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The Complete Walt Disney World 2010
The Definitive Disney Handbook On the heels of capturing eight national book awards, the best-selling Complete Walt Disney World series returns with The Complete Walt Disney World 2010. Now with more than 500 full-color photographs, this show-and-tell extravaganza rates and reviews nearly 700 attractions, restaurants, shops and hotels and offers hundreds of helpful tips. New attraction coverage includes the refurbished Space Mountain, the revamped Hall of Presidents and the all-new American Idol Experience. As for planning your trip, illustrated articles make it easy to choose the right theme-park tickets, understand the Disney Dining Plan and save a lot of time and money. Young families in particular will find the book helpful, as the abundance of photos give children a way to read it with their parents. Eye-catching images show attractions, hotels, restaurants and more. Award-Winning Advice The only independent Disney guide ever honored by the Walt Disney Company, The Complete Walt Disney World is the winner of Disney's iParenting Media Award for Outstanding Family Product. Other honors include Travel Guide of the Year and Nonfiction Book of the Year. Ten Features Found Only in The Complete Walt Disney World 2010: 1. What's New Learn everything that's new or different at Disney with a handy summary right at the front of the book.
2. Plan Perfect Theme Park Days New Planning Your Day sections let you learn the best days of the week to visit each park, the best rides for your unique children, and how long the lines will probably be at each attraction for every hour of the day.
3. Character Locators Love Tinker Bell? Cinderella? The Mad Hatter? These lists show exactly where to meet dozens of Disney stars at every theme park.
4. Become the Ultimate Disney World Gamer Insider tips help you rack up incredible scores at Disney's ride-through shooting arcades, including the new 3-D Toy Story Mania.
5. Lions, Tigers, Giraffes... Oh My! All-new Animal Kingdom wildlife guides feature fab photos and fascinating facts. Habitat maps make it easy to spot your favorite exotic creatures.
6. Dude Looks Like a Lady Interesting backstories, histories, science secrets, Fun Finds, Fun Facts (Tinker Bell is sometimes a man?) and Hidden Mickeys help make every attraction interesting for everyone in your group.
7. New Photo-Filled Shopping Guides See unique souvenirs sold at each theme park, know what they cost and where to find them. Learn which stores offer the best items for you.
8. Totally Awesome Water Park Tips Learn how to catch major air on Disney's water slides and win its downhill races. Helpful details about every pool, river and slide let you decide which ones are too wild--or mild--for your family.
9. See Your Room Before You Book It Don't just read about the Disney resort hotels, see what they look like! Over a hundred new hotel photos include landscapes, swimming pools and best of all, rooms. Expanded reviews include pool features such as slides and waterfalls and children's activities such as pirate-themed scavenger hunts. Comprehensive specs include when each hotel was last renovated and how far it is from each theme park. Learn about the three new Disney Vacation Club timeshares as well as non-Disney hotels such as the huge new Hilton next door and the rebuilt Holiday Inn at Downtown Disney.
10. Who Ya Gonna Call? Conveniently located on the book's last page, an expanded Walt Disney World telephone directory lists over 90 rarely published numbers, including those for medical and dental emergencies, Lost and Found, even Special Occasion Cakes. Authors Julie and Mike Neal have been to Walt Disney World more than 1,400 times, and visit weekly. They live on Sanibel Island, Fla.
2. Plan Perfect Theme Park Days New Planning Your Day sections let you learn the best days of the week to visit each park, the best rides for your unique children, and how long the lines will probably be at each attraction for every hour of the day.
3. Character Locators Love Tinker Bell? Cinderella? The Mad Hatter? These lists show exactly where to meet dozens of Disney stars at every theme park.
4. Become the Ultimate Disney World Gamer Insider tips help you rack up incredible scores at Disney's ride-through shooting arcades, including the new 3-D Toy Story Mania.
5. Lions, Tigers, Giraffes... Oh My! All-new Animal Kingdom wildlife guides feature fab photos and fascinating facts. Habitat maps make it easy to spot your favorite exotic creatures.
6. Dude Looks Like a Lady Interesting backstories, histories, science secrets, Fun Finds, Fun Facts (Tinker Bell is sometimes a man?) and Hidden Mickeys help make every attraction interesting for everyone in your group.
7. New Photo-Filled Shopping Guides See unique souvenirs sold at each theme park, know what they cost and where to find them. Learn which stores offer the best items for you.
8. Totally Awesome Water Park Tips Learn how to catch major air on Disney's water slides and win its downhill races. Helpful details about every pool, river and slide let you decide which ones are too wild--or mild--for your family.
