Between Books - The Imagineering Field Guide to Epcot at Walt Disney World



 The Imagineering Field Guide to Epcot at Walt Disney World provides a visual overview of the Epcot theme park in Orlando.  Alex Wright the author of five Imagineering Field Guides writes this offering.  Wright reviews the concepts and tools of Imagineering for new and old readers.  Wright takes readers through both Future World and World Showcase within the second Walt Disney World theme park.  He provides details to his readers about why and how the Imagineers crafted the stories of Epcot.  The highlight of the text, like the other Field Guides, is pictures with visuals including attraction photos to concept art created by Imagineers.  Like others in the series, the book is setup like a guide book, being small and compact and something one can throw into a backpack or small bag while walking between attractions at Epcot 

This volume follows the same pattern of the other Imagineering Field Guides, and as such readers of other volumes will feel very comfortable with the Epcot edition.  I originally read this volume not because of a future trip as I had with other Imagineering Field Guides.  Instead, I picked the The Imagineering Field Guide to Epcot at Walt Disney World up to help me connect to Epcot out here Between Disney.  The photos, art and insider information about the park I just visited succeeded in helping me to remember the trip I had returned from and fuel my desire for a future trip.  Regardless of which Imagineering Field guide you chose; The Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Disney Hollywood Studios or Disneyland they all are great tools for learning more about the Disney parks and reconnecting with your favorite magical moments.    

Between Books - The Imagineering Field Guide to Disneyland

The Imagineering Field Guide to Disneyland provides a visual overview of the Disneyland park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim California.  Alex Wright the author of The Imagineering Field Guide to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World also writes this guide.  Wright reviews the concepts and tools of Imagineering.  Wright takes readers through Walt Disney’s beloved theme park from Main Street U.S.A to Tommorrowland.  He provides details to his readers about why and how the Imagineers crafted the stories of the original Disney theme park.  The highlight of the text as with the entire series is pictures with visuals ranging from attraction photos to concept art, including art from legendary Imagineers.  Like others in the series, the book is setup like a guide book, being small and compact and something one can throw into a backpack or small bag on a pilgrimage to follow Walt Disney’s footsteps. 

By the time I read this volume I was very familiar with this series of books.  I purchased it to prepare for my first ever trip to the Disneyland Resort.  I felt comfortable with the Magic Kingdom Park, but with kids in tow I wanted to have a feel for the lay of the land instead of jumping in with no general park layout in mind.  I also needed to know what rides and attractions were different and the same so I could prepare myself and my kids.  The Imagineering Field Guide to Disneyland more than fulfilled these goals.  I felt informed when I crossed onto Main Street U.S.A. for the first time and able to tour comfortably.  Like the other volumes in this series, the pictures are stunning.  And living Between Disney it is easy to thumb throw when you need a visual Disney fix.  The Imagineering Field Guide to Disneyland is another successful offering in this series of field guides.   

For more from the Imagineering Guide series see “Between Books – The Imagineering Field Guide to the Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World” and “Between Books – The Imagineering Field Guide to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World.”

Between Book - The Imagineering Field Guide to Disney’s Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World

The Imagineering Field Guide to Disney’s Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World continues the visual tour of the Walt Disney World parks by the Imagineers.  Alex Wright the author of The Imagineering Field Guide to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World also writes this guide.  Wright reintroduces, or introduces if your first read in the series, the concepts and tools of Imagineering.  From the Oasis to the Theater in the Wild, Wright walks his readers through the park.  He provides details to his readers about why and how the Imagineers crafted the stories of Disney’s Animal Kingdom.  The highlight of the text is pictures, pictures, pictures with visuals ranging from the attraction photos and concept art.  Like others in the series, the book is setup like a guide book, being small and compact and something one can throw into a backpack or small bag on a trip to the Animal Kingdom. 

This was the second Imagineering Guide that I read.  To be honest it was a really odd choice for me as Disney’s Animal Kingdom is the park that I have spent the least amount of time in when visiting Florida.  Like The Imagineering Field Guide to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World the images throughout this book are top notch.  And the Guide helped me to see behind the heat in Disney’s Animal Kingdom, which I have convinced myself is 27 degrees hotter than any other Walt Disney World park on a given day, and to see the masterpiece the Imagineers have created.  If one slows down, opens their eye, looks, listens and smells a guest really is transported out of Florida and to Africa or Asia.  The amount of theming in this park is incredible and simply cannot be ignored, despite all of our sarcastic jokes.  We may complain about DinoLand U.S.A, but if one understands the story of this area we can clearly see the Imagineers vision of this area and the jokes behind it.  In the end, this park is a work of art, and it took the images and details found in this book for me to truly understand what it is.  It makes me want to toss this guide in my backpack and walk a little slower when I next visit this park.   

For more from the Imagineering Guide series see “Between Books – The Imagineering Field Guide to Disneyland” and “Between Books – The Imagineering Field Guide to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World.”

Between Books: The Imagineering Field Guide to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World

The Imagineering Field Guide to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World by The Imagineers is one of the first Disney centric books I read as I struggled with being Between Disney.  The book, written by Imagineer Alex Wright, explains to the reader basic tools of Imagineering and the disciplines and vocabulary of those working for Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI).  Wright then proceeds to give readers a tour of the Magic Kingdom land by land from Main Street, U.S.A to Tommorrowland.  The majority of attractions are given a brief mention usually linking to the tools of Imagineering to show how Imagineering develops rides and attractions.  Pictures are a large part of this text with images from the park and concept art being found on every page.  The book is setup like a guide book, being small and compact and something one can throw into a backpack or small bag on a trip to the Magic Kingdom. 

Again this was one of the first Disney books I ever dug into.  Sadly for those I live and work with it led to me using phrases like “wienie” and “blue sky” after I completed it.  I started reading this book at a time when I had not been in a Disney park for several years and I was getting ready, in about seven months for a future trip to the Magic Kingdom.  And it was snowing, a lot no really I mean a whole lot outside.  So I was really at a Between Disney place.  But the images, especially the concept art got me excited about that trip months in the future and lead me to think about my past experiences.  So this read had a great payoff for me.  I did pack it on my future trip, but I only consulted it in my hotel room and to be honest when I’m in a park I’m moving so fast I tend to make the mistake of not smelling the roses.  So the special insights in the book were only useful to me if I remembered them. 

The recent developments in the Magic Kingdom have completely changed my view of this book.  When I got it the guide it really was “what I could see” and facts and trivia about that future visits.  But now this book is largely historical to me.  Mickey’s Toontown Fair is closed, and we will never walk the halls of Mickey or Minnie’s homes in Florida again.  And Fantasyland is moving into its next stage of life and will have a very different look and feel including some attractions that are or will soon be extinct.  So for me the value in this book is now to help capture a large amount of what was not is.  Overall, The Imagineering Field Guide to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World is a highly visual book that is fun to thumb through remembering what is and was as you speculate what will be. 

For more from the Imagineering Guide series see “Between Books – The Imagineering Field Guide to Disneyland” and “Between Books – The Imagineering Field Guide to Disney’s Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World.”