Walt Disney's Disneyland


Book Description

Discover the story of Disneyland, Walt Disney's visionary theme park in Anaheim, California. This bountiful visual history includes stunning color photographs, concept drawings, as well as ephemera from the historical collections of the Walt Disney Company and the golden age of photojournalism, to trace the park's development and immersive...




Disney's Land


Book Description

A propulsive and “entertaining” (The Wall Street Journal) history chronicling the conception and creation of the iconic Disneyland theme park, as told like never before by popular historian Richard Snow. One day in the early 1950s, Walt Disney stood looking over 240 acres of farmland in Anaheim, California, and imagined building a park where people “could live among Mickey Mouse and Snow White in a world still powered by steam and fire for a day or a week or (if the visitor is slightly mad) forever.” Despite his wealth and fame, exactly no one wanted Disney to build such a park. Not his brother Roy, who ran the company’s finances; not the bankers; and not his wife, Lillian. Amusement parks at that time, such as Coney Island, were a generally despised business, sagging and sordid remnants of bygone days. Disney was told that he would only be heading toward financial ruin. But Walt persevered, initially financing the park against his own life insurance policy and later with sponsorship from ABC and the sale of thousands and thousands of Davy Crockett coonskin caps. Disney assembled a talented team of engineers, architects, artists, animators, landscapers, and even a retired admiral to transform his ideas into a soaring yet soothing wonderland of a park. The catch was that they had only a year and a day in which to build it. On July 17, 1955, Disneyland opened its gates…and the first day was a disaster. Disney was nearly suicidal with grief that he had failed on a grand scale. But the curious masses kept coming, and the rest is entertainment history. Eight hundred million visitors have flocked to the park since then. In Disney’s Land, “Snow brings a historian’s eye and a child’s delight, not to mention superb writing, to the telling of this fascinating narrative” (Ken Burns) that “will entertain Disneyphiles and readers of popular American history” (Publishers Weekly).




Walt's Disneyland


Book Description

Disneyland in Anaheim, California, is the only theme park in the world that literally has Walt Disney's fingerprints on it. He lived in his apartment over the Disneyland Fire House for weeks at a time. He was planning Disneyland years before he released his first feature film, Snow White. He was focused on improving the Park in the final days of his life. Disneyland was truly his passion. Before Walt died in December 1966, he promised that Disneyland would keep changing and continue growing - and it has. Walt also promised that the optimistic, adventurous spirit of Disneyland would never change - another promise kept. WALT'S DISNEYLAND uncovers those parts of Disneyland that have remained essentially unchanged since he left us. If you know where to look, Walt's pristine, unchanged Disneyland is still there, waiting to be discovered and enjoyed. By uncovering the hidden history of Disneyland, this book will make your next Disneyland adventure a richer, more enjoyable, more meaningful experience. Author Jim Denney (the co-author of the classic Disney biography HOW TO BE LIKE WALT) takes you on a tour of Disneyland as it is today - from Main Street USA to Tomorrowland - and shows you where to find Walt's original Disneyland of 1955 to 1966. It's a journey into the heart and soul of one of the greatest innovators of all time, Walt Disney.




Walt's Disneyland


Book Description

A immersive guide to the attractions and landmarks Walt helped create in his original Magic Kingdom! Walt Disney's personal imprint remains firmly intact at Disneyland. Walt's Disneyland allows guests to walk around Disneyland identifying the attractions and landmarks Walt championed, touching what he touched, and seeing his original Magic Kingdom through his eyes. Walt's Disneyland is organized land by land, clockwise, beginning with Main Street, U.S.A. then on to Adventureland, Frontierland, New Orleans Square, Fantasyland, and Tomorrowland. A must-have to add to your Disney Parks collection!




Little Man of Disneyland (Disney Classic)


Book Description

This imaginative Little Golden Book, originally published in 1955, tells the story of the creation of Disneyland and the little man who lives there. Boys and girls ages 2 to 5 will love joining Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck as they meet little Patrick Begorra. Great for Disney fans, theme park enthusiasts, and Little Golden Book collectors of all ages!




