Jan. 4, 2009 - The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2007: A Review
Mind numbing. It's the only possible descriptor for 814 pages of painstakingly researched detail by Bob Sehlinger with Len Testa.
A buddy and I shared many hearty laughs at the expense of a person we know who recently planned a week at Disney. I say planned, but that doesn't capture the essence of what I truly mean. Storming the beaches at Normandy appears hastily thrown together and spur of the moment by comparison. In this planning, preteen kids received a many page Excel spreadsheet folder with a down to the minute itinerary of who would ride what, when, with whom; duration and description of each ride, precisely when and where meals would be eaten (menus enclosed so they could begin making their selections of entrees), where bathrooms were located, who would get FASTPASSES for what and when. Customized maps accompanied the presentation. I kid you not. My friend and I began to call those kids' return from their trip "re-entry into civilian life."
After one thumbs through The Unofficial Guide, this special brand of crazy begins to seem like just good common sense.
Early on, Sehlinger and Testa hit you with the story of a reader--one with more than a touch of self-confessed OCD--who used The Unofficial Guide book and wound up, Day 3, at the ER in Florida with a panic attack brought on by her rigid adherence to The Guide. Any book that comes with such a caveat one has to think twice about.
I'm assuming the 2009 version of this book is even longer, but here's my advice and review. Skip to the rip-out touring plans that begin on p.781 and adhere to them in reasonable person fashion. Accept on faith that the team of researchers know their stuff when they advise what park to visit on what day and which order to attack the park. Faith challenged? See pp. 1-780. Combine this with a looksee at www.mousesavers.com and have a fine Disney vacation. Worried that an older edition of The Guide might not be adequate? You can read all the yearly updates at www.touringplans.com . Chant to yourself daily that it is OK if you spend several thousand dollars to find your kids really just want to swim in the hotel pool all afternoon. If you're not fine with that; don't go to Disney in the first place. You'll make yourself and all those subjected to you nuts.
For those who want every possible detail, comparison, description and nuance, this is the book for you. If you consult only one guide to Disney, make this the one. I now know Cosmic Ray's at Magic Kingdom serves kosher food, a handy tidbit since a kosher keeping family will be joining us at Disney for a few days. And I know which buildings at All Star Sports to request for being the quietest (Building 3 west or Building 2 north). I gave myself a pat on the back when the Guide noted that Sports, the place I had already reserved, is the recommended All Star to stay at since that's the one busses drop off at first--not an inconsequential consideration if your three year old is in full meltdown mode after a long day. It's also the book for you if you only recently arrived here on the planet from, say, Jupiter (the planet, not the Florida city) and have not yet encountered a person who has been to Disney and shared their wealth of tips with you. And really, have you yet met a person who has been to Disney who doesn't want to share their wealth of tips? Nope, me either.
Proof is in the pudding. If Twain was a "Grant- intoxicated" man (see my first book review, below), then my family is a "rat-intoxicated" one. In a few weeks, we will make the journey to our American Mecca for the third time. This, by the way, is not a fact of which I am proud. Gettysburg? Haven't seen it. Washington, DC? Maybe next year. The Grand Canyon? Here's hopin'. But Mad Hatter's Tea Party? Spun on it til we want to toss our cookies. We're Unofficial Guide virgins, but I will be sure to let you know after the fact if our Guide adherence turned a nicely done, hugely over-priced amusement park into Paradise for us. But maybe I should let one of the rat-intoxicated ones update you on that...
Blessings, Holly
Comments
Jan. 13, 2009 - Thanks for reading the book!
Posted by Anonymous
Hey Holly, thanks for reading the Guide. Drop me a line if there's anything we can help with for your trip.
Len Testa
