More Books!

• Tale as Old as Time: The Art and Making of Beauty and the Beastby Charles Solomon

• The Imagineering Field Guide to Epcot at Walt Disney World--Updated!by Alex Wright
• The Imagineering Field Guide to Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World--Updated!by Alex Wright

• The Ultimate Disney Trivia Quiz Book (Vol 2)by Kevin Neary and Dave Smith

• The Rat Factoryby J.M. Ryan
  

• Encyclopedia of Walt Disney's Animated Characters

• The Hassle-Free Walt Disney World Vacation, 2011 Editionby Steven Barrett

What's a Deek?

Check out our first video in the Two Lonely Deeks series. The cameraman and off-screen host is my good friend Chip from Chip and Company. Now, where did I put my EGOT application?




Links

• Honey I shrunk the sponsor...Kodak Pulls out of Walt Disney World
• La Hacienda de San Angel and La Cantina de San Angel Opens in Epcot Mexico Pavilion
• Join the Chip Panel. You know you want to...
• Read your way to Walt Disney World
• 2011 Hassle Free Walt Disney World Guide

Everything You always Wanted to Know about Walt Disney World!

UPDATE! New titles added.

A frequent request we receive at Imaginerding is for books about the history of Walt Disney World. While there isn't one book that covers it completely, there are several titles you can digest that will give you a very good picture. There are a lot of titles available and they come from different sources; check out the ones that look most interesting.

The definition of a bibliography is:

a complete or selective list of works compiled upon some common principle, as authorship, subject, place of publication, or printer.
--http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bibliography

This bibliography is by no means a complete list of books available on Walt Disney World; I have only added books that I own. Feel free to leave a comment if I have missed something good!

You can always keep up with the Walt Disney World-related titles we have reviewed by clicking here.


General Interest
The books included in this set focus on more than just Walt Disney World. I consider each title an essential part of any Disney enthusiast's library.

• The Imagineers. Walt Disney Imagineering: A Behind-the-Dreams Look at Making the Magic Real. 1998. A spectacular title that looks at how the Imagineers create the theme parks. Concept art, anecdotes and pictures fill the volume. Has information on the development of attractions, lands and resorts. A must have!
  
  
• The Imagineers. Walt Disney Imagineering: A Behind the Dreams Look at Making More Magic Real. 2010. A completely re-vamped update to the 1998 classic. Shares concept art, photos and paintings from Disney Parks around the world. The focus is mainly on developments of the past 15 years.You can read my review here.

• Kurtti, Jeff. Walt Disney's Imagineering Legends and the Genesis of the Disney Theme Park. 2008. Kurtti looks at Imagineering's (WED) heavy hitters and discusses their contribution to the modern theme park. Rare concept artwork and loads of biographical anecdotes present a look at early Imagineering. You can read my review here.
  
  
• Ridgway, Charles. Spinning Disney's World: Memories of a Magic Kingdom Press Agent. 2007. Mr. Ridgway recounts his years with the Walt Disney Company and what it was like to work at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. It reads like a love letter to the theme parks.
  
  
• Smith, Dave. Disney: The First 100 Years. 1999. An essential part of every collection, Disney Archives Head Smith has put together a chronological look at the Disney Company.

History
The following titles are specific to Walt Disney World and cover more than just an attraction. The Kurtti, Koenig and Beard titles are a must!

• Beard, Richard F. Walt Disney's Epcot Center: Creating the New World of Tomorrow. 1982. This is the book that every fan of Epcot should own. An amazing amount of conceptual artwork and photos of the park during its first few months. In-depth information on the pavilions and anecdotes from the Imagineers. There are three editions: a pre-opening, post-opening and a short version. The difference in the post- and pre- is whether some of the pictures are in-park photos or close-ups of models.
  
