The Thinking Fan's Guide to Walt Disney World: Magic Kingdom 2020

by Aaron Wallace

Overview

The Thinking Fan's Guide is a different kind of guidebook that leaves out the usual ephemera on trip planning, ticket prices, restaurants, and shopping to concentrate on what visitors to Magic Kingdom come to see—the rides and shows. Wallace provides a lighthearted but scholarly look at each attraction in the Magic Kingdom’s Adventureland, Frontierland, Liberty Square, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, and Main Street, U.S.A., including the parades and fireworks show. Far from being mere “amusements,” these attractions provide a complex, multi-layered narrative that can be experienced and appreciated just like a great novel, play, or film. The book will fascinate Disney buffs with the surprising insights into old favorites while offering newcomers to the Disney magic a much richer experience during their first Disney days.



This updated third edition, new for 2020, adds coverage of The Muppets Present... Great Moments in American History, the new Happily Ever After fireworks, and the Trump-era Hall of Presidents. Additionally, Wallace has written brand-new entries for Pirates of the Caribbean and Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress, diving much deeper than the previous editions did. Other expanded and revised entries include: Jungle Cruise, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, and Cinderella Castle.



The book has been updated from front to back to reflect the very latest at Walt Disney World. The 2020 edition also sports gorgeous new cover art and an all-new layout. Those who read Wallace's first edition of The Thinking Fan's Guide to Walt Disney World: Magic Kingdom will also find the new entries that were previously added for the book's 2nd Edition: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Enchanted Tales with Belle, Under the Sea - Journey of The Little Mermaid, Disney Festival of Fantasy Parade, and the expanded Peter Pan's Flight entry.



“The Thinking Fan’s Guide is insanely readable. Through personal experiences and opinions, Wallace is able to keep the reader grounded in the real world, while still taking time to look back at the history of the attraction." -- Andrew Tipton, Disney Hipster Blog



"Regardless of how many times you have personally visited, ...this book will not only increase your knowledge of the rich history and all the great attractions that the Magic Kingdom Park offers, but will also entertain you and give you an overview of the park you love... from another fan's perspective." -- Sam Carta, Orlando Theme Park News

"Having been a former Magic Kingdom Cast member, I was doubtful when Wallace's introduction boasted that even I, a 'Disney Freak,' would learn something new. Silly me because I certainly did. ... Wallace says that if he's done his job right, readers will never think of theme parks the same way again. That's true, but few could come to the same brilliant conclusions that Wallace has. ... I feel that this is required reading for anyone who has ever been enthralled by their adventures inside Magic Kingdom. (Alex Reif, Laughing Place.com)



"I have to say this might be my favorite Disney book to date! ... I love Aaron Wallace's writing style. It's intelligent, with a hint of humorous mixed in for good measure." (Heidi Strawser, Book review blogger, Heidi-Strawser.com)



"Ever wonder why the Disney parks are so successful? A new book called The Thinking Fan's Guide to Walt Disney World: Magic Kingdom goes a long way toward answering that question." (Rudy Maxa, #1 worldwide-syndicated travel radio host, Rudy Maxa's World)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780998059228
Publisher:	Scribistics Corp.
Publication date:	08/13/2019
Edition description:	2020 ed.
Pages:	282
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.64(d)

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1: Adventureland

• Jungle Cruise
• Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room
• Swiss Family Treehouse
• The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
• Pirates of the Caribbean

Chapter 2: Frontierland

• Country Bear Jamboree
• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
• Frontierland Shootin' Arcade
• Splash Mountain
• Tom Sawyer Island

Chapter 3: Liberty Square

• Liberty Square Riverboat
• The Muppets Present... Great Moments in American History
• The Hall of Presidents
• Haunted Mansion

Chapter 4: Fantasyland

• Peter Pan's Flight
• It's a Small World
• Prince Charming's Regal Carrousel
• Mickey's PhilharMagic
• Enchanted Tales with Belle
• Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid
• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• Mad Tea Party
• Dumbo the Flying Elephant
• The Barnstormer
• Cinderella Castle

Chapter 5: Tomorrowland

• Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover
• Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
• Tomorrowland Speedway
• Astro Orbiter
• Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor
• Space Mountain
• Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress

Chapter 6: Main Street, U.S.A.

• Main Street, U.S.A.
• Walt Disney World Railroad
• Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom
• Disney Festival of Fantasy Parade
• Happily Ever After
• Notes

Index

Acknolwedgments

Editorial Reviews

I really enjoyed reading this book. It offers a different way to look at the park and its attractions, not your traditional guidebook route. I was curious going in to see what is considered a Thinking Fan’s guide… and as luck would have it they think like us geeks think! … Also be sure to spend a few minutes checking out the footnotes. I found many of the observations and references there to be just as interesting as the main pieces of the book.

Jason Dziegielewski, DisneyGeek.com

Few could come to the same brilliant conclusions.

Alex Reif, LaughingPlace.com

Personally, I have a new appreciation for several rides (Jungle Cruise, anyone?) thanks to the book.

Anthony Markham, WDW Happy Place.com

I actually found the notes section the most interesting place in the book, and any readers of Wallace’s book should not bypass this wonderful section. Wallace has mini biographies of influential individuals, comments on the nomenclature in the parks, and even includes the full Shakespearean verse that gave rise to the phrase ‘Grim Grinning Ghosts’ (wonderful!). ... [The book is] a perfect introduction to the wonderful depths of artistry that so many eyes overlook.

David Younger, Theme Park Theory.com

[Wallace] is able to introduce attractions in a way that doesn’t make old WDW vets feel as though they are being talked down to, but also allows the uninitiated to understand what they are looking for without even having seen the actual attraction itself.

Charlie Hensel, NJ Biblio

Aaron supplies fans (new and old) with a refreshing take on Magic Kingdom… he has an amicable way of making his information feel accessible and fun.

Estelle Hallick, This Happy Place Blog

The Thinking Fan’s Guide to Walt Disney World is like giving every Disney Guest who reads it their own Disney historian as a guide

Natalie Reiner, Ink and Paint Blog

The descriptive, contemplative views of each ride are so comprehensive that The Thinking Fan’s Guide to Walt Disney World: Magic Kingdom is recommended for erudite armchair travelers, as it is for starry-eyed tourists!

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief, Midwest Book Review

From the Publisher