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Rating: 
Summary: It's a small (minded) world after all...
Review: If you ever hope to go to Walt Disney World and have a wonder-filled, childlike, fun experience, don't read this book. It is a depressing, soul-stifling, pleasure pounding negative piece of over analytic journalism aimed at purloining any happiness a vacationer might take at the feet of the mouse.Wannabe academics describing Disney characters as "patently grotesque," and a so-so photographer obsessed with other people's camera's does not make for an interesting read. But the real problem lies in the authors' over analyzing just about every aspect of pleasure a vacationer can experience (including the simple act of people-watching). They've even gone so far as to name a chapter "The Problem with Pleasure." If you aren't interested in the problems of pleasure, avoid this tome.
Rating: 
Summary: Academics with a grudge go looking for anecdotes
Review: If you prefer the Marxist view of the world and think Disney is the symbol of capitalistic evil, this book is for you! On the other hand, if you're looking for solid research and thoughtful reflection, find another book. The authors gather together anecdotal evidence in a biased fashion and then draw grand conclusions. The approach is roughly: Think Disney exploits its workers? Look for a few disgruntled workers to back up your claim. Find one who doesn't complain? Call 'em naive and move on... When they started reciting known urban legends as truths, I knew the book was a joke.
Rating:
Summary: Biased piece of trash
Review: It is obvious that the authors are biased against the Disney corporation and wish to force their perspective on everyone else. The money I spent to purchase this book could have been better used elsewhere. I wish i could shred the book and send the pieces back to each author. THE ONLY REASON IT RECIEVED ONE STAR IS THAT ZERO WAS NOT AN OPTION. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON PURCHASING THIS PIECE OF TRASH.
Rating:
Summary: Biased piece of trash
Review: It's quite obvious from the outset that the wanna-be 'scholar' authors have a highly arrogant and socialistic outlook towards people who go to Disney as well as life itself. The 'project on Disney' appears to be nothing more than a very weak attempt to debunk anything and everything about Disney and to speak negatively about anyone who enjoys going there. It's definitely a book for anyone who dislikes Disney as the authors obviously do, as the entire book is filled with the authors marxist, feminist and overwhelmingly negative bias towards Disney. Not to mention the frivilous use of urban legends about Disney to attempt to uphold their views. It's sad reading how these authors react to seeing people have fun at Disney, they're plainly jealous of anyone who 'gets it'. To 'get it' you just have to realize, it's a vacation place where you go to forget about everyday life for a week and to relax and have fun. Something these uptight authors obviously can't and won't do, pretty sad people. Not that Disney doesn't have its faults, as does every place in this world but it's not anywhere near what these authors try to portray it to be. The problem with this book (which I returned after reading through it because it's not worth spending a dime on) is the authors only speak about the negatives, including the many urban myths about the place. They've gone out of their way to attempt to portray Disney in a bad light and in turn any of the fans of Disney's parks as being mind numbingly stupid for 'believing in a land of make-believe'. What it boils down to is a few women authors who had nothing better to do than to attempt (very weakly) to attack and cash in on the Disney name by using a few .50 words and the usual pseudo-intellectual, elitist attitude that people with extremely low self-esteems always tend to use, to portray themselves as the ones who can truly guide us peons. A definite waste of trees this book was, don't waste your money. It's not even worth the one star rating above.
Rating: 
Summary: Difficult to read but some useful insight
Review: This book falls somewhere between David Koenig's "Mouse Tales" and Stephen Fjellman's "Vinyl Leaves". It leans a bit more toward the former and seems to have been intended as a critical assessment of Disney, Disney World, popular culture, consumerism and more. It is written in the form of a vacation memoir that tries to weave together the perspectives of academics, parents (some of the authors ARE parents who took their children to Disney World), photo essayists (there are 50 photographs in the book and a handful are noteworthy), Marxists, and feminists. Perhaps this breadth - or lack of focus - is one of the reasons the book failed to really engage me. There are some insights but I struggled to get at them since the writing was a bit verbose and the authors did not provide footnotes on several references. My overall impression of the book was that of a well-intentioned but poorly-written thesis. I did not come away with the impression that the authors disliked Disney or Disney World. As someone who has visited the parks, I can easily agree with some of the criticisms and frustrations noted in the text. Unfortunately for me, most of the messages that the authors where trying to convey to me got lost in the style. For academic insight, try Fjellman's book which, for all its deep thought and length, was actually much easier for me to follow. For an easier read about backstage goings-on at the mouse-house, try Koenig's book which I found most enjoyable and reasonably well-documented.
Rating:
Summary: Difficult to read but some useful insight
Review: This book falls somewhere between David Koenig's "Mouse Tales" and Stephen Fjellman's "Vinyl Leaves". It leans a bit more toward the former and seems to have been intended as a critical assessment of Disney, Disney World, popular culture, consumerism and more. It is written in the form of a vacation memoir that tries to weave together the perspectives of academics, parents (some of the authors ARE parents who took their children to Disney World), photo essayists (there are 50 photographs in the book and a handful are noteworthy), Marxists, and feminists. Perhaps this breadth - or lack of focus - is one of the reasons the book failed to really engage me. There are some insights but I struggled to get at them since the writing was a bit verbose and the authors did not provide footnotes on several references. My overall impression of the book was that of a well-intentioned but poorly-written thesis. I did not come away with the impression that the authors disliked Disney or Disney World. As someone who has visited the parks, I can easily agree with some of the criticisms and frustrations noted in the text. Unfortunately for me, most of the messages that the authors where trying to convey to me got lost in the style. For academic insight, try Fjellman's book which, for all its deep thought and length, was actually much easier for me to follow. For an easier read about backstage goings-on at the mouse-house, try Koenig's book which I found most enjoyable and reasonably well-documented.
Rating:
Summary: Neurotic Academics Visit Disney
Review: This book is neither a "light read" or an informative travelogue. It is full of the type of jargon you would expect from academics presenting a paper at a conference (no offense meant, as I am married to an academic and am a journalist myself). The authors, although well meaning, get too involved in obscure references and their own personal baggage. While I did pull several good references from the book and had a few chuckles, it is simply not the type of book most Disney fans want to read.
Rating:
Summary: Not For Mouseketeers
Review: This book was an interesting and informative read. It delves deep into the myths that surround Disney, and exposes many facets of the wonderland that are far from wonderful. This book is not for devout fans of disney, as it seeks to deconstruct the myths surrounding the mouse. I found many of the discoveries to be not only surprising but quite horrifying. It is important as our country moves towards the "disnification" of our culture, that we understand the motivations are not those of fluffy cartoon bunnies but of huge corporations which of course include Disney. Most of the negative reviews I have read for this book come from those that are so grossly loyal to an ideal that a company has sold them that they are unwilling to even listen to a hint of critisizm for it's actions. This is an excellent read, very well written and very informative.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Read for the Hardcore Fan
Review: This was an okay book, but may be aimed at the hard core fan. I was looking for a history of the park, and this did not fullfill what I wanted. Still it was an okay book that was fairly interesting.
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