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To plan your first Walt Disney World vacation, you decide to look for
a book to help plan your trip. You go to your favorite bookstore, and
are overwhelmed by the number of Walt Disney World guidebooks on the shelves.
Which book is the best for you? Which book has the answers for you?
Over the next several sessions I review the top Walt Disney World "bibles,"
those guidebooks that offer you the most helpful information when planning
a Walt Disney World vacation, and examine the strengths and weaknesses
of each book, guiding you towards the titles that best suit your needs.
About the bibles
If you go to Amazon.com and search for books on Disney World, you will
find over 200 results. Who has the time to go through all those pages
to take care of your WDW planning needs?
The four books that I review in this series were chosen based on longevity
and popularity. While some have been around for a long time, and some
are relatively new, these four, based on comments from many people seem
to be the most helpful for WDW vacation planning.
These four books are, in alphabetical order:
- Birnbaum's Walt Disney World 2002: Expert Advice from the Inside Source
Jill Safro (editor) and Stephen
Birnbaum (editor).
256 pages. Hyperion: October 2001.
ISBN: 0786853395
- Passporter Walt Disney World 2002: The Unique Travel Guide, Planner,
Organizer, Journal, and Keepsake!
by Jennifer Watson, Dave Marx,
Allison Cerel Marx.
296 pages, spiral-bound. MediaMarx:
January 2002. ISBN: 1587710021
- Rita Aero's Walt Disney World: The Essential Guide to Amazing Vacations
by Rita Aero.
272 pages. Griffin: May 2001.
ISBN: 0312281595.
- The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2002
by Bob Sehlinger.
768 pages. Hungry Minds: August
2001. ISBN: 0764564218
 Rita
Aero's Walt Disney World : The Essential Guide to Amazing Vacations
(click on the image to order from Amazon.com)
In today's session, we examine Rita Aero's book, which I believe is the
best Walt Disney World guidebook for first-time visitors to Orlando. The
subtitle of the book pretty much says it all: there are some basic essentials
that must be addressed in planning your WDW vacation. Let's see what Rita
has to offer us.
Credibility
A guidebook is only as good as its resources. Rita introduces us to
her Expert Advisor Rating System - or E.A.R.S.-Academy. Among her academy
elite is MousePlanet's own Brian Bennett. This book enjoys extra credibility
because the thoughts and opinions expressed in it come from a number
of experts such as Brian and other academy members, instead of from
just a single person.
Rita has put together quite a group of Disney experts to help her
write this book. With such an assortment of knowledgeable people, this
book offers first-timers some key information that they desperately
needed.
Rita not only pays homage to these experts but also lists important
Disney Web sites that can also help her audience, including
MousePlanet and her own site,
Readers Clubhouse, an extension to her book.
Basic features
In judging Walt Disney World guidebooks, I first determine how well
the information jumps off the page, and how and where information is
placed in the book. It is here that one of the strengths in Rita Aero's
book lies.
In her "Essentials" section, she addresses questions most
first-timers have, and points to areas that can supplement her answers.
In this way, she quickly brings her audience up to speed and establishes
a comfort level for the readers. Read the first 30 pages of the book,
and you will find that Aero answers your most obvious questions. Also,
her friendly approach has a calming effect and helps ease your anxiety
about your upcoming trip.
The book is divided into distinct sections on subjects such as attractions,
resorts, restaurants and so on, with each section easily reached through
the book's tabbing section.
Maps
Vital parts for any WDW guidebook are maps. Aero's book does not flood
pages with fancy graphics and a zillion colors, but instead uses soft
colors and shading to provide simple representations of various WDW
resort areas. This approach helps build a comfort level for the reader.
All areas of the resort are represented, including theme parks, water
parks, Disney Quest, the Disney Marketplace, and Pleasure Island.
Information retrieval
Aero achieves a high level of information retrieval in her book through
the use of clever tables. In the front of the book are some very helpful
tables that provide information on crowds, weather, monthly summaries
of the resort, admission, and hotel and restaurant comparisons. These
are at the front of the book, making for easy searches because they
are not hidden deep in the book.
