"The Thinking Fan's Guide to Walt Disney World: Magic Kingdom" - Book Review by Orlando Theme Park News

Orlando Theme Park News just reviewed a new book that you might be interested in reading:

The Intrepid Traveler is back with another great book focused on one of Central Florida's most famous themed resort (the most famous in the world, we might actually say) - the Walt Disney World Resort. This latest book they published is aptly called "The Thinking Fan's Guide to Walt Disney World: Magic Kingdom," and it is the first to be written by Aaron Wallace, a passionate Disney fan and media critic (fun fact: he also stated in his book that he visits one of the Walt Disney World theme parks at least once a week... we may have actually walked past him sometime, as we also go to the Disney theme parks this often, as you may well know).

"The Thinking Fan's Guide to Walt-Disney World" series is soon going to include all four Walt Disney World theme parks. The first volume (published just a few days ago), covers the Magic Kingdom Park. As the title of the book clearly states, this is not really your typical tourist guide. It doesn't show you the list of all the restaurants, carts, or restrooms that the park offers. It doesn't tell you what to do first, what to do last, or anything like that. It is a guide made by a theme park fan. It's a very different kind of book made specifically for... other theme park fans, just like most of our Readers.

The book itself is divided into six different chapters (not including the introduction). Each of the chapters represents one of the six themed lands scattered around the park and lists - in a seemingly random order - all the rides and shows present. Among the many great features of this book is the actual description of all the attractions found in the park from the eyes of an attentive fan. Aaron really goes deep into the history of specific rides, giving some truly interesting (and, most of the times, really entertaining) facts and information. He also attempts to explain the reasons behind the existence of certain rides that most Guests seriously dislike (he specifically mentions Stitch's Great Escape, Monsters Inc. laugh Floor...), and tries to let us understand that those too are needed to truly complete the (almost) perfect (gulp!) in-park experience. That being said, he recognizes: "sure, [Stitch's Great Escape] has its supporters, but so do tax hikes..."

Another great feature is the brief glossary at the beginning of the book, which explains some of the common terms we use on an everyday basis here on our site and around most of the Walt Disney World-focused forums and blogs. A quite extensive "Notes" section is also found at the very end of the book, which includes some great behind-the-scenes facts and related "off-topic" information that you should not forget to read. The only downside we could find regarding this book is, in our humble opinion, the lack of pictures. While we do understand that most of the readers of the book will already be acquainted with park itself (since it is a theme park fan's guide, as we said before), it would be nice to have some color and photos here and there. Maybe it's just because I personally grew up with Mickey Mouse comics...

That being said, "The Thinking Fan's Guide to Walt Disney World: Magic Kingdom" is certainly a book we would highly recommend to you - all our Readers - regardless of how many times you have personally visited the parks here in Central Florida. In fact, 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.

To conclude, here you are all the specifications regarding this book:

The Thinking Fan’s Guide To Walt Disney World: Magic Kingdom

by Aaron Wallace

ISBN: 918-1-937011-24-6

256 pages · 6 in. x 9 in. · Footnotes · Index

Trade paperback original · List Price in the USA: $15.95

Publication: April 23, 2013

To buy this book (or to preview it), check out either The Intrepid Traveler's official website or Amazon.