Mouse Tales: A Behind-the-Ears Look at Disneyland

by David Koenig

A revealing glimpse backstage at Disneyland, its development, and its operations

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, Business, History, Pop Culture, Biography, Biography Memoir

254 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

David Koenig is the senior editor of the 80-year-old business journal, The Merchant Magazine.

After receiving his degree in journalism from California State University, Fullerton (aka Cal State Disneyland), he began years of research for his first book, Mouse Tales: A Behind-the-Ears Look at Disneyland (1994), which he followed with Mouse Under Glass: Secrets of Disney Animation & Theme Parks (1997, revised 2001) and More Mouse Tales: A Closer Peek Backstage at Disneyland (1999) (All titles published by Bonaventure Press).

He lives in Aliso Viejo, California, with his lovely wife, Laura, their wonderful son, Zachary, and their adorable daughter, Rebecca.

Reviews

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being a Disneyland devotee, I picked this one up on a lark at a used bookstore. It’s a good read for fans of the park, but nonfiction readers who are looking for a solid expose of Disneyland’s foibles and secrets will be disappointed by the uneven quality of the writing.

According to interviews, Koenig never worked for Disneyland, but apparently hung out with a lot of people who did. The book therefore melds company information, news stories, and public record with anecdotes from mostly nameless inside sources, creating a narrative that is a little salacious even when the actual stories aren’t. To the book's credit, though, it isn’t nearly as sensational as the cover makes it seem; in fact, with exception of a few mean-spirited jabs, the book is pretty fair-handed. Though there isn’t a whole lot here that Disney diehards don’t already know (bear in mind that it was published in 1994), there are plenty of fun and interesting tidbits shared in each chapter, mostly from those anecdotal sources.

The biggest problem with this book is its decidedly amateurish execution. Koenig appears to be a one-man operation, from authorship to distribution, and an editor doesn’t seem to figure in anywhere in the process. The book reads like an extended Internet message board post, complete with wonky grammar, frequent misspellings, and inexplicable tangents (such as the brief bit of religious proselytizing that was so out of place that it was unintentionally hilarious). Even though Koenig offers a thorough reference list at the end of the book, the credibility of the whole thing still seems a bit questionable. Of course, that’s part of this book's charm.

All told, this is a fun, quick read for those who have so much fondness for Disneyland that they don’t mind turning the occasionally cynical eye at it. Those who are too serious about Disneyland for their own good (and trust me, there are a *lot* of those) probably wouldn't like it so much, however.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE this book! It is fantastic to have a book containing the more sordid stories of Disneyland from an author who obviously loves Disneyland as much as any reader. There are multiple astonishing facts and MANY laugh out loud stories, so if you love the Disney Parks, this is a can't miss! In fact, I often find myself re-reading this book whenever I am getting ready to visit a Disney park.

[Em · Rating 1 out of 5]

A very strange, outdated, biased book of hearsay. I wanted to be able to call this at least a tertiary source of information, but many of the stories in it are so clearly jokes being taken too seriously or outright lies that I am left wondering what the author was even thinking.

Multiple stories in this book display the author's disdain for gay people and gay rights. The most frustrating was the story of lawsuit brought against Disney by a gay rights activist for Disney's former policy against same-sex couples at couples events, which was presented by the author as a greedy attempt to get money from Disney... because the activist was already aware of Disney's policy and decided to be homosexual in public anyway. Certainly this couldn't have been a deliberate act of protest... The author goes on to explain that the activist later went into law himself and was fired for wearing a gay rights button, which is further evidence toward his negative character, I guess.

I wish I had counted the number of times the word overweight was used in this book to describe guests visiting Disneyland, because it is used multiple times within each chapter, often just before stories about said guests supposedly getting their limbs stuck in trash can openings or crushing other guests on rides.

I'm sure that there are more recent and more interesting unauthorized Disneyland books, I just wish this one could have been good. There was very little in this book that I didn't already know, and most of what was new to me was overshadowed by homophobia and fat jokes trying to be passed off as interesting hidden Disney lore.

[Thomas Radigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did go to Disney World in Florida with my mother and aunt as a teenager decades ago on a tour of Florida, and I know the book is about the "other" place. I also knew that Disneyland was meant to be a more conventional amusement park, and was curious about it.

