{"product_id":"a-portrait-of-walt-disney-world-isbn-9781368052849","title":"A Portrait of Walt Disney World","description":"\u003cb\u003eThis must-have coffee table book paints a robust portrait of the Walt Disney World Resort through more than 100 vibrant voices and 500 rare Disney theme park visuals, including concept art, photographs, and ephemera.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWalt Disney's vision for the \"Florida Project\" begins with Disneyland and the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair. After an imaginative and expansive design, a unique land acquisition process, and an innovative construction period, Walt Disney World celebrated its opening in 1971. It featured a theme park dubbed the Magic Kingdom and three exquisitely themed resorts: Disney's Contemporary Resort, Disney's Polynesian Village, and Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort \u0026amp; Campground.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs Walt Disney World consistently grew and evolved through the five decades that have followed, certain themes keep reverberating: there's an appreciation for nostalgia, a joy in fantasy, a hunger for discovery, and an unending hope for a better tomorrow. Inspirational and memorable theme parks, water parks, sports arenas, recreational water sports options, world-class golf courses, vast shopping villages, and a transportation network unlike any other in the world resulted in fun and familiar characters, traditions, spectacles, merchandise, and so much more. The resort has come to represent the pulse of American leisure and has served as a backdrop for life's milestones both big and small, public and private.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eA Portrait of Walt Disney World: 50 Years of The Most Magical Place on Earth\u003c\/i\u003e serves as a treasure trove for pop culture enthusiasts, students of hospitality, artists, art collectors, and Disney fans.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSearching for ways to celebrate the Walt Disney World Resort? Explore more books from Disney Editions:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ci\u003eDelicious Disney: Walt Disney World\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ci\u003eArt of Coloring: Walt Disney World\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ci\u003ePeople Behind the Disney Parks: Stories of Those Honored with a Window on Main Street, U.S.A.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003ci\u003ePoster Art of the Disney Parks, Second Edition\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003ci\u003eMaps of the Disney Parks: Charting 60 Years from California to Shanghai\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\u003c\/ul\u003eOne of “30 Books About Disney World and Disneyland . . . If you are a Disney fan, this list of books about Disney should give you a pretty good TBR (to be read) pile!” \u003cbr\u003e -\u003ci\u003eFLYINGOFFTHEBOOKSHELF.COM\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“In a manner that makes it distinct from most other books about the parks, the bulk of \u003ci\u003ePortrait \u003c\/i\u003eis not organized by park or land, but rather by themes: Nostalgia, Discovery, Fantasy, and Tomorrow.  Within these categories, different sections of the resort are grouped together in sometimes unlikely, yet sensible combinations. Nostalgia includes Main Street and Liberty Square, of course, but also the Grand Floridian, Boardwalk resort area, and Port Orleans, as well as the overall original concept for Disney-MGM Studios (oh, how I miss it!)” \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-\u003ci\u003eAllEars\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“This is chock full of stories, nuggets, facts, quotes, photographs, captions, drawings, detailed renderings and top secret blueprints, current and historical, of all things Walt Disney World…” \u003cbr\u003e -\u003ci\u003eZANNALAND\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Walt Disney World is a huge place with a lot of history and as such, many of the topics are really just touched upon throughout the four parks and many resorts.  As much as the book is rooted in the past, it discusses the present day – from Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure to Pandora – The World of Avatar to Toy Story Land to what the book calls the Wonders of Xandar Pavilion (I had not heard that name before).”\u003cbr\u003e -\u003ci\u003eMouseSteps\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne of the “Best Books About Disney World, Disneyland \u0026amp; Imagineering in Our Library\" and a one of the \"MUST-HAVE DISNEY BOOKS . . . This is the best Walt Disney World-specific coffee table book \u003ci\u003eever\u003c\/i\u003e. In style, structure, and quality, this is more like a Disneyland deep-dive than one of the past Walt Disney World souvenir books.”\u003cbr\u003e -\u003ci\u003eTom Bricker, Disney Tourist Blog\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eKevin M. Kern\u003c\/b\u003e began his career with the Walt Disney Archives in 2011. As the group's manager of research, he works predominantly with historical documents and artwork, and helps to facilitate company legacy and outreach projects, including oral histories and the development and installation of museum exhibitions. He's hosted special event programming for many business units across The Walt Disney Company and has had his writing featured in numerous publications.