Title:

The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World with Kids - 5th edition
(John Wiley and Sons, 2007) ISBN 978-0470098424 0470098422

Theme:

This comprehensive guidebook tells moms, dads, single parents and grandparents how to plan and enjoy a Walt Disney World family vacation. It includes detailed advice on how to budget, select hotels, restaurants and attractions, and organize theme park tours to save time and money.

Sample Items:

The Budget section specifies the cost for a day at Walt Disney World including admission, meals, parking, souvenirs and extras like babysitting. Charts compare prices for basic tickets and park hopper passes for visits of one to ten days.

The Dining chapter describes buffets, meal deals with coupons, dinner shows, restaurants offering full-service meals and fast food, character meals and ways to save money on food. Charts list reservation information, types of cuisine, cost of fast food and popular snacks. For each restaurant listed in Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney-MGM Studios and Animal Kingdom, the guidebook describes types of food, quality, portion size, location and value for money.

Notable Elements:

The back of The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World with Kids contains clip out sample touring plans, with maps for each theme park. There are one and two day touring plans for families with small children, tweens, parents and grandparents.

For each Disney theme park attraction, the guidebook specifies ride description, appeal by age, scope, scale, fright potential, bottleneck rating, when to go, duration of ride, average wait time, loading speed and authors' rating. A chart compares restaurants where kids can meet Disney characters. It lists location (theme park or hotel), meals served, type of service (buffet, menu, family style), food variety and quality, setting, noise level and which characters kids will see. A live entertainment section describes parades, street entertainers and nighttime laser and fireworks shows.

The FASTPASS section specifies how the system works to reduce wait times, how to obtain a FASTPASS, when to use it, and guidelines for use.

A hotel information chart compares Disney hotels by location, room rating, cost and commuting time to parks. The section on Lodging Outside Walt Disney World specifies rate per night, pool, fridge, maximum persons per room and shuttle to parks, with contact information and comments on restaurants and children's programs. A sidebar lists and rates WDW Resort swimming pools.

Charts for Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon describe water slides, height requirements and where to find food in the water parks.

Tone / Style:

The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World with Kids has more than 430 pages of practical, helpful, well-organized and humorous information, guidelines and suggestions. The chapters follow a logical sequence providing advice for typical questions about Walt Disney World. What's the best age to bring children to WDW? What are the best websites for Disney information? Where can I find Disney phone numbers? When is the best time to go? Where should we stay and eat? What should we bring with us? What rides are best for my kids?

Advice from the authors and families, helpful comparison charts with pros and cons, prices and ratings appear throughout the guidebook.

Three very useful indices list accommodations, restaurants and subjects.

Visuals:

Black and white icons add humor and advice, e.g., six symbols indicate if rides are scary, rough, dark, wet, and potentially cause motion sickness or lost items. Readers will laugh at the cartoons and comments that accentuate points. Twelve maps help visitors find how to get around Walt Disney World and specific park locations including Downtown Disney.

Contents:

• List of maps


• Introduction
  • How come "unofficial"?
  • About this guide
  • A quick tour of a big world


• Basic Considerations
  • Is Walt Disney World for you?
  • The age thing
  • About inviting your children's friends
  • A few words for single parents
  • 'He who hesitates is launched' tips and warnings for grandparents
  • Order and discipline on the road


• Getting your act together
  • Gathering information
  • Allocating time
  • Planning your Walt Disney World vacation budget
  • Babysitting


• Where to stay
  • Some basic considerations
  • Walt Disney World lodging
  • Walt Disney World hotels: strengths and weaknesses for families
  • Lodging outside Walt Disney World
  • How to childproof a hotel room


• Dining
  • Eating outside Walt Disney World
  • Dining in Walt Disney World


• Disney Boot Camp: basic training for world-bound families
  • The brutal truth about family vacations
  • Mental and emotional preparation
  • Physical preparation
  • Developing a good plan
  • Logistic preparation
  • Remembering your trip
  • Trial run


• Get in the boat, men!
  • Ready, set, tour! Some touring considerations
  • Character analysis
  • Strollers
  • When kids get lost


• The Magic Kingdom
  • Main Street, U.S.A.
  • Adventureland
  • Frontierland
  • Liberty Square
  • Fantasyland
  • Mickey's Toontown Fair
  • Tomorrowland
  • Live entertainment and parades in the Magic Kingdom
  • Magic Kingdom touring plans


• Epcot
  • Epcot services
  • KIDCOT fun stops
  • Future World
  • World Showcase
  • Live entertainment at Epcot
  • Epcot touring plans


• The Animal Kingdom
  • Discovery Island
  • Camp Minnie-Mickey
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • DinoLand U.S.A.
  • Live entertainment at Animal Kingdom
  • Animal Kingdom touring plans


• Disney-MGM Studios
  • Live entertainment at Disney-MGM Studios
  • Disney-MGM touring plans


• Universal Orlando and SeaWorld
  • Disney-MGM Studios versus Universal Studios Florida
  • Universal Orlando
  • Universal Studios Florida
  • Universal Studios Florida attractions
  • Live entertainment at Universal Studios
  • Universal Studios Florida touring plan
  • Universal's Islands of Adventure
  • Islands of Adventure attractions
  • Islands of Adventure touring plan
  • SeaWorld


• The rest of the world
  • The water theme parks
  • Blizzard Beach
  • Typhoon Lagoon
  • Downtown Disney
  • The best of the rest
  • Golf
  • Miniature golf


• Indexes


• Clip-out touring plans

Author:

Bob Sehlinger and Liliane J. Opsomer with Len Testa

Claim to fame:

The authors visited Walt Disney World frequently over the past 20 years. They combine their travel advice with tips from three children and 29,000 interviewed families.

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More information on Walt Disney World:

Walt Disney World Animal Kingdom offers family fun

Disney Water Parks - Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach

Return to Travel Index

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