What do you think?
Rate this book
Welcome to Wanderland
Bellamy Muñoz is a Wanderland SUPER fan, and she knows everything there is to know about the iconic theme park... except about the very real, very magical world that it’s based on.
Bellamy Muñoz is a Wanderland SUPERFAN, and she knows everything there is to know about the most “wander-ful” place on Earth, from the secret lore behind each ride, to all the spots to find the best snacks (with the shortest lines). So when she winds up in the very real and very magical world the park is based on, where there are actual princesses and quests and destiny, Bel is pretty sure she’s uniquely prepared for this situation...until it starts to become clear that Wander isn’t actually much like the theme park at all, and the characters Bel loves aren’t at all like she’d imagined...
Created and written by CYBIL award-nominated writer Jackie Ball (Goldie Vance), and illustrated by Eisner-winning cartoonist Maddi Gonzalez ( Fire), Welcome to Wanderland shows you a whole new world, and invites you along for the ride of your life!
Bellamy Muñoz is a Wanderland SUPERFAN, and she knows everything there is to know about the most “wander-ful” place on Earth, from the secret lore behind each ride, to all the spots to find the best snacks (with the shortest lines). So when she winds up in the very real and very magical world the park is based on, where there are actual princesses and quests and destiny, Bel is pretty sure she’s uniquely prepared for this situation...until it starts to become clear that Wander isn’t actually much like the theme park at all, and the characters Bel loves aren’t at all like she’d imagined...
Created and written by CYBIL award-nominated writer Jackie Ball (Goldie Vance), and illustrated by Eisner-winning cartoonist Maddi Gonzalez ( Fire), Welcome to Wanderland shows you a whole new world, and invites you along for the ride of your life!
112 pages, Paperback
Published September 24, 2019
1 person is currently reading
83 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
June 6, 2021
Narnia for the amusement park set. A fun children's comic about a psuedo-DisneyWorld that is connected to an actual fantasy world. Bel is transported to the actual Wander where she befriends a princess and learns magic. The book is very LGBTQIA friendly. It does lose some focus in the middle of the book as it's more concerned with cracking wise than telling a story at points.
July 15, 2020
This was such a cute graphic novel! For superfans of Disney World (or Disneyland)! Bellamy discovers an alternate world where Wanderland is real.
I think this told a solid story with really pretty art and great representation. Bel's brother cross-dresses and seems to be gay, Riot ends up with a girlfriend at the end, and even Bel seems to be maybe asexual/aromantic. Not to mention the variety of skin tones and backgrounds.
Suggested for grades 5+ and an overall great read!
I think this told a solid story with really pretty art and great representation. Bel's brother cross-dresses and seems to be gay, Riot ends up with a girlfriend at the end, and even Bel seems to be maybe asexual/aromantic. Not to mention the variety of skin tones and backgrounds.
Suggested for grades 5+ and an overall great read!
May 24, 2021
A little girl loves a theme park and one days ends up being transported to the fantasy land the theme park depicts! As her and her new friend hop back and forth between worlds they start to wonder how best to "save" both versions of Wanderland, learning the importance of friendship and the power of belief. It's fun, it's goofy, it's got some nice LGBTQ+ characters, and the sci-fi concept of realms that influence each other is a really cool concept to explore for an all-ages book. What kid isn't constantly dreaming of things they wish were real? What if you could go somewhere that takes your dreams and makes them into a reality you can share with everyone? Where every little thing you do actually matters and manifests physically?
September 22, 2019
As a Disneyland fan, this book spoke to me.
A girl obsessed with a theme park finds a door shes never seen before. Once through it, shes sucked into the real life Wanderland! With the help of her friend new Riot, Bel starts her quest to be a real mage! But can she manage this task while trying to juggle family and school??
As a frequent Disneyland go-er, this book was on point. Bel loves and knows the park so well and I totally can relate. Also some of the puns or the similarities are just great. There's lesbian princesses, cross dressing mascots, and, of course, the power of friendship. The art is great and there's some really cool panel setups. I don't think there will be a volume two, but I really enjoyed this one.
A girl obsessed with a theme park finds a door shes never seen before. Once through it, shes sucked into the real life Wanderland! With the help of her friend new Riot, Bel starts her quest to be a real mage! But can she manage this task while trying to juggle family and school??
As a frequent Disneyland go-er, this book was on point. Bel loves and knows the park so well and I totally can relate. Also some of the puns or the similarities are just great. There's lesbian princesses, cross dressing mascots, and, of course, the power of friendship. The art is great and there's some really cool panel setups. I don't think there will be a volume two, but I really enjoyed this one.