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTim O'Day\u003c\/b\u003e is a successful writer, public relations executive, ideation consultant, and events producer. His creative spark was behind creating an Olympic-size lap pool at Disneyland for U.S. Olympian swimmers, procuring a Disneyland star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, placing \"Dumbo\" in the Smithsonian, securing Dame Julie Andrews as the Disneyland 50th anniversary honorary ambassador, and having the pardoned White House Thanksgiving turkeys retire to the Disney parks. He has worked with almost all the Disney Legends and helped secure the National Medal of Arts from President George W. Bush for the legendary songwriters Richard and Robert Sherman in a White House ceremony. He most recently contributed to the\u003ci\u003e Behind the Attraction\u003c\/i\u003e docuseries, which will be releasing on Disney+.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSteven Vagnini\u003c\/b\u003e is a show awareness producer for Walt Disney Imagineering, where he curates the stories behind the parks, resort hotels, and other experiences of the Walt Disney World Resort. He previously served on the staffs of the Walt Disney Archives, D23, and Disney Corporate Creative Resources after several years as a Walt Disney World cast member. He has produced a variety of special events, including for the Walt Disney World 40th and EPCOT 30th and 35th anniversaries, plus has written for several Disney publications, including having collaborated with Disney Legend Dave Smith on the latest editions of \u003ci\u003eDisney A to Z: The Official Encyclopedia\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCover artist Fabiola Garza\u003c\/b\u003e is a character artist at Disney Creative group in Orlando, Florida. During her career she has had the pleasure of working on the Little Golden Book for Pixar's \u003ci\u003eCoco \u003c\/i\u003eand designing the beloved turtle 'Olu Mel for Aulani, A Disney Resort \u0026amp; Spa. She is also the author and illustrator of the award-winning children's book \u003ci\u003eA Boy Who Became Pope: The Story of Saint John Paul II\u003c\/i\u003e. During her free time she enjoys ballroom dancing, the work of G. K. Chesterton, and contributing to Catholic publications and podcasts. Her favorite Walt Disney World attraction is Spaceship Earth.\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eIT TAKES PEOPLE. . . .\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eOver the past five decades, guests from almost every corner on the globe have traveled here to have fun and experience joy in the company of family, friends, and colleagues. Their smiles and happiness have contributed to a legacy of joy, inspiration, and new knowledge that will endure as long as people believe in the power of imagination and in celebrating together in its wonder and promise.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eSince plans for the Walt Disney World Resort were announced in 1965, cast members and Imagineers have come together as loving caretakers of Walt Disney’s greatest dream. They nurtured the “Florida Project,” from inception to reality, and through their dedication, hard work, and enthusiasm have been the true magic makers behind the perpetual creation of “The Most Magical Place on Earth.”\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eOur book is dedicated to all of them—guests, cast members, and Imagineers alike.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eTogether, they have made the dream a reality.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eCONTENTS\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e 8―FOREWORD\u003cbr\u003e 10―PREFACE\u003cbr\u003e CHAPTER ONE\u003cbr\u003e 12―Destination: Florida: Disney Roots in the Sunshine State\u003cbr\u003e CHAPTER TWO\u003cbr\u003e 18―Building the Dream: The Making of the “Florida Project”\u003cbr\u003e 56―Why Not Florida? The Inspiration and Optimism of Walt Disney: Looking Back with Disney Legend Dick Nunis\u003cbr\u003e 62―From Forest City to the Vacation Kingdom: Looking Back with Debby Dane Browne\u003cbr\u003e 70―A Grandson’s Appreciation and Memories: Looking Back with Roy Patrick Disney\u003cbr\u003e CHAPTER THREE\u003cbr\u003e 74―Framing Our Portrait: A Thematic Compass\u003cbr\u003e CHAPTER FOUR\u003cbr\u003e 80―Nostalgia: An Idealized Yesteryear\u003cbr\u003e CHAPTER FIVE\u003cbr\u003e 130―Fantasy: The Art of Make Believe\u003cbr\u003e CHAPTER SIX\u003cbr\u003e 176―Discovery: Adventure and Exploration\u003cbr\u003e CHAPTER SEVEN\u003cbr\u003e 244―Tomorrow: A Step into the Future\u003cbr\u003e CHAPTER EIGHT\u003cbr\u003e 284―Reflections: Looking Back at the World\u003cbr\u003e CHAPTER NINE\u003cbr\u003e 298―The World’s Most Magical Celebration: The Fiftieth Anniversary of Walt Disney World\u003cbr\u003e 304―INDEX\u003cbr\u003e 308―BIBLIOGRAPHY AND ENDNOTES\u003cbr\u003e 318―IMAGE CREDITS\u003cbr\u003e 319―ACKNOWLEDGMENTS\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003ePREFACE\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e THERE’S NOTHING SMALL ABOUT UNDERTAKING a portrait of Walt Disney World. It’s twenty-seven thousand acres in size, spreads out forty square miles, and has been five decades in the making. It’s a gargantuan narrative endeavor that encompasses the resort’s storied inception through its now worldwide reputation as a global travel institution. It’s at the crossroads of escapism, reassurance, recreation, innovation, artistry, craftsmanship, and ingenuity.