On October 1, 1982, The Walt Disney Company opened its EPCOT Center to the world, heralding changes that would take the Disney property in Florida from a mere theme park to a world-class resort destination. Authors Steve Alcorn and David Green were there. As employees of Disney’s WED Imagineering, they captured the design and building of what is now called simply Epcot in their book, “Building a Better Mouse.”

“Building a Better Mouse” tells the tale of the “…hundreds of mostly young, mostly bright and all embarrassingly idealistic people,” who worked on Epcot. The book also explores, with a unique insider’s perspective, what it was like to be in the trenches as a Disney Imagineer in the early 1980s, from pixie dusting – when new employees are indoctrinated into all things Disney – through the craziness of the engineering design process, and right up until the last frantic dash to opening day.

The book does more than chronicle the making of Epcot, it delves into the emotional side of the event, from the excitement of working for Disney to the letdown felt when laid off after the design and engineering were finished. The book is an exiting and emotional ride, with keen insights thrown in along the way.

The authors are Steve Alcorn and David Green. Steve Alcorn – an entrepreneur, engineer, inventor, and teacher – is well known for his involvement in the theme park industry. He now owns and operates Alcorn McBride Inc. The company’s show control, audio, video and lighting equipment is used in most major theme park attractions around the world. David Green is the president of Monteverdi Creative, Inc., which provides creative and technical design services to companies in the entertainment industry, such as Technicolor, Visual Terrain, and Smart Design.