Disneyland Then, Now, and Forever


Bruce Gordon - 2005
    Rewind your Mickey Mouse watch back to the 1950s and travel with us through the decades as the wondrous story of Disneyland unfolds via fascinating, behind-the-pixie dust stories and incredible imagery. Like a visit to the park itself, it's a trip you'll never forget, ensuring that the spirit of Disneyland will remain--then, now, and forever. Filled with color photos of how the park looked at its opening and through the changes of the years up to the present day in 2005.

The Disney Mountains: Imagineering at Its Peak


Jason Surrell - 2007
    This text details the current Disney range of rides, and takes readers on a journey into the future, where bigger, higher, faster Mountain rides await!

Walt Disney's Legends of Imagineering and the Genesis of the Disney Theme Park


Jeff Kurtti - 2007
    Using his innate talent for combining disparate skills and personalities, he assembled a creative team that blended imagination with engineering. Walt called this group his "Imagineers."Walt Disney's Legends of Imagineering and the Genesis of the Disney Theme Park introduces a core group of the originators of Disneyland and the other Disney parks. It explores their individual relationships with Walt and each other, their creative breakthroughs and failures, and their rivalries and professional politics. This candid narrative of their lives and contributions to a very special form of entertainment illustrates why, half a century later, their work continues to be vital and important to millions of people every day, and all over the world.Lavishly illustrated throughout with rare and never-before-seen artwork and photographs, Walt Disney's Legends of Imagineering and the Genesis of the Disney Theme Park will further enrich the reader's appreciation of the exceptional talent behind Disneyland's creation and ongoing evolution.

The Disneyland® Encyclopedia: The Unofficial, Unauthorized, and Unprecedented History of Every Land, Attraction, Restaurant, Shop, and Event in the Original Magic Kingdom®


Chris Strodder - 2008
    Each of the main entries in the book examines in detail the history of a Disneyland® landmark, including how many of the most popular attractions went through several incarnations before becoming what they are today—Tomorrowland’s Hall of Chemistry and Hall of Aluminum were transformed into the groundbreaking Adventure Thru Inner Space in 1967, and then became the popular ride Star Tours 20 years later. Read about unbuilt concepts, including Rock Candy Mountain and Chinatown, and delight in fascinating trivia about the park, such as ride statistics and attendance records. With a daily list of events, openings, and closings in the park's history, a yearly summary of attractions that came and went, simple and clear maps that correspond to the book’s 500 entries, and sidebars with additional information on each ride, this is a comprehensive and entertaining book overflowing with detail on the most-renovated, most-loved, and most-visited theme park in the world.

More Mouse Tales: A Closer Peek Backstage at Disneyland


David Koenig - 1999
    A revealing glimpse backstage at Disneyland examines its development operations while revealing stories of mischievious employees and devious guests

101 Things You Never Knew about Disneyland


Kevin Yee - 2005
    Perhaps you've heard that Walt Disney kept an apartment on Main Street? Or that there is a secret, members-only club in New Orleans Square? It's all true... but these are only two of the interesting facts pointed out in "101 Things You Never Knew About Disneyland." Many of the stories here deal with more obscure, yet equally interesting, histories of Disneyland. In fact, the majority of the material comes straight from interviews with the Imagineers who helped to build, maintain, and revitalize Disneyland. The book pays special attention to the inside jokes and hidden references to Disneyland's past, as these samples illustrate: Do you know which play on words pays tribute to a former Mexican restaurant at a certain site? Do you know how Tarzan's Treehouse honors its predecessor in two different ways? Do you know what is so unusual about the decorations atop "It's a Small World"? Do you know why one palm tree in Adventureland is special? Do you know what the sign says at the bottom of Splash Mountain's big drop? Do you know which pumpkin is an homage to a Disneyland official? It's a certainty that you haven't heard all these stories before. Although there are 101 such highlighted stories, each comes with a fuller description and is followed by a second story that is thematically related, so this volume really offers 202 Things you haven't heard about Disneyland before. You will find these facts delightful and unforgettable once you've heard them!