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e When Walt Disney passed away in 1966, six months prior to breaking ground on the “Florida Project,” esteemed TV news journalist and author Eric Sevareid eulogized the master showman by stating that he “was an original” and a once-in-a-lifetime “happy accident.” The sprawling resort that now bears Walt Disney’s name was obviously no “happy accident.” Like its famous namesake, Walt Disney World is an original. Nothing like it existed before its opening in 1971, and nothing has since been created that can match the ambitiousness of its concept, the impressiveness of its realization, and the endurance of its appeal and legacy. On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of this most unique of international landmarks, we felt it was important to chronicle its first half century with a commemorative book. Such a book is warranted—if only for the positive effect the resort has had on so many lives through the years, plus its undeniable impact on our collective consciousness and the international family travel dynamic.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Prior to The Walt Disney Company’s arrival in Florida there were few true multiday resorts catering to families, with the possible exception of the U.S. national parks. With its debut, Walt Disney World invented anew the family-vacation experience and created a fresh travel, destination, and hospitality paradigm. It has also grown to represent the power of a singular imaginative vision that has been carefully nurtured, expanded upon, and realized by Walt’s creative heirs.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Aside from its status as an internationally recognized travel destination, to many people around the globe a visit to Walt Disney World transcends the notion of just a vacation. It has come to be a rite of passage, an essential escape, and a source of comfort, delight, and rejuvenation. Visitors from every hemisphere, and of every conceivable background and origin, have shared the unmistakable feeling of youthful excitement as they arrive at the resort’s gates, knowing “magic” awaits in any direction.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Disney Legend John Hench, former senior vice president, Walt Disney Imagineering, once noted, “[w]hether we go to a Disney park or a ball game, there is always the excitement of deciding to go and planning what to take and to wear, the anticipation of arrival, and the pure pleasure of walking through the entrance with the intention to play.” Although referencing the Disney parks experience overall, Hench could have easily been describing Walt Disney World, especially when he adds that the experience provides “the opportunity to feel more alive.”\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e With this book, our goal is to provide a finely nuanced portrait utilizing rarely seen artwork and photos, plus newly uncovered historical material and updated information that captures the milestones and essence of the resort throughout its first fifty years. We aim to highlight many fine details in the Walt Disney World story, providing a narrative thread that showcases its constant “state of becoming”—always informed by positive emotional connections and past achievements—while glimpsing at today and to what lies ahead and culminating in “The World’s Most Magical Celebration.” (We should also mention that our book has a companion publication, a cookbook and culinary history of the resort by Pam Brandon and Marcy Carriker Smothers, called Delicious Disney: Walt Disney World.)\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e All three of us have had the good fortune to work for The Walt Disney Company in different capacities and in a variety of areas through the decades, including Walt Disney World. But most importantly, like many of you, we have shared in laughter and play with family, friends, and colleagues many times over in what was initially dubbed “The Vacation Kingdom of the World.”\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Today, each visit to Walt Disney World still brings us joy, inspiration, new knowledge, and appreciation. We hope this honorific portrait, in book form, does the same for you, providing an enhanced admiration for the remarkable achievement that was, is, and always will be “The Most Magical Place on Earth.”\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e —Kevin M. Kern | Tim O’Day | Steven Vagnini\u003cbr\u003e June 2021\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eCHAPTER ONE\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eDestination: Florida\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eDisney Roots in the Sunshine State\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cu\u003eTHE FLORIDA DREAM\u003c\/u\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Over five hundred years ago, the first explorers from Europe charted a course across the Atlantic in search of a New World. Reaching terra firma along a breezy subtropical landscape they called Florida—a name inspired partially by its lush, verdant terrain—these early adventurers designated the peninsula as a destination for those seeking opportunity and enchantment. Here, age-old myths abounded. The most famous legend told of a mystical spring whose rejuvenating waters could restore one’s youth. There were more conspicuous allurements to Florida, too, including a favorable year-round climate and stunning vistas of wetlands, islands, and bays. No doubt the many indigenous peoples of North America, who initially inhabited the region’s vast wilderness, took similar delight in its abundance of forests, sparkling waters, and lustrous deep blue skies.