A Friday Visit with Jim Korkis: The Complete WDW Fun Finds

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 (31)

By Jim Korkis

• The Complete Walt Disney World Fun Finds & Hidden Mickeys by Julie and Mike Neal

I have always been a huge fan of the nooks and crannies of Walt Disney World and have attempted to document many of them in my books. I also realize that the rich detail is so immersive that I don’t always spot something, so I am always interested in books that claim they will reveal some of those things that I may have missed.However, I am used to many such books simply “cut and pasting” things that already appear on multiple websites or in other books without citing the source. Knowing how difficult it is to do so, I am especially appreciative of original onsite research. This book definitely shows that the Neal family spent thoughtful time exploring Walt Disney World and uncovered some true gems.

In addition, I found the material accurate although there were occasions where the entire story was not shared either because of space limitations or simply not being aware of the rest of the story.

With hundreds and hundreds of short “fun finds”, I found myself continually surprised and delighted. My only disappointment is that not every fun find was accompanied by a photograph reference although many were. Almost every page is filled with multiple color pictures, so it is hard to complain.

The Neals describe a “fun find” as “little details – in-jokes, props, sight gags, story elements and tributes that appear right in front of you but that you’re not really supposed to see” because it blends in so seamlessly to the environment or your attentions is diverted elsewhere.

I am assuming that the Neals also included Hidden Mickeys in an attempt to help sell more books since the hunt for such things is a huge obsession for some Disney fans. While they do a good job documenting many of these sightings, if you are deeply interested in Hidden Mickeys, you should be buying Steve Barrett’s fine books.

Some have complained that a large portion of the book is devoted solely to the Haunted Mansion (roughly 40 of the book’s 250 pages) while other things may have been ignored, but I did not feel that was a disadvantage. I am a fan of the attraction and enjoyed seeing the newer items that had been added to the queue documented very well. However, I can understand why some readers might only have a casual interest in the attraction and feel disappointed that so much space was devoted to it.

Julie was a former WDW concierge supervisor and focuses on the text which is clear and concise. Her husband Mike is a professional photographer with a good eye for capturing not only a nice composition but also the valuable information of the item being photographed (rather than some “artsy” interpretation that obscured the information). In this book, they were helped by their daughter Micaela, who apparently helped with the Haunted Mansion section in particular.

I don’t believe that Julie and Mike Neal have published a new edition of The Complete Walt Disney World travel guide since their tenth anniversary edition that was released in 2016 to cover 2017. What made their guidebook particularly stand out for me were all the outstanding full color photographs by Mike.

As I have pointed out before, if you are interested in Disney history rather than current planning for a trip, picking up copies of older guidebooks will supply a wealth of valuable information. In this particular case, older editions of the work of the Neals will also supply a plethora of beautiful reference photos as well.

Although published in 2015, much of the Fun Finds & Hidden Mickeys remain current and I am glad to have a copy in my collection.

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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 latest, Disney Never Lands, and about planned but unbuilt concepts, and Secret Stories of Walt Disney World: Things You Never You Never Knew, which reprints much material first written for this site, all published by Theme Park Press.

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