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Walt and His Park
The Stories You Probably Haven't HeardEmbark on a journey through the fascinating and lesser-known stories of Walt Disney and the creation of Disneyland with this captivating book by first-time author Phil Gramlich. Featuring more than 80 untold tales from Disney Legends and individuals who worked alongside Walt, this book provides an intimate and unparalleled look into the life, dreams, and legacy of the man who revolutionized entertainment.Delve into the mind of the visionary behind the mouse as you discover never-before-heard anecdotes from Bob Gurr, Julie Andrews, Floyd Norman, Rolly Crump, and many more. With first-person accounts from those who knew him best, Walt & His Park paints a vivid picture of Walt Disney's passion, struggles, and triumphs as he transformed a humble orange grove into a magical kingdom.From the first spark of inspiration to the grand opening day, this book unveils the true story of Walt Disney and his incredible team as they defied the odds and redefined entertainment forever. Filled with photographs, exclusive interviews, and never-before-heard stories, Walt & His Park is a must-read for Disney fans, historians, and anyone looking to explore the magic and wonder of Walt Disney and Disneyland.Immerse yourself in the captivating world of Walt Disney and Disneyland like never before. Get your copy of Walt & His The Stories You (Probably) Haven’t Heard today and uncover the secrets behind the most beloved entertainment destination in the world and the man who made it happen.
184 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2024
21 people are currently reading
85 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 7, 2024
The 80 chapters are each short enough to read in a sitting, as standalone anecdotes or sections. The book was very readable... too much so. Here's why:
1.) The quotations from interviews and other sources are written uncut, like stream of consciousness, with no editing. Uhhs, you knows, wells, repetitions, run-on sentences... It feels like an AI transcription of a podcast, with no consideration that the reader is consuming this as text and doesn't want to read aizuchi from a person's mouth.
For example,
"There are a lot of misconceptions out there about Walt Disney, and I didn't really understand how many people believed those misconceptions until I started sharing things I wrote in different places, not just here on my FB page." ... FB page!?
"[Walt] certainly was a man of his time who lived in the world of his time, but Walt was exceptional in many ways because, in so many ways and this might surprise people, in many ways, Walt Disney was really a progressive." (167)
"Unfortunately, Candle Man didn't make the cut BUT a Museum of the Weird comic book was released a number of years ago, honoring the wonderful Rolly Crump!" (138) -- with needless exclamation marks, and an unclear year reference unbefitting a book that may be read decades later.
"Well, it [Disneyland] came about when my daughters were very young and I...Saturday..was always Daddy's day with the two daughters." (49)
"Well, that's a good a name as any!" (50)
It feels like the author was too lazy or rushed to edit the manuscript, culling extraneous statements and redundancies from spoken content. Too often, he refers to guests from his podcast, but I bought this book to read written content, not read a transcribed podcast!
2.) Full of typos. Bob McLain of Theme Park Press should be a better editor than this. But run-on sentences, missing commas, poor capitalization, and typos run rampant throughout the book. They don't ruin the reading by any means, but they disrupt the flow and cast doubt on the book's quality and attention to detail.
3.) The author presents Walt and the stories too often "as-is" without providing insight about the "why" under the hood, or behind the scenes. It reads like a fan in awe of legends and trivia knowledge, leaving the reader wondering how to recreate or make sense of the facts.
For instance, when discussing how Walt wanted Jungle Cruise skippers to time their trips, "the Jungle Cruise skipper that Walt got that day was on his last day of work at Disneyland and was in a rush to finish his paperwork and get home." But there's no indication of how Walt hired and fired, replaced him with better, and retrained the staff. There is mention of how Walt fired people by exiling them to a distant building and cutting off mail, much later in the book, but nothing about the early days where he assembled the first Imagineers and evaluated their performance.
How did he massage egos too big for his own?
How did he retain staff that he wanted to keep?
Mentions of Yale Gracey and Rolly Crump being assigned to Imagineering and given broad tasks like coming up with ideas for a Haunted Mansion make it sound like they just show up to work with oodles of free leisure time, but where did Walt get the money to keep so many people on the payroll, that they could use their time so leisurely, without management? What about the staffing in departments they left? He shows up to Julie Andrews' show and offers her and her husband Tony Walton jobs on the fly, as if money grew on trees! There is some mention of Roy's fundraising in the last few pages of the book, but normal people don't get paid to do nothing! People cost money, and the book doesn't shed any light about how Walt kept his talented staff -- Dick Irvine, Bob Gurr, Rolly Crump, Claude Coats, Tony Baxter, the Sherman brothers -- motivated, well-paid, and transferred without compromising the departments from which they came.
Overall, it's nice to read feel-good stories about how celebrities succeeded at bringing an idea from concept to life, but this information is useless without some insight into execution. We readers know the stories. What we don't know is the detail of how they got there, against all odds, like funding scarcity, unknown unknowns, labor strain, and human conflict. The book lacks insight into how the studio found and kept so many people on staff with the margin to brainstorm on such a tight budget.
1.) The quotations from interviews and other sources are written uncut, like stream of consciousness, with no editing. Uhhs, you knows, wells, repetitions, run-on sentences... It feels like an AI transcription of a podcast, with no consideration that the reader is consuming this as text and doesn't want to read aizuchi from a person's mouth.