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Throughout the subsequent centuries, this was the dream of Florida: a land of promise and renewal aptly characterized by pioneer Miami photographer J. N. Chamberlain as the place where “health, happiness, and opportunity await you . . . Nowhere else may one find the joy of relaxation, rest, or recreation so fully satisfied as in Florida.”\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e The Disney family ventured to this land as well in pursuit of their own dreams. It wasn’t Walt or Roy O. Disney who took these early ambitious steps, but rather their parents and grandparents who ventured to Central Florida, planting familial roots within the woodlands and wonders of the Sunshine State.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e \u003cu\u003eTRUE KISMET\u003c\/u\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In the mid-1800s, with expanded rail and steamship travel opening access to the central parts of Florida, clusters of small camps and settlements sprung up along the St. Johns River in what turned into a moderate boom. Hardy homesteaders, surviving off of sheer perseverance, started new lives among the slash pine flatwoods and scrubs, where citrus crops and cattle farms soon provided hard yet promising livelihoods.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Among the region’s early settlers during this “golden era” were Charles and Henrietta Call, who arrived in the autumn of 1884 with their five youngest children (Jessie, Flora, Grace Lila, Julia, and Charles, Jr.). “The severe winters in [Ellis,] Kansas, were too much for our parents,” Jessie later wrote. “Especially after they had experienced one of those terrible blizzards . . . when the furniture in the house was used for wood to keep from freezing, and the clothes line [sic] connected house and barn to guide them in order to care for the stock.” Following the Calls on their journey southeast was their neighbor Kepple Disney and his son Elias, who had become smitten with Flora.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e The Calls settled on a plot of rolling pineland near a town appropriately named Kismet—a Turkish word meaning “destiny”—where life centered around the local sawmill, vegetable farms, a gristmill, and hotel. After helping with his neighbors’ move, Kepple Disney returned home to Kansas. But Elias decided to remain in Florida to court Flora, purchasing his own acreage south of the Calls and finding work as a rural mail carrier. Charles Call and his children served as local schoolteachers.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Elias and Flora married on New Year’s Day 1888 and honeymooned in Daytona Beach. “No more rising before dawn to face a fierce, bone-numbing winter,” observed biographer and legendary entertainment reporter Bob Thomas when describing this stage of the young couple’s life years later. “All around them was luxuriant greenery they had never seen before: palms, ferns, orange groves, grass that remained green the year ’round.” Enamored with the Atlantic coast, Elias sold his farm and bought a hotel in Daytona. It was here that the couple welcomed their first son, Herbert, in December.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e“They were delighted with the climate. The country at that time was beautiful. Dotted with orange groves and homes, and everything looked promising.”\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e—Jessie Call Perkins, Walt Disney’s aunt\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e A slump in tourism, however, forced the Disneys to end their brief stint in the hospitality field, so Elias turned instead to raising oranges. But then came a big freeze, which destroyed his crop. Unsuccessful with their early business ventures, Elias and Flora pulled up stakes and left their “Florida paradise” for Chicago, where an upcoming world’s fair seemed to promise new jobs and opportunities. Once in the Windy City, the Disneys would welcome their other four children, including Roy O. in 1893 and Walt, the youngest brother, in 1901.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e As for Kismet, the town vanished long ago . . . and cannot even be found on any present-day state map. After a drought and freeze devastated the area in the early 1890s, the early settlements disappeared as quickly they had sprang up. Residents left with what they could carry on their backs, in many cases leaving behind their homes, intact. The abandoned town and its neighboring settlements would eventually be overtaken by the impenetrable scrub of what later became the Ocala National Forest.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e But while this pastoral landscape may not have been the Disney family’s ultimate destiny, Central Florida certainly would be—eventually. For little could the early settlers of Kismet predict that just some fifty miles due south of their land, Walt Disney would find the ideal spot for his new “world.” It would be a place of enchantment and opportunity, of myth and legend, and one that would again attract people from all over the world; a place where the long-fabled source of eternal youth would at last be untapped.","brand":"Disney Editions","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46305274167525,"sku":"NP9781368052849","price":60.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781368052849.jpg?v=1767720733","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/a-portrait-of-walt-disney-world-isbn-9781368052849","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}