Book Review – Every Guest Is a Hero

I received a copy of this book free of charge in hopes that I would share my thoughts with you.

I’ve been trying to figure out how to write this review as there are as many aspects to this book as there are to the hero’s journey to start with.  Do you know what the Hero’s Journey is?  I wasn’t 100% sure when I started reading this book either, so let’s learn about it together.  I do want to make sure that you understand that this is NOT a guidebook for Walt Disney World or any other Disney theme park.  It is not light reading, either.  This is for the person who wants to look at Walt Disney World or other Disney theme park in a different way.

Every Guest Is a Hero by Adam M. Berger works on the assumption that many aspects of the Disney theme parks match or fit in with the Hero’s Journey.  The Hero’s Journey was “discovered” by Joseph Campbell, a mythologist.  The Hero’s Journey is a basic story pattern that he and others say is the basis for many stories throughout the world.  You can read more about the structure of the Hero’s Journey on Wikipedia.  According to Adam M. Berger’s book Every Guest Is a Hero, 

The monomyth that Professor Campbell called “the Hero’s Journey” is the product of his synthesis of these elements into a universal model or “paradigm.”  He recognized that all stories told throughout history and across all cultures are expressions of the Hero’s Journey, because the Hero’s Journey is really the story of all humans everywhere.  pg. 8

One of the basic things that my father taught me long ago was that we can shouldn’t say “all” or “never”.  Do you remember the rule “i before e except after c”?  That rule is really weird, right?  As you can see there are exceptions even to the exceptions.  

Every Guest Is a Hero definitely takes a different look at the Disney theme parks, and parts of the book were interesting to read.  However, I found some of the book to be so weighted down in trying to fit the journey to the park that I skipped over parts of the book.  My daughter skipped ahead to the specific attractions and found some of that interesting.  She also pointed out something to me on page 104.

Since the 2012 opening of the New Fantasyland section in Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, the park’s skyline has been graced with two more castles:  Beauty and the Beast Castle (where guests can dine in the sumptuous Be our Guest Restaurant), and Prince Phillip’s Castle (home of Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid and Ariel’s Grotto).

No, “Phillip’s” is not a typo on my part.  We all know that it is Prince Eric’s Castle that is the home to Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid.  

I thought that this book would stick to the stories of the attractions and how they apply to the Hero’s Journey; however, even a simple walk through the park is somehow made into the Hero’s Journey.  It seems forced, somehow.  Almost, like there was a push to show that everything in the Disney parks applies to the Hero’s Journey.  There really are different methods of storytelling, and I don’t think that everything truly falls into the Hero’s Journey but rather into other storytelling mediums, as well.  This book may appeal to some, but it turned out to not be my cup of tea.

Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book free of charge for the purpose of this review.  I received no other compensation, nor was I required to give a positive review.  All opinions are mine.