Review: The Complete Walt Disney World 2011, Continued

This is the second page of this review; for the first page, click here.

NOT FOR FIRST TIME VISITORS

First, I recommend that first time visitors don’t get guidebooks.

While I do have some on my recommended books page, I advise against buying them, for the simple reason that a lot of the fun of the first time visit to Walt Disney World cones from the surprises of the rides themselves. The wonder of “What Happens Next?” and subsequent surprise and gratified high expectations are a key part of a first visit.

There can only be one first time, and it is at its best when accompanied by wonder and curiosity, not “I know what will happen to me on this ride.”

The problem with guidebooks is that it’s hard to not read their material on the attractions before visiting. The wonderful Mike Neal and Disney photos of The Complete Walt Disney World 2011 make it doubly hard to skip this material; they are simply too darn seductive.

But this, like the issues with uneven detail and filler, is a nit. The real problem with The Complete Walt Disney World 2011 is its inaccuracies.

Just a few examples:

• Deluxe rooms do not all sleep 5 (261)–many do, but most standard rooms at the Wilderness Lodge and the Animal Kingdom Lodge sleep four.
• Nor do their room sizes range from 340-415 square feet–the larger of the two standard room types at the Polynesian has 476 square feet.
• Neither the Caribbean Beach (269) nor Port Orleans Riverside (281) has queen beds as claimed (though Riverside will soon) but several buildings at Port Orleans French Quarter do, which are not mentioned.
• Disney Vacation Club units do not all have kitchens (262)–studios don’t.
• The Magic Kingdom does not often close at 6 during the less crowded times of the year (295)–7p closures are common, 6p incredibly rare.
• Visitors to Walt Disney World the week I write this, and most of the next, will be surprised to learn that crowds are light in late April (295). The less-crowded period after spring break in fact begins the Thursday or Friday after Easter. Depending on when Easter falls in a year, this less crowded period can begin anytime from March 27th through April 30–this year it will be April 28th or 29th.
• Prices labeled as “for 2011” (341) likely will be good up until only early August 2011.

First time visitors could make some awkwardly wrong decisions based on these inaccuracies, and hence I don’t recommend this guidebook for them.

Repeat visitors, however, who are more likely just to note these errors and pass over them, will largely find the detail and photos more than make up for the inaccuracies.

SOME OTHER, MUCH MORE MINOR, ISSUES

The maps in The Complete Walt Disney World 2011 are much more geographically accurate than most. That said, there’s some usability problems with them:

• General maps are most commonly oriented with north at the top, and park maps with the park entrance at the bottom. Too many of the maps in the book don’t follow convention (e.g. 6-7, 126) but rather are oriented to fit the page better.
• The Animal Kingdom map (168) includes too much of the routes of Kilimanjaro Safari and the Wildlife Express train, making its depiction of the main part of the Animal Kingdom much too small.
• On some maps, the choices of what to label and what to key seem backwards–e.g. on 6-7 why label on the map Best Friends Kennel and Golden Oak Resort, but force users to use the key for resort hotels?
• This same map simply leaves out the eastern half of Vista Boulevard (after its intersection with Bonnet Creek)–an important route connecting via other roads to State and County 535.

Other minor issues:

• While I too rank Pop Century ahead of any All-Star Resort, giving it 4 stars (279) and the All-Stars just 2 (264) creates the impression that there’s more daylight between these resorts than there really is.
• And while I too rank Port Orleans Riverside ahead of Port Orleans French Quarter, three stars versus one star (280)? “Corners are cut everywhere at Port Orleans French Quarter”? (281)…like queens at POFQ, but not yet at Riverside?
• Some–but not all–attractions have hourly wait times listed. The inconsistency is annoying and the times of year during which these wait times might and might not apply needs a hint.  Moreover, all wait time lists go from 9a til 9p, even though while Epcot is always open this late, the Animal Kingdom rarely is, and the Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios are all over the map on closing times.
• The book should return to the flow of earlier editions, with an introduction explaining the material included in it and its order, and a corrected version of the material that begins on 295 moved to the beginning, after the new introduction.

All in, this book is a rather astonishing achievement, and one that, if it had its errors eliminated and consistency increased, I would be delighted to add to my list of recommended books.

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