3 stars: Enjoyed parts of it

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From the back cover: DIsneyland has a lot to hide. Well, that sounds nefarious, so how abuot, Disneyland has a lot for you to discover. And I don't mean wait times and ride descriptions. I mean the deep, rich, hidden legacy of the park. Its *real* secrets.

No one knows Disney history better than Disney historian Jim Korkis. In this book the latest in his "secret stories" series, he unearths still more theme park godl and presents it in bite sized stories that you can enjoy while waiting in line, sitting in a monorail, or whenever you have a few moments to fill with fresh Disney knowledge."

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A few months after reading this, I've found it to be utterly forgettable. When I was reading, I found that either I knew the anecdote or it just wasn't very interesting. I understand that I know a fair amount of Disney lore but am not at all what I'd call studied. It wasn't boring and I finished this slim volume quickly. These were just not that interesting

A few topics to remember, or quotes I liked:

Director Steven Spielberg once sent his sound designers down to Disneyland to record the sound of the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad to use for the mine chase scene in the 1984 film "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom." The mine car just outside the exit of the attraction is a move prop from that film.

[Imagineer Bob Rogers] Pirates is a cautionary tale. It told the story that these pirates attack the town, steal the treasure, rape the women, and then they are finally punished for it. The last scene is the pirates shooting at each other in an ammunition dump. They are all going to die in the fire and explosion. There are consequences for their actions. Adding Jack Sparrow reverses the story. Now the story is that Sparrow stole the treasure from his fellow pirates and they are raiding the town trying to track him down and recover the treasure. He is hiding so they can't find him. The final scene is Sparrow sitting there with all his treasure. So now the story is that it is ok to steal and you will end up with the treasure. What was happening in the world when this was all installed? Wall Street was riding high. Greed is good. You had Bernie Madoff. All of that influenced the attraction. Most people think it was just Disneyland trying to capitalize on the films, but the way Sparrow was added is connected to what was going on in the rest of the world.

[Regarding Mr Toad's Wild Ride] - The idea of the finale of going through the devil's mouth into hell was okayed by Walt who felt there should be consequences for reckless driving. The shield above the entrance has the Latin motto "Toadi Acceleratio Semper Absurda" that roughly translates into "Speeding with Toad Is Always Absurd:.

Kenneth Grahame, author of Wind in the Willows, was a good friend of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle...Ratty in Grahame's book was based on the character of Holmes. ( )