Rating: Summary: Amazing Book Review: I loved this book, it was easy to understand and made the entire vacation easier. I felt like Kim and her wonderful daughter were right there with us giving advice.
Rating: Summary: Don't Plan a Trip Without This Book Review: I purchased this book along with two others, WDW for kids by kids, and the Passporter WDW Resort. While there was quite a bit of helpful information in WDW for kids, much of the book was redundant (repeated itself) and I found a lot of information that was either out of date or just plain wrong. The Quick Guides (charts to restaurants, attractions, etc) are extremely helpful and nice at-a-glance resources. The helpful hint boxes scattered throughout the text are quite good also, however the book is written by a Disney affilliate employee who PUSHES readers to stay at hotels on site repeatedly throughout the book. She could probably eliminate 75 pages if she deleted repeat information, such as this. I found the Passporter guide to WDW to be much more up-to-date, extremely accurate and a better buy for the money. The info in the Passporter is written concisely without repeating and repeating and without the preachiness. Also, the Passporter extra features including fold out maps, reference charts, and inside info was much more helpful AND still covered the Disney with kids issues. WDW with kids by Wiley would be a good companion to another guide but not a great sole resource as much info is ambiguous.
Rating: Summary: Some good info, but better books out there. Review: I purchased this book along with two others, WDW for kids by kids, and the Passporter WDW Resort. While there was quite a bit of helpful information in WDW for kids, much of the book was redundant (repeated itself) and I found a lot of information that was either out of date or just plain wrong. The Quick Guides (charts to restaurants, attractions, etc) are extremely helpful and nice at-a-glance resources. The helpful hint boxes scattered throughout the text are quite good also, however the book is written by a Disney affilliate employee who PUSHES readers to stay at hotels on site repeatedly throughout the book. She could probably eliminate 75 pages if she deleted repeat information, such as this. I found the Passporter guide to WDW to be much more up-to-date, extremely accurate and a better buy for the money. The info in the Passporter is written concisely without repeating and repeating and without the preachiness. Also, the Passporter extra features including fold out maps, reference charts, and inside info was much more helpful AND still covered the Disney with kids issues. WDW with kids by Wiley would be a good companion to another guide but not a great sole resource as much info is ambiguous.
Rating: Summary: The Author Works for Disney. So Don't Expect the Full Story. Review: I was disappointed to learn the author works for Disney. As a result, you only get the message, "Disney can do no wrong." For example, she praises every Disney hotel, but implies that hotels outside of the Disney park may be sleezy or in bad neighborhoods. (I know from experience that many hotels in the "Maingate" area of Orlando are a MUCH better value than the over-priced, less-than-impressive Disney "All Star Resorts.") Although there are some good tips for taking along your children, the book fails to provide an unbiased account that helps my family plan an economical, but fun trip. I did not feel I got my money's worth with Kim Wiley's book. I would instead recommend the "Unofficial Guide to WDW," which gives a much broader and well-balanced approach to planning a trip to Disney. This book saved us both time and money on our last trip.
Rating: Summary: Terrific info for all age groups Review: i've used this guide for four years in a row and find it to be the best on the market for parents with young kids. Two areas are especially useful to us - Miss Wiley gives full reviews of all the Disney hotels with lists of pluses and minuses for each hotel. I have found her recommendations to be accurate in each of the hotels we've stayed at. The other big plus is that she rates the rides in terms of how appropriate they are for kids of different ages. None of the other books do this and you can really tell that she has kids of her own. She is right when she says that scaring a child to death first thing in the morning by making him ride Space Mountain will guarantee he won't try anything else the rest of the day, even Dumbo. (I learned this one the hard way before I started buying books about Disney world.) We had Miss Wiley's book last time down when our extended family contained kids who ranged in age from 2 to 14 and the "scare factor" ratings and ride advice was very helpful.
Rating: Summary: Don't Leave Home Without It Review: If you've never been to Disney World, with or without kids, this book is great. Lots of helpful information.
Rating: Summary: She must be a mom with kids!! Review: Ms. Wright Wiley's book was our saving grace! She must be a mother with kids! If not, how could she possibly know EXACTLY what we were looking for!! Our last trip to Disney needed to be on a budget, and in only 4 days (two days of travel). Had her expert advise and little secrets not been available, we would never have covered as much ground as we did, for as reasonable a price as we did!! KUDOS!!! I bought the book as a Christmas gift for two of my co-workers, as they are each planning trips to Disney World in 2003!
Rating: Summary: great book Review: The book is aimed at adults, Michael, and offers incredible advice for those able to read. It has helped me with several wonderful trips to Disney. I've given it to my literate friends, who also find it an invaluable guide to easing the frustrations of Disney. And Disney World CAN be frustrating. The advice on dining will save any family money and vexation. So if you are a responsible adult planning a vacation to Disney with kids, this is a great place to start.
Rating: Summary: Dull Black&White Book Review: The books claims to be for the kids, readable by kids. That's not at all true, the whole book is black and white dull pages. compare that to Birnbaum's colorful book. This makes for dull reading and I had a hard time encouraging the kids to read it.
Rating: Summary: Great book of resources and a well organized one. Review: This book is full of useful information and valuable tips. It covers almost every aspect of a Disney trip from booking hotels and tickets to managing your souvenieur expenses. In spite of its thouroughness, it's actually a very readable book, thanks to the wonderful organization and the use of maps and tables. I find the ratings especially helpful so I know which hotel suits our family best and which activities we should avoid involving our yet-too-little kid. I also think the price of this book is fairly reasonable. Some of the information in this book could have been found on the web but it would have taken hundreds of hours surfing dozens of web sites. Many tips and most of the ratings are based on the author's researches on real families thus couldn't have been found elsewhere. I highly recommend every family planning a Disney trip buy this book even if you're already an experienced traveller or a many-time Disney visitor.
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