|
 For
this session, we will look at the fourth of our Walt Disney bibles,
Birnbaum's Walt Disney
World 2002 : Expert Advice from the Inside Source
(click on the image to order from Amazon.com) Jill Safro
et al (Disney Editions and Hearst Business Publishing, Inc.: 2001. ISBN:
0-7868-5339-5).
This is the granddaddy of all the Walt Disney World bibles. The late
Steve Birnbaum introduced the first edition in 1981. It was virtually
the only kid on the block of its kind. Birnbaum's access to Walt Disney
World official information and images such as cartoon characters and color
resort photographs easily helped this guide become the number one source
for information for guests planning their WDW vacations.
How has this book fared over the years, and how does it stack up against
our other bibles? Let's take a look.
Basic Features
This book set the standard for all WDW Guides. One of its strongest
features is the use of colorful page layouts filled with recognizable
Disney images for both young and old. Every page of this book contains
one or two Disney characters that compliment the information provided
on the page.
Another trademark of Birnbaum's guide is the assortment of helpful
tables placed early on in the book. These tables are obviously put together
with the first-time guest in mind, as they concentrate on such things
as weather, directions, admission prices, a "resort finder"
and more.
Throughout the book are "hot tips" hosted by Goofy. They
cover all areas such as resorts, attractions, and restaurants.
The book is constructed in such a way as to assume that the reader
has never visited Walt Disney World, and needs a tutorial to plan a
successful and fun-filled vacation. This is not to say that the other
bibles do not cater to the first-timer. Birnbaum just tends to lean
towards being more of a tutorial guide than the others.
A colored tab sets off each section of the book but you need to flip
the pages to see just what that section contains.
Above all, this book features color, color, and more color.
Maps
The maps in this book are exact copies of the theme park guide maps
that WDW guests pick up at each theme park. Thus they are very detailed
and provide the reader with the most accurate description of specific
WDW areas as possible. The real advantage to having identical maps is
that the reader's comfort level is transferred right off the page when
they open a guide map at a theme park. There need to make no adjustments
as they would with maps from other bibles. This is yet another plus
for having access to official information.
Information Retrieval
Although this book is constructed as a tutorial for the first-time
visitor to WDW, it also serves the WDW veteran who may need a refresher
before vacation time arrives.
Information is provided in blocks of data. That is, the pages contain
two columns of text blocked off by colored section headings. All specific
information blocks are headed with colored or bold text, makes information
easy to locate. These colored and bolded headers catch your eye and
helps you quickly note what information is on the page.
The colored tabs get you to the general section you are looking for,
and a quick scan of the pages helps you zero in on the information you
need.
The page layout, use of color, photographs, and bold and colored text
makes this guide a fun book to read and the information is both easy
and fun to get to.
Attraction Information
Each theme park has its own section in the guide. Each section deals
with all aspects of the parks, as well as an orientation and park primer
section. The book gives a basic description of each attraction and sometimes
provides a hot tip for the reader.
The more elaborate attractions are described in finer detail, and sometimes
include background information on the development of that attraction.
Attractions offering Fastpass tickets are indicated with an "FP"
at the beginning of their descriptions. The descriptions provide a good
indication of whether or not the attraction is worth visiting. However,
unlike other WDW guidebooks, there is no standard table that indicates
ride type, ride length, and appropriate age for the ride or attraction.
This book relies on the depth of each attraction description to help
you decide whether or not it's an attraction for you and your family.
The book also offers one day touring schedules for each theme park.
These could be helpful for those e guests who are pressed for time and
may not be able to visit each attraction.
Hotel Information
This book provides quite a lot of information about the WDW resorts,
starting with general information about staying on the property before
getting into the specific resorts. A handy feature is the "Walt
Disney World Resort Finder" a table that helps you determine which
WDW resort is a good match for your needs. The table divides the resorts
by group (deluxe, home away from home, moderate, value, and campground)
and highlights the resort theme, amenities, and other aspects of each
resort. There is also a table on room rates. [Room rates are guidelines,
and actual rates for specific times of year and specials may vary.]
The individual resort descriptions are very detailed, offering information
on resort theme, rooms, restaurants, and other amenities. Photographs
accompany these descriptions. Magic Kingdom Area, Epcot Area, Downtown
Disney Area, Animal Kingdom Area, and resorts on the Hotel Plaza Boulevard
separate these descriptions.
This guide gives the first-timer a good indication of what each resort
offers, and provides some help in making the best choice when picking
a location to stay.
Restaurant Information
This book devotes over 30 pages to restaurants, dinner shows, and lounges
found at the WDW resort. The section entitled "Good Meals, Great
Times" divides the restaurant information into those found in the
theme parks, in Downtown Disney, and in the WDW resorts.
For the theme parks, each fast food or table service restaurant is
described by location, offerings, and general cost. There are mealtime
tips provided for each park as well as the occasional hot tip.
The resort restaurants are also given good attention and provide some
guidance as to where you may want to eat and what you can afford.
The book offers a Character Dining table to help decide on the best
character meal in terms of meal type, style, price, characters, and
theme..
There is also a "Restaurant Roundup" that points out such
things as top family restaurants, best character meal, best dinner show,
best pizza, best seafood, best ice cream, and so on. The Birnbaum staff
make these selections based on food quality restaurant atmosphere, location,
and overall value.
Table of Contents
This book has an interesting table of contents. It takes the nine chapters
of this book and gives a one-paragraph description for each chapter.
Although these provide a general description of the chapter's contents,
they does not deliver the type of detail that many readers may be looking
for.
I get the feeling the authors did this purposely to encourage readers
to thumb through the book. Many people, may read this table of contents
just once.
Index
The index is a bit more useful than the table of contents but it lacks
a level of cross-referencing that would help readers find specific information.
You may have to work a bit harder to find what you're looking for, but
you will find it.
Again, there seems to be a conscious effort on the part of the staff
to nudge you into thumbing through the book, with maybe the intention
that after a while you will familiarize yourself with the book so much
you would not depend on the index as much.
Bibliography
The author, Jill Safro, gives much credit to Walt Disney World personnel
for the data for this book. Besides these sources, she also pays tribute
to several other experts who helped. I get the impression that the Walt
Disney officials handed a pile of information to Safro and her staff,
who then "imagineered" the information into a colorful, fun,
and useful package.
Mike's Take
I remember the first time I purchased Steve Birnbaum's book, and the
excitement of opening up the first few pages and just diving into the
information. The colors, inviting photographs, and tables played a huge
part in my excitement level, and helped me absorb the information I was
so desperately seeking.
I think this book is a must for any first-timer planning a WDW vacation.
This book provides a good foundation of information for all aspects of
a Walt Disney World vacation, and is a springboard for all Walt Disney
World vacation planning.
The 2002 edition was published in the fall of 2001, so some information
may be outdated. Nothing stands still in Walt Disney World.
Regardless, this pillar of information on the Walt Disney Resort should
be on everyone's list when planning a trip. It provides the reader with
virtually everything needed to begin a journey towards a great family
vacation
It's the granddaddy of them all and don't we all love our grandfathers?
Next time: Mike's Mailbag
Class dismissed.
|
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!
|
