Eat Like Walt: The Wonderful World of Disney Food

by Marcy Carriker Smothers, Marcy Smothers, John Lasseter (Foreword)

Eat Like Walt, explores the lore of each land, beginning with Main Street, U.S.A., an homage to Walt's childhood home of Marceline, Missouri, to Tomorrowland, set in futuristic 1986, a year Disney would not live long enough to see. Although Disneyland opened in 1955, its culinary history dates back to 1923 when Walt Disney first arrived in Hollywood. Walt was a simple eater yet a big dreamer. By 1934, four years before his first feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, would be released, Mickey Mouse had made him famous enough to have a recipe published in Better Homes & Gardens magazine. Ask fans what Walt's favorite food was and most will say, "Chili." Chili has a cult status at Disneyland. People want to eat what Walt ate, the way he ate, where he ate it.

Genres: Nonfiction, Cookbooks, Food, History, Cooking, Food and Drink, Microhistory

176 pages, Hardcover

Published September 19, 2017

Reviews

[Lola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easily one of the best books on Walt Disney I have ever read. At first glance, the concept seemed odd to me. A historical biography about Walt Disney but through the lens of food... strange. But as I began to read, it was very evident that the author had did her research and it became very clear as well that Walt’s life, his daily ritual, how he communicated with people, and his imagination were all connected to food in one way or another. The photographs in this book I feel are one of the most intriguing part of the book, with my favorite being a copy of Walt’s favorite dinners to eat at home hand written by Walt himself.

If you’re a Disney fan, I highly recommend this book.

[Becky Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. At first I thought I probably shouldn't count it because it has so many beautiful pictures and concept art. But, between all that beauty are some really interesting stories and facts about the early days of Disneyland. I thought I knew about all there was to know about Disneyland's early days, but there were stories and info I had not heard before. Highly recommended for fans of Walt and Disneyland. I probably will end up buying this book because it was that good.

[Peter Bosson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book examines the food of Disney during Walt's lifetime, both at the studio and at Disneyland. Like most things Disney related, the food has a great history. Who knew that Doritos were invented at Disneyland! I especially enjoyed hearing about all the restaurants that have come and gone from the park. I hope the author does another book about the food of Disney up until present day.

[Rebecca Rosenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly magical history of Walt Disney, Disneyland, and the Americana foods that were served there. All the inside stories and fantastic photographs, many never seen before make this a fascinating stroll through our American history. Unique gift for anyone who loves Disneyland, or our recent American history!

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful book for Disney lovers who love food! Like a trip back in time to the studios, Walt's family and the Parks. Lots of great photos and old menus. A book I will flip through again and again.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Combines two of my favorite things food and Disney. The photos are fantastic, many of them unique and the menus are very interesting, but they are tiny & hard to read. There is also a chapter that has a few recipes in the back.

[Alizee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely book about Walt’s love of food and Disneyland’s food history. It’s full of details and anecdotes, as well as recipes to try at the end. Definitely recommend for Disney history fans :)

[Sarah Wennerlund · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating, in-depth look at not only the food history of Disneyland, but the Walt Disney Studios as well. I only have two small critiques:
1.) About half of the images in the book had no caption. Either caption all the images, or none.
2.) Smothers takes the reader through specific food and/or beverage locations throughout Disneyland. However, she doesn't necessarily give the whole history of a location (i.e. she tells us what the spot was on Disneyland's opening day, but what's there now? Is it still open? Was it torn down)? I'd like a more complete history.

[Margaret Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful book, with exquisite paper quality and beautiful illustrations. However, I have some beefs with this volume. First of all, some of the menus are so small, they are difficult to read without a magnifying glass. Next, I think some of the listings are incomplete. I visited Disneyland when I was in my tweens and teens, during the late sixties and for most of the seventies. I remember three vendors with great fondness: the Carnation Gardens, which had the best ice cream sandwich on the planet, the Welch's Grape Juice bar, and the French Market in New Orleans. I have this memory of getting a grape popsicle (in the shape of the old fashioned fudgsicles) from the Welch's stand in Fantasyland. These were not your usual sugar water confections; oh no, they were actually made of unadulterated frozen grape juice, the kind that would dye your tongue purple for days. No mention of these in the book. Also, no mention of the French Market, which was a buffet-style food stand that had the best fried chicken ever! According to this book, the French Market never existed. Finally, a lot of references to the Monte Carlo sandwich at the Blue Bayou, but not much of anything else. I remember eating a full roast pork dinner at that restaurant. (It was excellent, by the way!) As I review that chapter, I only see one menu: Club 33. It feels like the author had a deadline to meet or a limit to the size of the book and couldn't be bothered to complete the research on New Orleans Square. When it opened, NOS was the most lovely of the lands in Disneyland, and everyone wanted to be there. The author's coverage of it was disappointing, to say the least.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was fascinating. I appreciated that unlike many histories of Disney, it doesn't spend a lot of time going over yet again things we already know for the sake of a sense of completion. Honestly, if you're interested enough in Disney history to be reading a book about what Walt Disney liked to eat, you already know about his time in Kansas City and the early days of Hollywood or the idea behind Disneyland. These things are touched on, but only as relevant to the focus of the book.

