The Disneylands That Never Were [Paperback]

Shaun Finnie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 28, 2006

Disney, theme parks, Walt Disney, Disneyland, Walt Disney World

Product Details

• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: LULU (August 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1847285430
• ISBN-13: 978-1847285430
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,255,049 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Just about usless as they get!, January 18, 2007

By 

James C. O'connor (Minden, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Disneylands That Never Were (Paperback)

Where to start with the problems of this book...

Well, first it's self-published and printed by an on-demand service. The type seems to be meant for a large-type book. The editing is terrible with many misspellings and a number of grammatical errors.

I've been collecting Disneyland memorabilia for 25+ years. Most of this info in the book is gleaned from other books a collector would already have in their collection. What's worse is that some of the info. is completely wrong (I used to work both at Disneyland and the Walt Disney Studios). The chapters jump around, seemingly to simply follow Finnie's train of thought as various items came to mind. He tries to present the material in a proper time-line, but just can't stay the course, making for a frustrating read.

The final nail in the coffin: NOT ONE SINGLE PICTURE!! Not one. This is the primary reason people buy books on Disneyland. One wants to see the artwork Finnie's describing.

Don't waste your money. Look for anything with Bruce Gordon (used to be in the WDI Mac club BOD with him - great guy - recently laid off after 20+ years at WDI) or anything officially published by Disney.

Jim

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Rehash of other material, March 7, 2007

By 

W. Lund "wbl2745" (Provo, UT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Disneylands That Never Were (Paperback)

The author seems to have taken material that is availble elsewhere and repackaged it in this book. Virtually nothing in the book was new to me. Had the author included pictures illustrating the information he presented, it could have been forgiven to rehash old material, but as it is, this book just isn't worth the money.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Amateur Writing, but Interesting Info Nonetheless., May 12, 2007

By 

Dan Fendel (Hollywood, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Disneylands That Never Were (Paperback)

This book is a flawed product of good intentions. It is poorly edited, misstates facts and names, and generally makes a mishmash of its subject, but it is still full of interesting stuff for the casual and inexperienced fan of things Disney. Most of the info here is better told in first-hand memoirs of Disney people, the book is poorly organized, and the author, who clearly hails from the UK, uses mistaken terminology to describe American subjects in a way that grates if you care about language as I do. The book jumps back and forth, repeats itself, and is kind of painful to read...BUT...the info is there hiding beneath the bad writing, so if you really want the basic background on many historical curiosities about the Disney theme park empire and especially about the attractions and plans that were never completed (even though many of the reasons and facts given about WHY they weren't are wrong or half-baked) then read the book anyhow. But you've been warned. It is realy rough going.