New Disney Book - The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World

[Smiling Cheshire Cat]

We ordered ours a couple of days ago from Amazon. We are patiently awaiting its arrival. My DS and I pore over these books and dream and plan our next trip. Thanks DIS members for recommending it!

 

[SimonV]

Big to both phyllis1966 and VikingInMouseEars. That is very nice to hear

 

[Boatingmom]

I saw this thread this morning, and got the book this afternoon at Barnes and Noble. Very interesting. Read a couple of Magic Kingdom pages so far. Makes me want to go to WDW today! I've read a lot of disney books. I found many of them are repeats. This does not appear to be true here. At a bargain price too

 

[SimonV]

Let us know if you encounter any problems with getting hold of a copy, folks. We've heard a couple of reports of it being out of stock already, which is either alarming or amazing (!), but it is hard to know for sure. We're still working on a book signing here in Orlando this summer, too (fingers crossed!).

 

[foolish.mortal]

i got mine off amazon a couple of weeks ago, its a great read i couldnt put it down , definately recommend it

 

[Toad_Passenger]

I picked this book up as a beach read for my trip to the shore in June. It's a very easy and quick read, so it ended up being perfect for the beach. Overall I think the book had a lot of information in it, but for veteran park-goers, it didn't really tell us anything new, so I was a little disappointed.

I'm a big fan of "behind-the-scenes" stuff, but some of the "secrets" were stretching a little bit. I'd recommend this book for anyone taking their 1st or 2nd trip to the parks, but that's about it.

I think it could have been a little bit better if, instead of going for the 600+ secrets, there were fewer secrets and more background information about them. Give us the "why" behind some of the things. The timelines were a step in the right direction for this type of information and a VERY welcome addition to the book.

I was also disappointed that some of the "secrets" were not revealed to the reader, so why even bother mentioning them? One mentioned taking a flash picture during a certain ride and then see what was in your picture. Well a lot of people reading may not know the answer, or may not be going on their trip for another year or 2, so the reader is never really let in on that particular secret.

In the end, though, I thought it was a good read for anyone who may not take the time to "stop and smell the cookies" while they're in WDW, or are getting ready for their first WDW adventure.

I didn't give an Amazon review, but I'd probably give it 3-stars.

 

[marciemi]

I picked this book up as a beach read for my trip to the shore in June. It's a very easy and quick read, so it ended up being perfect for the beach. Overall I think the book had a lot of information in it, but for veteran park-goers, it didn't really tell us anything new, so I was a little disappointed.

I was also disappointed that some of the "secrets" were not revealed to the reader, so why even bother mentioning them? One mentioned taking a flash picture during a certain ride and then see what was in your picture. Well a lot of people reading may not know the answer, or may not be going on their trip for another year or 2, so the reader is never really let in on that particular secret.

Thank you - I felt the same way but was hesitant to say so here. I picked it up to read on our camping trip over the 4th of July and still haven't gotten through the Epcot chapter, and I'm an avid Disney fan and reader in general. I recently made a WDW countdown calendar with 77 days of trivia on it for my teenage son for our upcoming trip, so maybe I'm just a bit too knowledgeable for the info in the book. But I'd say maybe half of the stuff I knew, another quarter I didn't know, but wouldn't really care about (hidden Mickeys - I have a whole book of them, or little "look under the counter at the back of the store in the whatever pavilion" that I'd just never have the time or inclination to do), and maybe only a quarter of it was new or interesting to me.

I was also frustrated by the "I know a secret but won't tell you" ones! And in your example above, I was really annoyed since the ride they were talking about was a dark ride! Should we really be recommending everyone who reads the book to take a flash picture in there? Now I'm kind of torn between wanting to know the "secret" and being a polite guest!

I do realize after reading through much of the book that it's designed to be carried with you, but really, how many people do that? I think it should have been more purely informative (if you look here, you'll see this, which means...), rather than "cutesy" (if you look to your right, what do you see? Right! And what does it mean? If you don't know, see appendix B" or whatever).

But overall, it certainly was reasonably priced (I considered getting "MouseJunkies" but couldn't justify the $20 price tag for what seemed like a much shorter book) and I guess I have to realize that not everyone is as versed in Disney or as obsessive as I am so there may be a lot more information that is new to them!

 

[kmk1180]

I
One mentioned taking a flash picture during a certain ride and then see what was in your picture. .

I was also frustrated by the "I know a secret but won't tell you" ones! And in your example above, I was really annoyed since the ride they were talking about was a dark ride! Should we really be recommending everyone who reads the book to take a flash picture in there? Now I'm kind of torn between wanting to know the "secret" and being a polite guest!

!

ok now you HAVE to tell us what ride and where?
There's to many dark rides to guess.

And trust there's enough die hard fans here we'd be the polite guests but still interested in knowing "the secret"

 

[kmk1180]

Does anybody here who's read it use paperbackswap.com?

If they do can they post the book there when they are done reading it?
I'd love to read it. I've already got it on my wish list.