Walt Disney's EPCOT Center: Creating the New World of Tomorrow


Richard R. Beard - 1982
    Offers a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of EPCOT, a showcase of urban planning, technological developments, and world cultures

Secret Stories of Walt Disney World: Things You Never Knew You Never Knew


Jim Korkis - 2015
    Disney secrets. Mickey doesn't want you to know how the magic is made, but Jim Korkis knows, and if you read Jim's book, you'll know, too. Put the kids to bed. Pull those curtains. Power down that iPhone. Let's keep this just between us...If you've come expecting more of the same Disney trivia, you're in for a surprise. This is not a Disney trivia book. It's a book of Disney secrets, each exactly two pages long, and each brimming with backstage lore. Jim Korkis gathered these secrets when he worked at Walt Disney World as an instructor at Disney University. They're all true. They're all cool. And they include: How the popularity of Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach meant the doom of an important piece of Disney history United Arab Emirates, Equatorial Africa, Costa Rica, and other planned Epcot pavilions that never were Disney's original plans for Figment, how corporate politics turned him purple, and why the Dreamfinder shrunk Wilderness Junction, the Alpine Resort, the Enchanted Snow Palace Ride, and other abandoned attractions Beacon Joe, the character you've never heard of, even though he appears numerous times throughout Disney World PSST! WANNA HEAR A (DISNEY) SECRET?

Disney Trivia from the Vault: Secrets Revealed and Questions Answered


Dave Smith - 2012
    He unmasks mysteries, debunks myths, and shares delightful details, including the responses to these queries:Did the same actress provide the voice of both Maleficent and Madame Leota, the head in the crystal ball in The Haunted Mansion? Who was the first athlete to say, "I'm going to Disneyland!"?Take a peek inside. Only Dave knows the answers! In addition to founding the Disney Archives in 1970 and serving as chief archivist for over forty years, Dave Smith has been a featured speaker at many Disney events. Beginning with the July 1983 issue of Disney Channel Magazine, Dave Smith began answering Disney trivia questions from viewers of the Disney Channel. In the ensuing thirty years, his "Ask Dave" column has continued through multiple publications, including Disney Magazine, the online "Disney Insider," and, most recently, the D23 Web site. He has also coauthored all volumes of The Ultimate Disney Trivia Book 1—4 and Disney: The First 100 Years (and its update). He compiled The Quotable Walt Disney, as well as three editions of the encyclopedia Disney A to Z.

The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World: Over 600 Secrets of the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom


Susan Veness - 2009
    Readers also get the insider's take on:The smell of home-baked cookies on Main Street in the Magic KingdomThe Fountain of World Friendship in Epcot that contains water from rivers and oceans around the globeWalt Disney's opening day speech tapped out in Morse Code in FrontierlandThe eco-friendly benches (recycled milk jugs) in the Animal KingdomTwo versions of The Great Movie Ride at Disney's Hollywood StudiosComplete with secret tips from Disney's Imagineers, this book is the perfect in-park companion for Disney World fans.

Building A Better Mouse


Steve Alcorn - 2007
    Steve Alcorn and David Green were there, as employees of Disney's WED Imagineering. Building a Better Mouse describes what it was like to be in the trenches as a Disney Imagineer leading the frantic dash to opening day. It is a breathtaking, breezy, E-ticket ride of a book, required reading for Disneyphiles and anyone interested in themed entertainment.

Walt Disney Imagineering: A Behind the Dreams Look At Making the Magic Real


The Imagineers - 1996
    The Imagineers are like Santa's elves: they are the nuts-and-bolts workers who allow Disney's magic to take flight. Walt Disney Imagineering explains in colorful detail the making of the magic of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, and Tokyo Disneyland -- the world's most popular vacation "kingdoms" -- from the inside out. From Mickey's Toontown to Blizzard Beach, the wizardry of the Imagineers is brought to life in this book through drawings, models, artwork, and anecdotes; also featured are the now legendary conceptual sketches from Walt Disney's very own pencil. Walt Disney Imagineering is sure to inform and fascinate history buffs, art collectors, graphic designers, architects, engineers, and Disney fans alike.

