A Web of Disney
In this unique comparative history, newspaper journalist Chuck Schmidt traces the slender, often invisible strands that connect four monumental achievements in our pop culture: Disneyland, Freedomland, the 1964-65 New York World's Fair, and Walt Disney World.
Most events don't happen in isolation. There's always connective tissue, but it can be hard to find. Chuck identifies that connective tissue, his "Disney dream weavers", and spins their tales, the stories of the amazing, inspired, and even nefarious notables who created four of the most fantastic places on earth:
DISNEYLAND
How Walt Disney envisioned and then built his California theme park is an oft-told tale, but Chuck Schmidt focuses on the people, the personalities, and the politics who turned Walt's park-bench fantasy into reality.
FREEDOMLAND
After Walt Disney fired C.V. Wood, the self-proclaimed "master Disneyland builder", Wood went east, to build another theme park, Freedomland, but left his pixie dust behind in California.
NEW YORK WORLD'S FAIR 1964-1965
Without the World's Fair, several iconic Disneyland attractions might never have been invented, including It's a Small World, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, and Carousel of Progress.
WALT DISNEY WORLD
Walt didn't want to build a theme park in Florida; he wanted to build EPCOT, a utopian city. But when Walt died, utopia went with him, and his brother Roy spearheaded what would become the largest, most popular theme park on earth.
Oh, what a magical web they weaved!
