Between Books - The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World Third Edition

 

Susan Veness’ The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World book has long been a standard here at Between Disney. But a lot has changed at Walt Disney World, and here at Between Disney, since the first edition was reviewed in 2011. And it was just a few years ago, in my mind, that I reviewed the Second Edition. And boom, there arrived at my doorstep a Third Edition in 2020…during a time when I was slowly working through Between Books. Slowly, I have been picking up on reviews again and this new edition is really the best place for me to kick off a new era of Between Book reviews.

The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World: Over 600 Secrets of the Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom Third Edition by Susan Veness follows the same general plan as the earlier editions. Veness walks readers through the four Walt Disney World Resort parks land by land. As she takes this walk she drops fun facts and behind-the-scenes information that for many, okay readers like me, will find delightful and help to expand the park experience. The book is text-driven, with little to no pictures except for a map that highlights some facts about each park.

Overall, the facts are interesting and delightful. I have read a lot of Disney books, yet I felt like I experienced many new to me facts. The text was well-written and engaging. But for some reason, I did find that it took me a bit to get into the text. This may be due to the fact there was content I had read before in this format. But as I got further into the text, my attention was increasingly grabbed instead of diminished. I worried that new sections such as Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge would spoil me but instead I felt the sections prepared me and helped grab my interest. I felt like the surprises I have kept from myself were not revealed.

It could be the lack of images and photos that may have been my initial barrier to all in. As I read a section I often attempted to mentally picture the layout of the area. I assume the lack of images is tied to copyright issues. And while this text can be used to prepare a traveler, it may even be better in the park as a guide to help fill time in lines, as visitors play a game to find the secret the text points out. For this purpose, the book is light enough to fit in a small backpack but even better would be a Kindle edition on a cell phone.

I did note in the past I would like a section about Downtown Disney/Disney Springs. Content about Disney Springs and the water parks would be fun, but the editions are all consistent in creating boundaries around the theme parks.

As expected from a revised edition, content is often the same. The France section of the World Showcase that I discussed in the Second Edition remains unchanged but has shifted to page 129 to align with the new and removed content in this edition. This fact just leads me to suggest that new readers really should consider the newest edition for the most updated content with the key details found in earlier editions. This is underscored by the growth in each volume as the original had 242 pages, the Second 255 pages, and the Third 286 pages. This text is like the park is expanding. Get the newest fellow readers!

The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World is a go-to book for me. It is fun. It is well written. And it has a lot of facts. It has the power to prepare someone for a trip, especially if they want to sound knowledgeable on Disney secrets. Also, it could provide park fun, as family members waiting for their next attraction seek out the secrets provided for each section. I will continue to recommend The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World for those who want to read up on park secrets before they visit the Walt Disney World Resort.

Review Copy Provided by Publisher

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Between Books - Brittany Earns Her Ears

Brittany Earns Her Ears: My Secret Walt Disney World Cast Member Diary by Brittany DiCologero is the fifth installment in the "Earning Your Ears" series.  DiCologero follows the basic outline of these journals.  The author discusses why she chose to enter the Disney College Program, the application process, Disney College Program life, and her job as a merchandise cast member in Fall 2014.  She concludes the volume with reflection of her time in the program. 

Again, this volume follows the basic outline of "Earning Your Ears" books.  And this allows a reader to come to understand this specific cast members decision about entering the program and navigating the process.  In this case, I found myself "routing" for Brittany since we are both history majors.  And I believe that if I was a young adult I would likely gravitate towards this volume thanks to our shared academic interests.  I can also see myself gravitating towards this volume since Brittany discusses maintaining and supporting a long distance relationship which would have been close to my own situation at that age.  I can see the value to readers of these types of books if one feels the author is like me.

DiCologero along with the typical topics calls out advantages to program participation.  This includes Disney discounts, typically deeper discounts than found at retail jobs.  Also she participated in educational experiences, giving this history major the most interesting business course she ever completed.  And of course, she calls out the fundamental truth...Animal Kingdom is hot!

Brittany Earns Her Ears is another well-written contribution to understanding and preparing for the Disney College Program.  Like all of these volumes, some will resonate better to others with readers due to experiences and common personality traits.  The series is one that should be examined by all potential College Program participants.    

Between Books - The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World 2nd Edition

It has been nearly 400 posts since I reviewed The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World by Susan Veness.  New Fantasyland has come to life.  Test Track is now more Tron than General Motors.  And Avatar has led to shifts at Disney's Animal Kingdom.  I think it is fair to say that now is a good time for an updated version of Veness' title.

The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World: Over 600 Secrets of the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disney's Animal Kingdom by Susan Veness provides a behind the scenes tour of the Walt Disney World Resort.  Veness walks her readers methodically through the four theme parks, land by land, providing background and hidden secrets to the attractions and sights.  Veness' facts help the guest better understand the work that Imagineers have put into the park, and allows them to seem super knowledgeable to their friends and family as they enjoy their Disney day.  Along with her own descriptive text, Veness breaks away from the tour to give her readers "Fascinating Facts" about the parks and "Imagine That!" interludes where Disney's Imagineers and other creatives discuss attractions in their own words.  Each chapter ends with a detailed and descriptive, though balanced and brief, timeline of each park.

I think the first big question really is how does this stack up to the first edition?

So let us just rip off the band-aid and be honest about the first edition!  At this point if you are buying the original as new to you, you are buying a time capsule, a historical tour of the past.  Because the Walt Disney World Resort of 2009 is long gone at this point!  So really, if you want a behind the scenes tour book for today...you need this volume.  The old volume simply captures attractions that are now extinct.  And I found myself surprised how many new attractions there really were as I read through the book.  Even areas I have thought of as static, like Main Street U.S.A. have significantly changed, with meet and greats now offered on the Magic Kingdom's main drag.  In short, a new edition was truly needed and at times it made it feel like a whole new book to me due to the number of changes at the resort.

