One of my favorite books! Jason Surrell has done a great job writing all 3 of these books!!

This book is awesome! I love all the concept art and stories behind all the attractions. Very good buy!!

I really enjoyed this book. This the third book Jason Surrell has written about rides in the disney parks and although it isn't the most detailed of the three, it's still excelent in it's own right. His first two books,
The Haunted Mansion: From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies &
Pirates of the Caribbean: From the Magic Kindom to the Movies (Welcome Book)
are excelent very detailed stories of each ride at the various parks. The only reason The Disney Mountains comes in 3rd, is because it covers ten different rides (One of which, never came to be) and obviously cannot fit the same amount of detail in a book the same length as the previous two. Still though, a great read and fun for people that love the Disney Parks.

The book list the "mountains" that have been build inside the Disney theme parks. Most thrill rides in these parks are located in mountains. SpaceMountain, SplashMountain etc.
Disadvantage is that the book mainly focus is on the American Disney Parks, HongKong, Tokio and Paris are hardly mentioned.
The book contains nice artist impressions of the Disney imagineers. However the technical drawings that are also interesting are missing.

Conclusion nice coffee table book, that you probably will read just once.

If you are Disney Theme Park Fan. A fan who loves the mountain ranges of Disneyland, then this book is for you. A lavish book that covers all the Mountain Ranges in all the Parks. Amazing drawings and explanations of all these fantastic mountain based rides in the Disney Theme Parks. This is a great behind the scenes look at some of the best Disney Thrill Coasters and a complete look and how they were designed and built. Excellent!

I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It was an easy read, but had a lot of detailed information on how the Imagineers took Walt's original ideas and made them into reality. It has a lot of great original concept art as well as photos of the original models that were constructed of each project. If you are a Disney 'Geek', you will love this book.

I love Jason Surrell's books. They are perfectly researched and full of never-seen-before renderings from WDI. The Disney Mountains - Imagineering at its Peak is no exception.

I am a big Disney theme park fan. I try to read everything that comes up about its creation and operation. This book doesn't shed much new light on Imagineering, but it does narrow the focus to just thrill ride attractions that are mountain based. I learned information about the "Everest" attraction that I've been on at Disney's Animal Kingdom, so that was well worth it. I also learned about the upcoming attraction at Disney Sea. If the theme park interests you, then this will make for an easy, painless, and fun read, that may tide you over until you can take an actual vacation.

I saw alot of mixed reviews for this book, and decided to see what it was like for myself. I don't see why it has received a large amount of average/bad reviews. This is exactly what I was looking for, a book that gives background info on the Disney mountains and stories about how they were each put into production.

It is true that there is a great deal of info that Disney purists already know, but I still had a great time reading this book and hearing some of the stories behind the mountains, especially the Matterhorn mainly because it showed Walt's views on it. Granted, the book may not go into expansive details about every nook and cranny, but it still shows things about the mountains that arent obvious and gives great backstories, and has some beautiful images and artwork (well worth the money alone). For under $20, I don't see how any Disney park enthusist couldnt buy this book.

Normally, I'm one of the first to post a rave review on Jason Surrell's work but this book just didn't live up to his previous excellence. The main let down was that there were very few (actual) pictures of the newest Disney mountains (and let's face it, not all of us can afford to travel to Japan to see these works of wonder). Don't get me wrong, I love seeing the concept drawings before they actually become a reality, but seeing the finished product to compare it to would have been better. Also missing was a lot of behind the scenes and little 'tributes' that go with each ride.
I will admit that the in-depth backstories on Space Mountain and Expidition Everest were highly detailed but some of the other mountains received little exposure.
If Mr. Surrell reads these reviews, here is a small request - please do a book on the Dark Rides - You could call it Disney Dark Rides: From the Movies to the Rides.

Being in the theme park design business, we at Denny Magic Studios always pay attention to anything that Disney releases, especially "tell all" books which help with our ongoing education regarding the design of theme park rides, and attractions. This book is another fine example of that, as it provides additional insight into how Disney creates and designs. We think that this is a good choice if you are looking to further your education with regards to theme park design. We also think that the general population who may only be Disney fans, will certainly appreciate reading about how these wonderful designs (rides & attractions) came about.

Lastly! Bravo to the author... Jason Surrell; who has a number of excellent books out, all of which we highly recommend.