9. See Your Room Before You Book It Don't just read about the Disney resort hotels, see what they look like! Over a hundred new hotel photos include landscapes, swimming pools and best of all, rooms. Expanded reviews include pool features such as slides and waterfalls and children's activities such as pirate-themed scavenger hunts. Comprehensive specs include when each hotel was last renovated and how far it is from each theme park. Learn about the three new Disney Vacation Club timeshares as well as non-Disney hotels such as the huge new Hilton next door and the rebuilt Holiday Inn at Downtown Disney.
10. Who Ya Gonna Call? Conveniently located on the book's last page, an expanded Walt Disney World telephone directory lists over 90 rarely published numbers, including those for medical and dental emergencies, Lost and Found, even Special Occasion Cakes. Authors Julie and Mike Neal have been to Walt Disney World more than 1,400 times, and visit weekly. They live on Sanibel Island, Fla.
- GenresNonfictionTravel
352 pages, Paperback
First published December 31, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 30, 2017
This book is full of excellent and useful information. There are detailed descriptions and reviews of all the rides, attractions, shows, restaurants and resorts. There are sections on planning your trip, budget tips, what's new, and have I mentioned the colorful, glossy, and unusual pictures on EVERY page! This is a beautiful book, one I like to carry in my backpack and whip out to check information on how to avoid long lines at a particular ride, or to impress friends with details and trivia about every bit of theming at WDW. It's also comprehensive, second only to the PassPorter Guide to Walt Disney World as a complete source of information on all things relating to Walt Disney World, and the pictures and detailed descriptions make it a superb resource for both the casual visitor and the die-hard Disney fan who has made multiple trips to the World. I highly recommend this book.
April 16, 2011
The Complete Walt Disney World 2010 by Julie and Mike Neal is a comprehensive resource that covers the parks, Disney resorts and other accommodations in the area, restaurants and much more. According to the cover, there are 550 color photos in the book (I didn't count) and I must say they definitely add to the experience.
The book begins with a section about what's new at Disney for 2010. Because it's now 2011, I will say this wasn't as useful as it would have been last year. Books like this definitely become dated quickly.
Then they go into a section on Planning Your Trip, which covers the different ticket options, dining plan, and tips on saving time and money. This is especially important for first-time visitors to Disney World. There are some great tips here.
Next, the authors go into sections on each of the theme parks: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disney's Animal Kingdom. This is the section I found most valuable, especially for the two parks we were planning on visiting ~ Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios.
The authors give a general description of the theme park and some of the key attractions, and include a detailed map showing where everything is. They have a section on Planning Your Day for each park, which is very useful, including information about deciding when to go and what to do.
The thing I thought was most useful was the hour-by-hour wait times charts they had for each park. This was great! So, for example, it showed for the Buzz Lightyear ride in Magic Kingdom that at 10am, the wait time is generally 25 minutes; by 1pm, it's 45 minutes; and at 6pm, it's down to 25 minutes. This chart helped us plan our day and make decisions on which rides to go on when.
The other chart they include for each park is the Fastpass return times chart. This is incredibly valuable information as well. The Fastpass system lets you get a special ticket for the ride, which lets you return later and ride without waiting in line. The ticket has a specific time when you can return to ride. This chart tells you when that time generally is. So, for example, if you pick up a Fastpass ticket for Space Mountain at 10am, you will most likely be able to return and ride at 11:30; if you get the ticket at 1pm, you'll be able to return and ride at 5:25pm. And if you try to get a Fastpass ticket for Space Mountain at 5pm, they'll probably be out for the day.
If you're looking for more assistance with setting up a schedule for your day, they offer a plan for each park, including times to do each activity. The only issue is that there is only one suggested schedule for each park, and this schedule isn't going to meet everyone's needs and desires. I've seen other resources that provide a variety of plans for a variety of situations (with little kids, with teens, adults alone, etc.) That would be more useful.
After offering that one plan, they go into detailed pages on each attraction, including average wait times, and the parades and fireworks featured at the park. After covering the theme parks, the book goes into detailed sections on each water park and Downtown Disney, sports and recreation activities in the area, the Disney resorts and hotels off-property, and special events at different times of the year.
Overall, this would have been a fine resource if you were heading to Disney World in 2010. Now, however, things have changed quite a bit. For example, we visited the Magic Kingdom last month, and all of Mickey's Toontown Fair was closed for renovations. The book didn't cover this fact, so some of the information about where things are were wrong since things have been moved around. However, this was still a good resource to have, and if they publish an updated version for another year, I will likely check it out next time we go to Disney!
The book begins with a section about what's new at Disney for 2010. Because it's now 2011, I will say this wasn't as useful as it would have been last year. Books like this definitely become dated quickly.
Then they go into a section on Planning Your Trip, which covers the different ticket options, dining plan, and tips on saving time and money. This is especially important for first-time visitors to Disney World. There are some great tips here.
