The Disney Mountains: Imagineering At Its Peak [Paperback]

Jason Surrell (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 1 and up | Grade Level: P and up

How high? How fast? How’d they do that? The top favorites at any Disney Theme park always include the roller coasters. The Disney Mountains: Imagineering at Its Peak will tell you that and more–not only about the current Disney mountain range and its show enhancements, but about mountains unclimbed and mountains yet to be.  Attractions include:

Disneyland: Matterhorn Bobsleds, Space Mountain – old and new, Splash Mountain; Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.  Never built: Big Rock Candy Mountain and the Western River Expedition

Disney’s California Adventure: Grizzly Peak and Grizzly River Run

Tokyo Disneyland: Mysterious Island (Journey to the Center of the Earth)

 Disneyland Paris: Big Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain 

Walt Disney World: Space, Splash, and Big Thunder at Magic Kingdom Park; Mount Mayday and Mt. Gushmore, and the latest mountain–Expedition Everest at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 1 and up
  
• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Disney Editions (September 11, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423101553
• ISBN-13: 978-1423101550
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #350,642 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars One big pamphlet....., September 12, 2007

By 

Michael A. Wise "Michael" (Georgia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: The Disney Mountains: Imagineering At Its Peak (Paperback)

Huge fan of Jason Surrell's books. This one however, was a letdown on several fronts. If you are accustomed to his previous works (Haunted Mansion, Pirates) you are expecting a book FULL of behind the scene photos, images rarely seen by the public, etc. Unfortunately, this book is almost 98% concept art. Take, for example, Splash Mountain. You would think there are a TON of secrets and neat things to share. Instead, all we get are concept art and models. Nothing about the interior of the show building, or what it looks like from behind, or above, for that matter! I've seen photos on the web of Splash Mountain from the back and overhead, and you'd think they would make their way into this type of book. Tokyo's Mt. Prometheus get's virtually NO attention. Just 2 pages of concept art...again, a HUGE mountain full of amazing animatronics and scenes, yet not one photo. Big Thunder Mountain....no photos of interior, or under, or animatronics....and yes, this is why MOST of us buy Jason's books! We are curious! We are nosey! We want all the scoop, as if WE were there helping to design these attractions! This newest book is like owning one big pamphlet to get me to go to a Disney Park. Well, most of us purchasing these books have BEEN to the Disney Parks (repeatedly) and buy these books in hopes of getting MORE than the general public does. Jason's books are always laid out very well, and are top quality. I just am very surprised at the lack of in-depth coverage most of the mountains received. I hope Jason continues his coverage of attractions (dark rides! dark rides!), but I hope he slows down and does a more thorough job, as in his other works.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I Had Higher Expectations, December 6, 2007

By 

Jay (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Disney Mountains: Imagineering At Its Peak (Paperback)

Normally, I'm one of the first to post a rave review on Jason Surrell's work but this book just didn't live up to his previous excellence. The main let down was that there were very few (actual) pictures of the newest Disney mountains (and let's face it, not all of us can afford to travel to Japan to see these works of wonder). Don't get me wrong, I love seeing the concept drawings before they actually become a reality, but seeing the finished product to compare it to would have been better. Also missing was a lot of behind the scenes and little 'tributes' that go with each ride.
I will admit that the in-depth backstories on Space Mountain and Expidition Everest were highly detailed but some of the other mountains received little exposure.
If Mr. Surrell reads these reviews, here is a small request - please do a book on the Dark Rides - You could call it Disney Dark Rides: From the Movies to the Rides.

23 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Very Disappointing!, September 13, 2007

By 

K. Martinez (Santa Cruz, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Disney Mountains: Imagineering At Its Peak (Paperback)

I was really looking forward to this book as I've always been fascinated by Disney's "mountain ranges" While the artist concepts of the attractions are great to see, I found the photography in this book uninspired. The photos don't really give you an idea of what the mountains fully look like. No unique shots of the loading stations, entrances, overviews, etc. The text didn't offer anything new I haven't seen in other publications.

In addition there seemed to be a lack of coverage for Tokyo Disney Resort and Hong Kong Disneyland. I figured there would at least have been something on every "mountain" Disney has created. Not as thorough as I would've liked and not as good as the author's previous efforts.