Disney's California Adventure Detective: An Independent Guide to Exploring the Trivia, Secrets and Magic of the Park Dedicated to California [Paperback]

Kendra Trahan (Author), Brian McKim (Illustrator), Karl Yamauchi (Illustrator), Debbie Smith (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2008

The companion and follow-up to Disneyland Detective is an enthusiastic investigation of the $2.1 billion expansion invested in the Disneyland Resort in 2001 that celebrates California’s storied past and dynamic future. This exploration of hidden treasures and secret references in the park that highlights the diversity of the Golden State—from the Gold Rush to the golden years and California's present-day allure—features original illustrations, photographs, trivia, and the behind-the-scenes story of a park that was 40 years in development. With the help of this guide, readers will be able to discover the whereabouts of several “hidden Mickeys,” locate the Twilight Zone television props placed in the Tower of Terror attraction, and learn about California’s contributions to the aviation industry.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Kendra Trahan is the author of Disneyland Detective. She serves as the national president of the National Fantasy Fan Club, the club for Disney enthusiasts. She is a member of the board of governors of Carolwood Pacific Historical Society and the board of directors for Walt Disney's barn museum in Los Angeles' Griffith Park. She lives in Winter Garden, Florida. Brian McKim is a freelance artist who worked at Disney Studios in feature animation and the coillustrator of Disneyland Detective. He lives in Santa Clarita, California. Karl Yamauchi is a former bridge architect and the coillustrator of Disneyland Detective. He lives in Celebration, Florida. Debbie Smith is the photographer of Disneyland Detective. She lives in Lemoore, California. 

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Permagrin Publishing (September 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971746451
• ISBN-13: 978-0971746459
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #570,432 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Disney' California Adventure Detective, November 6, 2008

By 

Terri Hardin Jackson "tigger girl" (los angeles) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Disney's California Adventure Detective: An Independent Guide to Exploring the Trivia, Secrets and Magic of the Park Dedicated to California (Paperback)

Here is a book for all Disney Park fans. The refreshing thing about the Disneyland Detective,and California Adventure Detective books, is that they are written by a fan for fans. It is full of the little things that a fan truly wants to know about the parks they so dearly love. NOT a book that THINKS it knows what a fan wants to know. Disney's California Adventure is a park that is not as popular as Disneyland. It is thought to have a couple of perks, like California Soaring, but compared to Disneyland, if given the choice one would most likely, attend the latter. Disney's California Adventure Detective unlocked for me, many hidden secrets of a park perhaps a bit misunderstood. For example,it opened up a whole new insight to "Twilight Zone's Tower of Terror," as it lists where to look for actual props from the popular TV show hidden throughout the cue. My favorite, the chalk marks on the wall from the episode"Little Girl Lost." When I saw that, and put my ear to the wall, I heard that little girl... Wow! If you like discovering secrets, then this book will rock your world!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Interesting Guide to a Disney Park, January 11, 2010

By 

Doc Watson (Southern California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Disney's California Adventure Detective: An Independent Guide to Exploring the Trivia, Secrets and Magic of the Park Dedicated to California (Paperback)

Disney's California Adventure is the lesser known and less well regarded second park at the Disneyland Resort. Located across a large esplanade from Walt's original theme park, DCA (as it's often referred to) clearly is secondary to Disneyland, but is, nevertheless, an interesting entity on its own and deserving of a little background information. And this is just what is provided in this light and entertaining book.

Author Kendra Trahan divides the book into seven chapters, the first being a general history of the park, followed by five devoted to the themed areas of the park and the last a short description of the impressive Grand Californian hotel which is adjacent and associated with the park. Each ride and attraction is described, and most are accompanied by a picture (the black and white photography by Debbie Smith does a fine job of illustrating the book). The book is replete with "Treasure and Trivia" paragraphs that provide interesting background information on the topic; being a frequent visitor to the park and already familiar with it, I found the information in these paragraphs to be the most valuable. Any "Hidden Mickeys" in the area are also noted, should the reader wish to track them.

Slightly less useful are the "Lesson to Learn" notes, which aim to provide hard facts and background to the park's attractions. Some are only tangentially related to the topic, and in at least one case, factually wrong. (The section on the naturalist John Muir states that he died in 1894 after Woodrow Wilson signed the Raker Act into law allowing for the Hetch Hetchy Dam. The events in question took place 20 years later. Similarly, two long appendices cover the props in the in Tower of Terror and their relation to various Twight Zone episodes, and the background of the aviation heroes and aircraft referenced in the Soaring Over California queue. The latter is almost 20 pages long (longer than any of the individual area chapters) and provide biographies of the pilots and aviation industry pioneers, and descriptions of the aircrafts shown in the queue area. It's quite a lot of background information that isn't park specific, so it's up to the individual reader to determine the value of their inclusion in the book.

I have two small criticisms of the book. While the writing is generally light and snappy in tone, it is sometimes repetitive in construction and word use. Also, the book would greatly benefit from the inclusion of a map of DCA, so that the reader who hasn't visited could get a better idea of the layout and design of the park.

Overall, a useful and interesting, if not definitive guide to Disney's California Adventure.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars OK...expected more, January 14, 2011

By 

Australian disney fan - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Disney's California Adventure Detective: An Independent Guide to Exploring the Trivia, Secrets and Magic of the Park Dedicated to California (Paperback)

I was really looking forward to this book, as I've often thought that there hadn't been much written about California Adventure. Whilst the book was interesting, there was a lot of information that was rather general or unrelated to the park and I didn't really learn much about the park that I didn't already know. That being said I did get to think back to my visit at the park which was good.