Next, the authors go into sections on each of the theme parks: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disney's Animal Kingdom. This is the section I found most valuable, especially for the two parks we were planning on visiting ~ Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios.
The authors give a general description of the theme park and some of the key attractions, and include a detailed map showing where everything is. They have a section on Planning Your Day for each park, which is very useful, including information about deciding when to go and what to do.
The thing I thought was most useful was the hour-by-hour wait times charts they had for each park. This was great! So, for example, it showed for the Buzz Lightyear ride in Magic Kingdom that at 10am, the wait time is generally 25 minutes; by 1pm, it's 45 minutes; and at 6pm, it's down to 25 minutes. This chart helped us plan our day and make decisions on which rides to go on when.
The other chart they include for each park is the Fastpass return times chart. This is incredibly valuable information as well. The Fastpass system lets you get a special ticket for the ride, which lets you return later and ride without waiting in line. The ticket has a specific time when you can return to ride. This chart tells you when that time generally is. So, for example, if you pick up a Fastpass ticket for Space Mountain at 10am, you will most likely be able to return and ride at 11:30; if you get the ticket at 1pm, you'll be able to return and ride at 5:25pm. And if you try to get a Fastpass ticket for Space Mountain at 5pm, they'll probably be out for the day.
If you're looking for more assistance with setting up a schedule for your day, they offer a plan for each park, including times to do each activity. The only issue is that there is only one suggested schedule for each park, and this schedule isn't going to meet everyone's needs and desires. I've seen other resources that provide a variety of plans for a variety of situations (with little kids, with teens, adults alone, etc.) That would be more useful.
After offering that one plan, they go into detailed pages on each attraction, including average wait times, and the parades and fireworks featured at the park. After covering the theme parks, the book goes into detailed sections on each water park and Downtown Disney, sports and recreation activities in the area, the Disney resorts and hotels off-property, and special events at different times of the year.
Overall, this would have been a fine resource if you were heading to Disney World in 2010. Now, however, things have changed quite a bit. For example, we visited the Magic Kingdom last month, and all of Mickey's Toontown Fair was closed for renovations. The book didn't cover this fact, so some of the information about where things are were wrong since things have been moved around. However, this was still a good resource to have, and if they publish an updated version for another year, I will likely check it out next time we go to Disney!
December 30, 2010
I got a digital advanced reading copy of this book through netgalley.com. I am a frequent Disney World vacationer and have been there numerous times. Now that my son is three we are getting ready to take another trip to Disney World and I was hoping this book would help us plan our trip. Overall it is a great resource for Disney travelers.
The book starts with a short chapter on the things that are new for 2010. This is great is you have frequented Disney World before and are mainly interested in what's new there. The second chapter is the most useful of the book and goes into great detail on trip planning. There is a wonderful chart on the different types of park passes and their costs. The planning section also goes into great detail on more obscure things that I have never used at Disney World before; like meal plans, fast passes, and child swap. There are great tips on how to save both time and money to make the most of your trip. They also talk about transportation, restaurants, etc. The section on special diets is really small, only a paragraph or two. I have two family members that have celiac's disease, so I was a bit disappointed this wasn't gone into in more detail. Especially since in my previous personal experience Disney World is one of the best places in the world to vacation if you do have food allergies.
After these first couple chapters the following chapters focus on each of the four parks: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom. Each park section features your normal information with a map, a list of restaurants, and shopping available. There is also much more unique and useful information such as average wait times for each attraction by time of day, a chart of fastpass return times, a section stating which rides have height restrictions, and a section discussing which rides have portions that may be too scary for younger children. A day (or two day) suggested itinerary for exploring each park is given which tells you the most efficient way to see all the major attractions in the park if you have limited time. Following all this awesome information are page long (on average) sections describing each individual attraction. On these pages you get a little history about the attraction, a description of it, fun facts about it, and average wait times by day.
My only problem with the park chapters in this book is that there is basically only one suggested itinerary for each park; also these itineraries assume that everyone is over 58". All the itineraries have you hitting the big rollercoaters...which for a family like mine with a small child is not an option. It would have been more helpful to have itineraries for family's with small children and then itineraries for older groups; I have to imagine the two groups are going to be interested in different things overall. I know when I went to Disney World as a young child I was interested in completely different things than I was when I went back as a pre-teen, teenager, and adult.
Following the park chapters are chapters on Water Parks, Downtown Disney, Recreational Sports, Accomadations, and Special Events. All of these sections are very detailed with excellent information. There is, of course, an index following this. The back page lists a variety of useful Disney numbers.
All in all I was very impressed with the amount of interesting and useful information this book gave on traveling to Disney World. The only weak points were a lack of information for special diets (it's there but very very brief) and a lack of itineraries. One itinerary is given for each park but they assume family members are 58 inches or taller. Other than those two issues, I thought this was a superb guide.
