Not believing what's in the Unofficial Guide!!!

[lentesta]

DeterminedOne, yeah, there was a repeated paragraph in the Stitch review, and some typos that didn't get caught by the review team. The Stitch paragraph was particular But...

We should have a revised 2006 edition out in early February 2006, which corrects (hopefully) most of those. It'll also bring the book up to date wrt the new ADR schedule, Cinderella's Royal Table menu change, Epcot touring plans, and a host of minor developments since the original edition went to press. All of those corrections are available free on the website, too.

Plus, the revised '06 edition should contain a brief, new section on how we're re-doing our Disney hotel evaluations. That will be fully developed for the '07 edition, but there was enough unique, useful information in there that we thought it would be important for anyone planning a summer '06 trip.

Finally, I think we've seen the last of the "use a good joint" comment, and no more references to heel lifts for kids. It's now Percocet and stilts, respectively. (Joke! Both original items are slated for removal.)

Hope this helps. Thanks very much for reading the book.

Len Testa

P.S. If anyone has anything they'd like to see covered in the '07 edition, drop me a line: len@touringplans.com.

 

[cleo]

Most of the jokes in the UG are very funny. That one wasn't. I wish they would remember our pre-teens read that book. Not too cool, UG, when parents are working so hard to teach their teens to stay away from drugs. If Percocet is indeed a joke in this edition it'll stay on the bookstore shelf and something else will replace it in my house.

What's the point of that sort of joke? Funny for adults maybe, but remember your ENTIRE audience. A big thumbs down in my household.

 

[skiwee1]

I've noticed many typos and just downright bad info in the UG. I am surprised there are that many followers of that book.

 

[In a hurry]

I live for that silly book to come out each year! I thought the joke was a hoot, and if folks don't think their pre-teens know the language, their heads are in the sand. Try spending a few days in the hallway or restroom at school.

Not PC, however. I hope the UG doesn't stop the humor, because others are loosing theirs.

 

[maccalovah]

Not PC, however. I hope the UG doesn't stop the humor, because others are loosing theirs.

I DEFINITELY agree to that. I couldn't believe anyone would get worked up over a line that was obviously meant to be sarcastic. One of the things that makes the UG so enjoyable is its humor. People take things way too seriously!

 

[lentesta]

Just to clarify: To the best of my knowledge, the entire "use a good joint" text is being removed. And we're not replacing it with Percocet - that was yet another (feeble) attempt at humor. No drug references going forward in the book.

skiwee1, drop me a line with any inaccuracies you find, and we'll be happy to fix 'em: len@touringplans.com.

Thanks!

Len

 

[jonestavern]

I DEFINITELY agree to that. I couldn't believe anyone would get worked up over a line that was obviously meant to be sarcastic. One of the things that makes the UG so enjoyable is its humor. People take things way too seriously!

We got a hoot out of that & I like the Percocet line--but then again, at this house we enjoy a sense of humour

Jean, Chris & Patrick

 

[dpuck1998]

So if your kids come home talking about smoking weed and passing a joint...that is funny?

 

[jonestavern]

when the Stooges poke eyes & smack each other with 2 x 4s (he first watched the 3 Stooges when he was 9 or 10) he's never followed suit.
DS is 16, has had the anti-drug awareness & we don't sit about toking up. He is also, I like to think, fairly intelligent.
I guess you have to know yr kids

Still chuckling--

Jean

 

[lark]

Just to clarify: To the best of my knowledge, the entire "use a good joint" text is being removed. And we're not replacing it with Percocet - that was yet another (feeble) attempt at humor. No drug references going forward in the book.

skiwee1, drop me a line with any inaccuracies you find, and we'll be happy to fix 'em: len@touringplans.com.

Thanks!

Len

Now that the UG has gone to blue for certain things, maybe it's time to branch into other colors. You know, like you could have certain pages in red, and red could mean, "there's some sarcasm on this page" for our sarcasm challenged friends.

While we're at it, Len, I find no attraction in disneyworld called Flash Mountain. Could you please fix that page of the book too?

(p.s. -- that last part should be in red.)

