Beyond Disney: The Unofficial Guide to Universal SeaWorld & the Best of Central Florida (Unofficial Guides) [Paperback]

Bob Sehlinger (Author), Grant Rafter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 23, 2007 | Series: Unofficial Guides (Book 199)

From the publishers of The Unofficial Guide(r) to Walt Disney World(r)

"A Tourist's Best Friend!"
-Chicago Sun-Times

"Indispensable"
-The New York Times

Seven Great Features and Benefits offered ONLY by The Unofficial Guide(r):
* Practical tips on when to go and how to beat the crowds at 11 of Central Florida's best theme parks
* Firsthand information on what's worthwhile and what's not at major attractions
* The inside scoop on where to go for the best roller coaster action
* Complete coverage of Universal Florida, including Islands of Adventure(r), CityWalk(r), and detailed restaurant reviews
* Comprehensive chapters on SeaWorld and Discovery Cove(r), Busch Gardens(r), Kennedy Space Center, Gatorlande(r), and the Holy Land Experience(r)
* Comparisons of all area water parks
* The straight story on Orlando-area dinner theaters and nightlife

Sample Rating

Revenge of the Mummy

Appeal by Age Preschool Grade school Teens Young adults Over 30 . Seniors

What it is Combination dark ride and roller coaster. Scope and scale Super headliner. When to go The first hour the park is open or after 6 p.m. Special comments 48" minimum-height requirement. Author's rating Killer! ....H. Duration of ride 3 minutes. Probable waiting time per 100 people ahead of you 7 minutes. Loading speed Moderate.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

From the publishers of The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World

"A Tourist's Best Friend!"
—Chicago Sun-Times

"Indispensable"
—The New York Times

Five Great Features and Benefits offered ONLY by The Unofficial Guide:

1. Comprehensive coverage of theme parks, dinner theater, mini-golf, water parks, adventure outings, sports, museums, and more

2. Field-tested Touring Plans for Universal Orlando that can save four hours of standing in line a day

3. Each attraction rated by age group based on a survey of over 10,000 families

4. Complete descriptions and ratings for all the best non-Disney hotels for families

5. Insider tips on the best restaurants, buffets, and meal deals

About the Author

Bob Sehlinger is the publisher of Menasha Ridge Press and the author of numerous Unofficial Guides, including the best-selling Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 5 edition (April 23, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470098430
• ISBN-13: 978-0470098431
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,282,656 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bob Sehlinger, a Lowell Thomas Award winning journalist, is best known as the creator and producer of the Unofficial Guide Series published by Wiley Publishing Inc. and sold worldwide.

He is credited with being the first to apply research techniques from the fields of operations research and statistics to travel guides. Among other projects, he was able to develop mathematical models that could save theme park patrons more than three hours of standing in queue in a single day.

Sehlinger and his research team (pictured) have had numerous adventures and developed some unusual methodologies. Here's a sampling from research for The Unofficial Guide To Walt Disney World:

"We've slept in every Disney resort multiple times and more than 80 Orlando-area properties. Only once did we wake up covered in bugs. (It was a non-Disney hotel.)"

"We test hotel room soundproofing using a sophisticated digital sound meter and a copy of The Who's Greatest Hits."

"The first time we did Orlando spa reviews, one of our researchers had an eyebrow burned off during a waxing that went horribly awry."

"We once logged more than 700 miles in one week on buses to test Disney's transportation system, and never left Disney property. The bus drivers got so used to us being on board that one forgot we were there and took us back to the bus garage when his shift ended."

"We test pillow fluffiness using a measurement process we invented. We intended to use a fake human head as part of the test, but worried about getting it through airport security. We settled on a gallon jug of water, which is about the same size and weight as an average adult's noggin."

"When we test counter-service restaurants, we order at least one of everything on the menu, and break up in to small teams to sample each thing. We've tried every counter-service food item in every American Disney theme park."

"Our crowd prediction models take in to account everything from the day of week and time of year, to the vacation schedules of the fifty largest school districts east of the Mississippi, to weather phenomena including temperature, rainfall and humidity."

Bob Sehlinger is founder and co-owner of Keen Communications, a book publishing company that includes Menasha Ridge Press in Birmingham, Alabama; Clerisy Press in Cincinatti, Ohio; and Wilderness Press in Berkeley, California. The author of twenty-seven books, Sehlinger is a past president of the Publishers Association of the South, and has served at the invitation of the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Information Service on educational missions for publishers in Hungary, Romania, and Russia.

Before becoming involved in writing and publishing, Sehlinger was CEO of SAGE, inc., a wilderness arts teaching and expeditional company that produced courses in kayaking, rock climbing, survival, and backpacking (among others) for high schools and universities in a 7-state area. During this period Sehlinger served as president of the Eastern Professional River Outfitters Association. Sehlinger makes his home in Birmingham, Alabama where he continues to be an avid river runner and mountain biker.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Useful guide for Sea World & Busch Gardens, September 2, 2007

By 

Joseph Boone (Irvine, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (2008 HOLIDAY TEAM)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beyond Disney: The Unofficial Guide to Universal SeaWorld & the Best of Central Florida (Unofficial Guides) (Paperback)

Beyond Disney is meant to be used as a second guide when planning a trip to Orlando. They assume that you have purchased The Unofficial Guide Walt Disney World 2010 (Unofficial Guides) or something similar and are using this one for the other theme parks in the area. This is a good idea but there are some problems with it. First, the Universal Parks are already covered in the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World and that material is largely dropped in here with no significant changes. So if you have the Unofficial WDW book, then you don't need to see that again here.

The main value in this book lies in the coverage of Sea World and Busch Gardens. Both are major theme parks and get full coverage here. I found the Busch Gardens information especially helpful. Busch has so many attractions that you can't possibly enjoy every one in a single day and this guide will help you focus on what you might enjoy the most. This is the only book in the Unofficial Guide series where you'll find material on Busch and Sea World, and many of the other publishers ignore those parks completely. If you are interested in attending either park, then I highly recommend Beyond Disney. If you plan to stick to WDW and/or the Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure area then you can safely skip this.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars No touring plans! A ripoff because you have to buy a second book!, February 21, 2010

By 

Baltimore Jack (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beyond Disney: The Unofficial Guide to Universal Orlando ,SeaWorld and the Best of Central Florida (Unofficial Guides) (Paperback)

The Unofficial Guide to Disney is fantastic, and well known for its great "touring plans" which give detailed park information about how to attack DWD theme parks. This book is supposed to be a guide to everything else outside of Disney World (i.e., Sea World and Universal). Yet this book does not include Touring Plans for Universal, SeaWorld or Islands of Adventure. Amazingly, these Touring Plans are in the Walt Disney World book, but not here. That is, people who buy a book on how to tour Disney get Touring Plans for Universal/SeaWorld, but the folks who buy a book on Universal and SeaWorld do not - makes no sense!

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Surfing Sea World, July 18, 2007

By 

Amazon addict (Boston) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beyond Disney: The Unofficial Guide to Universal SeaWorld & the Best of Central Florida (Unofficial Guides) (Paperback)

This book helped us navigate the Orlando experience minus Disney. the tips in the book let us breakfast at Sea World before it "officially" opened. We saw more of the shows and the animals because of the great directions in this book. I tore the pages for Sea World right out of my copy of the book, so I could have the information with me at the park without the problem of carrying the big book.

Kudos to the author and his research!