Category — p. News and Changes

It was great to wake up yesterday and discover that Jim Korkis–one of the leading Disney observers and a columnist on Disney history at MousePlanet.com–had written a history of Disney guidebooks that culminated with some very kind words about our book The easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit.

You oughta read the whole thing–but here’s an excerpt:

Note that despite the impression we inadvertently made on Jim, the book is not based on this site.

Josh and I have years of experience thinking about Walt Disney World, and the book is based on that, not either of our sites. While there’s probably 10% or so of the book that’s straight from Josh’s site or this site, most of it is written by both of us, from scratch. Josh did the first drafts of huge sections of the book–for example, much of the chapter “When to Go,” most of “How to Spend Your Time,” and most of “Where to Eat.”

If you don’t know about Jim Korkis, you should. He has taught animation at the Disney Institute, instructed classes on animation history and researched, wrote and facilitated backstage tours and programs for Disney guests. At Epcot, he researched, wrote and facilitated more than 200 different presentations on Disney history for Disney cast members and corporate clients. Since leaving Disney in 2009, he’s written a number of books on Disney history, and authors a column on this topic in MousePlanet.

So kind words from him about our book are wonderful news for a couple of authors!!  Thanks, Jim!

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The Disney community continues to show love to The Easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit.

Carl Trent, of Dad’s Guide to Walt Disney World, has a great, detailed review here, and Kathy Kelly of the Special Mouse podcast just posted a discussion with me about The easy Guide, about crafting it with Josh, and other fascinating topics, mostly about me,  here.

Reviews on Amazon continue to be strong–I believe that we are the best-reviewed Walt Disney World Guidebook in history.  We have 57 reviews as of today, and 55 give us five stars. Click the link for the most recent, from Kristen!

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A deal for discounted rooms at Walt Disney World for much of the fall of 2014 is now out.

It covers “most” nights October 4 through November 25, and November 29 through December 23, 2014, and needs to be booked by October 3.

Which resorts are in the deal isn’t clear yet, but for those which are participating, expect discounts of

• 15% at value resorts
• 20% at moderates
• 30% at deluxes and DVC resorts

Moreover, if you book your visit through my friends at Destinations in Florida, you get a copy of my book The Easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit for free while supplies last! Request a quote from them via this link!

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Disney is releasing the 2015 Disney World, Disneyland and Aulani Hawaii Packages on July 30, 2014. But you don’t have to wait–you can request an early quote now! You can wake up July 30 and enjoy your coffee while you review your quote (in your email) for your 2015 Disney vacation.

Moreover, for a limited time for all yourfirstvisit.net readers, get a FREE copy of our new book, The Easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit–the best-reviewed Disney World guidebook in the history of the universe–just for booking your trip through my friends at Destinations in Florida!!

Get this free gift on top of the many FREE services that Destinations in Florida Travel already offers such as Dining Recommendations and Reservations, Free Itinerary Planning, MousePerks, autographed Mickey Mouse photos for the kids, discount watching and much much more. Click the link to request your 2015 early package quote today!

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My friend Steve Bell has once again broken the news that Disney’s Armed Forces Salute has been renewed for another Federal fiscal year–through September 2015!

The full scoop is on Steve’s page here and its links.

Note particularly the “Important Considerations and Expected Issues” discussion right under the saluting Mickey.  None of this is ever as easy as it should be, especially for those targeting trips in October..or 2015…

While Steve is the official Military moderator of yourfirstvisit.net, don’t post questions here–he’ll be going crazy the next few days working with questions on his own site and his facebook page.

Instead, help keep Steve sane and check out the comments already asked and answered on Steve’s page here!

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Since we didn’t do anything as sophisticated as sending out review copies of The easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit prior to publication, reviews have been a little slow to come in.

But they are now showing up!!

Today Heidi Strawser at (in?) Heidi’s Head published this review, and last week Janice Brady at The Adult Side of Disney published this one.

More are coming, I’ve heard, later this week and on through July.

Moreover, Josh did a call-in show on WDW News Today (no archive that I can find), Josh and I did an interview about the book on National Public Radio available here, and I recorded a podcast last night with Kathy Kelly for the Special Mouse podcast which should be released next week.

Meanwhile the reviews on Amazon are starting to build, too–we hit 50 reviews yesterday, 48 with five-star rankings.

Want to see what all the fuss is about?  Then get your own copy by clicking the link: The easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit!!

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