Gregg's steps into the Land of Volume II were halting -- to say the least!

"To me, Volume II began as a benign 'post script' to volume one, " Gregg admits, "and I did not expect there to be another 100 entries!" 

If Walt had taught anything by example it was: Don't follow an explosive performance with a mediocre encore. "Walt would have never foisted 'Snow White and the 8 1/2 Dwarfs' onto the public. So, I had a real searching-of-my-conscience to see if Volume II even deserved to have a shot at center stage."

When comparing Volume I, Gregg likened it to the appetizers at a fine dinner. Volume III was like fine coffee and rich desserts after a stately supper -- but Gregg thought Volume II was mostly "... like the salad bar that nobody wanted to visit. Myself included."

Gregg further notes, "Walt built the Disney Studios -- that's comparable to Volume One, and Walt built "Disneyland (R) " --which is comparable Volume III, "but what does anyone care about Volume II? 

Two is like the middle child in the family. However, Walt did build something that was the link between Burbank's Studios and Anaheim's Theme Park.

"And that link was his own railroad train (steam engine and cars) and railroad tracks that encircled his residence." Gregg reluctantly admits that Volume Two was actually more necessary than even he deemed important. 

"As volume two developed, I began realizing that this project had more momentum than I was humanly willing to give. The book had a life of its own and I was only there to witness and record the event."

"Two things kept me going, one was the curiosity to see if 100 entries WOULD actually appear, or if the parade would peter-out before all 100 floats eased their way along the route. The second thing that kept me inspired was an approach really saved the day:

"I was exhausted marching UP the mountain from step one to 100 , but I was willing to toboggan DOWN the mountain from "zenith 100” to "nadir one" -- and by 'marching backwards', I really could enjoy the impossible parade route from a different perspective."

"I never thought there would be a Volume III -- in fact, the art work on Two's cover proclaims that it is the second of [only] two volumes”, reminisces Gregg, "but I seldom get to cast a vote when the Muse is giving orders. I just hang on for the ride.

"Mostly I wanted to give the public -- and myself -- a fresh 'batch of cookies' in Volume Two -- I wanted no one to feel bored or duped. 'Two' was a lot of work, but I believe the Muse truly did a reputable job in 'building that steam engine around the residence'. That steam engine went on to be the precursor of the Train Depot and Engine that excite people as they enter 'Disneyland (R)'. And if anyone had told me -- at the beginning of Volume I -- that the journey would consist of 366 entries -- there's no way I would have begun at all."

Walt's Burbank Studio begat the residential railroad, and the residential railroad begat the Anaheim amusement park -- one step at a time. As President John F. Kennedy was fond of vigorously quoting, "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." 

Volume Two is one of those challenging 'steps' along the way.