Disney Bookshelf - The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World

I picked up a copy of The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World by Susan Veness about a week ago. I was "alerted" to the existence of this book as something more than a travel guide by a blog entry that suggested that it put the "magic" back in Disney vacations for someone, and followed the link to Amazon, where I read a bit more about the book.

It was not a book I was thinking I needed, but when I had a 15% coupon at Barnes and Noble, and I came across this book in their travel section, I picked it up and started leafing through it. It sounded promising enough that I put down the other book I was going to use my coupon on and ended up purchasing this one instead.

I'm not reviewing it at this time, not exactly. I'm only about a third of the way through it. But I am enjoying reading it. It's the perfect before-bed reader for me, something I can put down with a minute's notice, something I can skip around in. It has a lot of interesting (to a Disney fan) minutae about each park. Ms. Veness references conversations or interviews with ex-Imagineer Eddie Sotto in several places, and these stories are always interesting.

One of the reviews on Amazon suggested that there are many inaccuracies; that "myths" are presented as facts and some of the things she points out may not even exist. I haven't found any such glaring problems myself, except one, which I'm not sure about its accuracy. The author talks about the references to "Tom Morrow" in the parks (Epcot and Tomorrowland in the Magic Kingdom) and says that the name is a tribute to an Imagineer who worked on the Mission to Mars attraction. I have never heard this before, and have always assumed that "Tom Morrow" was just a not-so-subtle play on the name of the land - "Tomorrowland". (If anyone knows the truth of this one way or another, feel free to leave a comment.)

Anyway, I am not disappointed in the book and in fact am finding it entertaining and interesting so far. Some of the die-hard fans of Disney and the parks will probably feel that the information is too basic, and I too find I know most of the things mentioned, but it's nice to have it all collected in one place!

*****