Customer Reviews

The Complete Walt Disney World 2010

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Twice the size of Manhattan, the 47-square-mile Walt Disney World is the No. 1 vacation destination on the planet. It includes four theme parks, two water parks, a sports complex, a shopping and entertainment district and 19 resort hotels. A visit here is not just an escape from day-to-day doldrums, it's a reawakening of that free-spirited, good-natured soul who lives deep inside you--the one your spouse married, the one you want your children to emulate. No other man-made vacation land so embraces creativity, optimism or a sense of wonder about the world." - From The Complete Walt Disney World 2010

Our first and only visit to Walt Disney World was in 2006, and oh, how I wish I had Julie and Mike Neal's annual guide for that trip! The good news, however, is that since 2007, the Neal's have published their fantastic annual guide not only for those who've never been to WDW and need to know what to expect, but also for those who want to revisit the wonders of the WDW.

A colorful smorgasbord of 550 color photographs, insider information, fun facts, event overviews, show snapshots, ride debuts/retirements, restaurants, hidden Mickeys, parades and so much more, The Complete Walt Disney World 2010 is the only guidebook to the parks and surrounding area you really *need* to have in your possession (although you may *want* more).

Right of the bat, the Neals tells us everything that's new at Walt Disney World, which is especially helpful for those who've been to the parks before. For example, Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen from Disney's The Princess and the Frog make their debut in the Magic Kingdom, as does Barack Obama in the all-new Hall of Presidents (he even has a speaking part!).

In addition to the gorgeous photos and fascinating facts, The Complete Walt Disney World 2010 includes:

* A quick, accessible overview on how to plan your trip
* Comprehensive information on Magic Your Way ticketing and Disney Dining Plan, including prices for various time frames
* The five biggest mistakes WDW newbies make (and how to avoid them)
* 31 practical ways to save money (including free stuff at the parks, discounts and where to get coupons and saving codes)
* Navigating the parks with special circumstances (e.g. disabilities and children)
* Hour-by-Hour wait times for every ride and event
* Park Resources and prices (e.g. parking, lockers, ATM locations, etc.)
* Attractions at-a-glance including symbols for price range, fun factor, ride description, average wait time, length of ride/event, character meet-and-greets, etc., as well as mini-reviews (the Neals aren't afraid to say when something is cheesy, irritating or undesirable--but not in a mean-spirited way like in another WDW guide).
* Colorful, easy-to-read maps for each park
* Hundreds of Fun Finds, Fun Facts and Hidden Mickeys (for example, The Great Movie Ride at Disney's Hollywood Studios fills 95,000 square feet with more than 60 Audio-Animatronic characters. The James Cagney robot wears one of the star's actual tuxedos, donated by his family.)
* Complete list of characters and where they'll be for photo ops and autographs
* Planned days in half-hour increments for those who want an organized day planner
* Fastpass information and return times
* In-depth overviews for each park (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom), as well as Downtown Disney and other recreational areas
* Restaurant descriptions, recommended fare, pricing and advice (for example, find out which restaurants are kid-friendly, which are noisy, which are pricey, etc.)
* Accommodations, including hotel descriptions, location, and pricing
* Special and seasonal events
* WDW telephone directory

At 352-pages, The Complete Walt Disney World 2010 is the finest guidebook to the parks and surrounding areas (I've bought all the popular ones, including the ones published by Disney). I have every edition of The Complete Walt Disney World 2010 (since 2007) and this outstanding guide by the Neals just gets better and better every year. After all, they've visited WDW over 1,000 times and go there at least once a week--experts, indeed!

So if you're wanting to visit Walt Disney World for the very first time (just you wait--it's an indescribable experience) and you're not sure which book will be the most helpful, accessible and informative, look no further: you want The Complete Walt Disney World 2010. It's not only good for those who want (nay, need!) the inside scoop on the parks, but also entertaining for the whole family with its eye-popping color photos, insider information, behind the scenes peeks and intriguing facts.

