Customer Reviews

The Unofficial Guide Walt Disney World 2010 (Unofficial Guides)

5 star:		(103)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Purchased the Unofficial Guide for our previous Disney visit way back in 1997, and loved it. So naturally, bought the 2010 version in advance of our just-completed trip - and loved it AGAIN!

Contains all the information you could possibly want about each park and individual attraction/show. Book purchase includes access to their website and customized online touring plans, which we printed and brought to the parks each day. Didn't follow the plans step-by-step, mainly because we could never make it there in time for opening. But the plans gave us an idea of what order to see attractions in, when to use FASTPASS, etc. And it helped to have an idea about which attractions were "musts", and which could be skipped.

Plus I LOVE the way the book is written, with a combination of wry humor and frequently hysterical reader comments. The authors love WDW, so they don't pull punches when they feel let down by poorly conceived attractions or outright money-grabs. I even kept reading after we returned home, because it was such an enjoyable read!

I also purchased The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World with Kids (Unofficial Guides), but found that it's a "companion" to the big book (doesn't contain all the info of the big book) - and once I had the big book, I didn't really need 'For Kids'.

The only downside to this book is its size. At over 800 pages, it was simply too hefty to carry to the parks, though others might disagree. Of course, it HAS to be big in order to be so comprehensive, so it's not really a fault.

To sum it up, this is the ONLY book you need for a Walt Disney trip, period.

The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World is by far the largest guidebook for the area. Weighing in at a whopping 850 pages, you would expect, or at least hope, that it would be the most comprehensive and informative of all the Orlando guides. To help readers decide for themselves, I've broken my review down into sections by subject so you can focus on what matters most to you.

Hotels:
Disney hotels receive exhaustive coverage with floor plans, rating on many factors such as room quality, noise level, pool facilities, value, and more. There is a lengthy write-up discussing each hotel including their strengths and weaknesses. They even provide guidance on specific rooms to ask for and which to try and avoid when you make your reservation.

For those hotels outside of the resort, the coverage is less exhaustive but still comprehensive. A map shows the location of well over 100 area hotels, there are charts grading them on room quality, overall ratings, and cost. Information is also provided on how long it takes to get to each Disney theme park from the hotel. Some of the better hotels get full write-ups.

In addition to coverage of specific hotels, there is general advice as well. A few of the topics include advice on how to get deals on your room, discussion of the pros and cons of staying inside the confines of Disney World Resort, and an explanation of how the Disney hotels are classified. All told, there are more than 175 pages devoted to accommodations and none of it is wasted. This is not only the best coverage of hotels for Orlando, it's the best I've ever seen in any guidebook.

Dining:
Full service restaurants all receive a full write-up with detailed descriptions and ratings for food quality, value, and an overall score. Brief summaries are presented for the places offering counter service. In addition to the opinions of the authors, reader survey scores are reported so you can see what percentage of readers liked that restaurant. This is extremely helpful and any place I've tried that scores well on both fronts has always been a winner. Note that all of the above is limited to coverage inside of Disney World. There are also recommendations for the some of the best restaurants of various types outside the resort and brief coverage of the options in Universal's City Walk.

Theme Parks:
Full coverage is offered for The Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney-MGM Studios, Animal Kingdom as well as Disney's water parks, Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach. Universal is also covered with Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure getting equally comprehensive coverage. Sea World is covered, but only briefly. Busch Gardens in Tampa is not covered at all. In fairness, no guide to Disney World offers detailed coverage of these two parks. You can purchase Beyond Disney: The Unofficial Guide to Universal Orlando ,SeaWorld and the Best of Central Florida (Unofficial Guides) for this information if you're interested in visiting one or both of them.

So what constitutes full coverage of all the parks listed above? There's general background and information followed by a map and advice on orienting yourself. And then there are full descriptions and ratings for every attraction in each park. Separate ratings are provided for a number of age groups to help you evaluate the potential entertainment value for your group. Live entertainment is covered as well as advice on where to watch fireworks and parades. Finally, there are the touring plans. These are detailed itineraries designed to help you save hours of waiting time by visiting attractions in a certain order. This is only necessary if you go during summer or other peak tourist seasons. But if you do, they can be invaluable.

One final word on the theme park coverage. This guide, and many others, provides detailed descriptions of each attraction. Think about how much you really want to know before reading these. If you haven't visited Orlando before, you can rob yourself of a lot of pleasant surprises by reading all of this material. I would recommend using the ratings and reading just enough to get a vague idea of the attraction but not to go further.

Misc. Sections:
In some respects, this is almost the best part of the entire book. It's hard to overstate how diverse the information presented in this book is. There are tips on avoiding/healing blisters on your feet, how to find cheap airfare, what time of year to visit, going with kids, going as a couple, advice for pregnant women, seniors, and much much more. Common activities like golf and shopping are also covered. It's almost endless... if you can think of it there's a good chance that it's in this guide.

To sum it up, the authors did indeed produce the most comprehensive and informative guide for Walt Disney World and the Orlando area. No other guide even comes close to providing this much detail. Indeed, the most common criticism of this guide is usually that it's too much information and some people find it overwhelming. If this is your first impression upon opening the book, I would recommend focusing on those sections containing the information you're most interested in and get to the rest when you feel up to it. If you are anxious to see more photos than the 16 pages presented here, you might want to pick up The Complete Walt Disney World 2009 (Complete Walt Disney World) (Complete Guide to Walt Disney World). It doesn't have anywhere near as much detailed information, but it's packed with great shots and beautifully presents the visuals of the area.

