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I was immediately attracted to this title when I first read about it. I’ve had my share of trips to Disney properties and I’ve read some about their service culture and unique way of providing products for the masses. And as you’ve seen here before, I love a good story.

This is the story of Disney’s Florida attractions, starting with the dream and the film that was used to sell it, which through the magic of the Internet, you can now see for yourself.

The book is an absolutely fascinating read, and I appreciated the author’s interest in acquiring as many details about the Walt Disney World, EPCOT, and associated parks’ development and operations. This included a host of challenges, including difficulties in acquiring the land, construction, and ongoing maintenance headaches. Of particular intrigue to me were the chapters dealing with the various safety incidents that have occurred in the parks over time. I didn’t see these chapters as “tell all” or “expose.” I saw them as detailing what has happened in the course of millions of people attending the parks. Some of the stories are very tragic. Similar detailed treatments were given to describing the parks’ initial plans - everything from the attractions to the economics.

For me, the overall story was one of charismatic leadership and execution over time. In reading and watching about Walt Disney’s dream, it seems that he was unique person who made a difference in the company - pushing ahead every day. As I read about the leaders that worked to implement his dream over time, it seemed that they just weren’t Walt. And the impact is what we see today at EPCOT. Is it really true that a leader’s job is to create an organization that functions well without them?