Disney's Land: Walt Disney and the Invention of the Amusement Park That Changed the World

Disney's Land tells the complete story of Disneyland from concept to the present day. This novel is one of the best histories of Disneyland that I've read (and there are quite a few out there.) The tone of the book is so friendly and readable that you feel as if you are listening to a friend tell the story.
One fact I hadn't heard before reading this was that Walt was pretty bored making cartoon movies and wanted a new challenge. I also diagnosed Walt with ADHD just by reading his behavior descriptions. :)
There were so many challenges to create what was the first theme park anywhere, and to do it so well out of the gate was amazing. Not everything went as planned, and reading about the ins and outs of the details was fascinating.
I'm show more tempted to purchase the audio version of this book. The chapter containing the transcript of the live broadcast of Opening Day would be fun to hear. It sounds like Ronald Reagan wasn't very happy that his role narrating the parade did not include a script.
Overall this book will appeal to not only Disney fanatics but to anyone interested in building a creative business from the ground up. There is a lot to learn from the process of creating Disney's first Land. show less

I've read a lot about Disney, and was worried this book might not contain anything new or different. I have to say, it is definitely the most exhaustive history of Disneyland that I've read. I found it to be very interesting, and a must-read for anybody else whose interested in all things Disney.

The one thing I could have lived without was the overly flowery language used especially in the first half of the book. Why use words that people can understand if the author can use words they can't? I was glad I read the book on my iPad so I could use the "look up" feature, but that got tiring after a while.

This book should be titled Disney’s Land and the people who put it together.
It is a marvelous telling of the various people who Walt drew upon to build his dream.
So, this is great read to understand their stories as part of disneyland’s story.

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Disney’s Land: Walt Disney and the Invention of the Amusement Park That Changed the World by Richard Snow is a non-fiction book chronicling the creation of Disneyland in California from conception to execution. Mr. Snow spent many years as an Editor in Chief of American Heritage magazine, as well as consultant on historical movies and documentaries.

I always knew that to build a park is not easy, but I’ve never imagined the huge chances Walt Disney took when dreaming up a park (the phrase “theme park” did not exist before Disneyland) which will make all the others look amateurish. I could only imagine the horror of Roy Disney who was responsible for the show more finances of making Walt’s dream come true.

In Disney’s Land: Walt Disney and the Invention of the Amusement Park That Changed the World by Richard Snow tells us how this seemingly insane dream took shape. Walt’s pipe dream of “the happiest place on Earth” became a reality at an immense cost, in both sweat and treasure. Disney sold sponsorships to the park in order to make the cost more palatable.

My favorite part of the book was the engineering of the rides, pioneering technologies in miniature, engineering, and materials such as fiberglass. I enjoyed reading a chapter dedicated to the Peter Pan Flight, which to this day is my favorite ride in the park, albeit it is Disneyworld in Florida.

Walt Disney’s attention to detail is amazing, but like many great men this part of his personality caused great concern and setbacks when it came to the park. He insisted on details being absolutely right even though no one but him and the workers will see it. Whether he was right or not depends on who you ask, personally I’m amazed at the details in the parks and could enjoy simply walking around appreciating them all without ever going on an actual ride.

To promote his park Disney started a weekly show on ABC, who also promised to sponsor the park, which worked even better than he planned, when opening day was mobbed with people. The rides broke, there was no drinking fountain because the plumber had to decide between operating bathrooms and operating fountains – and wisely chose the former. The story about Walt eating lunch with the workers, buying a hotdog and walking away hence deciding how far apart garbage cans need to be was enlightening and as it was charming and a great example of some of the anecdotes in this book which are worth the admission price (pun intended).

I really enjoyed reading about the engineering issues, which needed bright minds and ingenious ideas to solve. The author also goes into Walt’s dispute with laborers and unions, he was under immense pressure to open the park as soon as possible and drove the workers hard. show less

This book should be titled Disney’s Land and the people who put it together.
It is a marvelous telling of the various people who Walt drew upon to build his dream.
So, this is great read to understand their stories as part of disneyland’s story.

I found this book to be interesting, though it took a while to get to opening day which almost seemed unlikely with all the problems that continued even after it opened. I found it fascinating to find out how all the attractions were made and how he designed the park.

Snow covers Walt Disney's dream of Disneyland from initial pipe dream to the "The Happiest Place on Earth". It's largely about the people who, one by one, built Disneyland as Walt came up with new ideas. 70 years later, those people have faded into somebody else's memory. I thought that the Linkletter 1955 TV introduction took a bit longer then it deserved. I thought the discussion of Walt's trains noteworthy.