughter, also credits Price with helping complete one of her father's unfinished projects, The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). CalArts alumni (including John Lasseter and Tim Burton) have become known worldwide for their contributions to the arts.

Former Disney Company CEO Michael Eisner, who was in charge in 2003 when Price became a Disney Legend, said, "Buzz Price was as much responsible for the success of the Walt Disney Company as anybody except Walt Disney himself, in that he worked with Walt not only on finding the sites of both Disneyland and Walt Disney World, but on many other new initiatives, like the 1964 New York World's Fair and the 1960 Winter Olympics in the Lake Tahoe area," Eisner recalled. "But more than being a pioneer and visionary, he was one of the nicest and most professional and gentle friends of the company."

To read the entire statement released by the Price family, click here.

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• Last Updated: Oct 12, 2011 - 10:50:48 AM