Planning for a day at Disneyland

I have a lot of books about Walt Disney World...most of them travel guides, with a few others mixed in, like Walt Disney World: The First Decade, which I guess my Mom and Dad purchased years and years ago, but I kept in my personal library. This was one of my personal favorites, at the time because of the ride pictures. As a kid, it was really exciting to look at. At 36, it still is.

Then there Since the World Began: Walt Disney World: The First 25 Years, this one has a pretty interesting story to it. Back in the earlier days of The Disney Store, they had a section that sold books, granted, it was mostly Birnbaums guides (which I am a sucker for) and kids books, but every so often, you would find something really good. This was one of those finds. As I thumbed through the book at the store, I found a familiar face. It was my Uncle Harry. You see some of my Fathers family actually worked at the park. As I remember it, Harry and his son were painters. I will let Dad or Mom chime in in the comments to correct anything I mis-remember...but I do remember Uncle Harry telling us that he painted many of the carousel horses, also back when RCA sponsored Space Mountain, there was a statue of Nipper, the RCA dog, out front. He did that...as well as some of the early stuff in Toontown...Mickey's car I believe, but I think that has been taken away. We will have to check that out for next years visit. Needless to say, this is one that I still enjoy looking at.

Another one I like quite a bit is Imagineering: A behind the dreams look at making the magic real, it is an older one, due to get re-done this year, I THINK...but it takes an in-depth look at the imagineering to attractions, the parks, etc...the pictures and sketched included in the book are worth the price of admission. I actually just pulled this off the shelf so that I can thumb through it later.

Also, the guide books...now at this point in my life, I would like to think that I know the parks like the back of my hand...I do. I don't need a guide, but I still buy them. It is just as much a part of the trip for me as buying tickets to the park...it is part of the planning process. For me, almost every trip in my adult like I have purchased a Birnbaum book...the birnbaum books are the "Official" guides to Walt Disney World. In my opinion, have the best photos (important to show the children) and have pretty good information. The issue is that I have 4 or 5 of them and they all are pretty much the same. Add an attraction or two here and there, prices change, etc. I still like them though...

This is sort of a long post to say that I bought a new book, but looking at my library here, I noticed that I had no Disneyland books, and with our LA trip looming, I needed to be informed, so I went out and purchased my first Disneyland book.



Needless to say, we are all excited to go out and see Ryan and Amanda and visit the park with them as well as a bunch of other touristy crap that we are going to make them do.