MichaeLeah wrote:I also have Imagineering and I think it is fantastic. I also own The Imagineering Field Guide to the Magic Kingdom and Epcot and I think they are both excellent. They are a lot of fun to use in the parks.
Ok, I have that one too. Completely forgot about it. You've forced me into doing a mini book review thingy.
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Walt Disney Imagineering: A Behind the Dreams Look At Making the Magic Real
While I don't actually own this one, I have it out on permanent loan from the library I work in. It is an essential volume full of sketches, concept art and many attractions that never came to be from around the world. The only problem is that is was obviously written under tight scrutiny by Mr. Michael Eisner, as they are constantly praising him throughout the book.
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Secrets of Disney's Glorious Gardens (Disney Editions - June 2006): After many delays, this book finally arrives in glorious hardcover format. If you've ever been to a Disney park, you'll appreciate that a lot of effort has gone into making it bright and beautiful and green all the year 'round. This book is far more than just a collection of photos showcasing these gardens, although it does serve that function in part, but it is really more of a gardening guide for the reader. It isn't quite like your traditional garden book either, but it does provide handy hints as to how to make your own potting mix, when the right time to plant is and so forth.
After a brief introduction about the history of the parks, the book goes on to cover specific topics such as building an entry arbor; selecting the right plants for your region; planting a productive potting garden; and getting the right colour/border mixture. From there, a great section entitled 'Setting the Mood' examine the ways in which you can re-create the 'feel' of a Haunted Mansion through to Tomorrowland by choosing the right plants and arranging them. The 'International Flora' section concentrates largely on the World Showcase at the Walt Disney Resort in Florida, while the final section, enticingly titled 'Trade Secrets', examines how they make those topiary animals and floral portraits, such as the one at the Main Entrance of Disneyland. Maybe one day your garden will look as good as Disney's - of course, I'd be nice to have the land and money they have too.
Probably for serious Disney Park enthusiasts only, and those that have an eye for gardening. To be honest, I just enjoy looking at the pictures.
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Around the World with Disney (Disney Editions - May 2006): Previously available as a Theme Park exclusive, this attractive hardcover volume does just what the title promised - takes you around the world with Disney. With the exception of the Hong Kong park, all of the theme parks are represented: Disneyland, Walt Disney World Florida, Tokyo and Paris. By no means a perfect book - it spends some 12 pages on the Carousels of the parks, while it only spends 8 on the unique and variety Haunted Mansions, Pirates of the Caribbean and Tower of Terror combined - it reads more like an in-park souvenir guide than a serious comparison of the parks. If you are content to simply look at pictures of the theme parks, and given how far I am from a Disneyland pictures will have to suffice for now, this is a beautifully presented pictorial of the Disney parks that is easy to recommend as a gift or a coffee table book. If, on the other hand, you are looking for a more in-depth overview of the park, you may have to look elsewhere.
This next review I've taken from my
older summary (with Luke) of the books of 2005:
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Disneyland: Then, Now and Forever
Disney Editions, May 2005, SRP: $24.95
Disneyland celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 2005, and you can bet that the merchandising machine is taking advantage of it. While we all wait for the visual wonders that the long-delayed Secrets, Stories & Magic of the Happiest Place on Earth DVD will hold, Disney Editions has brought a glorious 190-page celebration of the history of the California Resort. In much the same vein as the long out-of-print
Disneyland: The First Quarter Century and
Disneyland: The First Thirty Years, Imagineer Bruce Gordon and marketing executive/Disney expert Tim O'Day bring us a nostalgic look at the history of the original Disneyland Park, and its California Adventure extension. After brief introductions from actress Julie Andrews, who is the Honorary Homecoming Ambassador, and Michael Eisner, former CEO of the Walt Disney Company, we are given a wonderful visual and textual history of the park. Accompanying the informative text is an enormous collection of sketches, maps and early construction photos of many of the major attractions that now populate the park. In addition to those rides and attractions that still remain, we get an inside look at long-extinct attractions such as Submarine Voyage and Indian Village, which predates both Bear Country and Critter Country. Indeed, the best part of this book is the wealth of images of a Disneyland past, along with a section dedicated to unbuilt attractions, such as International Street and Liberty Street. Even the most dedicated Disneyland aficionado is bound to find something new or exciting about this book. This is about as close to a definitive Disneyland book that we are going to get for a long time.
Disneyland: Then, Now and Forever is presently available through Disney Theme Parks and Downtown Disney only.
Another previously park exclusive that has JUST become available through Amazon is the magnificent
Art of Disneyland. This is currently sailing over the waves to me right now,
An excellent review of that can be found
here.
Other books I can recommend if you can track them down on ebay:
- Disneyland: The First Quarter Century
- Disneyland: The First Thirty Years
- Any of the souvenir books