One of the most clever sections of this first part of the book is the
decision box that helps you decide whether or not you need to rent a
car. Answer the questions Aero asks, and you can make your decision.
Somehow this seems much more effective than reading a paragraph on this
subject.
Attraction information
All the attractions are adequately described. Extra helpful information
such as ride duration and height requirements are also included. Aero's
"Fun Factor Ratings" indicate the popularity of each attraction
with each age group. This is an important barometer for parents who
want a good idea as to what attractions may be best for their children.
You can see ratings for tiny tots, children, teenagers, adults, and
for mature guests. The icons and shading take some getting used to before
you remember what they represent. For example, most of you reading this
are "elephants" according to the book. Once you see the book
you will understand.
Hotel information
The tabbed hotel section has all the hotels arranged in alphabetical
order. Each hotel is described with information including ambience,
restaurants, hotel features, and of course, room prices. Although the
hotel comparison guide in the front of the book groups the hotels by
class, the descriptions themselves are not grouped this way. This section
also includes some rare hotel tips. This section also contains information
on some off-site hotels.
Restaurant information
Besides putting a handy restaurant cuisine table in the front of the
book, Aero also cleverly places restaurant information along the edges
of the pages that contain the attractions descriptions. I say "clever"
because the restaurant information is strategically placed near the
descriptions of those attractions that are physically located near the
same restaurants in the park. It is a very good use of page layout and
very handy for the first-timer.
The tabbed section devoted to restaurants provides information such
as location, type of food, atmosphere, location, price range, and a
few other tips. The information is laid out identically for all restaurants;
another great idea that makes it easier for the reader to focus where
certain information is located on every page. It's always in the same
general area, providing that quick information retrieval again.
Special events
For those looking to do something a little different, Aero devotes
a tabbed section to special events. This section gives you some great
ideas for special dining experiences, things to do around the holidays,
and just some real interesting things that you may not have realized
are available at WDW. This section is not only for the first-timer but
also for the WDW veteran looking for a different WDW experience.
Recreation
Aero devotes 15 pages to recreational sports. On these is information
on WDW annual sporting events as well as activities that guests can
enjoy. Aero tells you what you can do, where you can do it, how much
it costs, and throws in some tips to boot.
Extras
The last section of the book contains extra travel tips and ideas to
ensure a successful and safe vacation, including some vital information
on Orlando International Airport and airport hotels. The information
on the airport hotels are for tired travelers who arrive in Orlando
at night and prefer to wait to take the 20-mile ride to their hotel
in the morning, and for those who are taking morning flights home. The
rest of this section discusses babysitting, day camps, special needs
information, and shops and services in the area.
The last page of the book contains a telephone directory. It fills
the whole page and offers the readers one-stop shopping for most frequently
used telephone numbers. These numbers are also included with their specific
section but are also offered here for quick retrieval.
Table of contents (book organization)
Aero's book is designed like a reference guide with seven major sections.
Although each section is devoted to a particular aspect of WDW, be aware
that you may encounter some overlap in which for instance you will find
restaurant information slotted in the Attractions section.
The seven major sections of the book include:
- The Amazing Guide - This introduction section describes the features
of the book, contributors to the book's content, and additional resources.
- Essentials - This section focuses on the vital information first-time
WDW vacationers need before they go. Thoughts on when to go, crowd
levels, weather, admission tickets, and whether or not to rent a car
are among the areas discussed in this section.
- Attractions - This section is devoted to theme parks, recreation
areas, and "entertainment destinations." It also includes
attraction ratings.
- Hotels - Both on-site and off-site hotels are discussed and compared
in this section.
- Restaurants - Besides restaurants, this section also contains information
on making reservations and saving money on your meals.
- Special Events - The always-popular character meals, dinner shows,
guided tours, and party boat excursions are among those things discussed
in this section.