Highly recommended!

-- Janet Boyer, author of Back in Time Tarot

I grew up in Orlando and was a Disney Cast Member for more than two years, so I know Disney, and I've read every guide book there is. I can tell you that this is by far the best book out there for planning a trip to WDW, whether you are a first timer, a family, or traveling with a flock of teenagers.

This book is brilliantly illustrated with photographs of nearly every attraction. The authors have thought of every key detail needed to create an easy to use guide book. Color coded borders at the top of every page make finding the section you're looking for simple. The book itself isn't too bulky and will easily stash away in any backpack. Average wait times are listed for every attraction, by the hour.

The reviews are honestly written (Country Bear Jamboree is "way past its prime"), comprehensive, and packed with trivia. I was blown away with the number of "fun facts" that I didn't even know. Hidden Mickeys are detailed throughout the book as well.

If there's any point of criticism, it's that the book occasionally reveals its authors' ages. Two full pages are devoted to the Hall of Presidents, the stereotypical Disney snooze fest. The movie in Epcot's France Pavilion gets four stars - I challenge you to find anyone under the age of 30 who would agree. But these are the most minor of infractions.

Every Disney World visitor who reads this book cover to cover will have a fantastic trip!

I buy this travel guide every year, and this one is the best ever. It's completely redone from previous versions, with lots more about trip planning. As always though, it's not just a fluff piece for Disney. I especially liked that there was a Best and Worst section for each of the theme parks. Throughout it's a helpful mix between praise and criticism. Photos -- and there are photos of everything -- are not just gorgeous but also unusual. it brings Disney World to life.

This book came out just in time! My sister gave it to me as a present two days ago, just as we were leaving for the airport. My husband and I looked at it on the plane, though the kids spent most of the time with it. They now have it dog eared with every ride they want to go on and every character they want to see. Me and the hubby got familiar with place we are staying, the Polynesian resort. We knew about it some before we booked it, of course, but now we know stuff like the fun features of the swimming pool and that it has a sushi bar. This stuff will come in handy!

Today is our first day in a theme park, and this book is really making a difference.

For example, thanks to this book, we learned we had to sign up our boy first thing in the morning for the Star Wars training, that we could get fast passes as late as 11 am and still skip the line at the Toy Story ride, and that we should ask for a waitress with "extra themeing" to get the full experience at the 1950s Prime Time restaurant. (That's where I am writing this review from, as we wait for a table.) It's a great day,

I'm sure the rest of the days will be just as good. In short we are having the vacation we wanted thanks to this book.

Oh, and the photos are a HUGE help!

This book has EVERYTHING. The photos throughout are fantastic. They have maps of the parks, dining info and ratings, shopping info, estimated wait times, character locations, tips on everything, resort info and rating- I could go ON and ON, but I won't. Buy this book- it is fantastic.

I am a self proclaimed Disney freak! I love Walt Disney World and anything that is written about it. I have purchased several Walt Disney World guidebooks over the years. I have found that The Complete Walt Disney World 2011 to be the most informative and well thought out book out of all of the guidebooks I have purchased. The attention to detail they have and the amount of photos they use is amazing. I love the history they use and the fun facts and Hidden Mickey information they have in the book as well. They give little tidbits of information on all of the parks, restaurants and resorts. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for an all-inclusive Walt Disney World Guidebook! It is well worth the money!

This is in my opinion the best Disney World guide out there. There are tons of great high quality photos, along with honest reviews. I prefer this book over the "official" guide because the authors give a full and honest opinon on what's worth your time and what isn't. There are also great DETAILED itineraries for the parks that help you figure out the best times to ride the rides, and when is the best time to get a Fast Pass before they run out! Overall a great guide and good honest reviews.