  
• Emerson, Chad. Project Future: The Inside Story Behind the Creation of Disney World. 2009. Emerson takes an in-depth and straightforward look at the creation of Walt Disney World. It covers the purchase of the land and the political machinations that took place. It includes a great timeline and listing of key players. You can read my review here.
  

• Gordon, Bruce; Kurtti, Jeff. Walt Disney World Then, Now, and Forever. 2008. Theme Park Exclusive. Gordon and Kurtti have written a history/souvenir guide for Walt Disney World. It does act more like a family scrapbook than a history book, until you delve into its pages. You can read my review here.

• Koenig, David. Realityland: True-Life Adventures at Walt Disney World. 2007. Koenig looks at the creation, construction and development of Walt Disney World. There is not another title that talks to as many former employees to reveal anecdotes and what happened politically. You can read my review here.

• Kurtti, Jeff. Since The World Began: Walt Disney World, The First 25 Years. 1996. The seminal title in any theme park enthusiast's library. Kurtti explores the first 25 years of Walt Disney World with photographs and rich historical detail. 

• Malmberg, Melody. The Making Of Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park. 1998. This book goes into an incredible amount of detail on the initial ideas, design and implementation of Disney's Animal Kingdom. You can read my review here.

• Mannheim, Steven.Walt Disney and the Quest for Community. 2003. This book could almost be considered a biography of the Epcot that could have been. Mannheim writes a very through-provoking and enjoyable work on Walt Disney's plans for EPCOT Center and how they germinated and became reality (or didn't, in some cases). You can read my review here.

• The Story of Walt Disney World, Commemorative Edition. Various Years (1971, 1973, 1976). An official publication that looks at the first few years of Walt Disney World. It focuses on the building of the Magic Kingdom, the resorts and the rest of the vacation kingdom. It has a great stylized map and lots of pictures.

• Walt Disney World, The First Decade.1982. An official publication that looks at the development of the Magic Kingdom, hotels and the Village Marketplace. The book is like a time capsule with lots of great photos. You can read my review here.

• Walt Disney World, 20 Magical Years. 1991. An official publication that is part history and part souvenir guide. Great for pictures and as a time capsule. Updates Walt Disney World, The First Decade. You can read my review here.

Attraction Specific

• Broggie, Michael. Walt Disney's Railroad Story: The Small-Scale Fascination That Led to a Full-Scale Kingdom. 1998. Broggie presents a fascinating look at Walt's Railroad--part biography and part theme park history. The majority of the book focuses on the Carolwood-Pacific, but Broggie does discuss the Magic Kingdom and Ft. Wilderness Railroads. You can read my review here.
  
  
• Leaphart, David. Walt Disney World Railroads Part 1: Fort Wilderness Railroad. 2010. David has compiled an monumental and magnificent look at the Fort Wilderness Railroad. A must for any fan of Fort Wilderness, trains or early Walt Disney World anecdotes. Visit the author's website for more information.
  
• Leaphart, David. Walt Disney World Railroads Part 1: Fort Wilderness Railroad Gallery Companion. 2010. A companion guide to David's work on the Fort Wilderness Railroad. More pictures than you can shake a stick at!
  
• Surrell, Jason. The Disney Mountains: Imagineering At Its Peak. 2007. Surrell takes an in-depth look at every Disney mountain, from Matterhon to Everest, with side trips to some un-built mountains.
  
  
• Surrell, Jason. The Haunted Mansion: From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies. 2006. If you are a fan of the Haunted Mansion, you need to own this book. Surrell starts at the earliest concepts and takes us through to the final incarnations, step-by-step. The concept art is wonderful.
  
  
• Surrell, Jason. Pirates of the Caribbean: From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies. 2006. An in-depth history of Pirates of the Caribbean, from concept stages to Disneyland Paris. We experience all versions of the attraction through the script, artwork and photographs.

Artwork
There would be no Walt Disney World without these artists.

• Hench, John. Designing Disney. 2009. Hench shares his thoughts on helping to design every Disney theme park. The text is insightful and the artwork is astounding. There is also a 2003 edition.
  
