Resources for Planning a Disney World Trip
This is in no way intended to be a complete list of resources.
A big travel bookstore probably has its own section for Disney World
guide books. A list of websites about WDW and Orlando would probably
fill another book itself. This is just to list the resources
we found particularly helpful in planning our trip, with
some review-ish comments.
Websites
- Walt Disney
World Resort: The official website, of course. The front page
usually includes a link to order a free "vacation planning kit" (DVD
and some brochures), if you live in the US or know someone with a US
address who can help you out. Ours somehow got lost, but not before
the kids had had a great time watching it!
- AllEarsNet: An incredibly
complete unofficial website with a rich database of all sorts of
information - right down to detailed descriptions of rides and shows,
photos of the inside of hotel rooms, and menus from restaurants all
over Disney property.
- Intercot: Not as detailed as
AllEarsNet, but it has one invaluable resource that the other lacks:
message boards filled with people who know everything about
Disney World and love to tell you about it!
- Magical
Journeys: A travel agency that specializes in Walt Disney World.
In addition to being very knowledgeable, agents will watch for
specials and will be sure you get any discounts you're entitled to, at
no extra charge. I got an e-mail telling me our discount had been
secured before I'd even heard Disney was announcing room discounts for
January.
- Maple Leaf Tickets:
One of the few legal ticket discounters for Disney World and
other area attractions. Note that the discounts aren't extremely
deep, but they really add up when you're buying for your whole group.
Most importantly, you know that you are getting brand-new tickets,
legitimately. Places selling "unused days" on tickets are acting
illegally and you can get burned, because you can't check what's left
on the ticket AND Disney's new tickets use a biometric scanning to
prevent people from sharing or re-selling tickets.
Guidebooks
Both these books are published in new editions every year.
- Birnbaum's Walt Disney World: This is the Official Guide,
and it shows. Everything is wonderful here, no hints that anything at
Disney World could be sub-par or worthy of criticism. However, it's a
fun read, clear and concise (in fact, unexpectedly thin) with colorful
photos and drawings of the Disney characters. For Kenneth in
particular (then aged 10) it was perfect.
- The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World: In some ways the
opposite of Birnbaum's, fat and wordy with no photos and only
black-and-white line drawings. And it's all about the ratings. It's
also not a light and breezy read, though the authors write with humor
and spirit. This book is absolutely willing to be critical, including
ratings for rides and eateries.
Birnbaum's, you might say, gets you dreaming. The Unofficial Guide
brings your head down out of the clouds. They complement each other
nicely and I intend to buy them both for our next trip again. Note
that Birnbaum's only covers Walt Disney World - if it isn't on Disney
property, it isn't mentioned. The Unofficial Guide includes short
descriptions of SeaWorld and the Universal parks, plus some discussion
of other hotels and restaurants in the area.
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Created 14 July 2005 * Last Updated 14 July 2005