A Historical Tour of Walt Disney World- A Disney Nerds Book Club Review
If you happen to be a history buff in addition to a Disney Nerd, then I’ve found a perfect book for you! Well, actually, I should say books because I have stumbled upon a series! It’s called “A Historical Tour of Walt Disney World” by Andrew Kiste and there is a Volume 1, 2, & 3. I just finished all three and I wish there were more!
But before I get ahead of myself, let me explain. “A Historical Tour of Walt Disney World” is exactly what it sounds like but it’s not the history of attractions at Disney World. It’s about the historical accuracy of attractions at Walt Disney World. Have you ever wondered how accurate a building or an attraction is to what it is based on in the real world? Walked around Liberty Square and wondered if the buildings really looked like this back in the day? Then you should read these books. I should also add that the author, Andrew Kiste, is a high school history teacher so if anyone’s going to know if these attractions are historically accurate then it would be him.
As I mentioned before this is a series that consists of three volumes. Each volume is pretty short I went ahead and purchased all three at once.
“A Historical Tour of Walt Disney World: Volume 1”
The first volume covers Main Street U.S.A (with a separate chapter on The Crystal Palace), Adventureland (specifically The Enchanted Tiki Room, Jungle Cruise, and Pirates of the Caribbean), and Tomorrowland (with a chapter just on Carousel of Progress). I think my favorite chapters in the first volume were Pirates of the Caribbean and Carousel of Progress. It was very interesting to see where the Imaginers got it right and where they got it wrong from a historical perspective. For example, on Pirates of the Caribbean, when we see Captain Barbossa on the ship, Wicked Wench, attacking the fort and nowhere else in the scenes after. If Barbossa is the captain of the ship then the captain historically leads the attack party on the town so he should be somewhere in the town. I do also want to point out that these books were published when the wench scene was still in Pirates, so there is a section on the accuracy of that scene.
“A Historical Tour of Walt Disney World: Volume 2”
For the second volume covered Country Bear Jamboree, Casey’s Corner, Storybook Circus, Spaceship Earth, and Sunset Ranch Market. I enjoyed the second volume more, I felt that there was more detail into the history and the accuracy of these attractions in this volume. My favorite thing I learned from the Spaceship Earth chapter was that in the scene that Michelangelo is painting the Sistine Chapel above the guests’ head is inaccurate. The scene is shown with Michelangelo laying on his back when there are sonnets that he wrote when he described having a sore neck from having to look up to paint for so long.
“A Historical Tour of Walt Disney World: Volume 3”
Then for the third volume covered Liberty Square, Frontierland, Port Orleans Riverside & French Quarter Resort, and Pop Century Resort. This was another great volume and I loved that the author went into some resorts for this volume. I won’t give away too much for this volume but did you know that Liberty Tree Tavern is modeled after a REAL tavern in Boston?! There are some differences and some similarities but you’ll have to read the book to find out what!
Now, I do not want to give anything more away because I don’t want to ruin it for you. These books are just too fun to read. All I will say is after reading these books, it really added to my view of the parks. I appreciate what I’m surrounded by more because I know the actual history of these attractions in addition to the Disney history. I highly recommend this series to anyone. Right now, if you are an Amazon Kindle Unlimited Member they are free to read. If not, grab your copies of “A Historical Tour of Walt Disney World” Vol 1, Vol 2, & Vol 3 and let us know what you think!
Personally, I have my fingers crossed that there will be future volumes of “A Historical Tour of Walt Disney World” by Andrew Kiste.