  
• Kurrti, Jeff; Gordon, Bruce. The Art of Walt Disney World. 2009. Theme Park Exclusive. Jeff and Bruce have collaborated again to create a sister volume to the wonderful Art of Disneyland. This large-scale book presents concept artwork from every phase of Walt Disney World's history. Many of the images are seen here for the first time. Every fan of Walt Disney World should own this title. You can read my full review here.
  
  
• Mumford, Dave; Gordon, Bruce.A Brush with Disney : An Artist's Journey, Told through the words and works of Herbert Dickens Ryman. 2000. A look at Herb Ryman's art--not just work done for Disney, but over his entire career. You can read my full review here.

Miscellaneous
Detailed-inspired travel guides, academic treatises and amazing photographic titles. Usually more of a time-capsule than a history title.

• Burns-Clair, Pam and Peri, Don. Walt Disney's First Lady of Imagineering Harriet Burns. 2010. Harriet's daughter Pam and Disney Historian Don Peri craft a fascinating and beautiful collection of anecdotes and tributes to Harriet Burns, as told by her family, friends and co-workers. You can read my review here.
  
  
• Childs, Valerie. The Magic of Disneyland and Walt Disney World. 1979. I reviewed the book here. This work is mainly a pictorial essay about Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Geared mainly for park detectives and people who visited the parks in the 1970s. You can read my review here.
  
  
• Hannaford, Dee. The Gardens of Walt Disney World Resort. 1988. One of the most beautiful coffee-table books ever produced about Walt Disney World. Amazing photographs of the gardens and natural areas help to create a snapshot of Walt Disney World Resort in 1988. Absolutely gorgeous and belongs in every collection.
  
• Imagineering Field Guide Series: Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdomand Disney's Hollywood Studios. 2005-2009. Written by The Imagineers, this series of guidebooks discusses some of the details and histories of the parks. They are designed to be taken into the park with you; hence the artwork can be fairly small, but exciting.
  
  
• Marling, Karal Ann. Designing Disney's Theme Parks: The Architecture of Reassurance. 1998. Marling presents a series of academic articles written by historians, critics and architects that look at the development of the Disney theme park. Wonderful photographs.
  

Geek-End Update, Saturday, September 25, 2010

• Jamie at OnlyWDWorld shares an in-depth look at the Wilderness Lodge.
• Cyberdillo at Disneyland Postcards presents some snazzy postcards from the Hall of Chemistry!
• Rob at a Filmic Light looks at the first commercially available soundtrack.
• Jess at ChipandCo posts some trivia about the Walt Disney World Railroad.
• Paul F. Anderson contributes an article about Pirates to the Walt Disney Family Museum blog.
• Didier Ghez at the Disney History blog interviews Jim Korkis about his upcoming book.
• Imagineering Disney takes a seriously behind-the-scenes look at Pirates. SPOILER ALERT!
• AJ at the Disney Food Blog posts images of the Siamese Guardians of Fudge!
• Magical Hotel has scanned some great PR shots of the Disneyland Hotel.

Geeks, Nerds and Disney Fans Unite!

---

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Winston-Salem, NC - Geeks, Nerds and Disney Fans Unite! Chip and Company and Imaginerding, two North Carolina-based websites with a passion for all things Disney, have joined forces to offer a new and exciting way to get your Disney-related news. Premiering on Sunday, September 26 is a brand new VLOG (Video Blog) that will bring you the latest in Disney News and Views. Two Lonely Deeks (Disney + Geeks--get it?) will entertain and inform you each week in an interesting yet humorous way (Set Sarcasm to 10!).

Host George Taylor, from Imaginerding.com, presents news from around the world of Disney while dodging barbs from his behind-the-camera co-host, Chip Confer from Chipandco.com. In addition to news and reviews, you can expect a dash of childish delight each week as the Two Deeks pontificate on all that is nerdy and geeky in relation to Disney--theme parks, books, movies, video games and more!