The story inside was not the expose of a scandalous underworld like the cover blurbs implied. The author never worked for Disney, but looked up records and talked to people involved with Disneyland. The story was about the good and bad things that happened during Disneyland's existence, and how the employees and customers acted and were treated. Interesting as a book of anecdotes of what has happened during the park's history, and how many changes were made, partly due to fashion but mostly to take care of the dangers that existed in the park, such as people getting hurt or killed, and what is done with employees or customers who misbehave. Not the scandal sheet I expected, just a history of Disney and what they did with their original amusement park.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a "behind the scenes," unauthorized look at Disneyland, I expected this book to be somehow more dark and hard-hitting than it was. The gossip side of my personality read this book hoping for some really good dirt, and that side of me was left somewhat disappointed.

Mouse Tales is certainly interesting and filled with a lot of information. I learned quite a few things about Disneyland that I never knew before, such as: there is an exclusive, members-only club at the park called Club 33; there is a long tradition of wild pranks amongst staff members; and there was a Yippie-incited riot in 1970 that required police action, just to name a few. All of these things did alter my view of Disneyland, but not in a deep way.

I read the three chapters on park deaths, park accidents, and lawsuits filed against the park thinking that they might shed more light on the darker side of the "Happiest Place on Earth," but instead found myself siding with Disneyland in nearly all of the instances. In fact, the only chapter that really darkened my view was the one on management-employee relations. It saddened me to think that the family-like atmosphere once prevalent amongst the staff has largely dwindled away over the last 20-odd years. Other than that, however, reading Mouse Tales kind of just made me want to go to Disneyland. Perhaps it really is just as good and wholesome as it seems.

I guess upshot of my review is this: if you want to learn more about Disney than you've likely ever known, you'll probably enjoy this book a lot. If you want a little mud-slinging and muckraking, you'll probably be a little disappointed, but you'll like the book anyway.

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had heard about this book many times so I finally asked for an interlibrary loan. While the first chapter on the opening of Disneyland is well-reported and interesting, the rest of the book reads like an amateur rehashing of old school tales. Grammar and organization are all over the place. Readers can mine the text for some interesting tidbits, but I found the book as a whole to be a slow read.

[Kayla Steiner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had really enjoyed David Koenig's book "Realityland" which focuses on the Disney World theme parks, so I decided to give "Mouse Tales" a read. I didn't like it quite as much. "Realityland" really dives into the history of how Disney World came to be and what Walt's vision had been. It provides a lot of detail and interesting stories about the development and building of the new parks in Florida with a lot of interesting little tidbits and tales of the struggles and mishaps experienced as the parks were built and after they became operational.

"Mouse Tales" is interesting, but you don't get as much history of the park and Walt's vision and way of doing things. It's mainly a collection of the many stories that have circulated throughout the years of accidents, deaths, murders, gangland fighting, and hippie riots. Interesting...but after a while, you get tired of reading about all the gruesome mishaps and all the cases of people acting stupidly.

[Amy Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a big nerd and saw this at a resell shop and it looked good. It was written a long time ago but I still liked hearing all the unauthorized, behind the scenes Disney stores. There a so many things that happen there that no one hears about because they want the “Mouse Image” to stay untarnished!

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half of this book was by far better than the second. I'm speculating here, but my guess is that Koenig wanted to write a book chronicling all the anecdotes, war stories, and other behind the scenes tid-bits that he knew and heard over the years from Disney "Cast Members" (employees). These stories which cover the first half of the book are indeed poignant and fun to read. But then Koenig still needed material for a full-length book and resorted to chronicling various lawsuits, mishaps, and accidents at Disneyland Park over the years. This latter half reads far less impersonal, as if he was rewriting various newspaper articles. They are also haphazardly (or sometimes just randomly) ordered, barely skim the surface, and are often left unresolved. (Did the second black carpenter who sued for racial discrimination win or lose?) Koenig's last chapter was the worst -- a half-a$$ and completely unnecessary description of Disney's other parks (WDW, EuroDisney, Tokyo Disney).

Having said all that, as I said above, the first half of the book was endearing and Koenig's nostalgic memory of his beloved park comes through. It's well worth a read for any Disneyland fan.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the expanded anniversary edition of a book I already love - the added stuff (one chapter on 1955, the accompanying CD walk-through of 1955 Disneyland, and the added tidbits in a number of chapters) is nice but not essential. Still, I'm glad I own it!

[matt peacock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting behind the scenes look at the Magic Kingdom.