The People V. Disneyland


Book Description

The author of Mouse tales and More mouse tales offers another revealing glimpse at Disneyland and its operations, in the context of the park's legal history since 1955 and the hundreds of lawsuits that have shaped both park policy, employee relations, public perception, and the tourism industry.




The Disneyland Story


Book Description

From the publisher of The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland comes The Disneyland Story: The Unofficial Guide to the Evolution of Walt Disney's Dream, the story of how Walt Disney’s greatest creation was conceived, nurtured, and how it grew into a source of joy and inspiration for generations of visitors. Despite his successors' battles with the whims of history and their own doubts and egos, Walt’s vision maintained momentum, thrived, and taught future generations how to do it Walt Disney's way.




Walt Disney


Book Description

The definitive portrait of one of the most important cultural figures in American history: Walt Disney. Walt Disney was a true visionary whose desire for escape, iron determination and obsessive perfectionism transformed animation from a novelty to an art form, first with Mickey Mouse and then with his feature films–most notably Snow White, Fantasia, and Bambi. In his superb biography, Neal Gabler shows us how, over the course of two decades, Disney revolutionized the entertainment industry. In a way that was unprecedented and later widely imitated, he built a synergistic empire that combined film, television, theme parks, music, book publishing, and merchandise. Walt Disney is a revelation of both the work and the man–of both the remarkable accomplishment and the hidden life. Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Biography USA Today Biography of the Year




A Portrait of Walt Disney World


Book Description

This expansive, must-have coffee table book paints a robust portrait of the Walt Disney World Resort, across half a century, through diverse and vibrant voices and mostly unseen Disney theme park concept art and photographs. Walt Disney's vision for the Florida Project begins with Disneyland and the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair. After an imaginative and expansive design, a unique land acquisition process, and an innovative construction period, the Walt Disney World Resort celebrated its Grand Opening in October 1971. It featured a theme park dubbed the Magic Kingdom and three recreational resorts: Disney's Contemporary Resort, Disney's Polynesian Village, and Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground. As Walt Disney World consistently grew and further evolved through the five decades that followed, certain themes reverberated: an appreciation for nostalgia, a joy for fantasy, a hunger for discovery, and an unending hope for a better tomorrow. Inspirational and memorable theme parks, water parks, sports arenas, recreational water sports, world-class golf courses, vast shopping villages, and a transportation network unlike any other in the world resulted in fun, festive, and familiar characters, traditions, spectacles, merchandise, and so much more. The resort has come to represent the pulse of American leisure and has served as a backdrop for life's milestones both big and small, public and private. Walt Disney World: A Portrait of the First Half Century serves as a treasure trove for vacationers, students of hospitality, artists, and all Disney collectors. Searching for that perfect gift for the Disney theme park fan in your life? Explore more archival-quality books from Disney Editions: Holiday Magic at the Disney Parks The Disney Monorail: Imagineering a Highway in the Sky Walt Disney's Ultimate Inventor: The Genius of Ub Iwerks One Day at Disney: Meet the People Who Make the Magic Across the Globe Marc Davis in His Own Words: Imagineering the Disney Theme Parks Yesterday's Tomorrow: Disney's Magical Mid-Century Eat Like Walt: The Wonderful World of Disney Food Maps of the Disney Parks: Charting 60 Years from California to Shanghai The Haunted Mansion: Imagineering a Disney Classic Poster Art of the Disney Parks




Eat Like Walt


Book Description

Eat Like Walt, explores the lore of each land, beginning with Main Street, U.S.A., an homage to Walt's childhood home of Marceline, Missouri, to Tomorrowland, set in futuristic 1986, a year Disney would not live long enough to see. Although Disneyland opened in 1955, its culinary history dates back to 1923 when Walt Disney first arrived in Hollywood. Walt was a simple eater yet a big dreamer. By 1934, four years before his first feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, would be released, Mickey Mouse had made him famous enough to have a recipe published in Better Homes & Gardens magazine. Ask fans what Walt's favorite food was and most will say, "Chili." Chili has a cult status at Disneyland. People want to eat what Walt ate, the way he ate, where he ate it.