The Happiest Place on Earth: The Incredible Story of Walt Disney's Disneyland

by Don Hahn, Christopher Merritt, Bob Iger (foreword)

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Travel

320 pages, Hardcover

Published July 15, 2025

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful coffee table book, with a ton of fascinating documents & pictures of the development of Disneyland. Some sections end abruptly, and as an official Disney document it shies away from some of the more problematic stuff. But for a fan of the parks, highly recommended.

[Brandon Billings · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this is amazing. It’s definitely more of a coffee table book, but it includes stories and pictures/art that have never been seen before. You can tell the authors really dug through the archives to put this together, and it’s an excellent work. Would highly recommend for any Disneyland fan.

[Louis Prosperi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic look at Disneyland. As someone who's read more than a few books about Disneyland, this one had a lot of details and amazing art that I hadn't seen before.

[Nick DiColandrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stellar book for any level of Disney and Walt fan, highlighting both well known aspects of Disneyland’s history and forgotten ones.

For example, the work of Ruth Shellhorn is finally recognized in this book (get her a window!), unknown aspects and photos of Wizard of Oz, hand drawn copies of early DL layouts by Herb Ryman (7 iterations?!) and so much more that is unveiled here.

It’s definitely a “coffee table” book with its size, massive amounts of photos and large print. However, if you are able to get a copy this year I highly suggest you do! It’s an instant must have once the 70th celebration is over.

[Reid Mccormick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Look, I have read too many things about Disneyland, especially the creation of the park. I have seen the photographs of the Riverside park way too many times. But having said that, this book was fantastic. I loved almost every page. I photographs are beautiful and the book was well composed.

There are times when the author is trying to tell a story, but the paragraphs are separated by two or three pages of beautiful images. By the time I was done looking at them, I had already forgotten what I was reading.

I consumed this entire book in a few days and I enjoyed every moment.

[Brie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great read. There was quite a lot of new information (to me anyway) included, which was interesting to read about. Being a coffee table book, this had tons of pictures which was great. They really give you a feel for what Disneyland was like at the beginning. The book focuses on the planning and design of Disneyland and the early years after the park opened. It was really interesting to see how much the plans changed over time from the original idea. If you're a Disney fan, I recommend this one!