Cornelius Vanderbilt Wood

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Cornelius Vanderbilt Wood (1922 - March 14, 1992), usually called "C.V." or "Woody", was an American designer of amusement parks and planned communities. He is most noted as the chief designer of Disneyland.

Wood, who had earlier been Director of Industrial Engineering for an aircraft manufacturer in his native Texas, was hired away from his position at the Stanford Research Institute by Walt Disney to become Vice President and General Manager of Disney's nascent project, Disneyland. He was a key player in the design and creation of the amusement park, and the person most responsible for choosing its site.^[1]

Wood and Walt Disney later fell out, and Disney fired Wood^[1] (and Wood has subsequently been written out of all official histories of the Disney corporation).^[2]

Wood went on to design more amusement parks; he billed himself as "The Master Planner of Disneyland" before a Disney lawsuit stopped him from using that title.^[1] Wood designed Freedomland U.S.A. (on the current site of Co-op City in the Bronx), Magic Mountain (near Denver), and Pleasure Island (in Massachusetts). None of the three amusement parks lasted longer than then a few years before closing.

Wood was also the chief designer for Lake Havasu City;^[3] that city's CV Wood Aquatic Center is named for him.

In addition to these achievements, Wood was the winner of the International Chili Society's 1969 Annual World's Championship Chili Cookoff ^[4] and had a small part in the B movie "Miami Supercops".^[5]