Disneyland-dream comes true

Fifty years ago, Walt Disney utterly transformed the concept of outdoor entertainment venues from tawdry carnivals and seedy amusement piers called “amusement parks,” to an entirely new destination that would come into common vernacular as the “theme park.”

Although Disneyland was the inspiration of one man, Walt did not achieve this history-altering concept on his own. Using his innate talent for combining disparate skills and personalities, he assembled a creative team that blended imagination with engineering. Walt called this group his “Imagineers.”

Walt Disney's Legends of Imagineering and the Genesis of the Disney Theme Park introduces a core group of the originators of Disneyland and the other Disney parks. It explores their individual relationships with Walt and each other, their creative breakthroughs and failures, and their rivalries and professional politics. This candid narrative of their lives and contributions to a very special form of entertainment illustrates why, half a century later, their work continues to be vital and important to millions of people every day, and all over the world.

Lavishly illustrated throughout with rare and never-before-seen artwork and photographs, Walt Disney's Legends of Imagineering and the Genesis of the Disney Theme Park will further enrich the reader's appreciation of the exceptional talent behind Disneyland's creation and ongoing evolution.

How high? How fast? How'd they do that? The top favorites at any Disney Theme park always include the roller coasters. The Disney Mountains: Imagineering at Its Peak will tell you that and more–not only about the current Disney mountain range and its show enhancements, but about mountains unclimbed and mountains yet to be.  Attractions include:

Disneyland: Matterhorn Bobsleds, Space Mountain – old and new, Splash Mountain; Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.  Never built: Big Rock Candy Mountain and the Western River Expedition

Disney's California Adventure: Grizzly Peak and Grizzly River Run

Tokyo Disneyland: Mysterious Island (Journey to the Center of the Earth)

 Disneyland Paris: Big Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain 

Walt Disney World: Space, Splash, and Big Thunder at Magic Kingdom Park; Mount Mayday and Mt. Gushmore, and the latest mountain–Expedition Everest at Disney's Animal Kingdom Park

From the day it opened in July 1955, in an event given live TV coverage, Disneyland has been a key symbol of contemporary American culture. It has been both celebrated and attacked as the ultimate embodiment of consumer society, a harbinger of shopping-mall culture, a symbol of American hegemony in entertainment, the epitome of fantasy, simulation, pastiche, and the blurring of distinctions between reality and mass-media imagery. Yet for all the power of Disneyland as metaphor, almost no one has discussed the making of this unique place, with its far-flung colonies in Florida, Japan, and France. Written to accompany an exhibition at the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal, Designing Disney's Theme Parks: The Architecture of Reassurance is the first book to look beyond the multiple myths of Disneyland.

Uniting a roster of authors chosen from wide-ranging disciplines, this study is the first to examine the influence of Disneyland on both our built environment and our architectural imagination. Tracing the relationship of the Disney parks to their historical forbears, it charts Disneyland's evolution from one man's personal dream to a multinational enterprise, a process in which the Disney "magic" has moved ever closer to the real world. Editor Karal Ann Marling, Professor of Art History and American Studies at the University of Minnesota, draws upon her pioneering work in the Disney archives to reconstruct and analyze the intentions and strategies behind the parks. She is joined by Marty Sklar, Vice Chairman and Principal Creative Executive of Walt Disney Imagineering, historian Neil Harris, art historian Erika Doss, geographer Yi-Fu Tuan, critic Greil Marcus, and architect Frank Gehry to provide a unique perspective on one of the great post-war American icons.

Replete with drawings, models, and original artwork, a detailed profile of Walt Disney's Imagineers traces how the company's engineers combined science and imagination to create Walt Disney World and the rest of the Disney empire.

Gathered together for the first time anywhere is anillustrated chronicle of the artistic development of the landmarks,attractions, and shows that constitute Disneyland.

Conceptual materials, sketches, layout drawings, andpaintings are meticulously reproduced with lavish production values in abeautiful large-format book that is destined to become a spectacular keepsakefor the Park's fans and art collectors everywhere.

Camouflaged images of Mickey Mouse are dotted around the Disneyland Resort's theme parks, hotels and other areas, ready to surprise and delight observant visitors. This second edition of Disneyland's Hidden Mickeys provides the very latest information on where these images of Mickey are hiding. To add to the fun, the book is organized into three scavenger hunts, complete with clues, hints, points to be scored, and places to tally them. Compete with family and friends to spot Mickey. Or simply search for him wherever you find yourself in Disneyland, Disney's California Adventure Park, Downtown Disneyr District or the resort hotels by turning to the Index to Mickey's Hiding Places in the back of the book. Includes complete descriptions of every hidden Mickey in the guide.