Chad Denver Emerson

There was a lot of good background on the scouting Disney employees did in order to select their Florida location for Disney World, and equally good information on the secret real estate maneuvers they undertook to purchase the land. However, I had hoped for more information on how the Reedy Creek Improvement District and its board operate to govern WDW. That is an ongoing success story that I wanted more insight into. Sadly, I didn't get it.

Interesting book. Who knew land acquisition could be so shady and intriguing. Now I want to read about how WDW was actually built.

This is a land development Ph.D thesis. If you're interested in the regulatory and legal challenges of building an amusement park, enter through the book's gates with a joyous heart to your own Happiest Place on Earth. If you're looking for any information on Disney, Disney World or the actual engineering/Imagineering/design/philosophy/anything of amusement parks, get a ticket for a different ride.

This is a legal history of the actions and events that allowed the Disney Co. To make WDW so drastically different from Disneyland. At times, it's dry and unless you're an attorney or have a very legal mind, it's probably best to skim some parts. But I found it overall very interesting to learn the of the strategic path they took to create exactly what they wanted. For any Disney fan, it's probably super interesting.