Everything the other reviewers have said is true: this is the best Walt Disney World guide. The information is more thorough, the opinions more balanced, the photography more, well, everything, as the other Disney books either don't have photos or offer just typical Disney brochure images. But here's the extra cool aspect about this Disney guide -- your kids will absolutely love it! At least mine do. We bought the Birnbaum kids guide and our daughter (age 6) flipped through it once, but it didn't hold much appeal since she is too young to read. This one, on the other hand, she LOVES! It's the photos. They're big, and they are on every page. So she treats it like a picture book! "Let's go there!" "Let's see that!" "I want to go on that!" "I do NOT want to go on that!" Our boy, age 3, does the same thing. It's great to see them so excited about our upcoming trip.

I am a frequent Disney World vacationer and have been there numerous times. Now that my son is three we are getting ready to take another trip to Disney World and I was hoping this book would help us plan our trip. Overall it is a great resource for Disney travelers.

The book starts with a short chapter on the things that are new for 2010. This is great is you have frequented Disney World before and are mainly interested in what's new there. The second chapter is the most useful of the book and goes into great detail on trip planning. There is a wonderful chart on the different types of park passes and their costs. The planning section also goes into great detail on more obscure things that I have never used at Disney World before; like meal plans, fast passes, and child swap. There are great tips on how to save both time and money to make the most of your trip. They also talk about transportation, restaurants, etc. The section on special diets is really small, only a paragraph or two. I have two family members that have celiac's disease, so I was a bit disappointed this wasn't gone into in more detail. Especially since in my previous personal experience Disney World is one of the best places in the world to vacation if you do have food allergies.

After these first couple chapters the following chapters focus on each of the four parks: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom. Each park section features your normal information with a map, a list of restaurants, and shopping available. There is also much more unique and useful information such as average wait times for each attraction by time of day, a chart of fastpass return times, a section stating which rides have height restrictions, and a section discussing which rides have portions that may be too scary for younger children. A day (or two day) suggested itinerary for exploring each park is given which tells you the most efficient way to see all the major attractions in the park if you have limited time. Following all this awesome information are page long (on average) sections describing each individual attraction. On these pages you get a little history about the attraction, a description of it, fun facts about it, and average wait times by day.

My only problem with the park chapters in this book is that there is basically only one suggested itinerary for each park; also these itineraries assume that everyone is over 58". All the itineraries have you hitting the big rollercoaters...which for a family like mine with a small child is not an option. It would have been more helpful to have itineraries for family's with small children and then itineraries for older groups; I have to imagine the two groups are going to be interested in different things overall. I know when I went to Disney World as a young child I was interested in completely different things than I was when I went back as a pre-teen, teenager, and adult.

Following the park chapters are chapters on Water Parks, Downtown Disney, Recreational Sports, Accomadations, and Special Events. All of these sections are very detailed with excellent information. There is, of course, an index following this. The back page lists a variety of useful Disney numbers.

All in all I was very impressed with the amount of interesting and useful information this book gave on traveling to Disney World. The only weak points were a lack of information for special diets (it's there but very very brief) and a lack of itineraries. One itinerary is given for each park but they assume family members are 58 inches or taller. Other than those two issues, I thought this was a superb guide.

We've been to Disneyworld many times and used many guidebooks. Until the last 3 trips. Each of those trips, we used the current edition of this guidebook because --- to put it mildly --- it blows the competition away. I cannot stress enough how helpful, well-organized, and easy to use this guidebook is. The organization is a huge plus. It tells you everything you need to know at a glance. And the tips are real "insider tips" (unlike other guides' so-called insider tips ---- like "use Fast Passes!" Oh boy, that's really a huge insider tip....). ,Mike and Julie's advice is spot-on and unbiased. They are not afraid to tell it like it is. Although, of course, most everything is flattering (because really, at Disney World, almost everything really IS top-notch), they are not afraid to let you know when something falls short or should be skipped all together. I recently bought this book for two different family members planning trips to WDW. They were both SOOOOO grateful and could not say enough about this book and how helpful it was. Don't even consider any other guide.