Around the Worlds in 80 Days: One Fan’s Journey to Conquer Disney’s Magic Kingdoms

Circumnavigating the Magic

Dustin Engels traveled 28,649 miles chasing a mouse named Mickey. Obsessed with Disney’s revered theme parks and seeking an escape from the humdrum routine of his daily life, he set out on a personal quest to visit all of the company’s fourteen parks around the world. In eighty days.

Before the adventure was over, he would get lost in a cab in Shanghai, run drenched and tragically under-dressed through Tokyo Disney, befriend total strangers while shirtless at Typhoon Lagoon, and experience a wildlife encounter at Animal Kingdom that was just a little too real.

Chronicling his epic, whirlwind journey to Anaheim, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Orlando, Paris, and all the way back home, this travel memoir captures Dustin’s visits to the world’s greatest theme parks as he explores the attractions, shows, parades, and food of each, and seeks to understand the ways in which a quintessential American experience has been adapted for cultures abroad.

Along the way, he reflects on his personal history with the parks, grapples with the highs and lows of Disney park fandom, and discovers the many ways in which Disney continues to capture the minds and imaginations of people all over the world.