In addition to offering the latest in news (and opinion), Two Lonely Deeks will offer a multitude of weekly content:

1. 60 Second Game Reviews
2. Book Reviews
3. Movie Reviews
4. Contests
5. On-location, live streaming (hint, hint Disney...) from PR Junkets and more
6. Restaurant Ratings
7. Live from the Parks (hint, hint Disney)
8. Theme Parkeology
9. Cameos and interviews with Disney Legends alive and dead!

For more information, e-mail deeks@chipandco.com

The 2 Lonely Deeks are:

Chip Confer is the owner and founder of Chip and Company (chipandco.com), Along with his many phenomenal writers, Chip delivers some of the best in Disney News & Views on the interwebs--Discussing Disney Planning, Tips, Tricks, Touring Plans and so much more. When Chip isn’t writing about Disney you can find him out doing other nerdy things: graphic and website design, playing video games, editing and recording videos, working on computers--you name it. He puts the Chip in computer chip! You can email Chip at chip@chipandco.com

George Taylor is the owner of Imaginerding.com and the co-editor of 2719Hyperion.com. When he doesn’t have his nose stuck in one of his Disney books (over 330 in his collection), he can be found playing video games with his sons, driving his wife crazy or managing a public library. George loves anything related to the Disney Theme Parks and animation. The weekly Geek-End Update feature at Imaginerding provides links to some of the best Disney-related writing on the web.

You can e-mail George at george@imaginerding.com

###

It's Raining Books!

This book update is fairly eclectic and contains a duplicate title already in my library. When your book collection hits over 330 titles, it is difficult to keep from purchasing a few duplicates every once in a while. A lot of times, though, extra copies can be a good thing, especially when a spine breaks.

I do have multiple versions of the Disneyland Pictorial Souvenir, as any good Disneyland historian should. It is always fun to compare the guides and see how Disney handle changes in the parks and closures of attractions. I really enjoy seeing how Disney publicity evolved over the years. Most of the earlier guides (pre-1990) are less staged than their contemporary counterparts. It is also apparent when Disney uses the same shot across decades.

One of my all-time favorite Walt Disney World books is listed at the bottom of this post. Walt Disney World: The First Decade is a must-have for anyone who has ever visited Walt Disney World. You can read my review here. I think I have three copies of it, but I am always up for one more!

• Walt Disney's Disneyland (A Pictorial Souvenir)

• Disney Junior Encyclopedia of Animated Characters: Including characters from your favorite Disney*Pixar films
  

• Walt Disney: A Biography (Greenwood Biographies)
  

• Walt Disney's Donald Duck: 50 Years of Happy Frustration

• Disneyland by Valerie Childs
  

• Walt Disney World: The First Decade You can read my review of this amazing book about Walt Disney World here.

Fantasy Faire Resurgent

Sometimes, finding information on early Walt Disney World can be quite daunting. If it isn't covered by Mike Lee's Widen Your World, Foxxfur's Passport to Dreams, Michael Crawford's Progress City, U.S.A. or Jeff Pepper's 2719 Hyperion, there are chances that the information does not exist. It is possible that the photos or check-in documents have not been uncovered from someone's vacation files, yet, so we keep our eyes open! Regardless, when a good mystery or question comes a long, it is difficult to give up the scent!

Previously, we looked into discovering what background information we could on the Fantasy Faire Stage in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. What started out as a simple post to help identify a photo quickly turned into a mega-post that pulled information from various web and print resources.

• http://www.imaginerding.com/2010/09/all-worlds-stage-and-we-are-merely.html

Official Definitions

One of the resources I consulted for the article was the First Edition (1996) of Disney A to Z: The Official Encyclopedia by Dave Smith:

Fantasy Fair Outdoor stage in Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, used for live shows.

We were able to secure copies of the Second and Third Editions of the Encyclopedia and I was very excited to see that the entries had increased in size.

