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Celebration, U.S.A.: Living in Disney's Brave New Town
A prize-winning reporter, his wife, and their two kids describe life in Disney's vision of the future.
In 1997, six months after the first residents had moved into Celebration, Florida-Disney's town of the future with its distinctly retro link to a longed-for past-Doug and Cathy and their two kids closed on their new home and settled down to participate in (and observe) this new venture. Their report from the trenches will surprise both Disney haters and Disney fans.
What is it like to start a new community-not a suburb or subdivision, but a town, inted to be a self-supporting community with the best of the new technologies (including the very latest in teaching techniques) and the most cherished elements in American towns that existed before the automobile turned everything into a mall? For almost two years the family lived this experiment firsthand. Their report is vivid, funny, and painful-and it tells us as much about ourselves and our hopes and dreams as it does about the daily reality of building a community from the ground up.
In 1997, six months after the first residents had moved into Celebration, Florida-Disney's town of the future with its distinctly retro link to a longed-for past-Doug and Cathy and their two kids closed on their new home and settled down to participate in (and observe) this new venture. Their report from the trenches will surprise both Disney haters and Disney fans.
What is it like to start a new community-not a suburb or subdivision, but a town, inted to be a self-supporting community with the best of the new technologies (including the very latest in teaching techniques) and the most cherished elements in American towns that existed before the automobile turned everything into a mall? For almost two years the family lived this experiment firsthand. Their report is vivid, funny, and painful-and it tells us as much about ourselves and our hopes and dreams as it does about the daily reality of building a community from the ground up.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 1999
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186 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
January 27, 2008
I bought this book at a bookstore in Downtown Disney, CA in 2006. My family and I had come across this storybook looking town with picket fences in Florida near Orlando years ago during a summer vacation. It was really odd. I thought "what a weird place. It's just like in the movies." Anyway, it was the town that Disney built.
This book recounts one family's experiences in a new town built from scratch. The hitch being it was Disney-flavored. You'll get the inside scoop from the journalist authors about how people bought into the area including the perspectives from different waves of residents who come to live.
It was a long read. I started reading it in 2006 and didn't finish it until sometime in 2007. It's interesting but not 'stay up until 2am' interesting. It opened my eyes about how urban villages are constructed and what kind of thoughts are put in developing a new modernized town. I bought it on a whim to read more about this topic. I usually don't buy non-fiction books.
This book recounts one family's experiences in a new town built from scratch. The hitch being it was Disney-flavored. You'll get the inside scoop from the journalist authors about how people bought into the area including the perspectives from different waves of residents who come to live.
It was a long read. I started reading it in 2006 and didn't finish it until sometime in 2007. It's interesting but not 'stay up until 2am' interesting. It opened my eyes about how urban villages are constructed and what kind of thoughts are put in developing a new modernized town. I bought it on a whim to read more about this topic. I usually don't buy non-fiction books.
December 20, 2014
This falls into my little obsession with planned communities, urban design with an added Disney bonus - sweet. I feel like I knew a fair amount about the town, and I had even toured the town as a tourist - so...some of this was review. But some of it - the initial process of design and home buying and building was interesting. Obviously the author's front row seat adds a lot here, but there were topics I was less interested - we get it - the school was over-reaching and under-delivering in a lot of ways. Basically if you are into weird designed planned communities of Florida (see also: my interest in The Villages, and Seaside) or into Disney design and architecture, this book is for you.
Rules of Order: when planning or during a trip to Orlando.
July 16, 2020
This book wasn't what I was expecting ... I was expecting more stuff about the town itself, its history, the rules, etc and less about the school there and the experience of one particular family. I didn't like the writing style either, it was written by both authors and it was impossible to tell who was writing, it was confusing. I liked the beginning of it but it got boring kinda fast.
February 21, 2021
What Disney fan wouldn’t want an objective account of what it was like to be an early adopter of the choice to live in Disney’s Celebrstion community? This firsthand account provides that peek behind the curtain and probably gives some insights to considerations for those who might consider making a purchase even today.
June 12, 2019
A bit repetitive at times, but overall an insightful look into community in America and the birth of a most unusual town.
