Fridays with Jim Korkis: Worlds Within the World

By Dave Shute

Welcome back to Fridays with Jim Korkis! Jim, the dean of Disney historians, writes about Walt Disney World history every Friday on yourfirstvisit.net.

YOUR PERSONAL DISNEY LIBRARY (45)

By Jim Korkis

• Worlds Within the World by Brian Rucker

I tell people that the hardest thing is not researching and writing a book but after it is published letting people who might be interested know that it even exists. Today, the market is flooded with Disney related books, and there are many more coming each month.

As a result, sometimes an interesting book will not receive any publicity and go unnoticed by readers who might enjoy it. Worlds Within the World certainly fits that description.

Having just recently authored a book called Hidden Treasures of the Walt Disney World Resort Hotels, I was more than curious to immediately purchase this book that I had never even heard was in development.

If you are curious, too, let me tell you that Worlds Within the World is well-written, accurate and includes material that is not in my book including sections on Golden Oak, ESPN Wide World of Sports, Disney’s Skyliner and more because of their proximity to the resorts.

While my book spends more time digging into the elaborate back stories and theming detail at the resort hotels, Rucker’s book does share a brief overview of some of that same material.

Like me, his intent was not to write a book about getting discounts, finding the best room location, the best time to book a reservation and similar things that guests immediately think of when planning a vacation. We both want to enhance the story of the resort itself that is often overlooked by guests rushing to the parks.

I feel I should also point out that Rucker frequently references my work in books and articles (including ones done for this website) but he also references Lou Mongello, Jim Hill, Mike Lee, Birnbaum, David Koenig, Beth Dunlop, Jeff Kurtti, Chuck Mirarchi, Jack Spence, Debra Martin Koma and many other recognizable and respected authorities on Walt Disney World in his thirty-thirty pages of notes as well as a twenty-three page bibliography.

Dr. Brian Rucker is a professor of history at Pensacola State College and he also teaches Florida history at the University of West Florida. He has authored or edited over fifty scholarly books none of which seem to be offered on Amazon and articles related to Florida and the Gulf Coast history.

Rucker started visiting Walt Disney World with his family as a child in the spring of 1972 and has made frequent return visits. This personal experience is clearly evident in his text.

As he states in his introduction to Worlds Within the World, “I have witnessed the worlds with the World that each of these resorts offer. Each one has its own ambience, its own charm, its own character. I have personally stayed at twelve of the Walt Disney World resorts and I have visited every one of them. I understand firsthand the experience that Disney was trying to impart with the creation of the Vacation Kingdom.”

The book is nicely arranged into six chapters (Magic Kingdom Resorts, Epcot Area Resorts, Disney Springs Resorts, Disney’s Hollywood Studios Resorts, Disney’s Animal Kingdom Resorts and This, That and the Future). In each chapter are several short individual sections devoted to a topic, primarily a resort hotel but there are others that spotlight the water parks, the Walt Disney World Casting Center, the Walt Disney World Team Building and more.

So much more needs to be written about the WDW resort hotels and while I hope you buy my book to learn more, I highly recommend buying this book to add to your collection especially as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney World.

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Thanks, Jim! and come back next Friday for more from Jim Korkis!

In the meantime, check out his books, including his new books Vault of Walt: Volume 10: Final Edition,   Kungaloosh! The Mythic Jungles of Walt Disney World and Hidden Treasures of Walt Disney World Resorts: Histories, Mysteries, and Theming, much of which was first published on this site.

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