IT'S A FACT THAT'S AS TRUE... as the cap atop Donald Duck's head is blue: Disneyland devotees really like their factoids and trivia tidbits and historic morsels and anything to do with Disney and its original theme park. Look to the popularity of the Anaheim attraction's Hidden Mickeys, those design elements that bear the shape of Mickey Mouse's ears. (Popularity=books, web sites, and the many people wandering the park, pointing at railings and bushes.) And look to the many fans who align themselves with a particular ride or movie, all the while learning everything there is to know about it, including dates, names, and deep background. That deep background just got deeper, deeper than the waterway inside it's a small world and deeper even than the Rivers of America. "The Disneyland Book of Lists," a new trivia-laden tome from Santa Monica Press, recently debuted, and with it? A whole slew of rosters and rundowns and tallies and indexes that group the many facets of the world's best-known theme park in some fresh ways.
THE 16 TALLEST STRUCTURES... in Disneyland History is just one list in the book (which was provided for review). Do you think you know the sky-reaching-est structures at Disneyland? Ever? Good guesses if you guessed that the Sailing Ship Columbia and the original Moonliner Rocket made the cut. Another list spotlights A Dozen Dark Ride Vehicles (both the Haunted Mansion's Doom Buggies and the Alice in Wonderland caterpillar-shaped conveyances get a hearty shout-out). Plaques, castles, bathrooms, and even the books on Mr. Toad's shelves get their own lists, as do the speeds of rides, the names of the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad trains, and the 19 distinct sections of the old Disneyland parking lot (can you name them all? Eeyore, Goofy, Owl, and Pinocchio were indeed among them). Author Chris Strodder is the writer behind "The Disneyland Encyclopedia" and, while he has never worked for Disney, he just might out-super-fan the serious super-fans who spend each weekend riding rockets off Katella Avenue. But maybe not? It's hard to measure the love a maven has for the Mouse, which can be quite intense. Best bone up on your lists with a "listorian" who thoroughly, listily -- yes, listily -- loves the Big D. Maybe do it ahead of D23 Expo, the mega everything-Disney convention that's back in Anaheim after two years in August? You can D-light your co-fans as you queue up for the panels covering all of the park's history, lore, and trivia.
