“The Disney Mountains: Imagineering At Its Peak“
By Jason Surrell
How many Disney Mountains can you name? In The Disney Mountains: Imagineering At Its Peak, author Jason Surrell gives a behind-the-scenes look at the Imagineering process behind several of the Disney Parks’ most prominent mountainous attractions around the world.
The first part of the book focuses on Disney’s first mountain, Disneyland’s Matterhorn, which is still in operation today. This history in particular is fascinating because of Walt Disney’s own attachment to the project.
The lost and forgotten concept of Candy Mountain is covered in a very short two-page spread. This mountain was planned as part of an original addition to Storybook Land Canal Boats and was to feature characters from the Land of Oz.
Surrell provides a rich textual history on Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain. He also covers discrepancies between the same mountains at different parks. For example, the difference in available land at Magic Kingdom and Disneyland accounts for size differences in both versions of Space Mountain, including the seating arrangements and elevation of the attraction.
The author also goes so far as to talk about Grizzly Peak at Disney California Adventure and Mount Prometheus at Tokyo DisneySea, as well as the small mountains of Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon.
Because this book was published in 2007, it does not contain the Cadillac Mountain range at Carsland nor the mini-mountain found at Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. It does, however, contain an extensive history of an attraction that premiered at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in 2006.
Expedition: Everest is covered in extreme detail, from concept, to planning, with Imagineer Joe Rohde in between. Some of the meticulous details here make this section feel like promotional material for Everest and Animal Kingdom. But, seeing how Everest is advanced in its theming and track layout with a great Imagineer at the reins, due credit is given.
Sketches and technical drawings, along with colorful paintings and a few gorgeous full-page spreads are really what make The Disney Mountains: Imagineering At Its Peak a great addition to the Disney library.
Callie’s Grade: 4.5/5 stars