The Quotable Walt Disney


Kiki Thorpe - 2001
    Full description

In Service to the Mouse: My Unexpected Journey to Becoming Disneyland's First President: A Memoir


Jack Lindquist - 2010
    Throughout his thirty-eight year career with The Disney Company, starting out as the first advertising manager of Disneyland just months after its opening to ending his career as the first president of the park, Jack took risks some successful, some not so successful but always with his characteristic humor and joie de vivre. Disneyland and Walt Disney World serve as the backdrop for Jack s experiences, as he established himself as a maverick and helped form a large slice of Americana dominated by Disney. When Jack wasn't rubbing shoulders with the movers and shakers of every decade that he worked for the Disney Company, he was busy creating Disney Dollars and Date Nite. He recounts all of this and more, including his humorous mistakes, in this touching memoir, In Service to the Mouse.

The Unauthorized Story of Walt Disney's Haunted Mansion


Jeff Baham - 2010
    Packed with photos, Baham's book contains everything there is to know about the Mansion, with never-before-told stories and comprehensive coverage of the Haunted Mansion's colorful past and its chilling presence at Disneyland, Walt Disney World, and other Disney theme parks.The Machine in the GhostsBeginning with the Haunted Mansion's original (but never realized) incarnation as "Bloodmere Manor", Baham pulls back the shroud on the clever effects that haunt the Mansion, including Ken Anderson's plan for a cyclorama-enhanced Headless Horseman, Yale Gracey and Rolly Crump's creative wizardry and "happy accidents", Bob Gurr's Doom Buggies, the technology behind Madame Leota's crystal ball, and the controlled chaos of the Ballroom Scene.You'll learn why X. Atencio's idea for a raven narrator was ditched in favor of the now infamous Ghost Host, whether a screaming man caught in a spider web once dwelt in the Mansion, and how technology exorcised the Hatbox Ghost.Only Ghost Stories, of CourseThere's more to the Mansion than mere mechanics. More than perhaps any other Disney attraction, the Haunted Mansion is powered by story: the scenes and spirits you witness from your Doom Buggy all play roles in the overall narrative of the Mansion, and if you don't know the story, you'll miss out on a lot of the fun, and a few of the scares, too.Baham clues you in about such things as why the Mansion is there, who built it, how it became haunted, and the dastardly deeds done by some of its residents in their corruptible, mortal states.A Taste of What's InsideFrom the comfort of your Doom Buggy you'll read: How Walt's boyhood experience with the haunted Sauer Castle may have inspired Disneyland's Haunted Mansion Insider accounts of the creative clashes between Disney Imagineers over whether the Mansion's haunts should be humorous or horrific An analysis of the ride, scene by scene, with insight into how the effects work, delightfully eerie trivia, and anecdotes from Mansion Imagineers and Cast Members The stories behind some of the Mansion's many denizens, including the Hatbox Ghost, the Knight, the Sea Captain, the Raven, the unhappy couple Constance and George, and the Ghost Host himself Extensive, exclusive commentary by Mansion designer Rolly Crump A summary of the most notable Mansion collectibles released by Disney over the years There's always room for one more, and this time you're it: come experience the Haunted Mansion with the "lights on" and learn its ghostly history, its sinister secrets, and why this Disney attraction continues to happily haunt fans young and old.Cory Doctorow [BoingBoing.net]: Baham is one of the most trusted, established experts on the Haunted Mansion, a trufan’s trufan.Guillermo del Toro [Award-winning film director, co-creator The Strain]: Having delved into Disney lore for decades and having been immersed in the Haunted Mansion world since age 3, I thought I knew pretty much everything there is about my favorite Disneyland ride ever. I was wrong. Prepare to be enchanted, bewildered and mesmerized by this beat-by-beat account of the Haunted Mansion’s creation. A haunted tour that is both scholarly and thrilling. An “E” ticket ride to the darkest, most glorious regions of Disney’s imagination!