| 
A Key West Bed and Breakfast....
Boasting an incomparable location at the midpoint of Duval Street, The Tropical Inn is a quiet and private island compound. You might walk down Key West's most famous promenade a hundred times and not notice this romantic hideaway, tucked unassumingly away just steps from all the bustle and excitement |
|
|
| Birnbaum's Walt Disney World 2007 (Birnbaum's Walt Disney World) | 
 enlarge | Author: Birnbaum Travel Guides
Publisher: Disney Editions
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
Buy Used: $0.01
You Save: $16.94 (100%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  43 reviews
Sales Rank: 324619
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 10 x 7 x 0.6
ISBN: 1423100514
Dewey Decimal Number: 791.06875924
EAN: 9781423100515
ASIN: 1423100514
Publication Date: October 1, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: MINOR COVER WEAR - OTHERWISE EXCELLENT CONDITION
|
| Customer Reviews:
 great book May 17, 2007
I'm planning our first trip to Disney in December and this book has been very helpful!!
 Comparing the Disney guide books May 14, 2007
33 out of 37 found this review helpful
For ages there have been two main travel guides to Disney World, The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2007 (Unofficial Guides) (the No. 1 travel guide in the country, according to Amazon) and this one, which is published by Disney. Now a third book has been getting a lot of attention, The Complete Guide to Walt Disney World, a new one that has a lot of photos on Disney World as well as lots of theme park information. Since Disney is so huge, and your time and money is so precious, choosing which book, or books, to buy can make all the difference. And, to me, reading the reviews of these books doesn't help that much, as they all seem to have their fans and each book has its own take on things. So I thought that instead of writing just another review, I would do a comparison test. I bought all three books, drew up some comparison criteria, and sat them down in front of me on my dining table.
I compared the books in six categories (which are, frankly, the things that are important to me in a guidebook, you may have other ideas) and wrote down how they stacked up. Here are the results:
1) Ease of use. 1st Place: The Complete Guide. This isn't close. The Complete Guide has a completely different look than the other books, with magazine-style articles and lots of photos and color. The main chapters are color coded (Magic Kingdom is red, Epcot orange, etc.). Each attraction review is very easy to find, as each one starts on its own page. Second place: Birnbaum. It too has color-coded chapters.
2) Fun to read. 1st Place (a tie): The Unofficial Guide and The Complete Guide. The Complete Guide has an amazing number of little tidbits about the Disney attractions, so if you love Disney it's really fun to read. The Unofficial Guide has a lot of guests complaints about Disney, so if you're a Disney cynic it will make you laugh. Both have witty writers, and both made me laugh out loud. They each have their place. Birnbaum isn't a bad read, but it comes off more like a big brochure than the other two.
3) Information about Disney World attractions and activities. 1st Place: The Complete Guide. It spends probably 10 times as much space on each attraction, offering up the story of each ride, some real good "Fun Finds" and all kinds of helpful specs that the other books ignore. Plus, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Second place: Unofficial.
4) Information about attractions outside of Disney (Universal Studios, Seaworld, etc.). 1st Place: The Unofficial Guide. Hands down. The Birnbaum guide doesn't mention anything outside of Walt Disney World, and the Complete Guide only has hotel listings.
5) Information on hotels, restaurants and shopping. 1st Place: Unofficial. This one is close. The other books have photos of every Disney resort, which Unofficial doesn't, and the Complete guide is well organized and has all kinds of hotel specs, but the Unofficial Guide just goes crazy with its listings, rating each resort nine ways to Sunday! For shopping, the best Disney info is in the Complete Guide, the best outside-Disney info is in Unofficial.
6) Maps, photographs and illustrations. 1st Place (another tie): Birnbaum and the Complete Guide. Nothing comes close to the Complete Guide for photographs, but this is an area where the Birnbaum guide does have something special -- Mickey, Donald and all the Disney cartoon characters! They're included on many pages. Both Birnbaum and the Complete Guide have good maps. Unofficial has good line drawings of the interiors of hotel rooms.
So, which one's best? You know, I think you'd have to pick two: The Unofficial Guide and The Complete Guide. Unofficial is pretty dull to look at, but it is so thorough in its coverage about everything outside of Disney and offers so much "cynical" insight that it just can't be ignored, and it has the best hotel and restaurant info. The Complete Guide, on the other hand, is a joy to look at and read, and is just stunning in its amount of fun and useful information on Disney attractions. As for Birnbaum, I say skip it, and, if you've got children, instead buy the children's version, Birnbaum's Walt Disney World for Kids, by Kids 2007 (Birnbaum's Walt Disney World for Kids By Kids). It's not much money, and that way you'll still get all the "Official Disneyness" of a Birnbaum book AND have something for your kids to look at.
Well that's the end of my test! I hope it is helpful. I'm posting it as a review at the pages for all three books. I should mention that there are many other Disney books out there too (the Fodors one is pretty good, too), but for time (and money) I only went with the three main titles.
a good guide to get you started May 12, 2007
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book is alright to start planning your Disney trip. However, it isn't very realistic about things like wait times and doesn't really offer much in the way of advice for planning your trip. It is more like reading a really nice Disney Brochure.
A must have on your Disney World Vacation!!! May 10, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book is not only very informative, with the layout of the information makes it a quick reference guide. I would never go to Disney World without this book. A must have! Tip of the day: check out the "Hot Tip!" sections, expert advice that will surely enhance your Disney experience.
Great trip planner!! May 9, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
There are lots of Disney guides out there and it's overwhelming! I read many reviews before selecting this guide. I am SOOOO glad we had it! Although we planned our trip to WDW at the last minute and didn't have a chance to use any of the planning ahead tips, there were still MANY other tips that helped us! Especially the restaurant guides...we were on a tight budget with lots of kids and it helped us choose the best budget friendly choices. Like eating at the Mexican Cantina at Epcot about 30 minutes before the Illuminations show began was AWESOME! Front row seats for a very crowded attraction at an affordable price :) I spent a lot of time reading Disney Forum advice from WDW die hards, but having this guide in hand each day helped us navigate the parks and decide how best to spend our time!
|
|
|
Powered by Our Keywest | |
