Our Kingdom of Dust
either wouldn’t exist or would have sucked major ass without the help of the following people:
--Hugh Allison, my editor and fact checker, for sending me pages upon pages of extraordinarily helpful notes. Hugh has an encyclopedic knowledge of everything WDW, and a keen eye for spotting the hallmarks of lazy writing, be it plot holes, voice inconsistencies, grammar and spelling mistakes, or run-on sentences, such as the one you’re currently reading. I wouldn’t have felt comfortable releasing this book to the world of Disney fandom without his help. Find Hugh at
www.hughallison.com
.
--Brett Bennett, Jeff Heimbuch, Newmeyer, Ron Schneider, and George Taylor, for pre-reading the book and telling me it wasn’t the terrible embarrassment they’d expected. Thanks also to Eva Maler for giving it a proofreading from a non-DisNerd point of view.
--Davida Gypsy Breier, W. Patrick Tandy, and Gregg Wilhelm for graciously and generously sharing their deep knowledge of the publishing industry with an annoying newbie.
--Jonas Kyle-Sidell, for once again doing a bang-up job on the layout for the paperback. It looks like a real book!!!
--Alan Partlow, for driving down from NYC to shoot the cover, and for not complaining when we got fake snow all over his gear. Check out more of his work at
www.alanpartlowphotography.com
--Draven Star, not only for her amazing work as the cover model, but also for being a hilariously fun travel companion, drinking buddy, and dear friend. Looking forward to getting into trouble at WDW with her for years to come. Keep up with her DisNerdVentures at
www.doomdoll.com
--Pentakis Dodecahedron, for designing a perfect cover, helping to prop up my self-esteem whenever I felt like my writing was complete shit, and generally being the kindest, most loving life-partner a guy could ever hope for.
--My mother, for inadvertently funding the research for this book years ago by purchasing Three (and Four) Season Salute Passes for me and my sister. I didn’t realize how lucky I was at the time, but EPCOT Center was pretty much the coolest fucking playground ever created, and she knew it.
--All the fans, websites, blogs, and podcasts who helped make
The Dark Side of Disney
such a huge success. Your support and appreciation motivated me to get off my ass and write a follow-up. I know this isn’t what you expected, but hopefully you’ll like it anyway!
--And, of course, Uncle Walt and all of his Imagineers, for creating paradise.