Disney A to Z: The Updated Official Encyclopedia, Second Edition (1998):

Fantasy Faire Covered area, also known as Fantasyland Pavilion, originally used for outdoor stage shows in Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, and later for additional seating for the Pinocchio Village Haus.

They added the "e" to the end of Faire and the information about the stage being renamed Fantasyland Pavilion at some point. I assumed that it was between 1994 and 1996 due to the information uncovered during the research for the first post. In this case, I have times guide from a 1994 visit that still calls it the Fantasyland Faire Stage.

Disney A to Z: The Official Encyclopedia, Third Edition (2006)

Fantasy Faire Covered area, also known as Fantasyland Pavilion after January 1995, originally used for outdoor stage shows in Fantasyland in Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World, and later for addtional seating  for the Pinocchio Village Haus. It closed in 1996.

Wow, what a difference eight years makes. So, know we know that it was renamed in 1995 and closed in 1996.

Thank Goodness for the Interwebs

Joe Shelby, one of our readers, left a comment with a link to his Picasa album of photos that his parent took in 1972-1974. I copied the photos, retouched them and added the URL to each one. I want to thank Joe for sharing these with us.

Check out the Amazing Forced Perspective Disney used back in the day! The mice look really big...

Not sure about Smee, but I think that lady chatting up Capt. Hook is looking for more than a handout.

See, no one likes hanging with poo...

Shouldn't everyone be facing the other way?!?!?

What in the world are Pan and Hook handing out?

Take a moment to compare Joe's shot from 1972-1974 and the photo from 1985. It looks like the steps were removed which had the effect of creating a much larger stage. Or, the stage was enlarged, thus necessitating the removal of the stairs. Or, too many people were bum rushing the stage to get at Cinderella's larger than life mice!

I do urge you to get a copy of the Third Edition of Dave Smith's excellent Disney Encyclopedia; it is an amazing resource to have on hand! If you do own the First or Second Editions, it is worth the price to obtain the Third Edition.

Books Galore!

We have had a lot of books show up at Imaginerding HQ over that past week. According to my LibraryThing account, I am up to 326 Disney books!

The first two we found on eBay. There were created by Lawson Mardon Post Card in 1992 (Twelfth Printing) and 1991 (Second Printing), respectively. Both are souvenir-type guides that are full of photographs from the parks. I haven't found more information about them, though. There is no ISBN, but each has a barcode on the back (it is the same code), which means they might have been sold in a box set

• Magic Kingdom: A Treasure Book of Memories 1992
• Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park: An Adventure With the Movies 1991

• The Art of The Princess and the Frog by Jeff Kurtti
  

• The Art of Bolt by Mark Cotta Vaz

• Expedition Everest: Legend of the Forbidden Mountain 

Geek-End Update, Saturday, September 18, 2010

• Amid at Cartoon Brew posts a 1959 photo with a ton of Disney Legends.
• Chip and Co looks at visiting Celebration. (You can see Chris' post here, too.)
• Designing Disney shares the Storybook Story at Disneyland Paris.
• Didier Ghez at Disney History links to some great artwork that is on sale.
• Fresh Roasted Corn...just go there!
• The Jungle is "101" takes us backstage! Mike also shares one of the best times, ever, to visit Disneyland.
• Dem Parkeology Boys do a little shadow huntin' at Peter Pan's Flight!
• Jack Spence presents a detailed look at Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe.
• Futuerprobe waxes poetic about 2083...
• Mark Sonntag at TagToonz posts images from a great 1935 publicity flyer.
• HGB2 at Long-Forgotten proffers one of the most amazing Haunted Mansion-related posts.
• Rob at A Filmic Light looks at composing Snow White.
• SamLand  takes an historical look at some rocks at Disneyland.
• Matt at StudiosCentral shares some great details about Star Tours.
• Ryan at the Main Street Gazette posts some details from One Man's Dream.