 

[alabamagirl]

So if your kids come home talking about smoking week and passing a joint...that is funny?

How do you smoke week?

Sorry, but some of you guys need to find a sense of humor and if this is the only thing you can pick out of the UG to pick on, then I think the writers did a pretty good job. BTW, I love the UG and it tells you in the front part of the book (the forward I think) that there will be jokes and that if you take Disney very seriously, then this might not be the book for you (or something to that effect).

 

[dpuck1998]

Hopefully it makes you feel better thinking drugs are a hilarious topic. I find lots of things funny.....that just isn't one of them. That has nothing to do with having a sense of humor...just sense.

 

[magiroux]

I think this is a hoot...sorry, don't want to offend here. Being a product of the '70's/early '80's, and all that went along with that,( and losing a few brain cells in the process ) I defiantely appreciate the humor. Oh, the memories.

This is a guide book geared to adults to read, it was never meant for the under 18 crowd, as far as I can tell. Lighten up folks!!!!

I have been an UFG Fan since my first book purchased for my honeymoon trip in '92 (again, oh the memories) and part of what made me a huge fan was the "off-kilter" humor throughout the book.

NO, I don't want my dd following in my foot steps, but I have already educated her enough (I hope) that a simple joke in a guide book is not the deciding factor of her making bad choices. That's a pet peeve of mine. Parents want to point fingers in every direction except being responsible for directing their own child's behaviour.

lentesta, I understand the pressure you face to be PC, but just wanted to go out of my way to post..I get it and thanks for the laugh !!!

 

[bunnysmum]

Most of the jokes in the UG are very funny. That one wasn't. I wish they would remember our pre-teens read that book. Not too cool, UG, when parents are working so hard to teach their teens to stay away from drugs. If Percocet is indeed a joke in this edition it'll stay on the bookstore shelf and something else will replace it in my house.

What's the point of that sort of joke? Funny for adults maybe, but remember your ENTIRE audience. A big thumbs down in my household.

I agree with you. I was disappointed to see this "joke" in the UG. I do like the rest of it very much and have bought two of them in the past. Didn't see this line in the previous verison, though, or I would have thought twice about buying the 2006 version. Just rubs me the wrong way, because of younger readers, and, I admit, I also felt sort of alienated by it.

 

[cleo]

I have a fabulous sense of humor, thank you very much, and I can certainly identify sarcasm when I see it and when I dish it out. I also know my teen is aware of all things drug related. My head isn't now and never has been in the sand. I'm fully aware of the real world and I get plenty of belly laughs out of things that are funny.

That line wasn't funny in the context of a book families read. Sorry. It just wasn't. I hope I'm never such a follower of anything that I can gloss over bad decisions. Including that 'joke' was a bad decision.

If someone had told it at a party, I'd laugh. Maybe. But even then it's so sophomorish I'd be hard pressed to find humor in it. But then, I don't laugh at 7-year-old potty humor any more, either.

 

[SueM in MN]

I agree with the people who don't think it belongs in a book like that. It is the type of joke that you might laugh at if it was told at a party. But, the teller of the joke would hopefully know the people he/she was telling it to.

I have found things in the UG that should have been changed a long time ago (and that I know have been pointed out). I just checked the new 2006 guide and it still says that most lines are not wheelchair accessible, so guests traveling with wheelchairs/ecvs should contact the CM at the entrance of each attraction and that wheelchair users will have a shorter wait at most attractions (this is not the exact words, but is the gist of it). If you check the official WDW website, it lists most attractions as "Mainstream Lines" (where the lines are wheelchair accessible). AK and the Studio were built with Mainstream lines, so it's not exactly new information.

 

[lark]

I have a fabulous sense of humor, thank you very much, and I can certainly identify sarcasm when I see it and when I dish it out. I also know my teen is aware of all things drug related. My head isn't now and never has been in the sand. I'm fully aware of the real world and I get plenty of belly laughs out of things that are funny.

That line wasn't funny in the context of a book families read. Sorry. It just wasn't. I hope I'm never such a follower of anything that I can gloss over bad decisions. Including that 'joke' was a bad decision.

