Disneyland the Nickel Tour: A Postcard Journey Through a Half Century of the Happiest Place on Earth [Hardcover]

Bruce Gordon (Author), David Mumford (Author), Roger Le Roque (Author), Nick Farago (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 392 pages
• Publisher: Camphor Tree Pub; 2nd Revised & enlarged edition (January 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0964605910
• ISBN-13: 978-0964605916
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,092,876 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The next best thing to being there, November 20, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Disneyland the Nickel Tour: A Postcard Journey Through a Half Century of the Happiest Place on Earth (Hardcover)

I cannot say enough about this handsome, evocative, skilfullywritten book. Just as Disneyland is more than an amusement park, thisis more than a trip through Disneyland's places and times...

I wouldhasten to add that this book does more than to simply transport you tothe park as it is today; it is the best simulation of a time machine,transporting you back to previous incarnations of the park, the waythat they were experienced and enjoyed in the vanished culturallandscape of the 1950s and the 1960s. A lot of those joys are gone --the Rainbow Caverns of the Mine Train, the subatomic journey of InnerSpace -- and this is the best way to see them again.

What Iparticularly enjoy about this book is that the authors clearly sharemy childhood fascination with wondering "how it all worked."You get aerial shots of the park under construction, pictures ofaborted attraction developments, and the stories behind detailsranging from the marching band kiosk to the eucalyptus trees inAdventureland.

Walt would have approved of this magnificentlyconceived and executed journey through Disneyland's past and present.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best history book on Disneyland, March 29, 2000

By 

Lee Suggs (Tuolumne, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Disneyland the Nickel Tour: A Postcard Journey Through a Half Century of the Happiest Place on Earth (Hardcover)

The "Nickel Tour" is an excellent pictorial review of Disneyland's history. Using postcards from pre-opening to the present the book explains how Disneyland came to be, and how it evolved into the cultural icon it is today. If a postcard does not exist to illustrate the topic or time period discussed the authors have found numerous rare photos and drawings to give visual heft to what they are explaining. This brings up what I most enjoyed about the book. Both authors are Imagineers (Disney's word for the engineers who design their theme parks) and they give detailed explanations concerning every postcard (or picture) in the book. They also spend a great deal of time explaining how certain attractions came to be, and the history of each area of the park. This includes many Disneyland attractions that we all remember, but which no longer exist. It was great to see my favorite childhood ride, "Adventures Thru Inner Space", again. If you are a fan of Disneyland, and want to really understand the Park's history there is no better source than this book. I highly recommend it despite its rather high price. You won't be disappointed.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth the wait and expense!, November 26, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Disneyland the Nickel Tour: A Postcard Journey Through a Half Century of the Happiest Place on Earth (Hardcover)

I've read "The Art of Walt Disney", "Walt Disney Imagineering", "Disneyland:The Inside Story", and several other books about the Magic Kingdom, and this book is by far the most detailed and enjoyable of them all. Every store that's ever had an address on Main Street...every sponsor that's ever had an exhibit in Tommorowland...IT'S ALL HERE. My only complaint is that I wish some of the illustrations were larger so you could take in more detail...but considering that every postcard ever issued by Disneyland is included, in addition to behind-the-scenes photos and concept art, this is an understandable compromise. Absolutely the best book ever printed on Disneyland.