December 3, 2023
Disjointed and dragged, but I'm also not a huge Disneyland fan either. I wanted to be swept away to a fantasy world and enjoy seeing Riot's own sense of wonder at seeing the park, but it just...was ok.
![Profile Image for Amanda [Novel Addiction].](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1415744673i%2F4886503._UX200_CR0%2C36%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
April 27, 2020
Looooooved this.
June 10, 2021
This book was mediocrely executed. Felt a little rushed and forced.
September 3, 2023
Couldn’t get into it. And idk why
February 5, 2020
I think that this book might have had more meaning for me if I was one of those people who loved Disney land rather than someone who has never gone there. The story has good moments about accepting yourself and that defy convention, but there are a lot of Disney parallels that I probably can't appreciate like others can.
The story focuses on Bellamy Munoz who starts the story complaining about how the Wanderland theme park has gone down hill. She is complaining to her brother Michael who is working his job as a blue-haired Princess named Lark Meadowstone. Bellamy hears a family say "If you only believe what you see, you may miss something Wanderful." This idea takes over her brain as she looks for something about the park that she had not noticed finally finding a door which leads her to the real Wanderland. Princess Syla (looking a bit like the queen from Snow White) who accuses Bellamy of being a mage and locks up Bellamy in a tower. She is rescued by the real Lark Meadowstone who says she hates that name and to call her Riot. As Riot and Bellamy are escaping Bellamy uses a secret corridor she knew from the theme park to avoid the guards in this world. They sleep by the fire at a local inn and Bellamy learns a little about this world including that Riot has a magical tattoo on her wrist which tells where she sits in the line of succession. The next day they go through the woods and almost get lost but Bellamy remembers a defunct attraction called the Forest Labyrinth and uses her knowledge of that to build a door that brings her back to her own world. Bellamy shows Riot around the theme park. She notices a picture in Riot's crown of Margot and embarrasses Riot by asking about their relationship. They are about to head back, but find the door doesn't want to open. AT that moment Michael comes by and yells at Bellamy for making him worry about where she was. Bellamy says that she covered for Michael when he was hanging out in Jonathan Brady's Pickup truck (we don't get any details on this but it is enough to allow Michael to forgive Bellamy just this once. After Michael heads off to work Bellamy explains to Riot that Michael plays her in the park. At first Riot is excited but when she sees the very stereotypical princess he takes on rather than the more rough and tumble version of Riot she is frustrated but Bellamy sooths her with a Chili Cheese Pretzel Explosion. They go to Bellamy's school and run into Bellamy's skateboard riding friend Amber. Riot loves the skateboard and begs Amber to teach her. Bellamy explains Riots odd ways to Amber by saying Riot is an exchange student. Next Bellamy gets in a fight with another uber Wanderland fan on-line and Riot eventually has to throw Bellamy's phone away to get her to quit fixating on it. The two of them go back to the magical Wanderland. Bellamy tries to do magic by doing card tricks and gets frustrated not noticing that the cards turned into birds. Meanwhile Keith comes by. He is dressed as a woodcutter, but explains that it is because he is part of a band called the Woodcutters. He suggests that Bellamy and Riot go see his grandma because he says she can do magic. But when they meet the Grandma she says that he just once did Graphic Design for a Madge, but does explain that she took some things from the Mage as research and that Bellamy can take a look at it. She then leads them into a big room filled with unusual things. Bellamy tries but eventually gets upset and convinced that she won't be a Mage. Riot wraps her up in her cape and takes her out for a break. She takes her to a real life version of a water slide and then talks about her feelings even though Riot admits she hates talking about feelings. They next go to the amusement park version of the ride and Bellamy discovers that she caused a boat to be part of the ride which is the boat of Riot's crush Margot. (I will admit this part didn't completely make sense to me. We never see a discussion where Riot talks about Margot having a boat - I don't know if we are suppose to assume that it happened outside of the comic book but because this addition of this boat to the amusement park ride becomes a plot point for a while it seems like a weird thing to leave out. For instance Bellamy makes other subtle changes to the ride around the boat which I think is suppose to be impressive to the on-line community of Wanderland fans. Again this where I think if I were more of a Disney person I might better understand the references they are making, but as is I wasn't quite sure what the point of all of this was. Next we learn more about Borta Norling who apparently created the theme park (he is this comics Walt Disney). The theme park also has Molly Mongoose which is this parks Micky Mouse. Bellamy creates a bracelet, which she calls a Macelet, as a friendship gift for Riot. Although Riot is bugging Bellamy for some fireworks. Bellamy discusses how much the park meant