May 4, 2022
kind of interesting
January 5, 2017
I'm a native Floridian born in Brevard County, which touches Osceola Country on the east side. Osceola County is the country Celebration is in, so I've been through Celebration many a-time. I am personally disgusted by many things about Celebration: everything from the founding philosophy, to the elitist and racist nature of it (one could argue whether that racism is inherent or accidental, but you can't claim it's not racist), to the economic and ecological effects the town and its construction have had on the surrounding areas. In addition to all that, I also don't like the architecture and aesthetics of the town itself. What I am basically saying is I hate everything about Celebration. Because of my personal opinions and experiences in Celebration, it was hard to separate myself from the authors' perspectives and experiences.
The authors of Celebration, U.S.A do attempt to give an unbiased account of the founding of, and philosophy behind Celebration city. They try to be open about both the flaws of the individual people who live in Celebration, as well as of the corporation behind the town. However, presenting an unbiased account of anything is a very difficult task, and the authors don't succeed especially well. The authors are ultimately "Pro-Celebration", and as such, they never really make any hard-hitting statements. Any time they say anything negative, they always frame it as constructive criticism, and immediate follow their gentle rebukes with lots of positive reinforcement. While the authors may appear to tell the "unbiased" truth by writing about mistakes made, the attitude they use when talking about those mistakes largely downplays the seriousness of the issues recounted. They seem to find Disney's "hubris" of attempting to create their own town from the ground up to be an example of "True-American-Pioneering-Spirit", and therefore feel very positively about the town and the project overall. They constantly (and quite unironically) refer to the town with the phrase "A Brave New ____", apparently entirely missing their accidental reference to Aldous Huxley's A Brave New World. On several different occasions, Disney's completely illegal actions are disclosed without so much as a bat of an eye. Because of the authors overall positive attitude, I ultimately feel it's unfair for them to claim they are telling an unbiased story.
Overall, I disagree with and dislike the authors and their opinions, thus making it difficult for me to enjoy the book. Despite the fact that I actively disliked it, I think it is a very useful and morbidly interesting book that reveals a lot about the power of corporations, brand loyalty, and economic and racial privilege.
The authors of Celebration, U.S.A do attempt to give an unbiased account of the founding of, and philosophy behind Celebration city. They try to be open about both the flaws of the individual people who live in Celebration, as well as of the corporation behind the town. However, presenting an unbiased account of anything is a very difficult task, and the authors don't succeed especially well. The authors are ultimately "Pro-Celebration", and as such, they never really make any hard-hitting statements. Any time they say anything negative, they always frame it as constructive criticism, and immediate follow their gentle rebukes with lots of positive reinforcement. While the authors may appear to tell the "unbiased" truth by writing about mistakes made, the attitude they use when talking about those mistakes largely downplays the seriousness of the issues recounted. They seem to find Disney's "hubris" of attempting to create their own town from the ground up to be an example of "True-American-Pioneering-Spirit", and therefore feel very positively about the town and the project overall. They constantly (and quite unironically) refer to the town with the phrase "A Brave New ____", apparently entirely missing their accidental reference to Aldous Huxley's A Brave New World. On several different occasions, Disney's completely illegal actions are disclosed without so much as a bat of an eye. Because of the authors overall positive attitude, I ultimately feel it's unfair for them to claim they are telling an unbiased story.
Overall, I disagree with and dislike the authors and their opinions, thus making it difficult for me to enjoy the book. Despite the fact that I actively disliked it, I think it is a very useful and morbidly interesting book that reveals a lot about the power of corporations, brand loyalty, and economic and racial privilege.
September 9, 2012
Let's get the not-so-great stuff out of the way first.
1. This book is LONG. And more than just being long, it's repetitive. Some points, such as the appalling but not surprising truth that Celebration has no low-income housing, are mentioned so often that it's annoying. Yes, this is sad news, but nothing new is happening in regards to this issue (at least not at the time of printing, who knows what's going on now), so why bring it up again and again?
2. While this book would have been amazing 15 years ago, or even 10 years ago, it's now getting dangerously close to being out of date. However, it was the ONLY book on Celebration that my library had, so I made do with what was available. I want to know what's happened in the town since 1999. Did they ever get a library? What's their church situation like? Not really the fault of this book, but more of the fault of my library for not carrying the more current Celebration books.
