Books About Disney

[mocame]

I have been to Disney just 3 times in my life. I am fascinated with the stories of Walt Disney, the making of Disneyland, and Walt Disney World. That fascination was enhanced when my family and I went through the One Man's Dream attraction and we took the Marceline to the Magic tour a month ago. Even my non-Disney park lover DH loved the tour and is fascinated about the few stories we have heard about.

Does anyone have a list of books that talk about Walt, how the Disneyland came about, and Walt Disney World? I went to the Magic Kingdom one time when I was a child (around 1977) and my parents got a book talking about the making of either Disneyland or Walt Disney World (I can't remember which) but they can't find it! AH! If I remember correctly it had the general (not overly detailed) story about how the park came about and pictures of the construction when they were building it. I also love the information about the details within the parks and would love to read more about those. Love details!

I am assuming most books like these would be vintage/older but there maybe some newer books too? I am an eBayer/yard saler/thrift shopper, etc. so I would keep my eyes open for any book. Any books you would recommend would be appreciated.

 

[redsbe]

I would also be interested in such a book(s) as although there are many on the history of Disney, including biographies, plus many illustrative books on the parks that include some discussion and some historical pictures of the parks development and construction, none provide detailed descriptions and history on the actual creation of the parks.

 

[Pmlocke]

I just finished a book called Project Future. It goes into detail the planning escapades that Disney went through to purchase the property, the secrecy involved, the setting up of the Reedy Creek District and all the other government details that were necessary to build Dinsey World. Itt was amazing. I couldn't put the book down.

 

[Karin1984]

If you are also interested in other parks, for Disneyland Paris there is a coffee table book called 'from sketch to reality' and another a more general one called 'imagineering'.

If you are interested in Disney Customer Service I do enjoy the books by Lee Cockerell ('making magic' is the title I believe) or 'Be Our Guest'

'A little spark' and 'Dream it! Do it!' by Martin Sklar

 

[godders]

One of my favourites is Realityland by David Koenig which talks about the building of WDW and has some lovely stories in it. Another is called Walt and his Worlds I think and That had a good history of Walt

 

[msk]

We listened to The Disneyland Story by Sam Gennawey on Audible a few years ago. It was interesting. Also have you listened to the DIS Unplugged podcasts about Walt, Roy, Disneyland, and WDW? They are very interesting an give a lot of background information.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

If you want a full bio of Walt Disney, Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination by Neal Gabler is really good - very detailed

As for books more about imagineering and the development of the parks, some that I have read and enjoy include:

• Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow - Walt Disney and Technology by Christian Moran ... has a lot of first hand take from Imagineers such as Rolly Crump and Bob Gurr
• It's Kind of a Cute Store by Rolly Crump
• Dream it, Do it! by Marty Sklar

There are also a ton more about the annimation and Walt's Nine Old Men if that is of ineterest

One last one that is a little different but that I absolutely love is: 3,500: An Autistic Boy's 10 Year Romance with Snow White by Ron Miles

 

[Accident]

You should take some time to listen to the connecting with walt podcast on disunplugged. I think they are up to about episode 14now. it's basically the history of WDW but much more than that at the same time. They list all the books used to research the show on the website as well (including some out of print books) which may not be impossible to find.

 

[IronBoss]

If you are interested in Disney related fiction at all, the Kingdom Keepers series is great! Even though it is fictional, it does offer a lot of information about the backstage areas & inner workings of Disney.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

If you are interested in Disney related fiction at all, the Kingdom Keepers series is great! Even though it is fictional, it does offer a lot of information about the backstage areas & inner workings of Disney.

For Fiction, in addition to Kingdom Keepers I would also recommend the Key to the Kingdom series as well as the Disneyland Quest series

 

[ChimCher-ee]

The Vault of Walt books by Jim Korkis are full of anecdotes about, among other things, how rides came to be the way we know them today. These books are especially nice because you can pick them up and read a chapter that catches your eye - - not necessary to read cover to cover in order.

Also, I've bought but so far only glanced through "Theme Park Design" by David Younger. Michael Bowling did an entire episode (of Connecting with Walt I think) with him, and it was fascinating...

 

[mocame]

Wow! Thank you all for the information! I didn't realize how many books there are. I'm going to be very busy, but I'm excited to start trying to find them!

 

[mocame]

We listened to The Disneyland Story by Sam Gennawey on Audible a few years ago. It was interesting. Also have you listened to the DIS Unplugged podcasts about Walt, Roy, Disneyland, and WDW? They are very interesting an give a lot of background information.

You should take some time to listen to the connecting with walt podcast on disunplugged. I think they are up to about episode 14now. it's basically the history of WDW but much more than that at the same time. They list all the books used to research the show on the website as well (including some out of print books) which may not be impossible to find.

I didn't know they did those podcasts. I've listened occasionally to the regular podcasts. I'm going to check it out!

 

[warrenz1963]

I'd start with the bio by Gabler for a solid contextual base about the man that created and inspires the company.

 

[Flamingeaux]

Another vote for Realityland.

 

[thelittlemermaid2]

Not really an answer to your question, but for book lovers and lovers of fiction The Kingdom Keepers series is so good! A great read and way to tie disney into home life. Also Peter and the Starcatchers (also fiction)

 

[skipfierce]

Walt Disney: An American Original is the best WED biography I've read. Currently ready Dreamit, do it, by Marty Skylar.