The Complete Guide to Walt Disney World 2008 (Paperback)

by Julie Neal (Author), Mike Neal (Author) "There's no place else like it..." (more)
Key Phrases: downtown orlando, dig site, board walk, Magic Kingdom, Downtown Disney, Main Street (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Should leave fans of Mickey smiling from ear to ear. -- Chicago Tribune

A thorough overview, with inside tips, facts and quizzes. With more than 400 color photos, it also makes a nice souvenir. -- Boston Globe

May be the most colorful, visually stunning and deeply researched guidebook on the market. A warm, loving portrait of Disney World, for people who want to love Disney World. -- Orlando Sentinel

Endless tips and trivia. -- Knoxville News-Sentinel

There are dozens of guides to Disney World, but I like this one by a husband-and-wife team who visited Disney World more than 700 times. They're not affiliated with Disney, but received much inside access by the company to provide very detailed descriptions of each ride, show and attraction. Among the gems are fun facts, suggested itineraries and little things to look for. -- Florida Times Union

Offers an in-depth history of the attractions and the parks themselves... and the most in-depth run-down of the two Disney water parks. -- Budget Travel

Book Description
The best-looking Disney World guidebook, The Complete Guide to Walt Disney World 2008 is also the most interesting. Its spectacular photography grabs your eye, then its fantastic wealth of information keeps you glued to its pages. Every aspect of Disney World becomes easy to understand, as color-coded chapters lay out everything one subject at a time, and gorgeous full-color images bring it all to life. Packed with details you just can't find anywhere else, every chapter is so helpful you'll find yourself sticking post-it notes everywhere.

The Planning Your Trip chapter offers a seven-step process to organizing your vacation, then a gold mine of practical information. As for theme parks, each ride or show gets its own article, many of which run several pages. Water parks are covered the same way, which makes the book the only real guide to Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon. Even diversions such as parasailing, stock-car driving and surfing lessons are fully described and illustrated.

A new restaurant chapter is a collection of 88 reviews. The accounts are descriptive and honest, and include useful details such as which character meals can usually take walk-ins. The accommodations chapter covers each Disney resort with a photo-packed article as well as a comprehensive At a Glance sidebar. The combination gives you a nice overview of each complex, but also makes it easy to scan them all by price, amenities, location, or other criteria.

Supplemental Material
Like the most complete DVD set, the book is packed with bonus features. The best are the background articles on Disney's theme park attractions. For example, three side stories describe the history, science and set design of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Other columns cover the histories of Space Mountain and It's a Small World. An animal guide describes the odd behaviors you can witness at Animal Kingdom, from the forearm-licking of the park's kangaroos to the stick-sharing rituals of its exotic birds. Breezy feature articles cover the wacky histories of the Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella fairy tales.

The result is a hugely entertaining book, but one that doesn't flinch from the frustrating realities of a Disney trip. It acknowledges the long lines, the challenge of getting key restaurant reservations, the cluelessness you have on how to get a front-row seat to the High School Musical street show... and provides the magical solutions. Tip bars run across the bottom of most pages.

Fitting the visual beauty of its subject, The Complete Guide to Walt Disney World 2008 is printed on gloss paper in full color. The book is fully updated, with the latest park and resort information and current prices and policies.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Coconut Press (December 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0970959699
• ISBN-13: 978-0970959690
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #122,759 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get More From Your Disney Visit, January 2, 2008

By	Virginia Allain "(retired librarian)" (Poinciana, FL) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

It's vital to plan ahead before visiting Disney if you want to get the most from the parks. This book keeps you from standing in interminable lines, yet still see the top attractions. I liked the Daily Plans suggested in the book and easily swapped out some rides and shows to suit our guests' ages and interests.
We've visited the parks dozens of times but with this book I still found overlooked shows. Disney is huge and can be quite disorienting. Knowing ahead of time what you want to see makes the day less stressful. We used the Fast Pass to get on Expedition Everest and Soarin. We also used the Single Rider option several times. Even though our recent visit was during the jam-packed Christmas period, we minimized the time standing in lines and had great memories to take away with us.
For the shows and rides described in the guide, pay close attention to the summary at the end. It gives the average wait time, length of the ride, any accomodations for handicapped users, and advises on the Fear Factor. That is quite important, as some rides are too intense for young children (or sensible adults). I was terrified on Expedition Everest and wished I'd opted out after reading the Fear Factor on it.
I'll be getting lots of use from this book for ourselves and our visitors. I was glad to see added restaurant section that wasn't in the earlier guide. Food is pricey inside the parks, so the guide helps you make decisions on fast foods versus splurging on a fancy meal.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Definitely My Favorite WDW Guide, January 23, 2008

By	kelbel (Tennessee) - See all my reviews

I've become a big fan of Julie and Mike Neal's Complete Walt Disney World. First of all, Walt Disney World is a visual experience, so - naturally - I want a visual guide. The Complete Walt Disney World 2008 is just that. With its full color interior that is packed with photos, when you first receive it, you'll spend a good bit of time just flipping through and perusing the photos.

However, the guide also has a number of features that I think make it superior to other guides. In fact, it's actually superior to its own predecessor, the 2007 edition.

I took the 2007 edition with me on my last trip to Disney in order to give it a real, honest-to-goodness experience "out in the field." I realized that the information on the restaurants and lodging was a little light. However, this guide has COMPLETELY fixed this. It now has thorough descriptions of hotels and restaurants. In fact, one point I loved about the lodging guide was that it gives you mileage to all the parks. For instance, when looking at the description for Old Key West, I can see that it is 4 miles from The Magic Kingdom. Seems frivolous at first, but it's truly not. For those planning to jet to one of the parks for dining reservations, this information gives you a good idea of when you need to set out in order to make those reservations.

The lodging pages also now give you rates, restaurants and transportation details (i.e. can you take the boat from the Swan to MGM?). There's even a note of check in and check out times.

The guide also contains those things that make me prefer it to others such as the tickertapes at the bottom of the pages that give you little hints and tips. The "fun finds" section underneath the attraction descriptions that give you a list of "easter eggs" and trivia to look for as you experience the attraction and, of course, a listing of Hidden Mickeys near the rear of the book.

Overall, the book is what a Walt Disney World guide SHOULD be: fun. Plus, as I can attest to: it's small enough to fit into a pack so it won't be cumbersome while you're in the World.

Oh and by the way, for those of you who consider buying the souvenir books, you couldn't do any better than this book. While it is most definitely a guide, it is also a great way to remember some of the attractions and sights of Walt Disney World that other books overlook.

Definitely my favorite WDW guide in print.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You will want to bookmark every page.., March 7, 2008

By	Yoshi "Boo Boo Johnson" (Yoshi's Island) - See all my reviews

This is by far the best Walt Disney World guide I have ever read. To start off, let me tell you I have read quite a few Disney World guides. I have been to disney over 15 times, and I would say I know a whole lot about the ins and outs of Disney World.

With that said, after reading this book I have realized how much I didn't know before! The pictures are absolutely phenomenal. If you have never been to Disney World before, you will truly get a glimpse of all the magic through the colored, professionally taken photos on each page.

The fun facts about rides and attractions featured on the pages were so much fun. For example, did you know that you never actually go inside "the mansion" during your ride on the Haunted Mansion? It's actually a building type that is used in movie sets. I was stunned by this, and many, many other fun facts.

There are complete ride descriptions describing every last detail to you about rides, attractions, resorts, and food.

Let me tell you this, you will never need to buy a Disney World book again if you just purchase this one. It is by far the most researched guide out there, literally millions of details about everything. Whether you've been to Disney 30 times or not at all, this is the best book for everyone!