Customer Reviews

The Disney Mountains: Imagineering At Its Peak

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I really enjoyed this book. This the third book Jason Surrell has written about rides in the disney parks and although it isn't the most detailed of the three, it's still excelent in it's own right. His first two books,
The Haunted Mansion: From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies &
Pirates of the Caribbean: From the Magic Kindom to the Movies (Welcome Book)
are excelent very detailed stories of each ride at the various parks. The only reason The Disney Mountains comes in 3rd, is because it covers ten different rides (One of which, never came to be) and obviously cannot fit the same amount of detail in a book the same length as the previous two. Still though, a great read and fun for people that love the Disney Parks.

Absolutely disagree with the negative reviews. Those readers missed the point of this book.

As the title says -- this is a book about Imagineering. It's all about the how's and why's of the Disney mountains' creation. It is not about all details and facets of the attractions, as Jason's also excellent Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean books were.

And it is not just concept art. There are many photos of development models, before and after's of the sites, etc., -- all helping to the explain the Imagineering of the attractions.

Want to know why there's a little bit of Switzerland in Southern California? Want to know the backstory behind Big Thunder Mountain, and why it even has a backstory? Then this is the book you want to read!

I saw alot of mixed reviews for this book, and decided to see what it was like for myself. I don't see why it has received a large amount of average/bad reviews. This is exactly what I was looking for, a book that gives background info on the Disney mountains and stories about how they were each put into production.

It is true that there is a great deal of info that Disney purists already know, but I still had a great time reading this book and hearing some of the stories behind the mountains, especially the Matterhorn mainly because it showed Walt's views on it. Granted, the book may not go into expansive details about every nook and cranny, but it still shows things about the mountains that arent obvious and gives great backstories, and has some beautiful images and artwork (well worth the money alone). For under $20, I don't see how any Disney park enthusist couldnt buy this book.

Being in the theme park design business, we at Denny Magic Studios always pay attention to anything that Disney releases, especially "tell all" books which help with our ongoing education regarding the design of theme park rides, and attractions. This book is another fine example of that, as it provides additional insight into how Disney creates and designs. We think that this is a good choice if you are looking to further your education with regards to theme park design. We also think that the general population who may only be Disney fans, will certainly appreciate reading about how these wonderful designs (rides & attractions) came about.

Lastly! Bravo to the author... Jason Surrell; who has a number of excellent books out, all of which we highly recommend.

This is a review from my 10-year-old daughter, who really liked this book:

This is such a great book for me, even though I'm rather young and most people my age don't enjoy this type of thing, but I sure do! Ever since I was tall enough to ride the Disney mountain rides, I've loved to ride on them. Then when I accidentally found this book at the library I took it home and read it. I loved it!! I enjoyed all the interesting details about the rides. I especially liked how Jason Surrell added how people thought up the rides, things they thought of doing but didn't (I found some of them rather funny) and all the quotes he put in this book. I also loved all the details. I rate this book 5/5 and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves the art of Disney Imaginaneers. Plus, it is a definite E ticket book!

This may be less in-depth that his pervious books but Surrell still does a fantastic job covering all the Disney mountains. I get he was held back by page length as in-depth coverage like his previous works would have meant a book twice as long. As it is, Surrell still does a great job on covering the development of the various mountains in all their seperate parks. It's fun reading the differences between them that you may have missed before and how they've improved over time. The best part is an in-depth examination of the planned Western River Expedition and how and why it fell apart but paved the way for Big Thunder Mountain. It's also nice to focus on the "lesser" mountains like those at the water parks and Disney Seas. The in-depth look at Expedition Everst does seem longer than other chapters but shows how the Imagineers are capable of magic still. Overall, a must for any Disney fan to appreciate these great rides all the more.

I am a big Disney theme park fan. I try to read everything that comes up about its creation and operation. This book doesn't shed much new light on Imagineering, but it does narrow the focus to just thrill ride attractions that are mountain based. I learned information about the "Everest" attraction that I've been on at Disney's Animal Kingdom, so that was well worth it. I also learned about the upcoming attraction at Disney Sea. If the theme park interests you, then this will make for an easy, painless, and fun read, that may tide you over until you can take an actual vacation.