Disney Declassified

by Aaron H. Goldberg

Alternate-cover edition can be found here

Welcome to the world of Disney Declassified, a REAL look at some of the situations that play out in their theme parks, their corporate boardroom and all too often, a courtroom. Some of the situations are heartbreaking, others are head-scratching, and all of them are tales Disney would rather you not hear.

Walt Disney, the company bearing his name, and their theme parks have been analyzed and chronicled almost ad nauseam. The word Disney conjures up different feelings for different people. For many, the Walt Disney Company stands for all things wholesome, family-centric, moral and entertaining, but every now and then scandalous and salacious behavior seeps into the utopian world of Disney.

Disney Declassified isn’t about the analysis of the Disney Company at a deep or philosophical level—actually it’s quite the contrary; it is a collection of true stories with Disney being the setting or the catalyst in situations that are very un-Disney-like. In some of these instances, not every Disney story ends happily ever after;


•The shocking time a baby was born and abandoned in a Magic Kingdom toilet.

•When an eight-year-old girl was randomly shot in the back while riding aboard the Disneyland Railroad.

•The controversial story of a handicapped woman having her Disneyland annual pass suspended for speeding and running into other guests with her motorized scooter.

•What do a priest accused of molesting multiple children and the founder of a Ponzi scheme have in common? They both fled their situations and went to work at Walt Disney World.

•The diabolical tale of a woman who sold her newborn baby for $15,000 to take her other children on a trip to Walt Disney World.

•The role a former Nazi SS member played in the construction of Walt Disney World.

•Two hostage situations at Walt Disney World, with one at EPCOT tragically ending in suicide.

•How a peeping Tom set up an elaborate system to spy on female cast members as they changed for work inside Cinderella’s Castle.

•Ever hear of something called “Sphinctering?” If you were one of the unlucky guys working for the fire company on Walt Disney World property, you may have been subjected to this form of male-on-male sexual harassment.

•Find out how the public helped to identify and track down a despicable child pornographer based on the Disney resort in the background images the police released from his reprehensible videos.

The Disney docket doesn’t end with cases of ride accidents, sex, crimes, death and violence. There are multiple stories of people faking cancer to score a free trip to Disney World, interesting copyright infringement and Americans with Disability Act lawsuits and a touching story of how a young boy with autism utilizes Disney characters to communicate with his family.

However you feel about Disney, lover or hater, explore these stories and many more, when the real world collides with Disney and their world. Chances are you may never view Disney the same way again!

Genres: Nonfiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published July 31, 2014

About the author

Aaron H. Goldberg is an alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania, having graduated with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in anthropology.

He is the author of the award-winning and bestselling books, The Disney Story, Meet the Disney Brothers, and The Wonders of Walt Disney World.

Aaron has been featured in stories about Disney in CNN, The Los Angeles Times, Emirates Airlines Magazine, Huffington Post, Orlando Sentinel, The Dis, Imaginerding, and Inside the Magic.

He’s active on Twitter @aaronhgoldberg and has visited the Disney theme parks more times than his wallet cares to remember!

Reviews

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Judging from the title, I was more curious about what could possibly be scandalous about Disney? However I soon discovered that this book is more about the bad behavior of regular people (come on do they really think they can get away with that?), the tragic accidents, and sometimes unavoidable situations that happen to "Disney". Rather than a just a tell all book, it is more of a short history that delves into Disney background stories for each situation. It's almost like being on a Disney ride that let's you in on the secrets of how things are done and what can go wrong even with the best intentions. This book was a lot of fun to read, no subject was taboo, and I found myself reading just "one more story" because it was so difficult to put down. You almost need to be reading it with someone, as it stimulates conversation and best of all memories. Disney has always been associated with "Magic" and good feelings, so we forget that it is also a business and has to run itself that way to keep all of the magic going for us. Since the author's writing style is almost conversational, it seems that he cannot help himself when he inserts his own sense of humor. It is just enough to acknowledge that sarcastic comment you may be thinking. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is or has been a fan of Disney. However you just can't read it alone, it is a book to be read by a group or shared because there is so much you will want to talk about!

[Amanda Silvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is not well-written or organized (it has a self-published feel), but it contains lots of interesting tidbits and stories about people behaving badly on Disney property or in the name of Disney, accidents and deaths that have occurred at the parks, and people trying to make a quick buck off the mouse (and in turn, Disney initiating some ridiculous lawsuits). This book is for those fans who want to read the behind-the-scenes dirt that Disney would prefer to keep quiet. However, the author is himself a Disney fan who does not disparage the company and says many times that, for example, the number of deaths and/or accidents that have occurred since the first park opened is really minimal compared to how many millions of people have visited Disney properties since then. The book was thoroughly researched, as evidenced by the 45-page bibliography. A good read; the layout and sentence structure just might bother some people (like myself).

[Sarah Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like to read anything Disney related, so when I saw this book, I knew I had to read it.

This book offers Many "behind the scene" stories about various things going on at Disney World and even Disney a Land.

Some stories had me shaking my head in disbelief, while others made me feel ashamed to be a human being because of the ways that some people try to make a quick buck from "The Mouse".

I still enjoyed this book and found myself not wanting to put it down. Very interesting indeed!

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

As usual,another great win from Goodreads...loved this book. Put a bit of a different outlook on Disney. I love books like this. It was great...I'd recommend it,especially if you love Disney.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

[Susan Gillam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book from Goodreads. It was very entertaining.

[Leah · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's pretty much a glorified Wikipedia article, or an unfinished Snopes article.

[Maria Skyllas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very disappointing.

[Jaq Greenspon · Rating 2 out of 5]

While this book is ostensibly well researched (45 pages of sources) the writing is atrocious and the point is lost. It’s merely a poor retelling of numerous news articles with no insight or analysis. It’s also poorly organized within the chapters. The author never clearly indicates when one story ends and another begins (and since the writing is so shoddy, it’s not nearly as cut and dried as it should be).

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite what I was expecting - I had expected more of a behind the scenes book from someone who knows the stuff that is NOT made public. This book was simply about most of the lawsuits and court cases that Disney has been involved in. Everything in this book is public in some news story or court records. A good bit of work to compile this all, and it was still an interesting read.

[Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay

Well written had a lot of interesting facts. Wasn't mind blowing wow information but it was good. Could of been a bit shorter book

[Rich · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just too many boring anecdotes. It got old.

[Piper Winchester · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved reading about all the little, dark stories about what happened at the parks

[Marj · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read.

Contained a lot of information hidden by Disney. Would recommend it to anyone wanting to know more history of the Disney parks.

[Brennan Crowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting happenings at Disney

There are a lot of things you don't want to know about Disney but this book sheds l u get on them.

[William Brophy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun book to read

Sure, this book pales in comparison to Mouse Tales and it's sequel but it is still a fun read. Good for killing time.

[Peter Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great detail on some stories, frustratingly lacking detail on others. Far too often, the author would mention a related topic, only to move right along in the next paragraph. When he talks about sexual images and things reportedly found in Disney movies, he doesn't bother to tell what the explanation from Disney was. For example, be brings up "sex" apparently seen in the dust from The Lion King, but neglects to explain that it's really "SFX" short for special effects, the department responsible for the dust in the film. It made me wonder what other details were left out that would have been fascinating.