Category — zzz. Stuff No One Cares About but Me

More details will come later, but so that you can hold the date and start yearning in your diary, here’s the scoop:

The easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit co-authors Josh and me, plus the contributor of the “Jim’s Gem’s” vignettes in The easy Guide, Jim Korkis, will meet our fans–if there are any–and sign our books in April.

That’s me and Josh on the left from December, and on the right Jim as Merlin at the Magic Kingdom from a while ago.

We’ll be in Epcot outside the Liberty Inn in the American Pavilion Monday, April 20 from 7p until the line for Soarin goes down a bit.

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Some time this morning the 2014 edition of The easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit got its 100th review on Amazon (and its 101st too!)

Ninety-six of the 101 reviews give it five stars; the sole one star review is a bogus attack on Josh; the sole two star review is, I think, a real though somewhat misguided posting.

This means that The easy Guide is better reviewed than Kissinger’s On China,plus it’s much more fun!  In fact, it’s the best-reviewed Disney World guidebook in history.

But don’t buy it–unless you want it for its future value as the first edition of the bestest Disney World guidebook.

Instead, wait a few days, and pick up the 2015 edition instead, coming soon!

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“I’ve long said that Dave has the absolute best Disney resort room information I have found!” –Didi Marie, DIStherapy

As of yesterday, with the review of our latest stay in a Royal Room published, I am at one of those rare moments where all of my hotel reviews are up to date, and I thought to step back a bit and reflect.

(I still have some updating to do in my general overviews of the hotels, but for the first time in a year and a half I have no backlog of stays to finish writing about.)

Over the course of my August and September 2014 visits to Walt Disney World, the total number of Disney World-owned different accommodations I have stayed in and published about crossed more than 100.

This matters because universally the weakest parts of most Disney World guidebooks and websites are their material on where to stay.

One person staying repeatedly in all the rooms and in all their major variants is the only way to develop a complete, consistent, up to date and accurate picture of the hotel options and their strong and weak points.

Reading and copying other people’s experiences just won’t cut it, and those whose approach depends on this—even some of the most famous out there—routinely publish howlers and generally get too many things wrong.

Even having your own team of reviewers doesn’t work well, as they can’t compare across their own direct experiences the way a single reviewer can, leading them to miss floor plan nuances or even major differences.

Consistently good and up to date material on the Disney hotel options is rare because it takes major, multi-year commitments of time, attention and money.

Luckily, I have been able to create the time, Adderall helps with the attention thing, and you—because of your support of the various sponsors and interest in the various ads on this site—create the money that in turn I spend trying to keep this hotel material great and up to date.

I’ve now stayed in 103 different Disney-owned accommodations at Disney World, plus even more non-Disney options.

This includes

• 22 value resort rooms and family suites, with my most highly recommended value resorts Art of Animation and Pop Century in the lead with 5 and 8 stays respectively
• 25 rooms at the moderates, led by 7 in Port Orleans Riverside and 6 at my top-ranked Caribbean Beach
• 24 stays at the deluxe resorts, led by 5 at the Contemporary and 4 at the top rated (but under major refurb) Polynesian
• 29 different DVC rooms, mostly Two Bedrooms Villas–the best to review, as they show features of One Bedroom Villas and Studios as well–but where they were not bookable, a One Bedroom and a Studio, led by top ranked Villas at the Wilderness Lodge with 6 stays
• Stays at 3 different campsites at Fort Wilderness (my 3 stays in the Cabins are counted among the moderates.)

Moreover, in a push that I can’t imagine doing again—it was too demanding and exhausting–I stayed in and reviewed 38 different Disney-owned rooms since August 2013, for a couple of different reasons

• I did multiple visits over the period–first to test various features of the new FastPass+ program and then later to see and review new stuff like the Festival of Fantasy afternoon parade,  Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, the Anna and Elsa Meet and Greet, the Frozen Sing-Along, and the reopening of Festival of the Lion King–so of course had to stay somewhere during those tests and visits
• There were openings and major refurbs that had to be attended to—for example, the Villas at the Grand Floridian and Four Seasons (not a Disney hotel) opened, and the Villas at the Wilderness Lodge and the Grand Floridian completed and Caribbean Beach began major refurbs.
• It took me a while, but I finally realized how much the camera in my iPhone 4 has decayed, so I got a new camera and with it took the opportunity to stay in, re-shoot, and re-review a number of rooms. (Still on the list for re-visits for better photos are Pirate rooms at Caribbean Beach, exteriors at Coronado Springs, a Two Bedroom Villa at Old Key West and the Nemo suites at Art of Animation—I’m booked in these, plus both room types at Universal’s Cabana Bay Beach Resort, during my November and December trips).

What’s next after November and December? Well, I hope 2015 will be a lot easier than the 17 months that will end in December 2014 with their 42 Disney rooms (and 4 non-Disney rooms) in 14 visits…

I haven’t entirely figured this out, but 2015 for sure will bring visits to the new Polynesian DVC offerings, and re-visits to the Beach Club and Coronado Springs after their expected refurbs!

Plus I also do requests…

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I saw the below on Amazon yesterday, so of course took a screenshot suitable for framing…

The part circled in red is what was new to me.  So now I will have a distinguished obituary: “Bestselling author…”!!!

If you are going to Disney World in 2014, you really need this book. Buy it here. If your trip is in 2015, wait for our 2015 edition.

Of course, as Jim Korkis notes here, there may be “Collectors Edition” value to the 2014 version, as it is our first!!! So perhaps you should buy several copies of both…

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Sometime this morning our The easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit got its 75th review on Amazon.

This strikes me as a bit of a watershed—a drizzle-shed?—because after all, the Iliad, which has been out a couple of thousand years longer—though not quite that long on Amazon—has in its most-reviewed edition only 520 or so reviews.

Of our 75 reviews, 73 have five stars. That’s 97% for those of you keeping score.

Homer, in contrast, is getting only 66% five stars. Must be enraging…

I can’t tell you how grateful I am (and likely Josh will be, once he gets out of bed) that so many of you have written such kind words about a book that we really put our hearts and souls into!

I have some clear favorites among the reviews you’ve done, but so as to not pick and choose, here’s excerpts from the last ten reviews posted:

• Jilly: “This is an awesome book with tons of information to help not only the first time visitor but the veteran park goer.”
• Paula: “The one and only book you need to plan your Disney World magical vacation!”
• Eric: “I have read a number of WDW Guide books and this may be the best – especially for a first timer.”
• Leann: “Great information even for those of us who have been there multiple times.”
• Jeffrey: “I have read all the guidebooks and this one is the perfect mix of information, traveling tips and reviews. It is a practical and honest guide to a Disney World trip. Nice work Josh and Dave!”
• Holli: “Great guide for those traveling to Walt Disney World.”
• Michelle B: “Great guide to Walt Disney World.”
• C.R.: “We saw every attraction we wanted and were able to get reservations at every eatery on our list–but that, my first-time friends, requires you get (and act on) sound advice well before you land in Orlando. That’s what this book delivers. Read it.”
• Janet: “Great resource.”
• Chloe: “Great guide book. Full of very useful Disney planning advice. Worth every penny.”

But my favorite review still comes from Celebrity SpokesBaby Liam:

The easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit: so easy that even Celebrity SpokesBabies give it a thumbs up!

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