Now, just because this is a second edition does not mean that all the old stuff has not been updated.  On page 110 of the original volume is a discussion of the bridge between the France and United Kingdom pavilions at Epcot.  The same paragraph can be found on page 138 in the new edition.  In the old edition this paragraph is followed by an "Imagine That!" which is now absent in the updated volume.  But instead in the new version there is a description of a cameraman not being edited out of the Impressions de France film.  The France segment is actually halved in the Second Edition.  But except for the bridge paragraph the content is new.  The Tower of Terror seems to me to be an attraction that should not have changed much since 2009.  However, while the description includes around the same number of pages, there is new Hidden Magic for the reader to look for.  So despite being an updated edition there is still new Hidden Magic for the reader of the old edition.  And I will admit, though I have not read the original in depth for several years (I have used it as a resource several times though) the Second Edition felt fresh to me.   The two editions are roughly the same size, and I can see edits for space where I assume Veness had to shrink content down to allow for new Hidden Magic and new attractions elsewhere. 

Other points I have made in the past stand.  The book is well-written and easy to access.  Veness uses bold text to help the reader scan through content, which is especially helpful when walking through the park and wanting facts on hand.  The book itself is small enough to fit into a backpack.  And I found this edition as enjoyable as the first.

I think if I was to make any suggestions, I would like to see a chapter on Downtown Disney.  But since that is very much in flux in 2015, I can understand why it continues to be excluded.  

The time has come for an update!  The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World: Over 600 Secrets of the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disney's Animal Kingdom by Susan Veness captures the Walt Disney Resort of today, sharing the Hidden Magic in the stories behind beloved Disney attractions.  Some may argue that it steals the Magic.  But for me, Susan Veness has only made the resort more magical by giving background in an easy to digest format.        



Review Copy Provided by Publisher 

Between Books - Realityland

One of my favorite Between Books is Mouse Tales by David Koenig. So when I saw a Walt Disney World book written by Koenig, it was a must have for my shelves. And I hoped that the Florida version of the book would live up to the two volumes Koenig has offered up on Disneyland. Would this volume live up to the excellent Disneyland books?

Realityland: True-Life Adventures at Walt Disney World by David Koenig provides an unofficial history of the Walt Disney World Resort from Walt Disney’s inception of the idea of an East Coast park up until the opening of the Animal Kingdom Park. The text flows forward chronically, not topically, as Koenig walks his readers through the building of the resort, the opening of the Magic Kingdom Park and the expansion into Epcot, Disney-MGM Studios and the Animal Kingdom. Koenig’s focus is on the less obvious bits of history such as accidents, lawsuits and backstage incidents. So Koenig’s writes for example not on the design of the Contemporary Hotel, but on the work theft and union troubles that surrounded its actual construction.

Like with Koenig’s other books, Realityland is highly enjoyable and easy to read. I would say this is more of a chronological history than a topic one. This volume has no chapter on the Walt Disney World version of the Jungle Cruise. The focuses here tend to be more related to what could have been found in a newspaper or police blotter than what could be gathered in an informal and unmonitored interview. Though his research does include those former cast member interviews. With that in mind, the text tends to be more familiar and duplicative of what can be found in other Walt Disney World history books. Though I did highly enjoy the construction accounts which were more off the record than other sections of the book in my mind.

It really was the construction details of the park that I enjoyed most. Koenig details the union troubles that Disney faced in the Florida construction. There was a lot of theft by workers, something that lead to cost overruns and over purchasing to deal with material losses. Additionally, the unions required their workers be present and paid when specialists were needed from outside. And with so many workers on site, there was Sopranos style corruption, such as non-existent workers on the books, that most would never associate with a Disney park.

The on property deaths and major accidents are also interesting. I would say that the most at risk are cast members, where the majority of documented deaths have occurred. But being a small child is also a risk! With such a large property, deaths will occur. But for some reason I do not believe that detailing of these events is up to the same level as Mouse Tales. But then I am quibbling over really good versus excellent.

Realityland is a must have for Between Books libraries focusing on the Walt Disney World Resort. Koenig is clear and helps shed life on the history of the parks that is rarely spoken of. But I still stand by Mouse Tales as my favorite Koenig book. But then it was also my first!

Dreaming Disney - Google Maps

I was alone in my office.

It was late and the lights were dimmed.

I sat in front of my computer.

The door was closed but suddenly it swung open. I was caught by Mrs. Between Disney surfing images on the Internet.

And what she saw made her grab a seat next to me!

I was on Google Maps looking at images of the Disneyland Resort and our hotel for our future first trip to California.  And what we saw was too engrossing for us to look away.

Disneyland Park from Google Maps

Seriously, Google Maps is a great resource for both planning a visit to a Disney park and dreaming out here Between Disney.

It is really easy to find your favorite Disney park.  All you have to do is type in phrases such as Disneyland, Walt Disney World, The Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, California Adventure, Harry Potter (for select readers only) into the search box and Google Maps takes you to your desired location.  If only it was that easy to travel from Between Disney to the parks! 

A nice use of these maps is to use the satellite images to get a pre-trip lay of the land.  On that famed night, I used the site to determine the distance and route between our hotel and the main gate.  That meant when we arrived we knew in general how we would get to the park.  And though the images are not live I have had fun scrolling though images from the Walt Disney World Resort, asking myself what some of the buildings and areas were backstage?  It's kinda fun to trace out where a dirt road from The Magic Kingdom Park ends. 

A Magic Kingdom Park Backstage Area

How do you use Google Maps out here in Betweenland?