The Imagineering Field Guide to Disney’s Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World continues the visual tour of the Walt Disney World parks by the Imagineers. Alex Wright the author of The Imagineering Field Guide to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World also writes this guide. Wright reintroduces, or introduces if your first read in the series, the concepts and tools of Imagineering. From the Oasis to the Theater in the Wild, Wright walks his readers through the park. He provides details to his readers about why and how the Imagineers crafted the stories of Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The highlight of the text is pictures, pictures, pictures with visuals ranging from the attraction photos and concept art. Like others in the series, the book is setup like a guide book, being small and compact and something one can throw into a backpack or small bag on a trip to the Animal Kingdom.
This was the second Imagineering Guide that I read. To be honest it was a really odd choice for me as Disney’s Animal Kingdom is the park that I have spent the least amount of time in when visiting Florida. Like The Imagineering Field Guide to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World the images throughout this book are top notch. And the Guide helped me to see behind the heat in Disney’s Animal Kingdom, which I have convinced myself is 27 degrees hotter than any other Walt Disney World park on a given day, and to see the masterpiece the Imagineers have created. If one slows down, opens their eye, looks, listens and smells a guest really is transported out of Florida and to Africa or Asia. The amount of theming in this park is incredible and simply cannot be ignored, despite all of our sarcastic jokes. We may complain about DinoLand U.S.A, but if one understands the story of this area we can clearly see the Imagineers vision of this area and the jokes behind it. In the end, this park is a work of art, and it took the images and details found in this book for me to truly understand what it is. It makes me want to toss this guide in my backpack and walk a little slower when I next visit this park.
For more from the Imagineering Guide series see “Between Books – The Imagineering Field Guide to Disneyland” and “Between Books – The Imagineering Field Guide to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World.”
I never liked the Dinorama area of AKL either, but as with yourself, when I researched into the story behind it, it makes (almost) sense! - Would still like it replaced with Australia or maybe an underwater world?
ReplyDeleteNice ideas, since I will likely never go to Australia, that would be a nice fit in that area especially with Nemo there.
ReplyDeleteIt's the details which make me hopeful, though not excited, about Avatarland.