 

[Caribbeanprincess]

I just called both nearby Borders to see if they had this so I could read on my long flight on Saturday, but neither store has it in stock.

 

[marciemi]

ok now you HAVE to tell us what ride and where?
There's to many dark rides to guess.

And trust there's enough die hard fans here we'd be the polite guests but still interested in knowing "the secret"

It was on Spaceship Earth. It says "As you pass the cave dwellers scene, take a quick flash photo of the wall directly to your right. You'll have a fun surprise when you see the picture later".

My thought was just that I'm fairly sure that it's a ride that doesn't allow flash photography. Correct me if I'm wrong!

Also just frustrating as I mentioned, because if you don't have trip planned soon (or aren't willing to take a flash photograph there, or miss it as you pass too quickly), you're out of luck.

 

[Toad_Passenger]

It was on Spaceship Earth. It says "As you pass the cave dwellers scene, take a quick flash photo of the wall directly to your right. You'll have a fun surprise when you see the picture later".

My thought was just that I'm fairly sure that it's a ride that doesn't allow flash photography. Correct me if I'm wrong!

Also just frustrating as I mentioned, because if you don't have trip planned soon (or aren't willing to take a flash photograph there, or miss it as you pass too quickly), you're out of luck.

Yeah, this was the part I was talking about. It was like the book wasn't sure if it wanted to be a "scavenger hunt" or a book of information. To me if you are giving out the "secrets," than give out the secret. A photo, as well as the story behind the secret would've been great, too.

 

[Disneenut]

Add me to the book club. I just ordered this as well from amazon.

Cant wait!

 

[SnwflkCts]

I have many books on WDW - I get the new Unofficial Guide in the years I have a trip planned. I also have all the Imagineering Guides (except DHS which is coming out later this year) and the Hidden Mickey Books and the WDW for dummies, the WDW trivia books and even (old) USED guides on WDW. I devour them! I am enjoying this book very much. I like it because it isn't a touring guide - there's already so many of them! I have skipped around a bunch and plan to read it more closely at the beach. There were some secrets I knew about but many I didn't.

Here is my hint -- because you will NEVER remember all the secrets in any book and I don't drag a book around WDW! I pick out a few "secrets" of the most interest to me. I then put a little note about them on a small card I keep in my lanyard. Last trip one of my notes was about the Beauty and the Beast Library room in France (Epcot). It was soooo pretty. (mentioned in this book too).

Sorry to go on so long but I really like this book. And the price was very reasonable! Double thumbs up!!

 

[Disneenut]

~Bumping so other people know about this book.~

Got the book, i like it so far. I agree with some of you about not having anything really "new" but would be a great read for newbies.

Which brings me to another question: I am with Toad_Passenger and love books on behind-the-scenes and secrets stuff. Are there other books out there that would be a good like this?


Also there should be a Dis book club. (probably already is )

 

[Toad_Passenger]

~Bumping so other people know about this book.~

Got the book, i like it so far. I agree with some of you about not having anything really "new" but would be a great read for newbies.

Which brings me to another question: I am with Toad_Passenger and love books on behind-the-scenes and secrets stuff. Are there other books out there that would be a good like this?


Also there should be a Dis book club. (probably already is )

Well the one I'm currently reading is called "Realityland," by David Koenig. People have mentioned it on Disboards before (that's how I found out aboutit). It's not so much a "secrets" book, but more of an unrestricted look at WDW from planning to completion. Some of the tidbits and stories from former workers have been great, including all of the things that were supposed to be built, but never were! I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys knowing what goes on behind the scenes at these parks & the company itself!

 

[robb01]

Just grabbed this, looks really good

 

[Disneenut]

Well the one I'm currently reading is called "Realityland," by David Koenig. People have mentioned it on Disboards before (that's how I found out aboutit). It's not so much a "secrets" book, but more of an unrestricted look at WDW from planning to completion. Some of the tidbits and stories from former workers have been great, including all of the things that were supposed to be built, but never were! I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys knowing what goes on behind the scenes at these parks & the company itself!

Cool. Thanks!

 

[SimonV]

Thanks again for your comments and thoughts on Susan's book, folks, keep them coming Also, if anyone would care to post a full review with Amazon, we'd welcome your input on this link!

Thanks again,

Simon

PS: She's already started work on a couple of follow-up ideas, but if anyone has any thoughts on this, we'd also welcome the feedback as to what to do next!

 

[tigger813]

Well the one I'm currently reading is called "Realityland," by David Koenig. People have mentioned it on Disboards before (that's how I found out aboutit). It's not so much a "secrets" book, but more of an unrestricted look at WDW from planning to completion. Some of the tidbits and stories from former workers have been great, including all of the things that were supposed to be built, but never were! I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys knowing what goes on behind the scenes at these parks & the company itself!

I got Realityland for Christmas and read it when I have time. I love all of the interesting tidbits about the development of Disney and behind the scenes fo the planning. Very interesting! This makes me want to pick it up tonight and read some more!