Updated version of hard cover souvenir book.

The definitive portrait of one of the most important cultural figures in American history: Walt Disney. Walt Disney was a true visionary whose desire for escape, iron determination and obsessive perfectionism transformed animation from a novelty to an art form, first with Mickey Mouse and then with his feature films–most notably Snow White, Fantasia, and Bambi. In his superb biography, Neal Gabler shows us how, over the course of two decades, Disney revolutionized the entertainment industry. In a way that was unprecedented and later widely imitated, he built a synergistic empire that combined film, television, theme parks, music, book publishing, and merchandise. Walt Disney is a revelation of both the work and the man–of both the remarkable accomplishment and the hidden life. Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Biography USA Today Biography of the Year

The writing is academic, but it is not inaccessible. It will have wide disciplinary appeal within academia, as tourism studies cross into a variety of fields including history, American studies, fandom studies, performance studies and cultural studies. It will be invaluable to those working in the field of theme park scholarship and the study of Disney theme parks, theme parks in general and related areas like world's expositions and spaces of the consumer and lifestyle worlds. It will also be of interest to Disney fans, those who have visited any of the parks or are interested to know more about the parks and their cultural situation and context.

A propulsive and “entertaining” (The Wall Street Journal) history chronicling the conception and creation of the iconic Disneyland theme park, as told like never before by popular historian Richard Snow. One day in the early 1950s, Walt Disney stood looking over 240 acres of farmland in Anaheim, California, and imagined building a park where people “could live among Mickey Mouse and Snow White in a world still powered by steam and fire for a day or a week or (if the visitor is slightly mad) forever.” Despite his wealth and fame, exactly no one wanted Disney to build such a park. Not his brother Roy, who ran the company’s finances; not the bankers; and not his wife, Lillian. Amusement parks at that time, such as Coney Island, were a generally despised business, sagging and sordid remnants of bygone days. Disney was told that he would only be heading toward financial ruin. But Walt persevered, initially financing the park against his own life insurance policy and later with sponsorship from ABC and the sale of thousands and thousands of Davy Crockett coonskin caps. Disney assembled a talented team of engineers, architects, artists, animators, landscapers, and even a retired admiral to transform his ideas into a soaring yet soothing wonderland of a park. The catch was that they had only a year and a day in which to build it. On July 17, 1955, Disneyland opened its gates…and the first day was a disaster. Disney was nearly suicidal with grief that he had failed on a grand scale. But the curious masses kept coming, and the rest is entertainment history. Eight hundred million visitors have flocked to the park since then. In Disney’s Land, “Snow brings a historian’s eye and a child’s delight, not to mention superb writing, to the telling of this fascinating narrative” (Ken Burns) that “will entertain Disneyphiles and readers of popular American history” (Publishers Weekly).

50 years ago, Walt Disney utterly transformed the concept of outdoor entertainment venues. Using his innate talent for combining disparate skills and personalities, he assembled a creative team that blended imagination with engineering and called them 'Imagineers'. Kurtti introduces a core group of the originators of Disneyland and the other Disney parks. He explores their individual relationships with Walt and each other, their creative breakthroughs and failure, their rivalries and professional politics. Lavishly illustrated with rare never-before-seen photos.

I fell in love with Disney World in 2013. Since then, I've made it my mission to go back to Disney as often as possible. Moms are my true passion and helping them get to Disney is my way of supporting them. I've travelled to Disney from my home in Kentucky over 24 times in 2 years, usually with my four kids (ages 7, 5, 3 and 8 months) in tow. It took some creativity to spend over 120 days at Disney on an income that is below the median. Let me help you get there! I hope you're ready to laugh and learn because that's what I'm about. The book is seriously helpful, but not overly serious. I've done all the math for you so you can concentrate on the strategy, not adding and subtracting. But I do show you how to do it, so if you're so inclined you can apply it to your own situation. This isn't information that you can glean from a casual search on Pinterest. I have been actively and passionately searching for money saving ideas for over four years. And I've added my own original money saving ideas (which I've never shared before). Plus, I've put it all together into a convenient, easy and fun to read package. Because I'm not about that dry-book reading life. Throughout the book, I have two fictitious families: The Smiths who are a family of four, doing Disney as inexpensively as possible and the Robinsons who are a larger family, going all out, but doing it responsibly. We follow them through each strategy seeing how it effects their budget. Spoiler alert: both families save well over 50% by stacking certain strategies! Whether you're the Smiths or the Robinsons, or maybe you're the Johnsons (we fall somewhere in the middle), this book is going to change your vacation. And maybe your whole life.