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those that have visited a Disney Park whether it be in California or elsewhere, David Koenig's "Mouse Tales" should be of interest by letting you into areas both operational and corporate not accessible to those entering through the turnstiles.

Starting with a concise account of how and why Walt Disney conceived and built his 'Palace of Dreams' the book deals with the many challenges and problems encountered by the architects and Imagineers in creating Walt's 'Utopia',and evolving the cast of characters that ensure that the dream is shared by the tens of thousands of daily visitors.

There are a multitude of narrated incidents involving the use of the various rides and some of the crassly stupid things that visitors do whilst in the Park (as do staff sometimes) that cause danger to themselves and innocent bystanders as well as causing mass inconvenience when a ride has to be temporarily closed down. There is a close correlation between being of a young age, high alcohol consumption and doing something reckless that causes these incidents some of which, regrettably result in serious injury and death.

Some visitors look upon Disney as a potential 'cash cow' to be milked for as much as possible and a section of this book deals with some of the numerous lawsuits that are threatened or brought each year and the robust defence put up by the now well experienced Disney lawyers that ensures that only the genuine claims receive recompense.

A thumbnail sketch is given on the parks other than Disneyland, Anaheim, particularly the not as successful as expected Disneyland Paris and The California Adventure.

Of interest to those who have visited a Disney Park, but those that have not might not get the same 'feel' for this book, and, quite possibly could be deterred from going, although it should be borne in mind that for the many millions of annual visitors, the type of occurrences reported in this book are minuscule.

[Kayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a wonderful read! I had already read More Mouse Tales: A Closer Peak Backstage At Disneyland, so I had an idea about what to expect. I liked Mouse Tales because it gives you the behind-the-scenes of the beginning of Disneyland (i.e. Disney's idea of the park, the problems with opening day, etc.) up through the late 20th century (I think the book was published in '94).

I found this book very useful in clearing up those urban legends that my family has been telling me ever since I can remember. Such as the one about the Yippies taking over Tom Sawyer's Island. Or the one about the Guest who died on the Matterhorn because he stood up. Or that there are hidden metal detectors in the main gates. Thanks to David Koenig, I can now say that some of those legends are true. Yippies really did take over Tom Sawyer's Island. A Guest really did die on the Matterhorn (and several other people, Guests and Cast Members alike, have died on other attractions throughout the park). But no, there aren't any metal detectors in the main gates...otherwise no one would have stabbed a character or shot up the giant window in the Haunted Mansion.

I'm obsessed with Disneyland, so having the additional knowledge of the park that this book was able to give me certainly made me a happy camper. :) Some of the stuff does make you think about the park's potential problems, especially when Koenig goes into detail about the relationship with the workers/Cast Members and upper management. But if you love Disney enough, like I do, you can stand having reality play a part in your experience...even if that wasn't Mr. Disney's intention.

[Gwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was super fun to read! When I had heard about this book, I absolutely knew I had to read it, and once I actually got it, I couldn’t resist reading it right away. There are truly some very interesting and unique stories in here that you won’t find anywhere else.
Nevertheless, I almost feel as if the book didn’t reach its full potential. There are tons and tons and tons of stories in here, but they are mostly listed out one after the other and not given much detail. I understand this, because it may have happened a while ago and it can be difficult to get a full picture. However, I do wish that maybe some stories had been picked to be explained more fully. It would break up the endless lists of accounts and make it a bit more interesting to read. Also, I would have like the book to be more organized. The book is divided into ten chapters, but again, the style of the book makes everything seem to blend together. I would personally like to remember a lot of what happened but it’s super hard to. I had actually listened to an interview with the author before reading and he mentioned that when he was interviewing people to get anecdotes for the book, these people showed him a lot of photos that were never before seen. But I was a bit disappointed when I saw that there weren’t that many photos in the book. There’s maybe 15 total? I would have loved to see many more photos.

Other than that, I can’t really complain. I just wish it were more exciting, not so much sentence after sentence. It gets monotonous. anyways, it’s still super fun to read, and you can learn a lot of really great stuff about Disneyland. Definitely a must-read for any Disneyland fan.

[Josh Trice · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is certainly a peek behind the curtain. But sometimes you’re peeking at things you really aren’t asking to. Sure, a lot of the stories of employee shenanigans and guests being weird are funny. I enjoyed those parts. But at other times, this book gets really dark and gruesome. I skipped 2 of the last 3 chapters (there’s 10 total) because they detailed horrific, gory stories of unfortunate deaths at the park. I wasn’t looking to read about that.

