Frommer's(r) Irreverent Guide to Walt Disney World, 4th Edition

It's said that if you can't have fun at Walt Disney World, you may want to check your pulse. But you don't have to be driven mad either by the crowds, the aggressive good cheer, or the gloppy sentiment. With the smart, funny, and straight-shooting Frommer's Irreverent Guide to Walt Disney World you won't lose your mind--or your kids. Find out which rides and attractions are really worth seeing--and those you shouldn't waste your time on. Find out which Disney food is really worth eating and which isn't. Get insider tips on beating the system, such as how to avoid standing in long lines, and how to get a room with a view. With this refreshingly honest guide your trip to the Magic Kingdom will be both supremely manageable and deliciously fun.

The information they did provide on WDW was out of date. The book was published in 2002; however they talk about visiting Discovery Island (closed in 1999), River Country (closed 2001?), the Skyway (closed 1999), etc.

I was so disappointed in this book. I am a true Disney fan and I was looking for an unbiased opinion of Disney World, what I got was useless information about WDW and alot of information on why I shouldn't go to WDW.


Simply Awful   February 12, 2002
 7 out of 7 found this review helpful

...

Since most of the guides don't change much from year to year, I bought 2 new books for this trip... The Irreverent Guide and the Unoffical Guide by Bob Sehlinger. For extra money, the Unofficial Guide offers a whopping 524 more pages (768 vs. 244).

Both books offer the same "take" on WDW... An impartial, tell it like it is account of the happiest place on earth. The Unofficial Guide not only offers it's opinion, but almost always also offers reader comments about the various attractions/resorts/restuarants. The Unoffical Guide is also organized MUCH more efficiently, and it is very easy to go back and find information even without using the index. The Irreverent Guide is a mess that even an index doesn't help. The Irreverent guide also has some glaring errors; for example, it "reviews" both Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin and Dream Flight. IIRC, Buzz took over Dream Flight's space.

The key reason that I bought the Irreverent Guide was for the actual irreverence...which doesn't really exist.

In a nutshell, this is the worst WDW Guide that I have ever purchased...and then has a terrible price vs. content ration on top of it.


A refreshing change from the usual Disney ...   February 8, 2001
 3 out of 7 found this review helpful

If you want to read the same old sugary sweet... about Disney, buy another guide book. The title says it all- irreverent. If you don't want to hear the negative things, don't buy the book. Contrary to the other reviews of this book, I really enjoyed it. It was helpful, hilarious, and a breath of fresh air. I used 3 other guide books for my trip which all gave the same exact info. This book gives you the real goods. I planned a very short stop-over in Orlando, and quite frankly the thought of trying to prioritize which of the hundreds of attractions to check out made me ill. Not only that, but I didn't want to waste my hard earned money only to be disappointed. Let's face it, Disney and Orlando are not cheap. This book let me know what to expect and helped me to make informed decisions. I never buy just one guide book- this was definitely a good supplement. I plan on seeing if there is an irreverent guide available for my next destination.


A refreshing change from the usual...   February 8, 2001
 1 out of 6 found this review helpful

If you want to read the same old [information] about Disney, buy another guide book. The title says it all- irreverent. If you don't want to hear the negative things, don't buy the book. Contrary to the other reviews of this book, I really enjoyed it. It was helpful, hilarious, and a breath of fresh air. I used 3 other guide books for my trip which all gave the same exact info. This book gives you the real goods. I planned a very short stop-over in Orlando, and quite frankly the thought of trying to prioritize which of the hundreds of attractions to check out made me ill. Not only that, but I didn't want to waste my hard earned money only to be disappointed. Let's face it, Disney and Orlando are not cheap. This book let me know what to expect and helped me to make informed decisions. I never buy just one guide book- this was definitely a good supplement. I plan on seeing if there is an irreverent guide available for my next destination.


Too irreverent   November 14, 2000
 9 out of 9 found this review helpful

I am always dubious when a book contains as many typographical errors and misspellings as this one does. Sea World's coaster is Kraken, not "Kracken" and the ride at Disney MGM is the Tower of Terror not "Twilight Zone of Terror." When you see this you have to ask whether the writer and editor fully understand (or care about) what they are writing about.

The title is a misnomer -- this book contains nearly as much information about the nearby Universal parks as it is about Walt Disney World. Not a bad thing, but if you do not plan to visit Universal (we didn't) much of the content here will be useless to you.

I give it a star because there are a few more insider tips than you'd find in an article in the travel section of your Sunday newspaper and some of them are refreshingly negative -- I do appreciate it when a travel writer comes out and tells us when she thinks something is bad. The phone numbers are well organized. Some of the restaurant recommendations were great.

Overall, however, the text is poorly organized, sometimes repeating information you just read in an earlier chapter. For the most part, the author seems to favor cute puns over information you can actually use. After reading "The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World, 2001," this was a huge disappointment.