If you are looking for an entertaining and informative book on Walt Disney Imagineering, then look no further. This book is well organized, filled with colorful drawings and photographs exploring the processes involved in developing Disney's most exciting attractions. Jason Surrell delves into both the creative and mechanical aspects of the creation of these attractions. He interviews many Disney legends such as Marty Sklar and Tony Baxter.

This book is a must have for any true fan of the Disney Theme parks.

You may not have thought this was even a story, but Surrell shows why it is and deepens Disney freaks' appreciation for the imagination, depth, and skill of imagineers. The story of Everest is a fitting Wow! to cap the book.

I collect Disney park books, so I'd consider myself somewhat critical. Having said that, this book is a must have. Fun read, not too deep but it covers a lot of ground. The worst part about this book is, um, seriously... the cover. Come on guys, it's a mess!

I was overwhelmed with the information given concerning the Disney Mountains. The amount of knowledge I picked up while reading this book made it more than worth it's value.

I was really looking forward to this book when I saw the title. After reading it I was a little disappointed. The book is mostly concept art where I was hoping for more blue print and construction photos. Not a bad read though, some interesting stuff, just wish he would've gone into more detail, especially with some of the lesser known mountains like the one at DisneySea. Would recommend this book for any Disney fan to read at least once.

This book is another great look behind the scenes at disney imagineering. I found it really interesting to hear about the methods to build what we enjoy today and to see what never came to fruition. Really enjoyed the book.

While I've been fascinated by Surell's books, this one is just fun. The chapters on Matterhorn, Space Mt., Thunder Mt. were good to great. Waterpark Mts., Grizzly Peak, Mt Prometheus chapters were waste of pages. I'm still a sucker for a good imagineering story, and this book wins me over. Still not at the level of his POTC book.

I was really looking forward to this book as I've always been fascinated by Disney's "mountain ranges" While the artist concepts of the attractions are great to see, I found the photography in this book uninspired. The photos don't really give you an idea of what the mountains fully look like. No unique shots of the loading stations, entrances, overviews, etc. The text didn't offer anything new I haven't seen in other publications.

In addition there seemed to be a lack of coverage for Tokyo Disney Resort and Hong Kong Disneyland. I figured there would at least have been something on every "mountain" Disney has created. Not as thorough as I would've liked and not as good as the author's previous efforts.

Huge fan of Jason Surrell's books. This one however, was a letdown on several fronts. If you are accustomed to his previous works (Haunted Mansion, Pirates) you are expecting a book FULL of behind the scene photos, images rarely seen by the public, etc. Unfortunately, this book is almost 98% concept art. Take, for example, Splash Mountain. You would think there are a TON of secrets and neat things to share. Instead, all we get are concept art and models. Nothing about the interior of the show building, or what it looks like from behind, or above, for that matter! I've seen photos on the web of Splash Mountain from the back and overhead, and you'd think they would make their way into this type of book. Tokyo's Mt. Prometheus get's virtually NO attention. Just 2 pages of concept art...again, a HUGE mountain full of amazing animatronics and scenes, yet not one photo. Big Thunder Mountain....no photos of interior, or under, or animatronics....and yes, this is why MOST of us buy Jason's books! We are curious! We are nosey! We want all the scoop, as if WE were there helping to design these attractions! This newest book is like owning one big pamphlet to get me to go to a Disney Park. Well, most of us purchasing these books have BEEN to the Disney Parks (repeatedly) and buy these books in hopes of getting MORE than the general public does. Jason's books are always laid out very well, and are top quality. I just am very surprised at the lack of in-depth coverage most of the mountains received. I hope Jason continues his coverage of attractions (dark rides! dark rides!), but I hope he slows down and does a more thorough job, as in his other works.

This book literally got delivered to me this afternoon with much anticipation and it did not fall to satisfy. I read it in under three hours which seemed more like thirty minutes because of how much I loved it. For any aspiring imagineer (like myself) this book is not only informative but insightful as well, especially on the logic behind the design of each of the mountain attractions. I especially found it interesting to see how imagineers were able to go through the process of building a disney mountain attraction, as technology and amenities became more available to their design capabilities. Although the same base methods still exist today that existed 50 years ago for imagineers, it is amazing to see how much Disney has accomplished and how they have changed since the 1959 Matterhorn. Great book!

This book is absolutely great. I read it all in a few hours. This is a must have for any Disney fan!!!