What I wanted, and was sometimes delivered, was a peek at what goes on at Disneyland through the eyes of an employee. There are a couple chapters and stories here that deliver that in full, but be warned that Koenig really strips the fantasy away and leaves no bloody stone unturned.

I found this book to be disappointingly negative. At times there’s some positivity, but it’s weighed down by constant stories of death. I know Disneyland isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be, but at least warn me what’s coming!

[brian d rogers · Rating 3 out of 5]

An absolutely good book with a ton of behind the scenes stories about the people and events that shaped the history of the first 40:or so years of Disneyland. You’ll learn about the rides, the attractions, the employees and a TON of things about us, the people who go their looking for any number of things beyond simply visiting Walts Magic Kingdom. A place for protests, riots, violence, lawsuits and a ton of other things you’d never imagine. It’s a rougher and more honest look than I wanted at times. I started this book years ago, but never finished. It didn’t take me 3 years to finish, I just started it about 3 weeks ago again because of my own recent Disneyland trip. To wrap this up, Not bad but it really as I said focuses a lot on the craziness of the patrons. About the first third focuses on the park.

[Avedon Arcadio · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty captivating read about the history of the park. Mired by typos and well the vernacular of the time I guess. Still plenty of information they can be gained from reading.

Though I don’t agree with the detractors saying he was only out to showcase the bad parts. Seemed pretty straightforward to me in terms of what happened. I didn’t particularly care for there being two chapters regarding legal stuff but they were interesting nonetheless.

Wonder if we’ll ever get a true account of what goes on from those who are not too afraid to speak out.

[Chad Van deren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although now out of date with the continued expansion of the Disney brand (the acquisition of Marvel, Lucasfilm, and Fox chief among them), still an entertaining and informative book. The history of the park, good and bad, still holds true. I also found it interesting to read about the trajectory of the theme parks looking at it through the lens of current day Disney. For anyone who has an affection or interest in Disney I highly recommend it.

[Heather Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a book written in the early 90s, it still holds entertainment value, especially park history and its impact on culture and the travel industry. However, because of its age, it doesn’t always hold up in places when speaking specifically about marginalized communities. Readers may want to take heed at the retellings of Disney’s not so inclusive history, which is retold in bits and pieces throughout this book.

[Paige · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book, but the writing style was choppy and, as it is several years old, some of the language almost veered towards the offensive. I wish some of the stories had been set up a little better rather than simply being listed out, but overall this book provided the behind-the-scenes perspective that I was looking for.

[Anthony Alvarez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read this book several times and still find a lot of good information in it. Some times the author tends to look at the "darker" part of Disneyland but there are still some gems within it. As a huge Disney fan, I really recommend this to anyone that wants to see the park beyond what is shown. There really is a lot more than meets the eye.

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything about Disney always fascinated me, so of course I wanted to read this book. I'm surprised Disney allowed this book to be in circulation since it contains all of Disney's faults, and it seems rare to me that anyone could ever find a fault in "the happiest place on earth". Very interesting.

[Offbeat Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this from a used bookstore sale without knowing what the book was about. I hoped to know more about disney park and wondering when I would come across the secret that would leave me baffled. But the writing is bad. I did not like the consistency and could not get through the hearsay stories. Not recommended for sure.

[Jorge “George” · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was expecting something different from this book, more focused on the Disneyland history itself, but, in the end, I got something surprisingly better. Full of anecdotes and unique stories, some of which are very funny, from The Happiest Place on Earth, this is a must-read for any Disney fan.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating

This a very entertaining behind-the-scenes look at Disneyland. Who would have thought that the happiest place on earth could have so many problems? But Disney adjusts and readjusts and keeps up very high standards.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Actually inspired me to go work at Walt Disney World Resort in their college program. This book is a must read for any Disney Park fan.

[Peggy Rector · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always had a fascination with theme parks and Disney has been the king of them all. This book describes what is good and what is not so good about what we know as the magic of Disneyland.

[Suzana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the non-magical sides of Disney. A little choppy in the writing but a quick and interesting read nonetheless.

[Josh Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super interesting but the author can sound a bit rude at times about the guests. Don't get me wrong, people are the worst, but it was a bit much at times.