The good stuff:
1. This book is truly unbiased. As an avid Disney fan, I was worried that this book would be anti-Disney, but it wasn't, at least not where it was uncalled for. Some times it's okay to be really pissed off at Disney, such as when they promise you that they'll build your house with the best builders in the country and then your roof leaks during the first storm. Or when they promise you a wetland view from your backyard (and you pay extra for it! Although why anyone would pay extra for that view is beyond me, but to each their own) and then you notice that the wetland is being filled in because someone else's property lines accidentally include some of your wetland view. These are all things to be upset about. But for all of the things that went wrong, there were many things that went right, and they were represented well in this book.
2. This book took the time to set the stage as far as the planning and the behind-the-scenes stuff was concerned. Celebration was not a spur of the moment project, and the authors did a wonderful job of covering all of the preparation and planning that went into creating the town.
This book is not for everyone. I wouldn't even say that it's for everyone who has an interest in Celebration. But if you enjoy city planning with a bit of salacious town gossip thrown in for good measure, you'll enjoy this book.
1. This book is LONG. And more than just being long, it's repetitive. Some points, such as the appalling but not surprising truth that Celebration has no low-income housing, are mentioned so often that it's annoying. Yes, this is sad news, but nothing new is happening in regards to this issue (at least not at the time of printing, who knows what's going on now), so why bring it up again and again?
2. While this book would have been amazing 15 years ago, or even 10 years ago, it's now getting dangerously close to being out of date. However, it was the ONLY book on Celebration that my library had, so I made do with what was available. I want to know what's happened in the town since 1999. Did they ever get a library? What's their church situation like? Not really the fault of this book, but more of the fault of my library for not carrying the more current Celebration books.
The good stuff:
1. This book is truly unbiased. As an avid Disney fan, I was worried that this book would be anti-Disney, but it wasn't, at least not where it was uncalled for. Some times it's okay to be really pissed off at Disney, such as when they promise you that they'll build your house with the best builders in the country and then your roof leaks during the first storm. Or when they promise you a wetland view from your backyard (and you pay extra for it! Although why anyone would pay extra for that view is beyond me, but to each their own) and then you notice that the wetland is being filled in because someone else's property lines accidentally include some of your wetland view. These are all things to be upset about. But for all of the things that went wrong, there were many things that went right, and they were represented well in this book.
2. This book took the time to set the stage as far as the planning and the behind-the-scenes stuff was concerned. Celebration was not a spur of the moment project, and the authors did a wonderful job of covering all of the preparation and planning that went into creating the town.
This book is not for everyone. I wouldn't even say that it's for everyone who has an interest in Celebration. But if you enjoy city planning with a bit of salacious town gossip thrown in for good measure, you'll enjoy this book.
July 31, 2011
This book is about the town of Celebration, FL, which is the town that Disney started. I actually started reading this book in a book store back in Boston in 2002 when I was waiting for my friend to finish classes and I just sort of forgot about it. I don't know what prompted me to remember. Anyway, I finally finished it!
I'll start off with what I hated the most. Which person was this book in? It was a husband and wife team that wrote it and they never referred to themselves as "I". Always by name and "we". It kept going back and forth and it drove me insane! How did this book get published, being written like that? I never know who was talking. Since the husband and wife kept referring to themselves by first name, I never knew if they were talking about themselves or other people in the neighborhood. It was so confusing and it drove me insane.
Otherwise, the topic was okay. If you are super Mosby about architecture, then you'll love it. I wish they did more on the social aspect on it or concentrated on certain families, but it was definitely a subject based book. It was written back in the late 90's and I wonder if there had been any follow up for this place. I am glad I read it. I am glad I finished it. I am glad I didn't buy it.
I'll start off with what I hated the most. Which person was this book in? It was a husband and wife team that wrote it and they never referred to themselves as "I". Always by name and "we". It kept going back and forth and it drove me insane! How did this book get published, being written like that? I never know who was talking. Since the husband and wife kept referring to themselves by first name, I never knew if they were talking about themselves or other people in the neighborhood. It was so confusing and it drove me insane.
Otherwise, the topic was okay. If you are super Mosby about architecture, then you'll love it. I wish they did more on the social aspect on it or concentrated on certain families, but it was definitely a subject based book. It was written back in the late 90's and I wonder if there had been any follow up for this place. I am glad I read it. I am glad I finished it. I am glad I didn't buy it.
