Disney historian and author Mike Westby is an award-winning former third-party product developer for six different divisions of the Walt Disney Company, including Disney Cruise Line, Epcot Marketing, Walt Disney World Resort, and Disneyland Resort Merchandizing.  In addition, he has developed more than a dozen different iPhone and Android apps for the Disney theme parks.  As part of the product development for these various projects, he spent many, many hours scouring and photographing the Disney parks prior to them opening to guests, and it was during these photo shoots that he began to take note of and appreciate the countless small details and props that the Disney Imagineers had purposely placed or hidden throughout the parks, with many containing an intricate and puzzling reference to an obscure story element tied directly to the history of the company, be it a reflection of Walt Disney himself, Mickey Mouse, different Disney Legends, artists, and Imagineers, or even the creation of Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resort.  As a result, Mike developed an interest in the history of Walt Disney and his theme parks, as well as a talent for conducting extensive research into the undiscovered and untold back stories of obscure moments in the rich and varied story that is Disney history.  Through this, he has discovered and shared with readers many untold stories and rare artifacts that have never before been published in any Disney-related books, articles, or web sites, including his discovery of Ub Iwerks’ “lost” childhood home in Kansas City, the first ever published photo and backstory of George Lloyd, the man who hand-carved the elaborate “Capitol of Disneyland”, the true story behind the creation of the Liberty Bell of Liberty Square, the first-ever published complete story behind the creation of the very first Hidden Mickey, the untold story of whatever happened to the special Disneyland Railroad boxcar filled with 10,000 pennies that Walt awarded 8 year-old Raymond Sleeper in August of 1960, and many others.

Today, you’ll find Mike visiting the parks and other Disney-related sites, poring over periodicals, articles, and books from the 1930s and 1940s, buying a rare Disney artifact just for its information, sifting through Kansas City tax records, studying hundreds of old photos for minute details, and of course interviewing Disney Legends, Disney Imagineers, and other Disney notables to uncover another untold Disney story to share with other Disney enthusiasts.

Mike is the host of the Disney-History.com web site, as well as author of four Disney-related books; Disney History - Rare & Unknown, Disneyland In-Depth, The Hidden Secrets & Stories of Disneyland, and The Hidden Secrets & Stories of Walt Disney World. (All available online)