to her growing up. Next we see Sebastian the King talking to his twin brother Syla. When they go back to granny's place Bellamy comes across Borta Norling who apparently is also a Mage and knows about this fantasy world and based his theme park on it. Riot gets frustrated when Bellamy turns her Macelet into a charm braclet and storms back to the Amusement park world. Borta disappears when Bellamy asks him about his daughter but he meets up with Syla. Bellamy goes home and she is in a bad mood and he asks if she is having a fight with her girlfriend (Riot). Bellamy explains that Riot is not her girlfriend just as Riot comes in and shows that her succession number has gone down. They go back to Wanderland to find out that Syla now has magical powers which is getting from Borta. Sebastian tries to fight his sister. But Syla pushes Bellamy out the door and back to her amusement park world and puts Sebastian and Riot on a desert island. The next chapter starts with Sebastian, Syla and Riot when they are young kids. Suggesting that Sebastian was once a boy (and Riot might have been a boy at one time too.) Sebastian mentions that Syla went evil when Sebastian was picked to rule. Meanwhile Bellamy explains to Michael all about what has really been happening. Bellamy says she hasn't been able to make a door to get back, but Michael suggests maybe she is trying too hard and when Bellamy tries again she succeeds and even finds herself in the Palace Archives (a location she had been trying to get to in order to learn about being a Mage.) Bellamy and Michael dress in French maid costumes to wander through the castle. While Riot and Sebastian talk to Margot who is a captain and a princess. Sebastian and Riot bond as Sebastian says he "ships" Riot and Margot says that he always tried to watch over Riot. Michael and Bellamy appear at the ship and Bellamy is carrying "The Big Book of Firework Spells" they head back to take on Syla. On the way they have to go by Haunted Doll Island. At first they loved it, then a black cell which says "Three Hours Later" and now the group is very disturbed by what they experienced. (We don't know what that was.) Bellamy creates a dragon to frighten Syla guards. The gang including Michael still in his French maid outfit take on the enemy while Bellamy rushes off to meet with Borta she talks about her good memories at the park. Borta explains that he shouldn't have entered the door the last time that it was opening for his daughter. By helping him to work through his feelings Syla powers vanish and she is defeated. We see Margot and Riot kiss. King Sebastian suggests that fitting punishment for Bellamy taking a book from the archive is to make her the official mage of the realm. (Which Michael explains should be part time since Bellamy still has to finish school.) Ends with a happy ending with all.
The story focuses on Bellamy Munoz who starts the story complaining about how the Wanderland theme park has gone down hill. She is complaining to her brother Michael who is working his job as a blue-haired Princess named Lark Meadowstone. Bellamy hears a family say "If you only believe what you see, you may miss something Wanderful." This idea takes over her brain as she looks for something about the park that she had not noticed finally finding a door which leads her to the real Wanderland. Princess Syla (looking a bit like the queen from Snow White) who accuses Bellamy of being a mage and locks up Bellamy in a tower. She is rescued by the real Lark Meadowstone who says she hates that name and to call her Riot. As Riot and Bellamy are escaping Bellamy uses a secret corridor she knew from the theme park to avoid the guards in this world. They sleep by the fire at a local inn and Bellamy learns a little about this world including that Riot has a magical tattoo on her wrist which tells where she sits in the line of succession. The next day they go through the woods and almost get lost but Bellamy remembers a defunct attraction called the Forest Labyrinth and uses her knowledge of that to build a door that brings her back to her own world. Bellamy shows Riot around the theme park. She notices a picture in Riot's crown of Margot and embarrasses Riot by asking about their relationship. They are about to head back, but find the door doesn't want to open. AT that moment Michael comes by and yells at Bellamy for making him worry about where she was. Bellamy says that she covered for Michael when he was hanging out in Jonathan Brady's Pickup truck (we don't get any details on this but it is enough to allow Michael to forgive Bellamy just this once. After Michael heads off to work Bellamy explains to Riot that Michael plays her in the park. At first Riot is excited but when she sees the very stereotypical princess he takes on rather than the more rough and tumble version of Riot she is frustrated but Bellamy sooths her with a Chili Cheese Pretzel Explosion. They go to Bellamy's school and run into Bellamy's skateboard riding friend Amber. Riot loves the skateboard and begs Amber to teach her. Bellamy explains Riots odd ways to Amber by saying Riot is an exchange student. Next Bellamy gets in a fight with another uber Wanderland fan on-line and Riot eventually has to throw Bellamy's phone away to get her to quit fixating on it. The two of them go back to the magical Wanderland. Bellamy tries to do magic by doing card tricks and gets frustrated not noticing that the cards turned into birds. Meanwhile Keith comes by. He is dressed as a woodcutter, but explains that it is because he is part of a band called the Woodcutters. He suggests that Bellamy and Riot go see his grandma because he says she can do magic. But when they meet the Grandma she says that he just once did Graphic Design for a Madge, but does explain that she took some things from the Mage as research and that Bellamy can take a look at it. She then leads them into a big room filled with unusual things. Bellamy tries but eventually gets upset and convinced that she won't be a Mage. Riot wraps her up in her cape and takes her out for a break. She takes her to a real life version of a water slide and then talks about her feelings even though Riot admits she hates talking about feelings. They next go to the amusement park version of the ride and Bellamy discovers that she caused a boat to be part of the ride which is the boat of Riot's crush Margot. (I will admit this part didn't completely make sense to me. We never see a discussion where Riot talks about Margot having a boat - I don't know if we are suppose to assume that it happened outside of the comic book but because this addition of this boat to the amusement park ride becomes a plot point for a while it seems like a weird thing to leave out. For instance Bellamy makes other subtle changes to the ride around the boat which I think is suppose to be impressive to the on-line community of Wanderland fans. Again this where I think if I were more of a Disney person I might better understand the references they are making, but as is I wasn't quite sure what the point of all of this was. Next we learn more about Borta Norling who apparently created the theme park (he is this comics Walt Disney). The theme park also has Molly Mongoose which is this parks Micky Mouse. Bellamy creates a bracelet, which she calls a Macelet, as a friendship gift for Riot. Although Riot is bugging Bellamy for some fireworks. Bellamy discusses how much the park meant to her growing up. Next we see Sebastian the King talking to his twin brother Syla. When they go back to granny's place Bellamy comes across Borta Norling who apparently is also a Mage and knows about this fantasy world and based his theme park on it. Riot gets frustrated when Bellamy turns her Macelet into a charm braclet and storms back to the Amusement park world. Borta disappears when Bellamy asks him about his daughter but he meets up with Syla. Bellamy goes home and she is in a bad mood and he asks if she is having a fight with her girlfriend (Riot). Bellamy explains that Riot is not her girlfriend just as Riot comes in and shows that her succession number has gone down. They go back to Wanderland to find out that Syla now has magical powers which is getting from Borta. Sebastian tries to fight his sister. But Syla pushes Bellamy out the door and back to her amusement park world and puts Sebastian and Riot on a desert island. The next chapter starts with Sebastian, Syla and Riot when they are young kids. Suggesting that Sebastian was once a boy (and Riot might have been a boy at one time too.) Sebastian mentions that Syla went evil when Sebastian was picked to rule. Meanwhile Bellamy explains to Michael all about what has really been happening. Bellamy says she hasn't been able to make a door to get back, but Michael suggests maybe she is trying too hard and when Bellamy tries again she succeeds and even finds herself in the Palace Archives (a location she had been trying to get to in order to learn about being a Mage.) Bellamy and Michael dress in French maid costumes to wander through the castle. While Riot and Sebastian talk to Margot who is a captain and a princess. Sebastian and Riot bond as Sebastian says he "ships" Riot and Margot says that he always tried to watch over Riot. Michael and Bellamy appear at the ship and Bellamy is carrying "The Big Book of Firework Spells" they head back to take on Syla. On the way they have to go by Haunted Doll Island. At first they loved it, then a black cell which says "Three Hours Later" and now the group is very disturbed by what they experienced. (We don't know what that was.) Bellamy creates a dragon to frighten Syla guards. The gang including Michael still in his French maid outfit take on the enemy while Bellamy rushes off to meet with Borta she talks about her good memories at the park. Borta explains that he shouldn't have entered the door the last time that it was opening for his daughter. By helping him to work through his feelings Syla powers vanish and she is defeated. We see Margot and Riot kiss. King Sebastian suggests that fitting punishment for Bellamy taking a book from the archive is to make her the official mage of the realm. (Which Michael explains should be part time since Bellamy still has to finish school.) Ends with a happy ending with all.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 9, 2021
Cute and fun mashup of Narnia and Disney World, and this will surely deliver much joy to many readers. Its spell doesn't work on everyone though, and alas, I fear I am one of them. Ah, well. The rest of you, go have fun with this. :-)
March 23, 2021
Like fantasy rainbow sherbet on a hot summer's day after an epic sword fight on unicornback, this comic is a delightful, satisfying treat. Features divine art and lovely Latinx and queer representation. Sure, sometimes the story was a little muddled, and certain events didn't make much sense, but the characters and artwork are so outstanding that a flawed, wacky plot and an unconvincing villain seemed trivial.
The panels are so fun and imaginative, and there are some truly phenomenal character expressions. Bellamy and Riot are conceived with so much care by their creators, whose love for these two spirited swashbucklers is apparent in every gorgeous panel. With its vibrant art, zippy dialogue, and whimsical shenanigans, this is a fun frolic of a comic perfectly suited for middle grade and high school readers (or any human being, really).
The panels are so fun and imaginative, and there are some truly phenomenal character expressions. Bellamy and Riot are conceived with so much care by their creators, whose love for these two spirited swashbucklers is apparent in every gorgeous panel. With its vibrant art, zippy dialogue, and whimsical shenanigans, this is a fun frolic of a comic perfectly suited for middle grade and high school readers (or any human being, really).
February 18, 2020
Bellamy is obsessed with Wanderland Park (a riff on Disney parks with mascot Molly Mongoose), the rides, the easter eggs, the background stories and one day she finds a door to the real life Wanderland and gets mixed up with magic and royalty. This was honestly delightful. Bellamy's brother plays Princess Lark in the parks, and then she meets the real princess, who prefers Riot and loves churros. There's magic and battles and park obsessions, friendship and romance and jealousy, multiple trans characters and an ace protagonist, and a delightful fantasy setting. Fluffy fun.
October 8, 2020
Well, I feel seen. Wanderland is transparently Disneyland/World, and as a huge Disney parks nerd, I 100% identify with Bellamy's intense love for a theme park and love/hate relationship with changes to the park. And the idea of being able to make my nerdy fangirl wishlist come true with magic... Now that's a power I'd love to have. And wish fulfillment aside, I loved the characters, the story was great, and the art was cute. Would this book have the same appeal to somebody who isn't a Disney superfan? No, probably not, and that's ok.
June 16, 2023
Fun concept with a well-rounded cast of characters and smoothly pleasant, cartoon-y illustrations.
I think if I was a Disney World person I might have gotten more out of the story—it didn't really grab me and I don't think I'll remember it in a week—but it was a cute enough diversion for the chunk of time I spent reading it.
(Birdie checked this one out and I stole it while killing time in the car.)
I think if I was a Disney World person I might have gotten more out of the story—it didn't really grab me and I don't think I'll remember it in a week—but it was a cute enough diversion for the chunk of time I spent reading it.
(Birdie checked this one out and I stole it while killing time in the car.)
September 22, 2020
It’s always great when I have loads more fun reading a comic than I expect to, and I definitely wished there were more issues to spend time with this one- though I was extremely impressed how much was packed into four issues. The breakneck pace at which this story moved would cause most teams to fumble, and though it falters in places the creative team handles it like rockstars.
June 15, 2025
dnf, but just wanted to express how much I disliked the characters. they weren't quirky in a squirrel girl way like this is how she is, it's part of her, this is quirky in those let me put bag of chips on my head so funny hahahh. this characters are the type to tell everyone they have ADHD or AuDHD because they're SO quirky and adorkable. gag
December 1, 2023
Kind of a drag
A superfan uncovers a Disneyland-Narnia setting. The humor didn't really work for me and I found the characters kind of annoying. I thought about giving it 2 stars, but it lost another for the romance subplot.
A superfan uncovers a Disneyland-Narnia setting. The humor didn't really work for me and I found the characters kind of annoying. I thought about giving it 2 stars, but it lost another for the romance subplot.
November 4, 2019
Cute story with some fun characters. Ending felt a little rushed and I wish we had spent a little more time with the new characters introduced in the last issue.
November 5, 2019
This is just fanciful and fun all around.
November 11, 2019
Pretty charming!
January 30, 2020
I really liked this. I thought it was intriguing and inventive.
May 5, 2020
2.75 out of 5 stars
It was cute and the graphics were fun
It was cute and the graphics were fun
July 4, 2020
This was really cute and I loved the art.
July 28, 2020
wanderland is more Disneyland than Wonderland. This story features Latinx characters, transgender (or at least drag?), hints at asexuality, and is overall a really fun, quick read.
May 24, 2021
I would recommend this to all Disney Parks fans (or fans of any theme parks honestly). This was such a fun story!
March 27, 2022
3.5/5 *
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews