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 The Complete Guide to Walt Disney World :: 0970959648
Description
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Disney fans wanting more than a standard-issue Walt Disney World travel guide should be pleased with this new, full-color book. Filled with gorgeous photos, well organized, easy to read and absolutely packed with information, it makes a strong case to be, as its cover proclaims, "The Definitive Disney Handbook."
Though this guide has the typical planning, restaurant and resort information, what sets it apart (besides the photos) is its coverage of Disney's theme parks, water parks and other entertainment options. Taking up 75 percent of the book, these chapters include detailed descriptions, specs, story lines, back stories and long lists of "Fun Finds" and "Fun Facts" that just aren't in any other Disney guide.
Other extra touches are everywhere. Architecture fans will like the bonus articles about the buildings of Epcot and Disney-MGM Studios. Animal lovers will delight in the included field guide to the Animal Kingdom park. An overview chapter includes an introduction to the resort as well as articles about Walt Disney, his cartoon characters, Imagineers, even monorails. The Special Events chapter has eight pages just on Christmas. Sprinkled throughout are quotes from Imagineers, as well as the occasional celebrity.
From the Back Cover
Walt Disney World gives you a choice of 168 rides and attractions, 81 live performances, 104 recreational activities, 179 places to eat, 197 shops and 29 resorts -- all spread out over 47 square miles. Overwhelming? Not any more! Filled with the most detailed information ever published about Disney World, this full-color guide combines a thorough description of everything Disney has to offer with a cornucopia of advice, insight and tips to help you enjoy it. In other words, it's a handbook on how to have fun. Also included: over a thousand fun finds and facts, dozens of fascinating secrets and back stories, quizzes, Hidden Mickeys and over 400 color photographs.Editorial Descriptions are usually submitted by the manufacturers, publishers and authors. Contact us if you are one of them, and wish to change the above description. |
Reviews
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Author: Guest
Only skimmed thru the book so far but the information looked at so far as been full of details, great pictures and helpful hints. Planning on visiting in Dec07 and only staying one week. This book along with personal choices will allow maximum useage of all that Disney World facilities and must sees.
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Author: Guest
The Neals are your typical family: Mom, Dad, and pre-teen daughter.
What makes them different from the rest of us is that they've been to the mind-boggling vacation paradise of Walt Disney World OVER 700 TIMES.
Obsessed? You bet! Who else would you want guiding you? Some 30-visit newbies? Uncle Marvin, who only goes to see the Tiki Birds and is in and out in 3 hours? Corporate shills? No way. Meet the experts. A family that actually spends time together in the park(s), just the way Unca Walt woulda wanted it.
It would have been very easy for someone so totally engrossed in the Mouse to write a humongous book that covered every trashcan, every carefully-trimmed plant, every lightbulb; thankfully, these are smart folks: Mom realizes that a guidebook is for people who have never been or haven't been enough times to Walt Disney World Resort (I can't find the little "trademark" symbol on my keyboard, here...if you work for Disney, please don't send me threatening letters; I tried!).
This family guidebook is just like the resort itself: easy to follow, well-thought-out, and packed with interesting things everywhere you look. It actually makes for repeated readings! Dig the factoids in the margins...nice touch. What I'd do is read it over (give yourself a couple of weeks), then let the family read it in the car or on the plane/train trip to Florida.
A trip to the theme parks and surrounding areas/hotels that make up WDW can intimidate the novice; figuring out how the FastPass (where's that "TM" thing?) system works or even what time the 3 O'clock Parade is (don't laugh - that's nowhere near as easy as it sounds) can drive even a PhD to distraction. There are other guidebooks out there; some are quite good, but I've yet to see anything like this one. Cram-packed but not confusing, and not overwhelming. You could hand this book to your 3rd grader (something you should try next time, by the way!) and she could not only get you around the parks herself, but find things YOU would have missed. (If she can get through a Harry Potter book, this should be no problem. Especially because it's about what will become her favorite place on Earth.)
Make no mistake: I was raised in Florida, just down the road. I have been to the Magic Kingdom over 30 times, myself. I have a huge shelf full of books about the Parks and their creators. I can recognize Imagineer Joe Rhode or Archivist Dave if they walk by me on the street. I know to "Boo" if someone invokes the name "Eisner". I even know what's behind the Haunted Mansion. I figured I could catch the Neals passing some little-known things by. You know, "Ha ha! They'll never have noticed that thing we found last time...!" You can't do it. They've been there ahead of you, and they DID notice. And they wrote it into their book.
Is the book too pricey? Not at all. Disney's very own tv ads will tell you in no uncertain terms you'll be laying out almost $2,000 for a week down there. You want to get the most out of that investment? Take $75. Spend the money for this book, and use the rest on a new memory card for your digital camera.
This is an unofficial guide, which is better, in my opinion, because you're more likely to get some straight advice. There ARE a couple guidebooks out there that look "unofficial", but seem to be blatant ads for Mickey T-Shirts and Goofy fudge bars.
Do I write nothing but glowing praise? Am I going to Paula Abdul my way through this review? I am not. The ONLY thing I can find fault in is a few of the photos.
Dad is an excellent photographer. However (and this is not his fault, I do believe), some of the photos taken on the attractions themselves are a little too revealing for their own good...for instance, in one, an Animatronic (trademark? Here, Boy..!) performer looks a little like a guest body on CSI.
All of the rides/attractions make use of lighting designed by Hollywood-level talent, which carefully suggests or conceals or directs your attention. A flash picture can reveal things you're not supposed to see under "show" conditions (a little like being in a club at closing time when they turn on the overhead lights and suddenly the atmosphere goes PFFFFT!)
So don't look at a VERY few of these pictures and get the impression that you're going to skip an attraction because it looks too "fake". When you're really there in person, you won't believe any of it was man-made, so well does the illusion work. Like I said, not your fault, Dad!
Summing up: A trip to Walt Disney World Resort (TM) is unlike anything else you'll ever do, but it IS like any other vacation trip in one sense: If you don't pay attention or go with a little foreknowledge, you could get disappointed or wind up paying more than you'd bargained for. Buy this book as cheap insurance.
Well done, Neals! Keep playing together. Hope to meet you at Cinderella's slipper sometime!
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Author: Guest
I have MANY Disney books and this is one of the best. It contains lots of information and many fun facts that a lot of the other books don't tell you. Great value for money too! Really enjoyed reading it and it makes a great addition to my collecion!
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Author: Guest
Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt, going back for trip number way-to-many-to-count. I've bought numerous WDW books and seen all the shows on the History and Travel channels about the place. And having been called a "walking book of worthless knowledge", I certainly thought I knew all there was to know about WDW.....until now.
First off, this book is so well put together. It flows, is super easy to read, and super easy to follow even if it's your 1st time to WDW. The pictures and descriptions are almost like I'm there following along. And rather than just mention the same old humdrum stuff you read in every other WDW book, the information is colorfully descriptive and then "plussed" as Walt himself would have said! The non-stop extra information and expert tips about restaurants, hotels, rides, accommodations, and shops couldn't be any better planned out, in order, or expertly dissected.
The provided example time tables of how to plan out your day are just one example of how good the book is at maximizing your time in the parks. And these time tables are certainly real life expectations, not somebody making them up from the comfort of their home just to fill some pages in a book. This kind of 1st person planning and point of view is very prevelant through the book. It certainly gives a more personal feel rather than feeling like I'm reading a sales brochure or Disney propaganda.
For any first timer to WDW, this book is a must buy. For any repeat true Disney Dork (like myself), the purchase of this book is a no brainer. Even after dozens of times to WDW, I can't believe how much is still left to see and enjoy and I learned it courtesy of this book. I can't tell you how many times I uttered "I didn't know that!" or "We have to go check this out the next time we go!" to my wife while reading this book. Most of the time, I couldn't find the book because my wife kept picking it up to read it as soon as I put it down.
And what might be my favorite thing about this book is that it fits right in my back pocket. I have trip in Sept. 07 and I can't wait to use the book to enhance my trip and maximize my time.
Get this book and you will be completely happy with it!
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Author: Guest
This book is awesome! Very informative and very fun to read. It told me thousands of things I never knew, and we go to Disney every year. Stunning pictures. A must for any Disney fan.
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