This guide was invaluable... it made the trip so much more hassle free and enjoyable. We visited a different Disney park each day and were able to do all the things we wanted to in the least amount of time(except for Fantasmic at Disney Studio park... because it is only available two nights a week - and one of the nights was when we had to watch the BCS Championship... being loyal Longhorns - choke,sob.) . We were fortunate that it was not peak season, but even so, we would not have been able to do all we did without the guide. The only time we had any problem was on our Epcot day because we ignored a couple of steps in the plan and got off schedule. We then ended up missing several things that day...but was OK b/c we had an extra day of time and on our pass to come back there.

The most useful aspects of this guide were the overview, the on-line guide to best days to visit each park, and the "one-day plans" for each park. We tore out the chapters for each section to bring with us each day... but kept the one-day plans along with the and event/ride and resturant one-page overviews available at all times. (Note, were I doing this again, I would make back-up photocopies of those one-day plans. We would have been sunk without them). I know some people don't want to be so regimented, but if you want your money's worth in terms of experiencing the parks - this is the way to do it. Also, the guide has great info for non-Disney activities as well. (as an aside.. if you have time and are an art lover - don't miss the Morse Museum in Winter Park..which is a neat area of Orlando. The Tiffany work will take your breath away!)

Overall, I'm ok with this book. It gives great info on the theme parks, with specific tips. What I'm not happy about is that the book will make reference to subjects and then say for more detailed info go to our website [...]. When you go there for more hotel info, park attendance info, touring plan options, etc., you then find out that you need to pay for a subscription. After purchasing their book, they should give you a complimentary subscription for a period of time. It's a little bait and switch.

Buy the book. Subscribe to the website.


I loved so many things about this book:
1. It's detailed enough to make even someone with OCDisney happy.
2. Because it's so long, you get to read it over days or weeks. If you're suffering from Disney withdrawl, this is a good thing.
3. It's entirely comprehensive. You won't need another guidebook.
4. It's unbiased. A lot of guidebooks read like promotional Disney material. This doesn't.
5. It has a sense of humor.
6. Even if you don't use the touring plans (and if you have preschoolers, be forewarned now, you won't), this book provides you with so much background information that you are still much better prepared to navigate the parks.

My 2010 copy is already in tatters. It's such a wonderful, comprehensive guide. The book also entitles you to 50% the fee for [...]. I cannot recommend enough that people use this website. Hundreds of touring plans, plus the holy grail of Disney planning....the Crowd Calendar.

I was planning a trip to Disneyworld (from California) for my Mother's birthday. We had been to Disneyland dozens of times, and figured this would probably be about the same. How complicated can a trip to an amusement park be?

After reading this book, we got the answer: VERY complicated. Disneyworld is a whole different beast, and the details and plans in the Unoffical Guide are invaluable. If you're spending a bundle on a vacaction, you want to get your dollar's worth- and this book will help you to do just that. Beat the crowds, skip bad weather, ride the best rides without standing in long lines, eat well, and end your trip feeling refreshed and happy, rather than exhausted and broke.

I'm buying another Unofficial Guide now, for a trip to Disneyland. We've been to Ahaheim nearly every year for the past 30 years, but I figure if the Unofficial Guide to Disneyworld was this helpful, the authors probably know more than I do.

Great value for the money!

We used the adult, 1 day tour plan for each park and they work. We waited no more than 10 minutes for a ride. The book advises to arrive at rope drop, take an afternoon break and return to the park. That advise works for us. We are two adults and two teenagers and we needed the afternoon breaks.

I have been buying the unofficial guide..for every trip to Disney world..since the mid 90's.....
when a fellow park hopper..showed me her touring plan.
And..they are always worth the price of the book/ALWAYS.
As other posters have stated...not everything is perfect...but it will save you a few bucks..and..most valuable..a TON of time.
My son is pretty much a Disney expert...gives private tours...and worked there for years..
But,to his dismay..The book was up to date on a few important things [for me] that he was not aware of.
So yes..Disney may have raised a few prices..after the book was published[no big surprise there]..
but..most of the info is on the money..and a huge time saver.

Best Disney related item you can buy for the money. You'll save $$$ just for following their simple how to save money tips. In one word, this guide is COMPREHENSIVE. Thick and heavy and covers all topics. I compared this with other guide books in the book store. Believe me, stick with this guide.

Read the tour plans and follow it!!! It tells you the order and most efficient way to see the attractions. It really works!!! Spent 4.5 days in March with my gf. 1.5 days at Epcot, 1 day each at others. Had enough time to do everything and ride Thunder Mountain 3 times, Space Mountain twice, Buzz Lightyear twice, Toy Story twice, Test Track twice, Everest twice and I forgot what else we did multiple times. Ok, so you don't have to follow the plan 100%, but definitely follow the early morning portions.

The only lame part was that in order to get more tour plans on their website, you have to pay extra. Don't pay extra. The book has enough tour plans to fit your needs.

My top Disney recommendations:

1) Use the tour plans.
2) Show up early to the parks, at least 20-30 minutes before it opens.
3) Bring snacks and water bottles. Yes, they let you bring food in.
4) Use FastPasses, as recommended in the book.
5) Leave your kids at home. Thank you for your cooperation.

As with earlier editions, very helpful and very enjoyable to read. Most reviews of rides were accurate. Touring plans were invaluable. We regretted deviating from their recommendations. Pulls no punches. A must-have book for anyone going to DisneyWorld with limited time or resources.