Good Books?

Grumpy-Fan

Grumpy-Fan

Active Member
Original Poster
I have about eleven months before my return to The World. That`s a long time. I`m looking for some good books to read in the mean time. I`m looking for a good comprehensive book about Walt. I`m also interested in something about the construction of the parks. Some good behind the scenes stuff would be great as well. Thanks for any help in this matter.

Chip
 
daliseurat

daliseurat

Member
Okay. I have way too many Disney books, so I'll jump in here to help...

Best book about WALT:

Walt Disney, a Biography. Bob Thomas. This is a NICE bio about Walt. Not the MOST informative, but the more informative ones are kind of warts and all. And sometimes not as much fun to read before you go.


Best book about WDW:

Since the World Began by Jeff Kurtti. A terrific history of WDW's first 25 years,

Other great books to get you in the mood:

Any of Jason Surrells books

Pirates of the Caribbean
Haunted Mansion
Disney Mountains


Best GuideBook:

Birnbaums. This is an OFFICIAL book, so it has a lot of good info that is very accurate.

Hope that helps!
 
WV_Jayola

WV_Jayola

Active Member
some of my favorites are :

The Disney Films - Leonard Maltin
The Walt Disney World Trivia books volume 1 and 2 - Lou Mongello
The aforementioned Jason Surrell books.
and of COURSE Hidden Mickey's Guide

i love all of those.

i'm currently reading the Walt Disney : A Triumph of American Imagination biography, and loving it.

jeff.
 
dvcnut39

dvcnut39

Well-Known Member
This is one of my favorites- WALT DISNEY IMAGINEERING: A BEHIND-THE-DREAMS LOOK AT MAKING THE MAGIC REAL (Paperback)
 
MinnieLee

MinnieLee

Member
101 Things You never Knew About Walt Disney World. It's a paperback and fast reading but some really interesting things about "behind the scenes" things in each of the parks like the guy driving the truck in Fast Track when you come around the curve is a cut-out of Lyndon Johnson with a hat and sunglasses or some of the presidents do double duty in SSE.
 
cpeterstx

cpeterstx

Member
If you want to read something about Walt, I absolutely loved:

Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination by Neal Gabler

I thought it was a very good read about his life and his efforts. There isn't much "behind the scenes" stuff about the building of Disneyland, though. For that, I think the other posters have given you some great recommendations.
 
KeeKee

KeeKee

Well-Known Member
cpeterstx said:
If you want to read something about Walt, I absolutely loved:

Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination by Neal Gabler

I thought it was a very good read about his life and his efforts. There isn't much "behind the scenes" stuff about the building of Disneyland, though. For that, I think the other posters have given you some great recommendations.
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I read this one recently and would highly recommend it.
 
ChuckElias

ChuckElias

Well-Known Member
Kamikaze said:
How about 'DisneyWar'?
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Really fascinating book. Probably a better title would have been "The Rise and Fall of Michael Eisner". I liked it, but it's not really about behind-the-scenes of the parks. More of a behind-the-scenes of the company.

I'm definitely going to look into some of the other books mentioned here, though. I need something to tide me over for 5 more weeks.
 
kcnole

kcnole

Well-Known Member
Since the World Began is by far the best WDW book ever written. Its too bad that it ends at 25 years. I really wish someone would update it as it was written while DAK was still in planning. I still highly recommend it though, by far the best book I've ever read.

If you want to understand how the inner politics of disney works then I highly recommend Disney Wars which is all about the rise and fall of Michael Eisner. It is by far the most interesting book I've ever read. Sitting on my shelf waiting to go after that book is the latest Walt biography which is supposed to be very good as well but I can't say yet as I haven't read it.

For quicker reads I also recommend all three of the imagineering field guides.
 
David

David

Active Member
DON'T read Walt Disney: Hollywood's Dark Prince. I read this several years ago and it was just a "biography" that tried to put down Walt in every way possible. I know he, like all of us, had moments that do not present us in the best light. But this guy just took it to extreme.
 
ChuckElias

ChuckElias

Well-Known Member
daliseurat said:
Best book about WDW:

Since the World Began by Jeff Kurtti. A terrific history of WDW's first 25 years,
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CanuckCM said:
I second Since the World Began! Excellent book.
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I took your advice. I liked it a lot. I especially liked how it started off by talking about how important Roy was to making Walt's visions become reality. Roy sort of gets forgotten, I think, and it was great to be reminded of what he meant to those early Disney enterprises.

I do wish that the author would do a second edition. So much has changed, that I would love to see an edition that includes "Soarin'", as well as a chapter about Animal Kingdom now that it's open.

Next up is the Disney trivia book by Lou Mongello.
 

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