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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A MUST for any Epcot fan!, May 1, 2011
This review is from: The Epcot Explorer's Encyclopedia: A guide to the flora, fauna, and fun of the world's greatest theme park! (Paperback)
Over the last couple of weeks, I've had the pleasure of learning more about Epcot than I have in a long time. What site did I go to you ask? None! I read "The Epcot Explorer's Encyclopedia" from R.A. Pedersen (or @EPCOTNRG on Twitter) that he just released and it is one of the most informative, accurate and complete works about Epcot that I've ever read.
"The Epcot Explorer's Encyclopedia" takes the insanely numerous websites, facts, tidbits of information and puts them together in one place and makes for a great read. I never felt like I was reading something boring, rather something that had just enough of a personal touch injected into it to make you feel like you could "see" what was being talked about. It is an added benefit if the reader has been to Epcot and can mentally recall what is being talked about and really adds to the mental visual one can get when reading.
Each pavilion in Epcot (Future World and World Showcase) is presented in its own chapter, and it is important to note, that the author includes past as well as current pavilions in great detail. Pavilions that have had 2nd and 3rd incarnations or versions have each version intricately detailed and gives a wonderful comparison to what is there now, as well as what may or may not have worked for certain areas. Also noted in each section is the back history of each pavilion that includes everything from why the idea was conceived, how it came into being and the hardships and successes along the way.
One of the highlights personally for me was the in depth review of Horizons, which is possibly the most talked about attraction at Walt Disney World. I remember riding this when I was a child, however I was too young to fully remember and the scene by scene descriptions (which are given for all rides/attractions) are amazing.
The book is quite in depth and in some places the casual Disney fan may not fully grasp what is being talked about, however, the book rarely feels tedious to read and for me was one I couldn't put down. I would highly recommend this to anyone who wants to learn more about Epcot and especially to anyone who LOVES Epcot as much as I do.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Laugh-out-loud funny for Epcot fans, June 10, 2011
Download this book if you're an Epcot fan. The park's history, and the history of it's attractions, is lovingly told with detail and humor. It reads like an informal chat with the author. It's a good self-published first edition.
The text probably could have used one more pass by an editor, mostly to tighten the prose. I expect the second printing will do this.
Full disclosure: Rob was a blogger for my site.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
If you love Horizons so much, why don't you marry it?, June 20, 2011
This review is from: The Epcot Explorer's Encyclopedia: A guide to the flora, fauna, and fun of the world's greatest theme park! (Paperback)
I'm a big Epcot fan. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book. The (very) detailed information about each pavilion was truly fascinating, and if I were to rate on that alone this would get 5 stars. I am very impressed with the amount of research that must have gone into this. However, there were a couple of things that irked me about the book:
1. The typos (tons of them) and (lack of) editing/proofreading. Hopefully this will be corrected in the next edition, because it was majorly distracting.
2. The book has "encyclopedia" in the title, but it's far from a neutral accounting. There were strong opinions expressed in certain sections (the finales of Spaceship Earth and Universe of Energy, for example), which felt inappropriate for this kind of book, even when I agreed with the sentiment (Free Dreamfinder!)
3. No pictures. I'm assuming this was a matter of copyright/royalties, but it is odd to have a book like this without even a drawing let alone a photo. As a fan, I could mentally picture just about everything discussed, but it would be very hard for someone less familiar to follow along.
4. This one is very minor.... no mention of the Coral Reef restaurant? Every other eatery in the park, even the carts, got at least a name-drop. The omission stood out, especially since it's such a fun restaurant.
5. Also relatively minor: the "Pepper's ghost effect" was mentioned about four times, but never explained. I know what it is, but most people (even Disney people) probably don't.
So that reads as a laundry list of complaints, but I do want to say again how impressed I was with the actual factual content of the book. I did learn lots of new trivia, and overall I'm glad I read it.
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