I love finding books about Disney and the Disney parks. But this book I passed over several times before I finally broke down and bought it. The reason I didn’t buy it the first time I saw it was that it was in deplorable condition! In fact, it had been a library book but had been stamped  DISCARD no less than three times.

However, the photographs from Disneyland and Walt Disney World along with film stills were so good, and large, that I shelled out the $3.00 CAN and took it home.

And here it is, in all its ragged glory:

Left: Back Cover / Right: Front Cover, no sleeve

Valerie Childs has released a few different titles about the parks with this one coming out in 1979. After several pages of history on Walt Disney and the parks, she gets right into the meat of the book, which is the beautiful pictures. But first:

Can you find your pre-’79 favorite character?

Now let’s see some of the double-fold pages:

WDW: Title Pages

WDW: A memorable meeting with Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy

DL: Admiral Joe Fowler next to Liberty Square

WDW: Rainbow-colored balloons

WDW: Empress Lilly Riverboat on Lake Buena Vista

DL: It’s a Small World attraction

DL: Captain Hook’s Pirate Ship and The Skyway

WDW: Main Street and Cinderella Castle at night

DL: Rocket Ships in Tomorrowland

WDW: Mickey Mouse tees off on the 12th Hole

WDW: The Polynesian Village Resort Hotel

A final ‘tee-hee’ from Tigger!

I’m glad I finally broke down and bought this book, despite its condition. You can still get copies of this book on Amazon, mostly used, but some new hardcover copies as well. Most of the copies I’ve seen were from 1980 or later, so likely are second printings.

I’d give this book a 5 out of 5 Stars simply because of its beauty and that it achieves what it set out to do, that of being a giant picture book for adults! But kids can look at it too.

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