Originally Posted By DisneySuiteFreak Are there any good books out there that discuss the Disney Way of doing business? In a lot of leadership classses I've taken, they have often quoted Walt Disney. I was just wondering if there are any books out there that he may have authored, or if anyone else who worked with him may have documented his work ethics/standards, business model, etc. On another note, what good books are out there that discuss DL and the history, etc. I see some advertised here on LP, but there really isn't any in depth description about what info it contains.
Originally Posted By Darkbeer Kevin Yee over at MiceAge wrote an excellent artilce on all the different Disney related books out there... <a href="http://www.miceage.com/kevinyee/ky090204a.htm" target="_blank">http://www.miceage.com/kevinye e/ky090204a.htm</a>
Originally Posted By Socrates Since the pursuit of knowledge is a special interest of mine... I quickly scanned Kevin's article and didn't see a separate section for management, so I checked my own bookshelf. I thought "Inside the Magic Kingdom: 7 Keys to Disney's Success" by Tom Connellan (Bard Press, 1996) was very interesting. You might also look for "Be Our Guest: Perfecting the Art of Customer Service" from the Disney Institute (Disney Press, 2001) And Rich Hamilton has written a three-book series: "Disney Magic: Business Strategy You Can Use At Work and at Home", "Internet Business Magic", and "Disney Magic Ideabook." All are from Sellbetter Tools. The books give a website, www.MagicStrategy.com, but I can't get it to come up right now. There is also a phone number: 888-240-4742 Finally, Didier Ghez runs a Disney Books website.(<a href="http://www.pizarro.net/didier/" target="_blank">http://www.pizarro.net/didier/</a>) Hope this helps! Socrates "The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."
Originally Posted By karlg Kevin Yee gives a pretty good list of recommended reading. Kevin and I have traded lists before, and we have most of the same books, except he has more books on animation. The "ultimate list" is maintained by Didier Ghez at <a href="http://www.pizarro.net/didier/" target="_blank">http://www.pizarro.net/didier/</a>. He has about everything that has been or is expected to be published. Didier also publishes a Series of reprinted and/or unpublished articles in his Walt´s People Book Series. To the original question in addition to the previously mentioned books by Socrates, there is also the "Disney Way" and the "Disney Way Field Book" <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0071361065/didierghezsdisneA/" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/exec/obi dos/ISBN=0071361065/didierghezsdisneA/</a>
Originally Posted By DisneySuiteFreak Thank you all for responding. I actually did an Amazon web search and found most of the books describe above in regard to management. I have a bunch I'm going to pick up. I found Window on Main Street: 35 Years of Creating Happiness at Disneyland Park by Van Arsdale France. It's out of print and very expensive. Do any of you know anything about this book? He supposedly wrote the training guide used for all CMs which eventually Disney University. I'm just wondering if it's worth the $100+ people are selling them for. I would be interested to see how the management style has evolved over the years from when Disney first started under Walt and Van, to now with Be Our Guest, especially considering how unhappy a lot of CM seem to be regarding pay, perceptions of fairness, etc. Anyway, if anyone knows anything about this book and whether or not he tells stories about management and training, please let me know. I think it's his autobiography. And for those of you who don't know, there is a window on Main Street with his name on it. Thanks!
Originally Posted By karlg "Is it worth" is always a tough question to answer. I bought one copy on Main Street (I still remember where I bought it -- I think it made a big impression on me just thumbing through it) back in the early 1990's for 18.95 (still has the DL sticker on it) and it is one of my favorites among the nearly 200 Disney books I have. As far as value the book, it sold for $18.95 in 1991 and adjusting for inflation that would be about $29 today. So at over $100 you are definitely paying a premium, but the premium is caused by the book being very well liked. The book is a paperback with only 123 Pages and is mostly his reminiscing about his time at (mostly) Disney and it is not dense with writing but it has a lot of interesting pictures in it. It is much more of a “fun†book than one on how to manage (depends on what you are looking for) but there is some management advice sprinkled here and there. Mr. France was the founder of the training program at Disneyland and in the early days had the future head of the theme parks, Dick Nunis, has is gofer. This book was published by a private publisher that also published the magazine “Storyboard, the Art of Laughter,†but the publisher died suddenly of a heart attack and that ended both the publishing of this the magazine and this book. I remember an article in the magazine talking about publishing a second edition of “Window on Main Street,†but as far as I know, it never happened due to the death of the publisher. A happened to find out(probably from a post on Laughplace) in 2001 that is was selling again for $18.95 on Amazon, and knowing it was out of print, I picked up a second copy. My guess is that Amazon got a hold of the remaining stock. “Spinning Disney’s World, Memories of a Magic Kingdom Press agent†by Charles Ridgeway has a bit more of a management bend to it, but is as its title says more of remembrances than a management how to book. “Walt’s Revolution by the Numbers†gives the remembrances of Harrison Buzz Price who most famously picked the location for Disneyland back in the early 1950’s and consulted on WDW when it was being founded. He did a lot of work for companies other than Disney. His book does include some information “managing by numbers.â€
