Birnbaum's Walt Disney World: Expert Advice from the Inside Source (2002) [Paperback]

Stephen Birnbaum (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Birnbaum's Walt Disney World | Publication Date: October 2001

In Birnbaums Walt Disney World, the most respected and well-known name in travel guides, takes readers to the worlds most popular tourist attraction. Since this guide is the only guide thats official, this book includes the most accurate information on prices, attractions, and changes for 2002, including exclusive coverage of the year-long celebration to mark 100 Years of Disney Magic and a detailed look at Disneys Pop Century resort, the newest larger-than-life value resort. Also new are updated customized travel tips for teenagers, international travelers, guests with disabilities, and families with young children, and a comprehensive character meal chart to help guests pick their favourite dining spots. All the information you have come to expect from the worlds leading travel guide, including prices, insider tips, valuable coupons, and much more, is here to help you make your stay a magical and memorable one.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Disney Press; Revised edition (October 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786853395
• ISBN-13: 978-0786853397
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,345,470 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just back with a beaten up guide, March 29, 2002

By 

ksuwildkat "ksuwildkat" (Monterey, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Birnbaum's Walt Disney World: Expert Advice from the Inside Source (2002) (Paperback)

Having just returned from WDW last night I am writing this with a well-beaten copy of the Birnbaum's guide in front of me. It is worth every dime I paid and I highly recommend getting one prior to going to WDW. It is "Pro-Disney" as the official guide but we never found anything untrue or over optimistic. In fact, in many cases, they "undersold" the advice. We quickly found ourselves leafing through to the "Hot Tips" since they really are good ideas. The guide helped us plan prior to leaving and adjust our plan once we got there. The ability to read ride descriptions before walking across the park and finding something was inappropriate for younger/shorter/easily scared children was worth the cost alone. We looked at some of the "unofficial" guides and have no regrets about the Birnbaum's. We are already planning our next trip and putting more wear on our guide doing it. Some things we will do for next time:

Stagger early rise and late to bed days. If you stayed up for fireworks don't try to be the first family at Epcot the next day!
Whatever the price difference for staying on Disney property is, I will gladly pay. My time is worth way more than $20-$50 an hour when I am on vacation and the traffic on I-4 the day we left convinced me that I didn't want to drive in from an off Disney location ever!! That $50 a day extra for a room on Disney might be money well spent.
Best advice we got from one of the unofficial guides was to drive to the parks other than the Magic Kingdom from Ft Wilderness where we were staying. Parking is free for WDW resort guests and it saved us the bus to TTC to park to TTC to cabin cycle. Since we were already on Disney property, it never took us more than 20 minutes from our cabin to the parking lot.
Get your Fast Passes early and often. Since you can get a new Fast Pass as soon as your window opens on your last one, you can spend most of your wait on a ride if you plan carefully. Having the guide let me know the length of a ride or show and I could adjust Fast Pass pickup.

The guide is great but the free Disney supplements are essential for the most up to date information about park openings and show times. Finally, get the propaganda video tape from Disney (free). We watched the tape, checked the guide and then went to the park and it was great. Put them together and you will have a much more enjoyable time at Disney.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book, needs balance, March 24, 2002

By 

R. J. Vaules "disneydig.com" (Idaho) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Birnbaum's Walt Disney World: Expert Advice from the Inside Source (2002) (Paperback)

The key to planning a good Disney Vacation is understanding the source of your information. Birnbaum is writing what Disney wants people to perceive Disney to be, perfect. While this book gives you good planning information, take it with a grain of salt and understand that you have just paid good money for a travel brochure that, in effect, should be free from Disney.

This is the only place that you will find all the pretty pictures of WDW, and is the PERFECT book if you are planning with kids for that reason alone.

Birnbaum's books are the "insider" information, which would make you think that you are getting information that you would not get anywhere else, but that is far from being true. There are a number of planning guides that share the same information that you will find here. I have not been a big fan of Birnbaum's books in the past, yet they have been getting better.

If you plan to buy this book, fine, but also get the opinions from another independent source such as a Disney fan in your family, the Internet, or the "Unofficial" guide to WDW. Balance out your information with a dose of reality and you will feel good about the investment in this magical journey.

The key to planning a good Disney Vacation? Balance of information - get it from more than one source.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Birnbaum's Walt Disney World, January 31, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Birnbaum's Walt Disney World: Expert Advice from the Inside Source (2002) (Paperback)

I purchased this book for my first trip with the kids. His sugesstions were right on the money. Staying in disney with small children was a VERY smart idea. When they were hot and tired we went to the pool to cool off. Then back to the parks we went. I felt sorry for the other parents when their children were crying, and tired , no place to rest even for an hour. My only suggestion would be to take a case of bottled water for the entire trip. I felt water was very expensive to buy at the parks. We stayed at a place that offered free soda refills after you purchased the mug. HUGE saving for a family of four, but we didn't want to carry them to the parks. We spent at least one hour at the hotel during the peak heat hours to rest , then back to the parks.