The book starts with a short chapter on the things that are new for 2010. This is great is you have frequented Disney World before and are mainly interested in what's new there. The second chapter is the most useful of the book and goes into great detail on trip planning. There is a wonderful chart on the different types of park passes and their costs. The planning section also goes into great detail on more obscure things that I have never used at Disney World before; like meal plans, fast passes, and child swap. There are great tips on how to save both time and money to make the most of your trip. They also talk about transportation, restaurants, etc. The section on special diets is really small, only a paragraph or two. I have two family members that have celiac's disease, so I was a bit disappointed this wasn't gone into in more detail. Especially since in my previous personal experience Disney World is one of the best places in the world to vacation if you do have food allergies.
After these first couple chapters the following chapters focus on each of the four parks: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom. Each park section features your normal information with a map, a list of restaurants, and shopping available. There is also much more unique and useful information such as average wait times for each attraction by time of day, a chart of fastpass return times, a section stating which rides have height restrictions, and a section discussing which rides have portions that may be too scary for younger children. A day (or two day) suggested itinerary for exploring each park is given which tells you the most efficient way to see all the major attractions in the park if you have limited time. Following all this awesome information are page long (on average) sections describing each individual attraction. On these pages you get a little history about the attraction, a description of it, fun facts about it, and average wait times by day.
My only problem with the park chapters in this book is that there is basically only one suggested itinerary for each park; also these itineraries assume that everyone is over 58". All the itineraries have you hitting the big rollercoaters...which for a family like mine with a small child is not an option. It would have been more helpful to have itineraries for family's with small children and then itineraries for older groups; I have to imagine the two groups are going to be interested in different things overall. I know when I went to Disney World as a young child I was interested in completely different things than I was when I went back as a pre-teen, teenager, and adult.
Following the park chapters are chapters on Water Parks, Downtown Disney, Recreational Sports, Accomadations, and Special Events. All of these sections are very detailed with excellent information. There is, of course, an index following this. The back page lists a variety of useful Disney numbers.
All in all I was very impressed with the amount of interesting and useful information this book gave on traveling to Disney World. The only weak points were a lack of information for special diets (it's there but very very brief) and a lack of itineraries. One itinerary is given for each park but they assume family members are 58 inches or taller. Other than those two issues, I thought this was a superb guide.
March 31, 2010
To say this book is jam packed with everything Disney would be an understatement (it could even be seen as too much information). There are details galore on FASTPASS times, prices and reviews on all eateries, character locations, Disney run accommodations, suggested itineraries, best places to sit for parades/fireworks, fun facts/finds related to Disney, hidden mickeys, shopping details and great photos. This book not only contains all things Disney, but it also details information on Downtown Disney, water-parks, sports and recreation, special events including an entire Christmas holiday section and even an WDW telephone directory.
This is a definite must read for new travelers to Disney and even for seasoned visitors, you will definitely find something new in here that you didn't know, no matter how many times you've visited with the mouse and his pals.
This is a definite must read for new travelers to Disney and even for seasoned visitors, you will definitely find something new in here that you didn't know, no matter how many times you've visited with the mouse and his pals.
April 2, 2010
This book is filled from cover to cover with excellent information about the 4 Walt Disney World Theme Parks, the 2 Water Parks, Downtown Disney and the numerous hotels on and around the Disney property.
I live just 2 hrs south of WDW and have traveled to the parks multiple times but I still found this information helpful and useful. I am planning a trip in May so I wanted to get the up to date informaiton about my favorite theme park and this book did just that!
I expecially like the fun finds and fun facts at the end of each attraction description as well as the Hidden Mickey sections.
I live just 2 hrs south of WDW and have traveled to the parks multiple times but I still found this information helpful and useful. I am planning a trip in May so I wanted to get the up to date informaiton about my favorite theme park and this book did just that!
I expecially like the fun finds and fun facts at the end of each attraction description as well as the Hidden Mickey sections.
November 2, 2015
Excellent chapters on the parks; give you overviews and pertinent info clearly spelled out in the beginning: park hours, food choices, shops; all with pictures of every attraction and a great summary for child's sizes, ride restrictions, fastpass etc. The layout of this guidebook is logical and welcome if you want to get to where you are as you are there. And the photos are very helpful to get you oriented!
August 2, 2010
We're heading to Disney next month, and I was eager to find a fun travel book to help us feel equipped. There was a lot of useful information in this one, but one has to do a bit of digging to find what it is she's looking for. Still, the promises of princesses and magic helped me reconnect with my 6-year old self.
May 22, 2011
Fantastic book Julie Neal is the absolute best in Disney planning.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews