A Historical Tour of Walt Disney World

by Andrew Kiste

History Made Magical

In A Historical Tour of Walt Disney World, Andrew Kiste not only pulls back the pixie dust curtain on some of the most iconic rides in the Magic Kingdom, but also pulls back the next curtain, revealing the historical and cultural influences that inspired Walt Disney and his Imagineers.

Did you ever wonder why Walt wanted a Jungle Cruise? Or how closely his pirates were based on real pirates? Or why the original conception for Tomorrowland didn't work out? Or how the Crystal Palace is really the work of a forgotten Victorian architect?

Learn the history BEHIND the history of such popular Magic Kingdom locations and attractions as:

Main Street, U.S.A.: It's always the Fourth of July on Main Street, and everything there has a purpose that might surprise you.

Jungle Cruise: Despite the skipper humor, this ride has its roots in European colonialism and the scramble for Africa.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Yo ho ho, me hearties, but did the real pirates of the Caribbean act like those in Adventureland?

Crystal Palace: The first two Crystal Palaces burned to the ground; how much is Disney's popular restaurant their carbon copy?

Tomorrowland: Disney's original plan to faithfully represent the future fell apart when the future didn't cooperate.

Find out where the Imagineers got THEIR ideas!

Genres: Nonfiction, History

312 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2016

Reviews

[LaDonna · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very generous rating of 2.46. (Rounding is only allowed because of my love for Disney, not for the book. I am also assuming you are going to take the hundredths place into account. But, you know what they say about those who assume).



At the time I read this book, my thoughts and comments flowed freely. Sometimes they were positive and made me want to grab my family up and get to Orlando before the day was out. However, most of the time, I found myself disappointed.

Down the rabbit hole we go...

This is definitely not what I expected.

What is this book supposed to be about?

Am I really going to finish this book?

Thank God I still have my receipt. I think I'm going to return this one.

I hope I am not being too harsh. I am just sharing...

There is little doubt that Andrew Kiste is a passionate fan of Walt Disney and his amusement parks. There is little doubt that he is a passionate teacher of American history. All the same, there is a great deal of doubt that the title of this book accurately describes the content of this book.

As someone who grew up going to Disney World every summer, there were some true aha moments while reading this book. For instance, Kiste describes Adventureland has a true hidden jewel within the Magic Kingdom. My family and I are definitely guilty of going to the right when we get to the end of Main Street. We never go to the left. (Who knew the left has so much to offer)? I also missed the memo that EPCOT is an acronym. (Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow). Nonetheless, A Historical Tour of Walt Disney World is hampered by the heavy handed Disney American history lesson. There is the lesson about baseball--America's favorite pasttime. There is the lesson about the Industrial Revolution. There is the lesson about America's involvement in World War II. There is the lesson about the evolution of the circus in America. Do you get my drift?

I bought this book in hopes that Kiste was going to be able to show us the world behind the Disney curtain. How much did the land prices increase once Floridians realized the Disney machine was coming to their state? How many palms were greased to convince state representatives to allow Disney to build his own infrastructures and maintain his own utilities? Were there any protests to Disney's decision to stake his claim on the east coast? How did Disney decide what attractions would be duplicates of the ones found in Disneyland? I think you get my point...

Would I recommend heading to Walt Disney World? YES!! Get packing. Would I recommend this book? I think I have spoken enough on that subject.

[Becks · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5 - I finally picked this up after realizing it was tied for the lowest rated book on my TBR. Do I understand why now? Yeah, I'd say so.

I knew it was going to lean on the historical context of the attractions, not the history of the attractions themselves, so that helped set expectations. However, the level of detail for certain rides was so intense that it was too much even for a big Disney Parks fan like myself. Certain facts were mentioned multiple times and it could have used another editing pass to correct typos.

I did learn some cool things though and I listened to Disney Parks music while reading so that added to the experience. This read is really only for those who love Disney and history a lot.

[Emily Snyder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pay attention to the title of this book: when it says “A Historical Tour,” the author very much means it. I went in expecting a bit more of things like “and here’s the history of how this ride was developed!” Instead, however, the book describes attractions in great detail and then provides some of the actual historical events or facts that inspired the attractions. The author also discusses how well those historical elements are represented in the attraction. This book was at times very interesting, and at other times a bit of a chore. Good idea in theory, but maybe a bit much in practice.

[Marah Moy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would recommend reading this book here and there a chapter at a time. It was interesting, but it was a little tough to read straight through. The Venn diagram of people who are history nerds and Disney nerds may be interested in this book.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

My mom and I randomly came across this book in a Barnes & Noble and since I love all things Disney we bought it on a whim hoping for an interesting read. I doubted there would be a book that would provide me with new trivia I didn’t already know, but I gave this a shot anyway since a lot of my Disney knowledge centers around my home park of Disneyland versus Disney World.

I’ve only been to Disney World a handful of times and the last trip was a little over two years ago. If anything this book was a fun walk down memory lane. The author is super detailed in describing the different rides and lands of the parks, which immediately evokes the well-known smells and other sensations that you associate with a trip to Disney World. That alone made it a fun book to escape in for a while and allow me to daydream about my next trip to Orlando.

Having read a lot of books on Walt Disney, the Disney brand, and the parks themselves, this one would probably rank low on that list. It is a bit deceiving in what you think it is going to be about. It isn’t so much trivia or fun facts about the parks as a history lesson in the theming behind certain rides and lands. The book is really a bunch of chapters describing what is and isn’t historically accurate at Disney World. Frankly, I could care less about whether the rides or anything else is historically accurate. Sure, I didn’t know some of the history presented in this book related to various rides/places (like the section on the Crystal Palace), but it’s also not something I’ve ever felt the need to explore. Other sections were less interesting (Pirates of the Caribbean) because the story behind that ride seems pretty obvious. I also was extremely disappointed in the locations the author decided to discuss. There was nothing on the beautifully immersive new Fantasyland but the author chose to go in depth on Sunset Ranch Market and Storybook Circus?! These are really not highlights that someone immediately thinks of when they think of a trip to Disney World. I wish the author would’ve stuck to describing everything in the Magic Kingdom Park or divided the book up by theme park and gone into detail about the main areas/rides of each park. There really isn’t any rhyme or reason to the different chapters of this book since he skips all over the resort when choosing locations to talk about.

I wouldn’t run out and buy this book straight away if you’re looking for an informative, fun book about Disney World. There are better options out there. It is fun to read it and reminisce with the author about the fun rides and locations in Disney World, but the focus on world history takes away from that. I guess I should’ve gotten the hint by the title that this was a “historical tour” of Disney World. Maybe I would’ve been more on board with this book had the author chosen rides/lands that are more quintessential Disney like Splash Mountain or Space Mountain.

[Gwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

After listening to a Dreamfinders podcast episode that interviewed Andrew Kiste, the author of this book, I decided to pick it up on eBay and give it a try. I knew what I was getting into, something that it seems a lot of other people were unaware of: this book is NOT a history of Walt Disney World! In this book, the author chooses several specific attractions/locations in the Walt Disney world resort and analyzes them in great detail. He describes the historical context and a history of that attraction’s topic, occasionally comparing it to the selected attraction and sometimes identifying historical inaccuracies.

Now for my opinion on the book:
The book itself is gorgeous in my opinion. My copy is not in the best condition but I love the cover, the colors, and the design on the pages of the book. That being said, the actual content of the book is a mixed bag.
Some parts of the book were very interesting to learn about (such as the sections on the Crystal Palace, the unbuilt ski resort that ties into the Country Bear Jamboree, the history of the circus, and portions of the Spaceship Earth section) however there were many parts that were blatantly boring to me. The section on Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress was particularly bland and uninteresting. The problem with this book, I feel, is that the author chooses to focus on topics where the historical context is either already self-explanatory or simply not important or interesting. As a high school student who has studied basic world and American history in school, it is very easy to identify the historical context of many of the rides, without the need for pages and pages of what is mostly assumptions and generalizations describing that ride. For example: the Jungle Cruise. I was disappointed by this chapter. Even to myself, a high school student, it is obvious that the ride is based off of imperialism and colonial ventures around the world. The chapter seems to go in circles explaining this, something I already know, and something that is not necessarily explained in a deeper sense or with greater detail.
Another chapter that was woefully slow to read was the Carousel of Progress. The ride itself is entirely sufficient to explain the history - in fact that’s the actual job of the ride! So instead the chapter is full of lengthy descriptions of the scenes that are very easily analyzed independently by the viewer.
Much of the book is wasted with terribly long descriptions of the scenes and details in ride, something that is totally unnecessary. For Disney fans, we already know how these rides work, and for a refresh, some simple photos of the rides/scenes themselves would make a huge difference. After all, barely anyone who hasn’t been to Disney will even pick up this book.
Concerning the comparisons and historical inaccuracy, this didn’t bother me too much, but it can still get slightly annoying. I was interested to learn how closely the rides are based off of real history and the truth is, with minor inaccuracies, they are very very close! I was surprised to see how close they are to the original history. And, even if the rides are not historically accurate, I really don’t care! People go to Disney to be entertained, not as a walk-through textbook.
Overall, it is without doubt that Kiste is a great historian who does his research and is able to well summarize topics, but the writing certainly needs some work. This book is really only for people who love Disney AND history, but not necessarily Disney history. It was an interesting read and I learned quite a few new things, but I wouldn’t really recommend it.

[Ross Bonaime · Rating 1 out of 5]

I will wholeheartedly admit that a big part of me not enjoying "A Historical Tour of Walt Disney World" is simply that I completely misread what this book was about. Even after reading the back of this book, I took "Historical Tour" to mean an exploration of certain rides and attractions at Walt Disney World, their origins in the park, how they've evolved over the year, etc. What "Historical Tour" actually meant was that this would be a mind-numbingly boring look at how historically accurate different parts of WDW are—a fact-checking even Neil deGrasse Tyson wouldn't care to do.

Look, I'm a sucker for all the information I can get about theme parks—especially Walt Disney World. I have listened to over five hours of podcasts on parking garages at theme parks I haven't even been to. And I liked it! But I think this is where I reach my limit. Not once have I ever needed a history lesson about America's involvement in World War II while learning about a food court at Disney's Hollywood Studios, nor do I need to know the truth about how pirates acted and the history of piracy itself to appreciate Pirates of the Caribbean. At a certain point, it almost seems like writer Andrew Kiste is dragging out well-known historical contexts in order to meet a page count.

There are three things that Kiste does in this book:
1. Explores the historical accuracy of a variety of rides and attractions. I couldn't imagine caring less if Spaceship Earth is 100% accurate, and I don't know that anyone that wants to read about WDW would care to either.
2. A step-by-step process of riding these rides, which, if you're reading a book called "A Historical Tour of Walt Disney World," chances are, this will come off as preaching to the choir.
3. A history of the rides at WDW. I said this is what I wanted, and the book delivers occasionally, but maybe 5% of this book is this, and I'm probably being too generous.

In addition to all this, this book is repetitive, explains things that any person with a high school history education would already know, and is full of grammatical errors. Since I found this in the bargain bin at Barnes & Noble years ago—and this was actually printed as a bargain book, mind you—I shouldn't have had high expectations, but even so, man, this is frequently just an absolute mess.

As I said, any book on the history of Disney World should be an easy sell for me, but even I have my limitations in terms of what I can stand when it comes to the park.

[Madison Walker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay the only reason this book got two stars is because it involved Disney. While I’m sure that the author knew what he was talking about tit came off a boring and “I know everything you don’t” kind of way. The first few chapters made me mad because he pointed out the historical inaccuracies in everything. First of all) it’s Disney world, a world of imagination, not a world of historical accuracy. Second of all) who cares if it’s inaccurate, it’s Disney, they have money to be inaccurate. The middle and end of the book was just a dissertation on the “history” of the attractions, but in reality it was just a very detailed summary of the ride and not the history behind it. I’ve been to Disney 13 times, I don’t need to go over the entire ride system I’ve already memorized, thank you.

[Don Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you aren’t interested in history, you may find this book to be quite tedious. However, once I adjusted my expectations from a travelogue to a compilation of historical events spurred by Disney World’s attractions and features, I found that I could find some pleasure in the reading.

[Catie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is made for a very specific cross section of people who are both Disney Nerds AND History Buffs. Luckily I am both.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’d give it 3.5 stars if I could

[Maartje Volder · Rating 2 out of 5]

It started out alright, but the author is boringly repetitive at times. The last chapters take up way too many pages for the amount of info in it. The author is a Disney lover, but he loves to point out anything that is wrong with the attractions, and that just takes away from the magic.

[Theresa F. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The approach taken by the author of this book is, I think, rather unique. Most works I've encountered that deal with the history of Walt Disney World have focused on how the park and the various attractions were developed and built. However, this book turns the reader's attention to numerous background details used by the park's designers to help fully immerse guests in the particular time period or storyline of an attraction. The author also compares Disney's depictions of history to what is known about those periods from sources of the time. There were some points where the book got a little too bogged down by history lessons. (We all know that learning is more fun when we don't realize we're learning.) But overall, this was a fascinating read that I think might enhance some fans appreciation of Disney attractions. You'll never look at The Jungle Cruise the same way again.
Did I like it? Yes.
Would I reread it? Maybe.
Would I recommend it? Yes.

[Brittney · Rating 2 out of 5]

First, I feel like someone who is a true Disney fanatic would enjoy this book more someone like me who's been to Disney once and I was 11 (too cool for family vacations, obviously :P )
Anyway, it wasn't terrible. I was really expecting more history about the resort and how it came to be such an icon, but I wasn't disappointed. This talks more about why Disney put in the attractions that he did, the historical relevance, and all of those extremely small details that makes the Disney experience so great. As a history lover, was still a decent read, although a little dry and repetitive, especially the "Spaceship" chapter. Overall, just more useless trivia knowledge I have-probably would only recommend to a Disney-&-History lover, which is a select group of people I gather from other reviews.

[Paul Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you love Disney World, history, and the history of Disney World, you’ll enjoy this. The author takes you on a tour of the Magic Kingdom explaining the historical context and inspiration behind many of the attractions. There are no pictures so you have to truly be a Disney park fan to read this book - otherwise, you can’t visualize anything the guy is talking about. Oddly, the author omits Hall of Presidents and ends the book by hopping over to Spaceship Earth in Epcot and the Sunset Ranch Market in Hollywood Studio. Huh? Should’ve just finished up Magic Kingdom and done the other parks in another book. So clearly a specialty find but if you’re someone who’d go WHOA upon learning that the Country Bears were initially intended for a never-completed Disney ski report, then this is for you.

[Raegan Rinchiuso · Rating 3 out of 5]

Saw this book on the clearance rack several weeks before a Disney trip and it looked intriguing. The author was a much better historian than writer. The editor was pretty bad too because I found numerous typos. That being said, delving into some of the historical context of a beloved theme park was really interesting. Providing historical background surrounding some of the attractions was cool, as was pointing out a lot of little details that I never noticed on my handful of trips to WDW.

The author repeated himself a bit too much for my liking though and the conclusion was a sloppy tie in between a terrible personal blow of a cerebral hemorrhage and Walt Disney’s motto to keep moving forward.

All in all, I don’t consider it to be time wasted, but it certainly isn’t a work of literary art.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had some really interesting overviews of historical events, people, and places, with a Disney frame. It illustrates the care and attention taken by imagineers in the creation of their exhibits, pointing out historical accuracies and inaccuracies in the Pirates of the Caribbean, the context clues to pinpoint events depicted in Spaceship Earth, the story of the never-completed ski lodge project, the history of the circus, and many events at various world's fairs. Unfortunately, between the very interesting analysis and anecdotes, there are sometimes quite long passages simply describing the layout of the park or the details in a particular ride. I think that in some cases, pictures and maps could have been included in order to truncate these sections and make way for more of the interesting stuff.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did not finish. Interesting facts about the rides, however. Not compelled to finish.

[Lyndsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t know if it’s because the Disney nerd in me already knew some of the history of Disney World or what but there were parts of this book that were slow. There were moments that it was enjoyable and I learned something new but the last 100 pages were hard to get through. The author put a lot of detail into the book. I liked the book I just didn’t love it : /

If you are and Disney fan and like history I do recommend this book as a fun way to learn about Disney World and what helped influence some of the rides and other attractions.

[Zachary Shelton · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed in this book. I was thinking it was going to be a different type of book. There were some interesting chapters but there were also some that really were very “talky”

[Vince · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable. Have experienced these WDW attractions many times but appreciate them being put into historical perspective.