Adventureland, Tomorrowland, and Fantasyland
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Chris graduated from the University of Alabama in 2001 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Political Science. He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Alabama School of Law in 2004 where he was awarded the M. Leigh Harrison Award, the law school’s highest academic honor.
Chris first visited Walt Disney World in 1984 at the age of 7. That inaugural trip to the Most Magical Place on Earth forever shaped his outlook on life. As a child growing up in rural Speake, Alabama, Chris was accustomed to seeing cow pastures, barns, and cornfields. He certainly did not know what to make of the “magic” of Cinderella Castle, Space Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion, or 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. But that Disney magic did put a smile on his face that has been there ever since. Chris has visited Walt Disney World countless times with his family and friends over the course of the roughly 34 years since that initial trip. During that time, he has realized what so many other Disney fans already know, that Walt Disney World is so much more than bricks and mortar, attractions and shows, and hamburgers and hotdogs. Disney World is truly a magical place where dreams really can come true.
Chris lives with his wife Alexis, his sons Dakota and Samuel, and his daughters Scarlett and Alice Anne in historic Mooresville, Alabama, the oldest incorporated town in the State of Alabama and the primary filming location for the Disney live-action film Tom and Huck (1995). In his spare time, Chris enjoys going on dates with Alexis, watching movies with Dakota, going fishing with Samuel, getting kisses on the cheek from Scarlett, sharing a cupcake with Alice Anne, watching his beloved Alabama Crimson Tide with his father Edmon, running much farther than he should, eating cheeseburgers and his wife’s world-famous carrot cake, and occasionally sipping bourbon on his front porch.
You can learn more about Chris at chrissmithbooks.com and follow him on twitter @csmithdisney.
More Books from Theme Park Press
Theme Park Press publishes dozens of books each year for Disney fans and for general and academic audiences. Here are just a few of our titles. For the complete catalog, including book descriptions and excerpts, please visit:
ThemeParkPress.com
The Imagineering Graveyard. On an alternate earth, Walt Disney World guests are taking in the thrills of Thunder Mesa, braving the Beastly Kingdom, marveling at Villains Mountain, and staying the night at Disney's Persian Resort. Want to join them? This is your guidebook to the theme park that Disney never built.
Disney's Hidden America. For those who know what you look for, a visit to Walt Disney World can be the most fun you'll ever have learning about American history. From the Hall of Presidents to Pop Century, the story of America is writ large with pixie dust.
Real Skippers of Disneyland. In this unique oral history of Disneyland's iconic attraction, the World Famous Jungle Cruise, dozens of skippers, from the 1950s to the present, share harrowing, humorous, sometimes even horrific tales of their pun-fraught voyages and their behind-the-scenes hellraising.
Welcome, Foolish Readers! Join your new Ghost Host, Jeff Baham, as he recounts the colorful, chilling history of the Haunted Mansion and pulls back the shroud on its darkest secrets in this definitive book about Disney's most ghoulish attraction. With exclusive photos and Imagineer commentary.