Tony Wayne Baxter (born February 1, 1947) is the former senior vice president of creative development in Walt Disney Imagineering and was responsible for creating designs and carrying out the construction of attractions all over the world.

During his first 24 years he built up his rank within the company until he was given the position as senior vice president of creative development in Walt Disney Imagineering.

[6] He applied for a position at the parks selling popcorn and scooping ice cream, and moved on to attractions to gain Disney experience.

[6] After graduating from Santa Ana High School in 1965, he attended Cal Poly Pomona as a landscape architecture major, but soon after transferred to California State University in Long Beach to study Theater Design.

During this time, Baxter created a portfolio which included concepts of attractions for Disneyland as part of his senior project, which he had spent his entire last year of college constructing.

A partial list of the attractions Baxter has been responsible for: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad opened in Disneyland park September 2, 1979, and was recreated a year later in Magic Kingdom.

It was designed by both Tony Baxter and his mentor Claude Coats and was the first ride built in Disneyland without any input from Walt Disney.

[6] The land that Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was built upon had previously been Walt Disney's original ride, Nature's Wonderland, which had lost popularity among guests.

Baxter incorporated the Audio-Animatronics figures from America Sings with his idea for a log flume attraction that would eventually be named Splash Mountain (based on the animated sequences from Disney's 1946 film Song of the South).