Disneyland Coffee Table Books

Ever wonder how Disneyland's attractions get built? It all starts with concept art — often idyllic and dreamy in style, these sketches, paintings and renderings help Disney's Imagineers visualize the final project. This coffee table book is full of concept art for Disney attractions and rides, including several that were never actually built.

Ok, I'll admit that buying this book is a bit of a splurge — but there's a reason that used copies go for so much. This REMARKABLE book takes a look at nearly every postcard issued at Disneyland, with photos of so many lost attractions and mood-setting scenes you'll see nowhere else.

This book tells the story of Imagineering, the research & development group inside Disney responsible for dreaming up all the brilliant rides and attractions. It's beautifully illustrated with concept art and never-before-seen photos, most of them about Disneyland.

"The Architecture of Reassurance," which accompanied an art exhibition at the Canadian Centre for Architecture, takes a more scholarly look at Disneyland's design. The result is a large, lovely book with input from architects, historians, geographers, social critics— and tons of rarely-seen art from the Disney archives.

While it's not specific to Disneyland, this large-format photography book is focused solely on Disney's mountains — not only the four Disneyland peaks (Space, Splash, Big Thunder and the Matterhorn), but also the mountains of Disney in Orlando, Tokyo and Paris. If you like your attractions big, tall and grand, this is the coffee table book for you.

This book, due to be released in late August 2008, is supposed to be incredible. I'll update this list after I get my hands on a copy... I've already pre-ordered it on Amazon! :-)