If someone had told it at a party, I'd laugh. Maybe. But even then it's so sophomorish I'd be hard pressed to find humor in it. But then, I don't laugh at 7-year-old potty humor any more, either.

Aren't there two issues: (1) Whether the joke is funny, and (2) whether it's offensive because it refers to drugs?

It's kind of like people are starting to conflate these two things. If the problem is that it's not funny, who cares? Humor is in the eye of the beholder. There are 700 pages in that book. Not everyone is going to find all the jokes funny.

If the joke is offensive, what's the difference whether it's funny or not? If the drug reference bothers you because it's a family book, would you change your mind if the joke was really really funny? Shouldn't make any difference.

Not trying to be abrasive here. I'm just kind of curious WHY people are bothered by the joke in the UG. I can understand if a person did not understand that it was ironic, then it might just seem stupid and offensive. But once you understand that the joke is intended as irony -- making fun not of drug use but poking fun at WDW by picking something that Mickey Mouse would so clearly never say -- doesn't it then kind of stop being offensive? I guess maybe not, since drug use is such serious business and really can dramtically affect lives of those it touches.

Still, irony almost by definition can't be sophomoric.

Let me put it another way. Would the joke be funny or offensive if it had pal mickey saying, "I swear if I hear that small world song one more time, I'm going to go home and punch Minnie."

On its face, I guess, it sounds offensive because you might first take it as condoning domestic violence. But really, if you undersand the joke, it's not doing that it all. Actually, the opposite. The joke is that domestic violence is so abhorrent and beyond the pale that the notion of Mickey Mouse advocating it is, theoretically, funny. Perhaps, like drug use, this is simply a subject that is so abhorrent that it should be avoided altogether. I actually think I agree with that in the final analysis and agree the joke should be taken out of the book, but it's interesting to discuss why we feel that way.

 

[Lucky4me]

My 10yo read it and asked, Mom, Pal Mickey really doesn't say that, right? I said, right, he doesn't. She chuckled, end of story.
Everything I've taught her and will teach her about staying away from drugs will not be tossed aside because of one sentence in a sometimes irreverent Disney guide. There are drug references everywhere, even on PBS, the Disney channel and Nickelodeon. I've raised three kids to adulthood and none of them do drugs. No matter what they read, open communication between child and parent is the key. If a parent is not talking to their child about drugs, one sentence in a Disney guide is the least of their problems.

Even though the sentence in question didn't make me laugh, I hope this doesn't put a damper on the humor in the UG. It's what I look forward to most in that guidebook.

 

[dpuck1998]

Wow, this thread has gone from bad to worse...might wanna shutter down....

 

[In a hurry]

I think this is a hoot...sorry, don't want to offend here. Being a product of the '70's/early '80's, and all that went along with that,( and losing a few brain cells in the process ) I defiantely appreciate the humor. Oh, the memories.

This is a guide book geared to adults to read, it was never meant for the under 18 crowd, as far as I can tell. Lighten up folks!!!!

I have been an UFG Fan since my first book purchased for my honeymoon trip in '92 (again, oh the memories) and part of what made me a huge fan was the "off-kilter" humor throughout the book.

NO, I don't want my dd following in my foot steps, but I have already educated her enough (I hope) that a simple joke in a guide book is not the deciding factor of her making bad choices. That's a pet peeve of mine. Parents want to point fingers in every direction except being responsible for directing their own child's behaviour.

lentesta, I understand the pressure you face to be PC, but just wanted to go out of my way to post..I get it and thanks for the laugh !!!

Nicely said. I am 44 years old. Reared before "Just say no!" I have seen use and abuse, treatment and amends. Not printing a bit of foolishness is not going to prevent anyone's child from experimenting with drugs. Printing a joke doesn't advocate it. Heck, there is an on-going thread about drinking throughout WDW on this board. Check the stats on accidents and deaths caused by alcohol, and compare it to marijuana, and then tell me where the concern is.

This is a tour book, not a text book. This is an imaginary statement from a stuffed mouse. This is not RL. It isn't about your kid smoking pot, or worse, it is merely a nod to the oldsters.

As I said earlier, if you think this is too radical for your child, spend some time in the schools.