Rating: 
Summary: A serious treatment of Disney's planned community.
Review: I have followed the infant years of Celebration, Florida in the press and it was wonderful to read this well written, earnest, and enjoyable book about the real life problems of Snow White's village.This is an extremely interesting year in the life of a single, childless, downtown New Yorker learning about small town ways - at least, Disney's small town. The author deals with his subject in a very serious manner, this isn't tabloid press with a pretty cover. Ross is highly critical of Disney's motivations and the administration and development of this town. However, unlike the usual Disney bashing, the author references such specific sources that it is difficult not to believe this is an honest representation of how Mickey Mouse, turned residential developer and spin doctor, could have done a much better job. Ross immersed himself in the community politics of Celebration and appears to have attended every community meeting held during the year he was there. He also endeared himself to a cross section of residents. The book is full of interviews with residents, the management company, and Disney execs among others. It also includes informative references to the original planning documents and pr campaign that attracted the residents. Ross certainly did extensive research for this book. Amid engaging stories of overpriced and botched houses, a shopping district ill-suited to local needs, background on New Urbanism, and many interesting stories about why the residents moved to the planned Disney community, there are three absorbing in-depth chapters on the town's school. The most daunting part of the book is chapter 12 where Ross discusses the benefits Disney incurred through building Celebration. Apparently, by building Celebration Disney cut a juicy deal and was able to secure 20 years' worth of permits allowing it to continue its "dizzneying" sprawl and develop its existing real estate without regard to future environmental legislation - the affliction of landholders in central Florida. All roads seem to lead to the Tragic Kingdom and Disney has carte blanche to develop central Florida bypassing conventional process. If nothing else, you should read this chapter which details the corporate power of the Mouse. In the end, it comes across throughout the book that the author seemed to have immensely enjoyed himself in the 'burbs, rubbing elbows with those seeking pixie dust and was able to uncover some truths about the making of this community.
Rating: 
Summary: A little too scholarly for me
Review: I live in Florida and have visited Celebration several times. Although apparently much has been written about the town, I had not been exposed to it and was quite anxious to read this book. I note this because a reader is going to need a high level of interest to make it through Dr. Ross` opus. Much of the book is written in a very scholarly (read boring) fashion. Although the book covers all that one would want to know about Celebration, it also covers in great depth subjects that while they relate, cause the narative to bog down. Keep your dictionary handy while you read as you will certainly be faced with words that you have never seen before! It also bothered me that Dr. Ross` biases came through strongly in a number of areas especially the school. Most people, and especially the Celebration parents, were not ready for the totally non traditional (original) plan for the school. Dr. Ross seemed to come down on the side of the innovators, and I got the impression, looked down on the customers- the Celebration parents. But then when considering the source Dr. Ross notes that only two male residents sported earings, he being one of them. The book does well as an in depth reasonably balanced depiction of the town. It does not do as well as an entertaining read.
Rating:
Summary: A must read for Disney fans!
Review: I loved this book. It is critical of Disney, but it's not your usual arm chair complaining. This author did his research. Also it's nice to see Celebration depicted as a normal town with normal citizens with normal problems instead of an overhyped science project. A big thank you to Mr. Ross.
Rating: 
Summary: Save the money!
Review: I read this book after reading Celebration, USA by Douglas Franz and Catherine Collins. The Celebration Chronicles is not worth the money. Mr. Ross has written a "scholarly" work which manages to examine Celebration at arm's length. Mr. Ross obtaining an apartment in Celebration, a community he clearly has no vested interest in, does not qualify as being a truly involved resident of a newly created, struggling community. Franz and Collins give much better insight, mostly because they have invested in a home and are truly involved in the growth of the community. For a historical, sanitary view, choose Ross' account.
Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly dry
Review: I was set to love this book. It would either be a hatchet job on Disney's bizarre experiment or a thoughtful examination of just what such a town implies about American senses of community. Unfortunately, Ross hasn't written either. He instead has written a dutiful report on every aspect of Celebration's history, exercising little judgement as to what is interesting (the fight over the Celebration school) and what is pretty boring (the exercise habits of the residents, the locations of all the houses of worship). Not very compelling.
Rating:
Summary: I know Celebration...
Review: Indeed, Dr. Andrew Ross did a spectacular job of capturing and relaying his year at Celebration. He truly was involved in many town meetings, and spent many days in the classrooms and around the school. His interviews were extensive yet enjoyable for everyone. He wasn't just a researcher, he was a part of the town. Nearly every man and woman who came across Dr. Ross was intrigued by his gentle Scottish accent and piercing eyes. His writing style is just as inviting. If you've ever wondered just what it would be like to live in Walt Disney's dream, and a life of pastel colored houses and white picket fences doesn't do it for you, The Celebration Chronicles is the way to go!
Rating:
Summary: A great multi-part magazine article; not a 300-pg plus book
Review: Largely anecdotal ramblings spinkled with occasional laser-like insights. Annoyingly, Ross took what could have been a good multi-part article and bloated it with meandering errata. Still, a message was clearly conveyed. If you have the patience to wade through the verbage, you'll learn that Celebration is a place of Disneyesque dreams and high expectations, few of which have been delivered despite the "E-Ticket" price of admission.
Rating: 
Summary: Boring Read about an elitist community
Review: Reading this book was like watching paint dry....I moved to Celebration in 1998. At first I was charmed by the Disney connection, distinctive house designs (for florida anyway), the nice, well kept streets. Fast forward several years.... Celebration now has a -- TERRIBLE -- reputation in the central florida area for being snotty and elitist. It's is a shame what has become of Celebration. Someone should write a book about that.
Rating:
Summary: I was disappointed
Review: The book wasn't what I expected. Some of my disappointment is that I guess I was expecting insight, and found little. Maybe I shouldn't have expected much, since most of us who take an apartment and live with our cats for a year wouldn't have a lot of fascinating things to say. We already know a lot of what this book hammers us with, over and over and over: teenage angst, small town rumors and paranoia, shoddy Florida construction, over-expectation of the Disney midas touch, underfunding of public education in Florida... I own property in the general area and have some experience with Celebration. I also am an academic and understand going off somewhere for a sabbatical, and living among those whom you are studying. There just doesn't seem to be a lot there. I expect more from myself and colleagues when they go on sabbatical :)
Rating:
Summary: A definite top ten.
Review: This book certainly deserved its place on Amazon's top ten list of the year. I have read many stories in the press about Celebration, and hoped that someone with real feel for the residents would write an in-depth account of life inside that strange place. Ross set aside his life for a year, and dedicated himself to participating fully in all of the activities of the town. His efforts paid off, the book is a real eye opener, and will surprise anyone expecting a simple-minded diatribe about Stepford Wives in a Mickey Mouse town. The Celebration Chronicles gives us all kinds of lessons about urban planning, civil liberties, and public life in privatized suburbia. Best of all, while the book is an absorbing piece of journalism it is also a responsible ethnographic study conducted with several hundred hours of interviews with residents and Disney employees. The reader knows she is getting at deep community truths and not just superficial opinions from a few sound bites. The chapters about the school controversy are worth the price of the book along, but Ross has done a great job throughout, and produced a masterful commentary on America at the end of the century.
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