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In this episode, we begin a 2-part interview with Russell Flores, the author of Seen Unseen Disneyland. As it happens, Russ and I first met at a WEDWay Radio meet in DCA a couple of years ago, and have since had the opportunity to connect at the D23 Expo and even shared Author Alley at last July’s Disneyana Show and Sale. He’s got a great love for Disney and has some very interesting insights.
We tried to record this one at the Hungry Bear Restaurant like I did with Sam Gennawey. Unfortunately, all of Critter Country is closed for refurbishment right now, so we got as close as we could, literally sitting on the ground on the small pathway behind Fowler’s Harbor.
In this episode Russ talks about:
- How he became interested in Disneyland;
- Whether he’s ever considered working at Disneyland;
- Why Seen Unseen Disneyland needed to be created;
- How the idea for the book came about, and how it developed;
- The difference in how this book is arranged compared to most others;
- His first endorsement—a very cool and impressive story;
- Whether there were any rough patches in the development, where he might have thought about giving up;
- How he’s smoothed out the process of working with the photos between the first book and the one he’s working on now;
- The target audience for the book;
- People who don’t quite get the book;
- Some “Disney details” that many people may not think of;
- Why he doesn’t include any “behind the scenes” pictures in his books or what he shares on social media;
- Whether there was anything Disney expressed concerns over when Seen Unseen Disneyland went through Copyright Review;
- Getting the proof copy of his book, and what that was like.
Find Russ:
I want to hear from you, so please email me, leave a comment below, or call the Listener Feedback line at (734) 23-STORY.
If you call in, don’t worry about having to sound perfect. If you ask me to, I’ll edit out any mistakes so you sound as good as you possibly can. You’re even welcome to start your entire story over again and I’ll use the “take” you want! If you want to submit a story anonymously, for whatever reason you may have, email it to me and tell you me you wanted it shared that way. I’ll read it on the podcast, but keep your name private.
Thanks for listening!
Music and voiceovers provided by Rick Moyer.
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