Fiction Books Involving Disney

[REL1203]

I was reading another thread, and came across a book that was using WDW as its location and got me thinking. what other books involve Disney, and more specifically, WDW...

This is the one that I saw in another thread.

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Kingdom-Keepers/Ridley-Pearson/e/9780641723322

[checkwriter]

Cory Doctorow's "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom," a sci-fi novel where WDW is inhabited by tribes. Available at Bn.com, or for free from Doctorow's website, at http://craphound.com/?p=147

[KathylovesPooh]

Highly recommend Kingdom Keepers - my daughter has read it several times. The sequel is coming out in August - Kingdom Keepers - Disney at Dawn (also by Ridley Pearson).

Would love to hear if anyone knows of any others.

[FozzieFan]

I read another book called "Down and out in the Magic Kingdom"

Here is the review from amazon.
From Publishers Weekly
A lot of ideas are packed into this short novel, but Doctorow's own best idea was setting his story in Disney World, where it's hard to tell whether technology serves dreams or vice versa. Jules, a relative youngster at more than a century old, is a contented citizen of the *****un Society that has filled Earth and near-space since shortage and death were overcome. People are free to do whatever they wish, since the only wealth is respect and since constant internal interface lets all monitor exactly how successful they are at being liked. What Jules wants to do is move to Disney World, join the ad-hoc crew that runs the park and fine-tune the Haunted Mansion ride to make it even more wonderful. When his prudently stored consciousness abruptly awakens in a cloned body, he learns that he was murdered; evidently he's in the way of somebody else's dreams. Jules first suspects, then becomes viciously obsessed by, the innovative group that has turned the Hall of Presidents into a virtual experience. In the conflict that follows, he loses his lover, his job, his respect-even his interface connection-but gains perspective that the other *****un citizens lack. Jules's narrative unfolds so smoothly that readers may forget that all this raging passion is over amusement park rides. Then they can ask what that shows about the novel's supposedly mature, liberated characters. Doctorow has served up a nicely understated dish: meringue laced with caffeine.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

I thought it was really good, but I think the idea of disney fiction is a good idea in most cases :p

[joe1946]

The Propheteers, by Max Apple.

http://www.amazon.com/Propheteers-Novel-Max-Apple/dp/0060961589

[mitchwebb]

for the younger group my 9 year old loved

The Mystery at Walt Disney World

[LisaNJ25]

Highly recommend Kingdom Keepers - my daughter has read it several times. The sequel is coming out in August - Kingdom Keepers - Disney at Dawn (also by Ridley Pearson).

Would love to hear if anyone knows of any others.

I read that one also.. it was pretty good. I am glad to hear there is a sequel coming out.

[bellaDisneydncr]

Read Kingdom Keepers and LOVED it!!! I am anxiously awaiting the 2nd. And don't be discouraged by the fact it's in the Independent Reader or Teen section- I'm 18 and i still loved it! it's good for both adults and kids

[Cinders Mum]

bought Kingdom Keepers from one of the resort hotels for my DD, and it was a good read, will look forward to picking up the sequel when we return in Sept,

[LuvClarice]

I really liked Kingdom Keepers although it was more geared to young adult. I liked Down & Out in the Magic Kingdom although I'm not a sci-fi fan and some concepts took me a while to get. By and far my favorite is "Walking Walt" by Larry Pontius. I'll probably have to buy a second copy as mine is getting worn out from strongly recommending it to my Disney buddies. :thumbsup2

If you're an "old school" Disney fan, you will love it.

Kathy

[Poohbeck]

Highly recommend Kingdom Keepers - my daughter has read it several times. The sequel is coming out in August - Kingdom Keepers - Disney at Dawn (also by Ridley Pearson).

Would love to hear if anyone knows of any others.

So excited to hear there is a sequel coming. My DS11 read it a few months ago, I read it last month and now my DS9 is reading it. I thought it was really good and my DS9 was so excited to read it after DS11 and I kept talking about it.

We'll all be able to read the sequel before our trip in November. :cool1:

[Praise2Him]

The Disney Girls' series - they're out of print now and for ages 9-12 (I bought them for my DD but I read and enjoyed them too). You can still find them on paperbackswap, ebay or other sites like that.

[**eeyore**]

Did anyone ever read the Baby Sitters' Club books? One of my favorites was the "Super Special" Baby Sitters' on Board - the "Club" flew down to Florida with their charges for a Bahamian cruise and a visit to WDW. Definitely one of the things that fueled my obsession for WDW as a child!:)

[kwelch10377]

Did anyone ever read the Baby Sitters' Club books? One of my favorites was the "Super Special" Baby Sitters' on Board - the "Club" flew down to Florida with their charges for a Bahamian cruise and a visit to WDW. Definitely one of the things that fueled my obsession for WDW as a child!:)

I loved that one........I wish I still had it, I would love to re-read it.

[Welsh]

I read a young adult/teen book called "Dream Factory" by Brad Barkley and Heather Hepler. It's about a group of teenagers who work as the Disney characters at WDW one summer after the original character cast members go on strike. It's told from two different points of view (alternating chapters) - one from the boy playing Dale and one from the girl playing Cinderella. They crush on each other, of course. Dale and Cinderella... an unlikely match!

It's pretty funny and I loved being able to relive Disney through fiction. I checked this out from the library when I needed an instant Disney fix!

Amazon link (http://www.amazon.com/Dream-Factory-Brad-Barkley/dp/0525478027/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210644380&sr=8-1)

[Welsh]

Did anyone ever read the Baby Sitters' Club books? One of my favorites was the "Super Special" Baby Sitters' on Board - the "Club" flew down to Florida with their charges for a Bahamian cruise and a visit to WDW. Definitely one of the things that fueled my obsession for WDW as a child!:)


I LIVED for this book! The best Super Special of them all! It's probably packed away in the crawl space somewhere, but I found it at the library last year and read it again. I remember loving the part where Andrew Brewer bent to tie his shoe, then started bawling when he discovered Snow White standing in front of him. :rotfl:

[bellaDisneydncr]

By and far my favorite is "Walking Walt" by Larry Pontius. I'll probably have to buy a second copy as mine is getting worn out from strongly recommending it to my Disney buddies. :thumbsup2

If you're an "old school" Disney fan, you will love it.

Kathy

I read "Waking Walt" as well- really, really loved it.


The Disney Girls' series - they're out of print now and for ages 9-12 (I bought them for my DD but I read and enjoyed them too). You can still find them on paperbackswap, ebay or other sites like that.

I remember these!!! They were great, too!

[CiaoBelle]

A Canadian author, Eric Wilson, writes a series about the Austin family, a family of mystery solvers. In one to the books, I can't remember the title, the sister is visiting Disneyland when an adventure finds her. These books are definately(sp) geared to young adults but my whole class loved them.

[ilovefishsticks4]

I've read the book joe1946 posted, I thought it was good.

[EchoThree76]

Iceberg by Clive Cussler. The finale is in POTC at Disneyland

[Debbie]

One of the Disney Girls chapter books went home with one of my second graders just last week. She showed me her choice. . . . and the automatic smile (Mickey ball!) came out.

I'm making a list.....summer reading, you know!

[joe1946]

I've read the book joe1946 posted, I thought it was good.
Hi, ilovefishsticks4, welcome to the DIS, and thanks for agreeing with me! :)

[REL1203]

These all seem like great suggestions...

[BLBCB]

I have a book called "Countdown to Extinction". It has the Animal Kingdom park logo in the top corner and it is a "Disney Chapters" book, printed by Disney Press. A boy named Will visits his Uncle Grant (Dr. Grant Seeker from the Dinosaur ride at AK), and goes back in time to find an iguanadon. Puts a more personalised spin to the ride story. It says it is for ages 7-9 but it can be interesting for any Disney Fan.

Does anyone know if more of these books were written? I found this one at a second hand store up here in Canada. It is copyright 1998.

[onestepcloser]

Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom is FABULOUS and one of my favorite books of all time! 100% recommended. :thumbsup2

[disneysuncat]

Kingdom Keepers was great! I bought mine in the Animal Kingdom gift shop. My daughter read it first when she was 8. I'll be buying the sequel!

I can't wait to check out the other books mentioned in this thread. :)

[Buzz Litebeer]

Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom is FABULOUS and one of my favorite books of all time! 100% recommended. :thumbsup2
Another vote here for D&OitMK.

Here's what author Cory Doctorow had to say about the book:
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom is my first novel. It's an actual, no-foolin' words-on-paper book, published by the good people at Tor Books in New York City. You can buy this book in stores or online, by following links like this one (http://www.craphound.com/down/buy.php).

I'm releasing the entire text of this book as a free, freely redistributable e-book. You can download it, put it on a P2P net, put it on your site, email it to a friend, and, if you're addicted to dead trees, you can even print it.

Why am I doing this thing? Well, it's a long story, but to shorten it up: first-time novelists have a tough row to hoe. Our publishers don't have a lot of promotional budget to throw at unknown factors like us. Mostly, we rise and fall based on word-of-mouth. I'm not bad at word-of-mouth. I have a blog, Boing Boing, where I do a lot of word-of-mouthing. I compulsively tell friends and strangers about things that I like.

And telling people about stuff I like is way, way easier if I can just send it to 'em. Way easier.

What's more, P2P nets kick all kinds of ***. Most of the books, music and movies ever released are not available for sale, anywhere in the world. In the brief time that P2P nets have flourished, the ad-hoc masses of the Internet have managed to put just about *everything* online. What's more, they've done it for cheaper than any other archiving/revival effort ever. I'm a stone infovore and this kinda Internet mishegas gives me a serious frisson of futurosity.

Yeah, there are legal problems. Yeah, it's hard to figure out how people are gonna make money doing it. Yeah, there is a lot of social upheaval and a serious threat to innovation, freedom, business, and whatnot. It's your basic end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it scenario, and as a science fiction writer, end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it scenaria are my stock-in-trade.

I'm especially grateful to my publisher, Tor Books and my editor, Patrick Nielsen Hayden for being hep enough to let me try out this experiment.

All that said, here's the deal: I'm releasing this book under a license developed by the Creative Commons project. This is a project that lets people like me roll our own license agreements for the distribution of our creative work under terms similar to those employed by the Free/Open Source Software movement. It's a great project, and I'm proud to be a part of it.

Here's a summary of the license. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd-nc/1.0)

Here's the license itself. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd-nc/1.0-legalcode)

I sure hope you like my book.
If anyone is interested, you can read it online (or download it in about a gazillion different formats) here (http://craphound.com/down/download.php).

EDIT: I should also add that the novel, although short, contains adult language, sex and drug references and is clearly aimed at (and intended for) adult readers.

[Brian_WDW74]

Since this thread isn't really about the theme parks themselves, I've moved it to the Theme Parks Community board. :)

[Buzz Litebeer]

A good book for very young children is "The Story of Disney Bear: A Day at the Magic Kingdom". This Golden-Book-style picture book, released as a merchandise tie-in/promo for the Disney Bear line of plush toys, tells the story of how Mickey Mouse's stuffed bear was brought to life by Tinker Bell, and follows Disney Bear & Mickey as they tour the Magic Kingdom together. Lots of kid-friendly illustrations and text. Highly recommended for young children.

It should also be worth mentioning that Spider Robinson's book "Callahan's Key" contains a brief scene where the cast of characters, en route to Key West from New York, stop to visit WDW.

[stacythatgirl]

These are all really great!! I can't wait to make a purchase for my trip :) :cutie:

[MickeyNicki]

The Millionaires by Brad Meltzer

AWESOME BOOK with alot of Disney in it!

Publishers Weekly
This giddy fourth thriller by Meltzer (The First Counsel) mixes up banking, cyber-theft and Disney World in a fast-paced, fresh-scrubbed tale of financial adventure. Oliver Caruso is sweating out some scut work for Henry Lapidus, bigwig at Greene & Greene, a private bank so exclusive clients require $2 million just to open an account. When Oliver and his younger brother, Charlie, find proof that Lapidus has been sabotaging Oliver's career plans, the brothers conspire to rip off the lingering balance from a deceased client's account. Silly boys! Not only is the local security goon Shep (formerly Secret Service) already chiseling in on their scam, the real Secret Service thugs are on the case almost immediately. The $3 million the Carusos swiped has somehow cybernetically blossomed overnight to over $300 million. Desperate to clear their names, the boys escape to Florida, following the money to the daughter of the deceased millionaire, a former tech wizard for Disney with a secret invention everyone in this book would happily kill for. The ins and outs of how to steal money that isn't really there makes for an interesting premise if you don't think about it too much, but two flaws detract from the action. First, the narrative POV jumps too often from one character to the next and from present tense to past, making for a choppy read. Second, the novel's juvenile flavor from the PI who bluffs her way into a building by claiming to be searching for her mother's favorite sock to the hapless schoolboy dialogue ("You touched her cookies, didn't you?") loudly proclaims its Hardy Boys heritage. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information

[Amanda_the_awesome]

Kingdom Keepers is AWESOME! But because of that book I had one of the worst nightmares of my life involving It's a Small World dolls. That's all I'm going to say being that I don't want to spoil it for anyone that hasn't read the book yet.

[Buzz Litebeer]

Kingdom Keepers is AWESOME!
BTW: All you "Kingdom Keepers" fans... it may interest you to know that "Wayne the Imagineer" is named after (and based on) a very real CM who can often be found working at Splash Mountain. Look him up the next time you're in the MK; he loves meeting Kingdom Keepers fans! :)

[Amanda_the_awesome]

BTW: All you "Kingdom Keepers" fans... it may interest you to know that "Wayne the Imagineer" is named after (and based on) a very real CM who can often be found working at Splash Mountain. Look him up the next time you're in the MK; he loves meeting Kingdom Keepers fans! :)

Really that's neat I will try to talk to him when I go visit Disney in August. Thanks for the interesting info.

[3boymthr]

Okay, I can't remember the name of the author or the title, but way back when there was a Harlequin Romance that was set at Disney World. The hero and heroine stayed in a suite at the CR. I read this book back in the 80s. They had come here from the UK and they had his daughter with them. He was a handsome, rich, successful business man and she was the poor nanny or governess who was also an ugly duckling who blossomed into a swan. Except for the setting it was oh, so typically Harlequin:rotfl:

[CarolAnnB]

BTW: All you "Kingdom Keepers" fans... it may interest you to know that "Wayne the Imagineer" is named after (and based on) a very real CM who can often be found working at Splash Mountain. Look him up the next time you're in the MK; he loves meeting Kingdom Keepers fans! :)

Wow, I hope we can find him next month. My DD10 just read both books and now has me reading them. She would be thrilled to meet him! How did you find this out? Were you just talking to someone named Wayne? Were you there any particular time? Any info you can give me would be great. Otherwise she will be on here after school posting a million more questions! Thanks!!

[Buzz Litebeer]

How did you find this out?
I used to work with him.

For the record, he doesn't live in an apartment above the Main Street Firehouse (it's just empty space up there) and he's not an Imagineer. ;)

[erincon23]

Not really about Disney, but Robert Crais has a series of (grown-up) books. The main character, a private investigator named Elvis Cole, has a Pinocchio clock, a Jiminy Cricket something, and frequently wears a Mickey Mouse shirt. And in the first couple of books in the earliest editions of the paperback series, there's a Mickey image -- either head or gloved hand -- on the cover. Not quite sure why, except for the items mentioned above, and the only time DisneyLand is actually mentioned is when girlfriend and GF's son plan to go there... The books are actually VERY good (mystery/action types).

- Erin

[loser1824]

I am so loving this thread!! I have read many, many books focused on Disney, from the life of Walt to Disney Faith. I even did my thesis on Disney! I can't wait to read some fiction books that take place in Disney! Thanks for starting this thread!!!



:thumbsup2

[Fridye]

Bookcloseouts.com has Kingdom Keepers II for $4.49 (hardcover scratch & dent). http://www.bookcloseouts.com/default.asp?Ntk1=Default&Ntt1=disney&Ntx1=matchall&Nsl=0&Ix=77&R=9781423103653S&Rt=401&Nty1=1

My daughter is waiting for the 3rd book, "Disney in Shadow" to be released next year.

[theatermouse]

Did anyone ever read the Baby Sitters' Club books? One of my favorites was the "Super Special" Baby Sitters' on Board - the "Club" flew down to Florida with their charges for a Bahamian cruise and a visit to WDW. Definitely one of the things that fueled my obsession for WDW as a child!:)


ME TOO!! :lmao: I remember reading it so many times prior to our trip to WDW when I was 11 and I may even have read it in the car on the way. It helped me know what to expect in so many different ways! I wouldn't have known about the hitchhiking ghost at the Haunted Mansion otherwise! :rotfl:

[3R1C]

Carole Marsh has a good one for 3rd-4th grade ages called Mystery at Walt Disney World. It takes you through several rides and various spots around MK.