It's divided into sections - first on Walt's personal eating habits at home, and how they developed (or didn't - he liked to stick to the classics), then the food at the animation studios, and then a chapter on each of the lands in Disneyland. In each of those sections there is a small segment on all the restaurants or eateries during Walt's time. Sometimes it goes into detail on why a restaurant did or did not succeed.

I thought the information was well-organized, and it included a good amount of first person accounts of food decisions from the time, as well as some amusing pictures of menus from the time. My only small thing was that some of the pictures were labeled, and some weren't. And those that were, some had dates, and some didn't. I would have liked a little consistency. But in general, I really enjoyed this and felt like I came away knowing a lot more than I did before on the history of Disneyland and Disney Studios.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the biographical bits on Walt, which were interesting, and the history of the studios. It looks at his life, from the jobs he had before getting into film-making and how he got interested in art and animation. Most of the info covers his life and relationships after starting the park - not a surprise, as there’s years to cover there. I thought the description of the ‘his and hers’ separate studios in the - 50s? (It starts with the section on the penthouse boys club) was interesting. He sounds a little patronizing towards the female ‘inkers’, I think they were called - but given the sexual harassment you hear about today, and stories about it in the past, I wonder if sometimes the women didn’t mind having their own workspace all that much.

After that, various exhibits/restaurants that were featured at the park were looked at individually, which was a little too much - I skimmed a lot in this section.

Didn’t have the chance to try out any recipes. Might borrow it again to try a few out. Some seem like they might be a little dated, like the meringue ‘pudding’ (with gelatine to help keep its form) with sauce. It’s interesting to see how different the food is from restaurant food today, especially the old menus from the studio cafeterias. Makes me feel very spoiled by todays’ options!

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 3 out of 5]

Smothers, Marcy Carriker Eat Like Walt: The Wonderful World of Disney Food, 169 pages. Disney Editions, 2017. $35.

While Smothers brings a wealth of interesting little facts about the historic food in Walt Disney, she focuses on the restaurants and snack places that opened when Walt was alive and what Walt would eat. Some of the non-Disneyland is interesting, like reading about the different eating-places in the Animation studios and such, but the menus that are included are small enough that most people will need a magnifying glass to read them. The information is just enough for a tease, but not enough to really inform. There are recipes included in the back, which would have been better served to be included along side the chapters instead. I didn’t come out of this feeling the magic of food at Disneyland. Another book for the absolute diehard Disney fanatic, but not really for a fan or a casual reader.

ADULTS, GIFT – OPTIONAL. Cindy, Library Teacher
https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2017...

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must read for fans of Disney & food! Marcy has done an incredible job of researching stories, photos, and of course recipes. It was especially fascinating to read about restaurants that no longer exist at Disneyland and ones that were proposed but never saw the light of day. I had a very personal connection to one of the featured recipes - Walt's favorite cookie Chinese Candy Cookies - as it's quite similar to a recipe my mom had called Chinese Noodles which has always been my favorite cookie (really more like a candy). Thoroughly enjoyed this coffee table/cookbook!
Note: The info Goodreads has is incorrect. The correct subtitle of the book is "The Wonderful World of Disney Food" and the author's name is correctly spelled Marcy Carriker Smothers.

[Emily Tharp · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the more niche books on my shelf and I finally sat down to read through it. Lots of very interesting stories about Walt that I hadn’t heard before, even just small humanizing details that make him feel so much more real to me now. The book is focused around food in Walt’s lifetime, so his home life and preferences, his studio commissaries, and Disneyland restaurants that opened prior to his death. The structure is a little loose, with lots of tangents, but I enjoyed learning all the details anyway!

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This delightful book features some of the very food Walt Disney would have eaten. The book contains text about some do Walt’s favorite meals while at home or at the animation studio then goes into a long in depth look at some of the first food served at Disneyland. The book has wonderful pictures and very interesting stories. I especially loved the old menus with the prices.

[Amber Ray · Rating 2 out of 5]

For me, this was a somewhat interesting history of the park's food but I thought it just needed something. There are a lot of nice pictures and a few recipes, but somehow it felt very "surface" to me and didn't feel totally complete to me.
And...it leaves out Dole Whip which is a big deal in the parks.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super interesting history of the food of Disneyland, but i did think they left out some major parts— no mention of dole whip!! Also, it would be fun to have an updated version that included California adventure.

[cat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved seeing all the old photos of Disneyland!!! Food is one of my favorite parts of going to Disney (although I’ll admit- WDW got the better end of the food stick!).

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book written specifically for my interests.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating back stories

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read if you like Disney.