August 29, 2015
Another free library box find --- The quote on the front says "admirable candid and readable" -- maybe for 1999 but it was kind of long-winded, too detailed, and didn't flow super fast for me -- but still interesting and worth the time. I learned to skim when the book bog-downed on the nitty gritty in some areas about laws in buildings or details on why the progressive schools were not great for all. I guess I wanted to learn more about about the people who lived there, but the family who moved there to write about it came in as fellow inhabitants and so the time to get to know others was short and much of the book was on the building of it instead the living in it... but I think the book was a pretty honest account not slamming anyone for wanting to live in Celebration (what some folks would be afraid of --). I do wonder how many times the author family did go to Disney World. They don't talk about that aspect as much and in the end decide while they did like it there and would miss parts they needed to live in a more diverse and varied place. They took a writing assignment in Turkey.
November 16, 2014
Mildly interesting, somewhat self-serving. Had this been a simple first person account, not coming from professional journalists, it would have been a more acceptable read. The authors (and I say authors because it appears that Ms. Frantz was a significant contributor) treated the narratives of their neighbors with unquestioning ears and without much critical analysis. On the plus side, it is not a Disney puff piece, nor a philippic, and appears to treat the company fairly. All in all, no enough substance to rate it higher.
June 30, 2015
This one was a tough book to slog through. The subject matter fascinated me. I anticipated some tell-all about building a new town owned by Disney. I thought we'd get eccentric neighbors, tales of tourists, etc. but a lot of the book was dull. Seriously boring.
All the POV switching was obnoxious and there was a lot of repetitive language - and repetitive ideas. I had to skip full chapters at times because I just could not make myself care.
This book was alright but could've been significantly pared down. Or padded out with very different details.
All the POV switching was obnoxious and there was a lot of repetitive language - and repetitive ideas. I had to skip full chapters at times because I just could not make myself care.
This book was alright but could've been significantly pared down. Or padded out with very different details.
July 21, 2007
This book's biggest draw is the "insider" information it offers about one of the most inane and disturbing (in my admittedly biased view) "cultural experiments" of our time. The writing style is engaging, but don't expect any deep political analysis.
August 10, 2009
Near the end of this book, I tried to explain to my husband what made Celebration unique and different (i.e. worthy of this experiment/book)...and I could not. Maybe because this book is a little old, maybe because we live near many places that could be considered "post-neotraditional".
August 4, 2011
A bit slow in the beginning, and most enjoyable when talking about the different people who decided to move to the "Disney town". Fascinating, and at times, disheartening. But all together, a hopeful story about the birth of a new town.
Read
September 26, 2011For a while there, I was fascinated with the town of Celebration, FL. Could Disney build the perfect town? Could it be replicated? I do not have the answers, by Mr. Frantz does not think so. No replication yet, and even less work from the town called Celebration!
April 30, 2012
Repetitive like a term paper they were trying to pad. Not enough research outside the small purview of the town they moved to. Light mentions of other neo-traditionalist towns, but nothing further.
August 3, 2013
This was a great read that provided good insight about some of the problems that come about when starting a whole new town from scratch, and at such a rapid pace. I would love to read an update to see how the town is doing now as compared to when this was written almost 15 years ago.
January 9, 2015
Interesting, but way too long. I actually just stopped reading at around page 150, because I felt like I'd learned about all I needed to or wanted to about the town. This would have been a great long article, but there just wasn't enough interesting material for an average length book.
September 13, 2008
A little slow and dry in points. I feel like it hedged a little too much and could be better with an editorial point of view.
August 4, 2010
The story of Disney's planned residential community in Florida, complete with Disney-manipulated social interaction. Scary.
April 27, 2011
I had to read it for a class and I actually found the book to be quite interesting. I thought it gave a pretty balanced view of living in a new urbanist community.
May 10, 2011
If I could give this book half a star, I would...
February 1, 2013
This is a totally cool look at the creation of a planned community by Disney. It is not fiction, it is real and it is fascinating.
March 21, 2015
14 yrs after publ it is an interesting read of Disneys influence and control of all things in Developement of Their city.
April 13, 2017
A little too detailed, could've dropped 100 pages or so, otherwise interesting subject matter.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews