Excavating the Magic

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney World, Disney historian Jim Korkis, who has written five previous books on WDW, takes a nostalgic look at the dozens and dozens of things that have disappeared at the vacation destination over the decades.

Recent years have seen a rapid and massive demolition of much of Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Epcot to make room for new additions, from a mythological galaxy far, far away to an ambitious rat who became a renowned chef.

However some things even disappeared within the first year to be replaced by others that have also vanished. Jim was fortunate to personally experience many of the shows and attractions included in this book so that helped with providing an accurate perspective of these long-forgotten treasures.

The chapters are filled to overflowing with quotes from Imagineers and show producers, facts, anecdotes, and behind-the-scenes stories that have rarely if ever been told.

ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter, Cranium Command, Skyleidoscope, Catastrophe Canyon, Diamond Horseshoe Revue, Pocahontas, Fort Wilderness Railroad, Walt Disney World Speedway, DisneyQuest, the Disney Inn Resort, and eighty more things that only still exist in the memories of past WDW guests are documented.

The book brings back fond memories for those who experienced these shows and attractions but is also designed to tantalize the curiosity of others who might have only briefly heard about them if they knew they had ever existed at all.

Excavating the Magic

In over eighty individual chapters, each filled with facts, quotes, and anecdotes, Disney historian Jim Korkis chronicles the very best of a Disneyland that no longer exists, taking us back in time to "Walt's park" and revealing how it has changed between then and now.

Live mermaids swimming in the Submarine Lagoon. ... Pack mules nipping at the shoes of children. ... Flying saucers hovering inches in the air over a circular floor. For many people this was the Disneyland of their youth, but over the years dozens of shows, attractions, and experiences have disappeared forever from the Happiest Place on Earth.

In this latest volume of his best-selling Secret Stories series, Korkis shares behind-the-scenes information—much of it never before in print—about what used to delight guests at Disneyland.

From Main Street's Intimate Apparel Shop and Frontierland's Mineral Hall, to Fantasyland's Pirate Ship restaurant and Adventureland's Barker Bird, Korkis excavates, unearths, and discovers a Disneyland past that will be sweetly nostalgic to some, and a unique glimpse into a forgotten past for others.

Who knows what we'll find!

Welcome, foolish mortals, to spooky Halloween stories about all things Disney! Step into the dead center of the book to learn about the ghosts, devils, witches and other nightmare creatures that haunted the magical worlds of Disney to give us all moments of humor and horror.

Chapters are devoted to Disney animation, Disney live-action movies, Disney theme parks, Disney witches and much more including the Ben Cooper Halloween costumes, the Halloween comic book stories of Carl Barks, Walt Disney’s connection to Halloween, and Disney Halloween television specials among many other things.

While living in Marceline, Missouri as young boys, Walt Disney and his older brother Roy loved exploring and playing in an old house that was rumored to be haunted. Some unknown incident happened on one of those visits and they never returned but it effect Walt even though he never spoke of it again.

Did actor Bela Lugosi famous for his portrayal of Dracula actually pose for the Chernabog demon in Fantasia (1940) using his Dracula cape? Why was the Silly Symphony short The Skeleton Dance (1929) considered too grotesque to be shown to theater audiences?

What were the secret stories behind Billy the Zombie in Hocus Pocus (1993) in his own words? What were the behind-the-scenes shenanigans in the Halloweentown made-for-television movies?

What details are at Walt Disney World’s Twilight Zone Tower of Terror that don’t exist at any other version of the attraction at other Disney theme parks worldwide?

What was the story behind Imagineer Yale Gracey who created so many of the iconic special effects in The Haunted Mansion including quotes from people who knew and worked with him?

Discover what made the Wicked Witch from Snow White, The Marvelous Mad Madam Mim, and The Enchanting Magica De Spell some of the most memorable and beloved spell-casters around the world for decades.

And there’s much more to enhance your trick-or-treating fun with over a dozen additional short stories about Disney’s connections with the Halloween holiday.

Dedicated to Jack Hannah, the director of the Disney Halloween short Trick or Treat, who was the first Disney animator I ever interviewed and who always gave me little treats of information.

Like me, he loved that particular cartoon and, of course, the lesson that was in its theme song: "Trick or Treat. Trick or Treat for Halloween. When ghosts and goblins by the score ring the bell on your front door, better not be stingy or your nightmares will come true."

How the Magic Was Born

Once upon a time, the swampy flatlands of central Florida were home to oranges, cattle, and alligators. Then a man came and said, "lo, there shall be a theme park." A few years later, swampland turned to fantasyland, as Walt Disney World arose. This is the story of how it happened.

Jim Korkis, the world's premiere Disney historian, weaves a compelling, organized tale from the thousands of details, reports, and eyewitness accounts—some of them never before in print— about the early days of the most magical place on earth. As with his companion book, The Unofficial Disneyland 1955 Companion, Korkis delivers a top-down history, from the perspective of high-level Disney executives to that of front-line Disney cast members.

Korkis begins with the initial surveys of the Disney World site in 1958 and takes the story through 1972, telling the complete and definitive story of how the park was designed and built, and how it was run during its first year.

As Walt Disney stood on a swampy marsh in central Florida not long before his death in 1966, he did not see a wilderness, he saw a bright city of tomorrow, a towering castle, innovative hotels, and above all, families having fun in themed lands of wonder.

We know how the story turned out, but now you can stand alongside Walt and experience it all over again, from the very beginning.

The Happiest Trivia on Earth

Disneyland has a lot to hide. Well, that sounds nefarious, so how about, Disneyland has a lot for you to discover. And I don't mean wait times and ride descriptions. I mean the deep, rich, hidden legacy of the park. Its real secrets.

No one knows Disney history better than Disney historian Jim Korkis. In this book, the latest in his best-selling "Secret Stories" series, he unearths still more theme park gold and presents it in bite-sized stories that you can enjoy while waiting in line, sitting in a monorail, or whenever you have a few moments to fill with fresh Disney knowledge.

With over 90 "mini chapters", organized by theme park "land", plus a special section devoted to some of the attractions that exist beyond the berm, you're sure to discover new lore about the happiest place on earth.

Ahoy!

Welcome aboard for a voyage through the creation of the Disney Cruise Line and some of the intriguing storytelling elements about its fleet of ships.

This book is NOT a travel guide nor is it designed to help get discounts, pick a good cabin, select the best time of the year to cruise, decide on a shore excursion, review the cuisine or anything else related to things that a good travel agent can help you accomplish.

This book is something very different and unprecedented.

From stories of some of the cruises Walt Disney and his family took over the decades to the Disney Imagineers plan to create a floating Disney theme park that would sail to various ports around the world, the book is filled with history and storytelling that has rarely if ever been documented.

Individual chapters about each ship showcase some of the design elements that make each one unique. Where is Muppet Pepe the Prawn’s hidden cabin on the Disney Fantasy and Disney Dream? What are all the different DCL buttons that a guest can get from free at Guest Services?

An entire section is devoted to the back stories of the dining and nightclub areas.

How was Palo designed to reference the twisting canals of Venice, Italy? What is the one cinematic item in the Meridian Bar on the Disney Dream that purposely does not appear on the Disney Fantasy? Why is the buffet-style restaurant called Cabanas?

Another section covers the design details of Castaway Cay. How and why did the back story of the castaways change over the last two decades? What are some of the tributes to Disney executives that can be found on signs, crates and more?

Why did Disney decide not to include horseback riding as an activity?

Several chapters focus on the unique art on the ships from the Magic Portholes to Enchanted Art and much more.

Bon Voyage!

Dedicated to instructors Jerry Johnson, Henry Hardt and their students from Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa, who were my sometimes entertaining sailing companions on several of my voyages on the Disney Cruise Line.

Deck the Halls with Disney!

Those stockings hung by the chimney with care aren't stuffed with toys this year, but with a Yuletide collection of seasonal Disney lore. Put some extra Christmas (and Disney!) magic under your tree with Jim Korkis' jolly compendium of merry mouse tales.

The best-selling Vault of Walt series has brought serious, but fun, Disney history to tens of thousands of readers. Now in its seventh volume, the series features Disney historian and master storyteller Jim Korkis' meticulously researched, entertaining tales about Disney's films, theme parks, and Walt himself— and this time they're brimming with holiday cheer:

• The making of Disney classic holiday films like Mickey's Christmas Carol and Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas
• The truth behind Walt Disney's ambivalent attitude toward Christmas
• The story of how Disney creates its holiday parades, decorations, and processionals in the theme parks
• The rundown of Disney's many Christmas comic books and giveaways, including Walt's early involvement with Toys for Tots
• The history of such "extinct" Disney theme park holiday celebrations as Lights of Winter and Port Orleans Christmas

And best of all: you don't have to wait until Christmas morning!

What If Walt Had...

For every project that Disney has produced, there are hundreds more that never happened despite significant investments of time, talent, and money. But what if you could see them anyway...

Jim Korkis enters the limbo of Disney Never Lands to report on new theme parks, new lands in existing parks, television shows, and animation that were left unbuilt and unfilmed. Over the decades, he interviewed Imagineers and animators who worked on these projects as well as researching contemporary newspaper accounts and official publicity releases.

Korkis details the usual suspects like WestCot, Mineral King, Roger Rabbit feature sequels, and Epcot's Africa pavilion as well as surprises like Jim Henson's television series about Ariel the Little Mermaid and the Disney Channel's series that would have featured Dreamfinder and Figment as well as the animation Disney had Ub Iwerks do for Danny Kaye's first feature film.

Korkis shares the surprises that he discovered in the deepest vaults of Disney history. For the first time, these stories are gathered together in one book to inspire Disney fans' imaginations of what might have been and to document in great detail these lost dreams.

Where No Mouse Has Gone Before

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing and the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, Jim Korkis weaves over three dozen tales of both fact and fantasy about outer space from Disney’s films, theme park attractions, comics, and elsewhere, including:

• How Walt Disney and former Nazi scientist Dr. Wernher von Braun took a man "to the moon" over a decade before one actually went there
• The secret story of Garco, Walt Disney's mechanical celebrity friend, and how it helped inspire human audio-animatronics
• The many different versions of the Epcot Space Pavilion that were never built and the details behind the Sci-Fi City concept that would have replaced Tomorrowland
• What happened to the Walt Disney World attraction created by George Lucas that would have featured the deadly Xenomorph alien from the popular movie series
• How Dr. Who almost ended up in Disneyland’s Tomorrowland, Ward Kimball’s strange connection to the UFO community, and much more

ENGAGE!

The Rosetta Stone of Disney Magic

Warning! There be secrets ahead. Disney secrets. Mickey doesn't want you to know how the magic is made, but Jim Korkis knows, and if you read Jim's book, you'll know, too. Put the kids to bed. Pull those curtains. Power down that iPhone. Let's keep this just between us...

If you've come expecting more of the same Disney trivia, you're in for a surprise. This is not a Disney trivia book. It's a book of Disney secrets, each exactly two pages long, and each brimming with backstage lore. Jim Korkis gathered these secrets when he worked at Walt Disney World as an instructor at Disney University. They're all true. They're all cool. And they include:

• How the popularity of Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach meant the doom of an important piece of Disney history
• United Arab Emirates, Equatorial Africa, Costa Rica, and other planned Epcot pavilions that never were
• Disney's original plans for Figment, how corporate politics turned him purple, and why the Dreamfinder shrunk
• Wilderness Junction, the Alpine Resort, the Enchanted Snow Palace Ride, and other abandoned attractions
• Beacon Joe, the character you've never heard of, even though he appears numerous times throughout Disney World

PSST! WANNA HEAR A (DISNEY) SECRET?

Disney History at Its Best

No one knows Disney history, or tells it better, than Jim Korkis, who presents an inaugural set of 28 stories from his Vault of Walt. Whether it’s Disney films, Disney theme parks, or Walt himself, Jim’s stories will charm and delight Disney fans of all ages.

The best-selling Vault of Walt series has brought serious, but fun, Disney history to tens of thousands of readers. In this, its first volume, former Disney cast member and master storyteller Jim Korkis weaves his home-spun, entertaining tales, from the early years of Walt Disney to the present.

Step inside the vault with Jim to hear about:

• Warner Bros. animator Chuck Jones hated the four months he worked at the Disney Studio because the one job he wanted he couldn't get: Walt's
• Renie Bardeau, Disneyland's chief photographer, who took shots of the famous and the powerful who visited the park
• FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover's increasing distrust of Walt Disney—and Walt's growing FBI file
• The unlikely collaboration between Walt and surrealist painter Salvador Dali
• How Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev threw a tantrum when he wasn't allowed to visit Disneyland

Discover these and many other new tales of Disney history, as only Jim Korkis can tell them, in The Vault of Walt: Volume 1.

Then be sure to check ALL the volumes in The Vault of Walt!