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View Full Version : I am rescinding my guidebook recommendation



julbright
06-18-2007, 05:13 PM
in some thread out there, I said I liked the guidebook I was reading - Fodor's Disneyland and Southern California with kids - and recommended it as a nice middle of the road planning tool. Now that I have returned from my DLR vacation, I am sorry to report that there were too many inaccuracies in the recommeded guide for me to tell others to go get it. The ones I can think of off the top of my head include....

You cannot watch the fireworks from the planters around the carosel on the Mr Toad side - you can't watch fireworks from Fantasyland at all because they close Fantasyland!!

We kinda got chewed out by the maingate CM for trying to rent a stroller from Star Traders (a tip in the book) .. they let us do it but they wouldn't honor the Disney Visa special (2 free strollers) nor did they charge us the disney visa discount price (that is chraged when the free special isn't going on). The maingate CM informed us that Star Traders is only for replacement strollers..... (anyone know about this for sure???)

This may be more of a hit or miss kinda thing but Hungry Bear was jam packed and it took us nearly an hour to get through the line there.... when it was billed as a good quick and easy spot since it is out of the way.

there were many other tips I didn't get to try this trip, and I wonder how many of them would have been "off". Maybe I got an old edition ( but it included Nemo coming soon so it couldn't be that old ) and I only bought it a month ago.

all due respect to anyone who may be a contributer to this book.. just my humble opinion

stan4d_steph
06-18-2007, 05:23 PM
Is there a form in the book to submit comments? The Unofficial Guide encourages readers to write in with comments like yours. Guide books have to go into print so early that things can be inaccurate by the time a reader uses one. I hope your trip was still a good one.

yenko427
06-18-2007, 07:39 PM
We ran into the Star Traders stroller thing last month. In Feb. you could rent the stroller there with the VISA for free. So, somewhere between Feb. and May the rules change and you cannot rent there for free, you can only rent from the stroller area by the main gate. You can get a replacement at Star Traders however.

What's "Disney"?
06-18-2007, 07:42 PM
Well maybe try Unnofficial Guide next time. I'm sure many MousePlanet members will tell you that it's not too shabby and usually pretty accurate...

...or at least I think it is!

JohnGar
06-18-2007, 08:31 PM
Well maybe try Unnofficial Guide next time. I'm sure many MousePlanet members will tell you that it's not too shabby and usually pretty accurate...

...or at least I think it is!

We used it for our first trip to WDW last year and LOVED IT.

nvmom
06-18-2007, 08:51 PM
I also love the Unofficial Guide. It helped so much with our first trip in 2005. I just recently read the 07 version just to see what they'd changed.

nvmom

disney jones
06-18-2007, 08:59 PM
about half the time i get a new stroller from Star Traders first thing in the morning as we like to take the Monorail in - i've never had bad service there ever. Last trip was the first day of June and we got one from there without an issue. (we don't use the Disney VISA so i can't comment on that), but it sounds like you got a CM who didn't like to be inconvenienced.

Lani
06-18-2007, 11:39 PM
Also, was the book the most recent version? Disney is always changing things around... goodness we know that from experience when we plan our MouseAdventure events... some things seem to change from week to week!

Gutz
06-19-2007, 01:08 AM
Actually you CAN watch the fireworks from several spots in Fantasyland because only the front part of it is closed (thus you can't enter through the castle around fireworks time and have to enter via Tomorrowland or Frontierland). Many people choose to watch from Fantasyland locations, although you don't get the full effect, i.e. you can't see what's going on in front of the castle. But it is neat to see the projections on It's a Small World.

AVP
06-19-2007, 07:58 AM
some things seem to change from week to week!Or overnight (stupid awnings...). Or, heck, even during the event! (stupid Castle...)

AVP

acpalmer
06-19-2007, 08:01 AM
We ran into the Star Traders stroller thing last month. In Feb. you could rent the stroller there with the VISA for free. So, somewhere between Feb. and May the rules change and you cannot rent there for free, you can only rent from the stroller area by the main gate. You can get a replacement at Star Traders however.

When we were there in March we tried to rent strollers with our Disney Visa and were told that although we could rent them there, they wouldn't be free, so we opted t walk back to the main center to get them free. We had never tried renting from Star Trader before, so I thought it was just an error on my part that I didn't realize you couldn't get the DV deal there.

Niwel
06-19-2007, 09:41 AM
Or, heck, even during the event! (stupid Castle...)


Awwww, MA memories.....:crying:

julbright
06-19-2007, 05:49 PM
Well maybe try Unnofficial Guide next time. I'm sure many MousePlanet members will tell you that it's not too shabby and usually pretty accurate...

...or at least I think it is!

Yeah, I like that one also. I have pretty much read most of them out there at one time or another... this was a new investment cuz I hadn't read this one yet.

I am trying to find a way to send in some feedback... not to be snippy but so they can update things. I do realize stuff changes too, but it just seemed like all the "new" sneaky tips I jotted down for this trip turned out to be a bust. it got a little frustrating.

Fortunately the fireworks ended up being cancelled that night due to winds or I would have been quite frustrated to find after that fact that I could have accessed fantasyland from the back way.

why wouldnt' they be able to do the disney visa thing at star traders? that seems odd.... it's disney for pete's sake - they can do anything!!!

I just wanted to make sure I put it out there that I wouldn't probably recommend this one at this time - since I gave it a healthy dose of praise before my trip.

HobbitFeet
06-20-2007, 02:27 PM
Maybe I got an old edition ( but it included Nemo coming soon so it couldn't be that old ) and I only bought it a month ago.

all due respect to anyone who may be a contributer to this book.. just my humble opinion

Looking at amazon.com...they show the 8th edition was from Feb 2006, and the 9th edition is just being pre-ordered now for release next March. Meaning...the info in the 8th edition which seems to be the one available now, is from 2005 or MAYBE January of '06 depending on how fast they got it done and published. :eek:

That's the problem with travel guides, though!


I personally checked out ALL the Disneyland guides, most recent editions I could find, from the library and scoured all of them. :) I'm not remembering that book, though, it doesn't look like anything I found!

The old man
06-20-2007, 07:38 PM
I've been using the Unofficial Guide for at least 15 years. Always the best.

Foodie
06-20-2007, 07:41 PM
I've always had great luck with the Birnbaum's Official Guide to the park. It's always led me right. I highly recommend it!

-Foodie :D

rose7116
06-21-2007, 07:38 PM
I adore the Unofficial Guide, but we also have Birnbaum's for the basics. I think the Unofficial guide is more honest and gives a lot of great advice. The Birnbaum's edition is great at the basics of getting around the parks, what rides and attractions are there with little summaries, restaurants, some history about the parks, etc..... It a typical travel guide in my opinion. If you want some real guidance and advice- go for the unofficial. Both are great books to have.

We leave Saturday from Phoenix!!!! Woo hoo! :D Both books are already packed...