Customer Reviews

The Epcot Explorer's Encyclopedia: A guide to the flora, fauna, and fun of the world's greatest theme park!

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

As someone who's been following EPCOT (EPCOT Center) since its inception, the marketing blurb for this book piqued my curiosity. For the most part, I am happy with my decision to purchase. The details are plentiful and often obscure, the sense of humor is just twisted enough for my (admittedly strange) sensibilities, and there is plenty of new information. However, there are also a significant number of grammatical errors. Apparently the author(s) used a spell checker, but not a grammar checker. This resulted in numerous instances of incorrect word usage ... desert/dessert ... then/than ... NOT the same meaning! Many sentences are missing words, others have completely unnecessary phrases that incorrectly modify verbs or nouns... Wow! It was a nightmare. I got the feeling that the book was written as Twitter-text and then translated back into real english. So many grammatical errors, that after documenting over 100, I stopped counting.

I then visited the author's website and sent them an email documenting many of the problems with the text... no response so far.

Those carps aside, the book was fun, informative and held my interest. I hope the 2nd edition corrects the grammatical problems.

This book is an absolute must have for any fan of EPCOT. Well put together and well researched, I cannot put this book down. Fun to read cover to cover or to just jump around and read various articles. HIGHLY recommended.

As a EPCOT Center history enthusiast, I was looking forward to a book like this. A pavilion by pavilion history of the park. While very much written in a dry, uninspiring manner (better than an encyclopedia, mind you), the loads of facts is fascinating. He happens to infuse some opinion here and there - whether his own or popular sentiment - but that wasn't where he went off the tracks.

For me, I winced at how it seemed clear that there has to be better proofreading done. The spelling and grammatical errors are startling. The author doesn't seem to know when to properly use "then" vs. "than." By the way, Exxon didn't merge to become ExxonMobile (it's not a cell phone company), it's ExxonMobil. ("ExxonMobile" wasn't a one time spelling error, it was repeatedly mentioned.) It got so bad that I looked to see which publisher let this get out in this condition: Epcyclopedia Publishing - clearly self-published.

Note to author - your research and content is fabulous. It's a shame the English got in the way, because you would have gotten a few more stars from me if the book were checked over by a trusted editor prior to release.

There was a lot of devotion that went into this book. The author is obviously a dedicated Disney buff and if you have been a semi-regular visitor to Epcot over the past 20-30 years you will love the book. It is very detailed when it comes to Future World (the "front part" of Epcot). For annual visitors like myself, it is a walk down memory lane where you will find yourself saying, "Oh, yea, I remember that!" If you liked the old Horizons exhibit, this will be your Bible.

I was always a bigger fan of World Showcase (the "back part" or "countries"). The book is much thinner when it comes to descriptions of the countries, often just breezing past them like a visitor who makes their way around the countries without stopping in, just to say they had seen it all. If there was disappointment at all, I think there could have been as much description about the countries as there was about Future World. I think World Showcase is the most interesting part of Disney. I would have liked to read about the foreign cast members, more about the private companies that run the restaurants and more on the history of the light show.

On an editing note, the author needs to get schooled on the difference between "then" and "than". The fact that "gusts" were continually visiting attractions was fairly amusing.

A great read for Epcot nuts and definitely worth the price of admission!

These past few months we've been seeing more and more self-published books by fans and Cast Members about the creation of all things Disney. From in-depth looks at the creation of Walt Disney World to memoirs about years spent working for the Mouse, there is a Disney book for everyone nowadays.

One such recent release is The Epcot Explorer's Encyclopedia by R. A. Pedersen. I've been following the book's progress on Pedersen's Twitter account for the past few months, and now here it is, a book unlike any other, probably the most in-depth guide to Epcot that you will ever find.

One of its main selling points is right in the title: it's an encyclopedia, and that is the best way to describe this book. Actually, that's not entirely true. The author coined the phrase 'epcyclopedia' to refer to his book, and I want to kick myself for not coming up with that clever moniker first.

The Epcyclopedia is is not a book to help guide you through EPCOT; it's an intense history lesson about everything in that park, divided into chapters, one for each attraction and pavilion. The first two-thirds of the book covers Future World, past and present, while the final third is about the World Showcase.

Each section on Future World deals with its various subjects quite well. Pedersen provides a fairly in-depth history about each pavilion, including a scene-by-scene breakdown of almost all of the attractions. Based on intense research and various blueprints and construction plans for each ride, Pedersen takes us through each attraction as a sort of written ride-through, commenting on each scene and offering historical facts and trivia.

Where applicable, multiple ride descriptions are provided for the various updates and upgrades done over the years. This proves true also for such famous 'lost attractions' such as Horizons and World of Motion. There is a heavy dose of nostalgia in the book, and the author has a clear love for the EPCOT of yesteryear, which is not a surprise considering the amount of time and detail he spends on the various attractions.

The sections on the World Showcase are very similar to those of Future World, though truncated. I would have liked to have seen a little more details in the World Showcase chapters, as it is my favorite part of the park. These chapters, unfortunately, are significantly shorter than the Future World chapters, and some are only two or three pages long, not really long enough to provide more than an overview of the pavilion.

I'm not sure if the information just wasn't readily available or not as heavily researched as the sections on Future World. However, Pederson does his best to give a bit of history for each pavilion, including a recount of the trials and tribulations of their creation.

I mentioned that calling itself an encyclopedia was a good selling point, but it can also be a bit of a downer. At certain points, the book reads like an encyclopedia. Some of the information presented is a bit heavy, and may only appeal to hardcore EPCOT historians.

Unlike other books on the history of the parks, this is not presented as a story, but more as a fact book. Casual Disney fans looking for a breezy read may be a bit put off, but Disney aficionados will appreciate the attention to detail.

A major nitpick I had is not with the information presented, but is one that applies to a lot of self published books. There were quite a few spelling and grammatical errors, some of which made me have to go back and re-read sentences before I understood what was being said. The book would have benefited greatly from having a second set of eyes, or an editor, give it a once over. When the information being presented is this fact-heavy, spelling and grammatical errors make it harder to read and understand. It shouldn't put you off from reading it, though, as the information it contains is worth the effort.

Overall, I definitely recommend the book. Though it's not without its flaws, it is still a good read for those looking to learn more about what EPCOT used to be and currently is. Again, while it may not be the best for the casual fan, if you're reading this website, chances are you will enjoy the book and the information presented.

The best thing about this book is that the author has extensive knowledge about Epcot first hand! It's factual nature is helpful and interesting. The information is accurate which is hard to find in Disney books because many authors simply present their opinion. It's easy to read, clever and shows the respect and admiration this Disney gem deserves. As a long-time Disney fan I am glad to have found an Epcot read that is concise and perfect for every guest and patron of the park.

More than anything, this book is like a written version of Martin Smith's Ultimate Tribute videos. It's absolutely packed with information; there's not a bit of padding on these 262 pages. If I have one criticism of this book, it's that the author did the editing and proofreading himself, and this means that many spelling and grammatical errors were missed. I sincerely hope that, should he publish any future editions of this book, Mr. Pedersen will avail himself of a second set of eyes to look over the manuscript.

Overall, I highly recommend this book. If you're an EPCOT fanatic like I am, it's a must-have.