PHOTOS: Check Out the NEW Exhibit Featuring Walt Disney’s Plane

What’s that over at the D23 Expo?! It’s a bird…it’s a plane…it’s — yeah, it’s a plane.

The D23 Expo is jam-packed with exciting guests, panels, and announcements.  But one of the most highly-anticipated guests of this year’s expo wasn’t a person…it was a plane.

Over at the exhibit, Mickey Mouse One: Walt’s Plane presented by Amazon, guests can view Walt Disney’s Grumman Gulfstream I plane. Take a look!

The plane is on display with never-before-exhibited items, like a “customized instrument panel originally located near Walt’s favorite onboard seat that allowed him to monitor flight conditions; a telephone handset that gave Walt a direct line of communication to the pilot in the cockpit; a flight bag featuring an image of Mickey Mouse sitting on the tail of the iconic plane; and more.”

This is the first time the plane has been on the west coast since 1992 — it’s been at Disney’s Hollywood Studios for quite some time. This plane was known as “The Mouse” during its time servicing The Walt Disney Company, and flew 20,000 hours and transported 83,000 people for over 28 years. This is actually the plane Walt Disney used to fly back and forth between California and Florida as he developed plans and ideas for Disney World!

There were quite a few plane-related artifacts on display, including the pilot’s logbook…

…a business card and flight crew luggage tag…

…and even photos from onboard the plane throughout the decades. How cool!

You can also get an up-close look at some of the workings of the plane, like the instrument panels. (Complete with Mickey Mouse clock!) This particular panel was next to Walt’s window so that he could monitor flight conditions.

After the D23 Expo, the plane will travel to Palm Springs, California, where it will reside in the Palm Springs Air Museum. In honor of its arrival, a new exhibit will open at the museum on December 5th, Walt’s birthday.

So if you’re at the D23 Expo, be sure to visit this iconic piece of Disney history! And if you can’t visit, take a look at more information about Walt Disney’s plane! Or check out the livestream schedule for this year’s expo. 

And, as always, stay tuned to AllEars for the latest Disney news!

Here’s How You Can Watch the D23 Expo From Home

Are you at the D23 Expo? Let us know in the comments!

Disclosure: We were invited by Disney to attend a media event for the D23 Expo. This did not affect our reporting of the event — our opinions are our own.

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