- Recreation - This section contains information on annual sporting
events, as well as recreational sports available to Walt Disney World
guests.
- Resources - This is the section you refer to for travel tips, special
needs, airport information, and other services.
- Universal Studios Orlando - What would a Walt Disney World book
do without a section on Universal Studios and the Islands of Adventure?
The table of contents is simple and provides clear guidance to the
various pieces of information within the book. Each section has very
simple descriptive headers for each sub-section.
Index
When I look for an index I go to the back of a book. Not so for this
WDW bible. Instead, this index is placed before the last section of
the book (on Universal Studios). I don't know why. Universal Studios
is in the index.
The index for the book is adequate for most readers. Index use is a
matter of choice and I am sure that the index in this book may not have
the depth for those readers who depend on an index as a launching pad
to getting information.
The index however is a good representation of the book. It is simple
yet has cross-referencing entries where needed. In going through this
book I found that I did not use the index that much because of the tabbing
system. Also, the book does a good job of grouping information and once
I saw how this was accomplished, I really did not need the index.
Bibliography
The panel of experts known as the E.A.R.S. Academy (Expert Advisor
Rating System) is listed in the book along with brief bios of each member
,and if present, a URL to their respective Web site. This is the closest
thing to a bibliography for this book. The book also contains information
on other resources such as journals, newsletters, other books, and recommended
Web sites.
Mike's take
Rita Aero's book must be considered as one of the Walt Disney World bibles.
The efficient use of page layout, tables, and simple graphics makes for
a user-friendly environment that embraces those who are planning their
first WDW trip. This book is highly effective as a resource companion
in the WDW trip-planning process, and should strongly be considered by
those who have never been to the WDW resort. The strongest points about
this book are the attention taken to how the information is laid out,
and how easily this information can be retrieved by the reader.
If you are in need of a WDW guide that can make the WDW learning curve
a cinch, then you take a serious look at Rita Aero's book.
Click on the image to order from
Amazon.com
Next Week: The Walt Disney bibles: The Unofficial Guide
Correction
In our last session on unique WDW dining experiences, we erroneously
reported that priority seating for Cinderella's Round Table may be made
as early as 120 days in advance from the date of the reservation. This
is incorrect. As of the publication of today's column, the current window
of time is within 60 days. Policies are constantly changing and we regret
if we caused any inconvenience.
Class dismissed.
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Photos on this page by
Brian Bennett unless otherwise noted
Here are several links
to information on other WDW Trip Planning Resources | MousePlanet's
Other WDW Resources | Walt
Disney World Trip Planning Video | MouseTips-The
Unofficial Newsletter of WDW | Other
Sources on the World Wide Web | Resources
for Non-Disney Touring (in the Orlando Area) And here is a link
to Brian Bennett's own Critiques
of Published Guide Books (including the book reviewed here by Mike
Scopa).
Here's a list of the trip
reports that Mike has written that are part of MousePlanet's archives!
Also, don't miss Lani
Teshima's column, "The
Trip Planner" for more travel planning information!
Brian Bennett, author of MousePlanet's
WDW Trip Planning Guide
(and publisher of the Disney
Trip Report Archive), writes:
The first Disney trip report that I ever
read was a report by Mike Scopa that I downloaded from the America Online
travel library in late 1994. The report was a detailed description of
the Scopa family's trip to WDW in the summer of that year.
As soon as I was done reading it, I was
hooked.
I picked my own brain and documented my
own trips and the things I'd learned from my own experiences. Then, in
1995 I actually wrote a report as the trip unfolded. I took a laptop with
me and spent some time in the evenings documenting what had happened that
day. (I've repeated that process for my own reports ever since.)
In July 1996, I started my Disney
trip planning Web site. Besides including my own reports, I asked
for permission from the authors of several other reports and added them
to the offering. Since then, the number of reports has expanded greatly.
In 1997, I added an information summary for each report to make it easier
to sort through the reports that are available.
I still 'blame' Mike for hooking me on
this Disney habit.
Thanks Mike!
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