For example,
"There are a lot of misconceptions out there about Walt Disney, and I didn't really understand how many people believed those misconceptions until I started sharing things I wrote in different places, not just here on my FB page." ... FB page!?
"[Walt] certainly was a man of his time who lived in the world of his time, but Walt was exceptional in many ways because, in so many ways and this might surprise people, in many ways, Walt Disney was really a progressive." (167)
"Unfortunately, Candle Man didn't make the cut BUT a Museum of the Weird comic book was released a number of years ago, honoring the wonderful Rolly Crump!" (138) -- with needless exclamation marks, and an unclear year reference unbefitting a book that may be read decades later.
"Well, it [Disneyland] came about when my daughters were very young and I...Saturday..was always Daddy's day with the two daughters." (49)
"Well, that's a good a name as any!" (50)
It feels like the author was too lazy or rushed to edit the manuscript, culling extraneous statements and redundancies from spoken content. Too often, he refers to guests from his podcast, but I bought this book to read written content, not read a transcribed podcast!
2.) Full of typos. Bob McLain of Theme Park Press should be a better editor than this. But run-on sentences, missing commas, poor capitalization, and typos run rampant throughout the book. They don't ruin the reading by any means, but they disrupt the flow and cast doubt on the book's quality and attention to detail.
3.) The author presents Walt and the stories too often "as-is" without providing insight about the "why" under the hood, or behind the scenes. It reads like a fan in awe of legends and trivia knowledge, leaving the reader wondering how to recreate or make sense of the facts.
For instance, when discussing how Walt wanted Jungle Cruise skippers to time their trips, "the Jungle Cruise skipper that Walt got that day was on his last day of work at Disneyland and was in a rush to finish his paperwork and get home." But there's no indication of how Walt hired and fired, replaced him with better, and retrained the staff. There is mention of how Walt fired people by exiling them to a distant building and cutting off mail, much later in the book, but nothing about the early days where he assembled the first Imagineers and evaluated their performance.
How did he massage egos too big for his own?
How did he retain staff that he wanted to keep?
Mentions of Yale Gracey and Rolly Crump being assigned to Imagineering and given broad tasks like coming up with ideas for a Haunted Mansion make it sound like they just show up to work with oodles of free leisure time, but where did Walt get the money to keep so many people on the payroll, that they could use their time so leisurely, without management? What about the staffing in departments they left? He shows up to Julie Andrews' show and offers her and her husband Tony Walton jobs on the fly, as if money grew on trees! There is some mention of Roy's fundraising in the last few pages of the book, but normal people don't get paid to do nothing! People cost money, and the book doesn't shed any light about how Walt kept his talented staff -- Dick Irvine, Bob Gurr, Rolly Crump, Claude Coats, Tony Baxter, the Sherman brothers -- motivated, well-paid, and transferred without compromising the departments from which they came.
Overall, it's nice to read feel-good stories about how celebrities succeeded at bringing an idea from concept to life, but this information is useless without some insight into execution. We readers know the stories. What we don't know is the detail of how they got there, against all odds, like funding scarcity, unknown unknowns, labor strain, and human conflict. The book lacks insight into how the studio found and kept so many people on staff with the margin to brainstorm on such a tight budget.
June 1, 2024
Very informative for new fans of Walt Disney, the man, who want to learn more about him. I've done plenty of research and writing about Walt, his company and employees so most of these stories were not new to me. The nice bonus is Phil had one-on-one interviews with Rolly Crump, Bob Gurr and Floyd Norman.
The book could benefit from some editing and spell checking, and fewer exclamation points. Just a style preference for me.
The book could benefit from some editing and spell checking, and fewer exclamation points. Just a style preference for me.
December 19, 2024
I truly enjoyed reading so much history about Walt’s life.Such an incredible imaginative creator. He had such determination to overcome many obstacles to see his dreams fulfilled. Learning the details behind so much of Disneyland made me love it even more. I wish Walt had lived much longer to see how much joy he has brought to the world.
May 26, 2024
Lots of stories
Although some of the stories repeat themselves, I thoroughly enjoyed the tales behind the park that I spent a LOT of time in between 1963 and 1979.
It was nice to read about the women and men who built Walt's Park.
Although some of the stories repeat themselves, I thoroughly enjoyed the tales behind the park that I spent a LOT of time in between 1963 and 1979.
It was nice to read about the women and men who built Walt's Park.
February 16, 2025
I know the author said he didn’t want chapters, but it would have made it easier to read and less repetitive if it did have chapters. That way similar pieces of each story wouldn’t have to be inserted again. Lots of typos. Overall enjoyed the content and reading some more about Walt Disney.
July 3, 2025
I’m not one to go into depth about how I feel about a book.
Sweet, short and to the point. I absolutely Loved it. I love anything Disney. Learning about Walt was amazing. I have 2 more books lined up and a documentary that was mentioned in this book.
Sweet, short and to the point. I absolutely Loved it. I love anything Disney. Learning about Walt was amazing. I have 2 more books lined up and a documentary that was mentioned in this book.
July 8, 2024
I loved reading the stories. I had read some of them before, but this is a delightful book. There were a few grammatical errors, but overall, a very entertaining read.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews