toomanycars
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2008
- Messages
- 658
Free GPS POI file for Disney World at Mousesavers!!
"just about every place you might need to drive while on vacation at Walt Disney World. All of the major Disney theme parks, water parks, shopping areas, golf courses and hotels are in it, plus all the MouseSavers Preferred Hotels. It contains all of the Disney sit-down restaurants, a handful of distinctive Disney counter-service restaurants, all of the Downtown Disney restaurants, and the restaurants and dinner..."
"just about every place you might need to drive while on vacation at Walt Disney World. All of the major Disney theme parks, water parks, shopping areas, golf courses and hotels are in it, plus all the MouseSavers Preferred Hotels. It contains all of the Disney sit-down restaurants, a handful of distinctive Disney counter-service restaurants, all of the Downtown Disney restaurants, and the restaurants and dinner..."
http://www.mousesavers.com/gps.html
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]What is GPS?[/FONT]
"GPS stands for Global Positioning System. A GPS receiver uses signals broadcast by satellites to calculate its position on the earth. Auto GPS navigation systems use position information and a large database of maps to give real-time visual and spoken directions to virtually any location.
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Why use an auto GPS receiver to navigate at Disney World?[/FONT]
As anyone who's spent significant time driving around Walt Disney World knows, it's a large and confusing place. Driving your own car or a rental car is faster and more flexible (albeit more expensive) than using Disney's transportation. The rub is that you must navigate a somewhat confusing complex of streets and freeways inside Disney property, almost none of which have normal street signs.
Disney's on-property navigation signs are good, but they don't always take you on the most efficient route, and for the hotels and smaller destinations it is often necessary to know what general area of the World you need to get to. Only once you reach that area will the signs start displaying directions to specific resorts. If you don't know (for example) that Saratoga Springs is in the Downtown Disney Resort Area, you may have trouble navigating to it just by following the road signs.
Using a GPS receiver is a great way to avoid many of the navigation hassles associated with driving in and around the World. In theory, you just select your destination from the GPS unit's internal list of hotels, restaurants, amusement parks, etc. It calculates an efficient route and gives you spoken navigation instructions to get you there. If you take a wrong turn, most modern units will just calmly recalculate a new route and start giving you new instructions to get you back on track. In unfamiliar locations, a good GPS is a huge advantage, allowing you to focus on the road while it gives you the upcoming turns. It has complete knowledge of every road and it never gets mad at you because you took the wrong exit.
The flaw with this rosy scenario at Walt Disney World is that most current GPS units have a very limited selection of POI (Point of Interest) locations within the Disney World property, and what they do have is in many cases poorly placed. Many restaurants and hotels are left out, and the points for the various major parks are often placed not on the entrance to the parking area, but in the middle of the park itself. Faced with a point that is not actually on a road, GPS units will route you to the nearest road, which may be a service road that runs backstage. If you follow the GPS's instructions you'll likely find yourself at a security gate nowhere near the actual entrance to the park.
To help prevent this situation, I've created a file of accurate POI locations. Read on for the details!
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The MouseSavers POI File[/FONT]
I've created a file of POI locations for just about every place you might need to drive while on vacation at Walt Disney World. All of the major Disney theme parks, water parks, shopping areas, golf courses and hotels are in it, plus all the MouseSavers Preferred Hotels. It contains all of the Disney sit-down restaurants, a handful of distinctive Disney counter-service restaurants, all of the Downtown Disney restaurants, and the restaurants and dinner shows discussed on MouseSavers.com. There are also nearby grocery stores, drugstores, medical facilities (urgent care and hospitals), and selected Disney outlet stores. The Universal Orlando area is also covered to a smaller extent.
For now, the files are only available for recent-model Garmin, TomTom and some Magellan units. If you have a GPS that allows custom POI uploads and would like me to make a version of the POI file for your unit, let me know. I'll add new formats if there are enough requests."
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]What is GPS?[/FONT]
"GPS stands for Global Positioning System. A GPS receiver uses signals broadcast by satellites to calculate its position on the earth. Auto GPS navigation systems use position information and a large database of maps to give real-time visual and spoken directions to virtually any location.
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Why use an auto GPS receiver to navigate at Disney World?[/FONT]
As anyone who's spent significant time driving around Walt Disney World knows, it's a large and confusing place. Driving your own car or a rental car is faster and more flexible (albeit more expensive) than using Disney's transportation. The rub is that you must navigate a somewhat confusing complex of streets and freeways inside Disney property, almost none of which have normal street signs.
Disney's on-property navigation signs are good, but they don't always take you on the most efficient route, and for the hotels and smaller destinations it is often necessary to know what general area of the World you need to get to. Only once you reach that area will the signs start displaying directions to specific resorts. If you don't know (for example) that Saratoga Springs is in the Downtown Disney Resort Area, you may have trouble navigating to it just by following the road signs.
Using a GPS receiver is a great way to avoid many of the navigation hassles associated with driving in and around the World. In theory, you just select your destination from the GPS unit's internal list of hotels, restaurants, amusement parks, etc. It calculates an efficient route and gives you spoken navigation instructions to get you there. If you take a wrong turn, most modern units will just calmly recalculate a new route and start giving you new instructions to get you back on track. In unfamiliar locations, a good GPS is a huge advantage, allowing you to focus on the road while it gives you the upcoming turns. It has complete knowledge of every road and it never gets mad at you because you took the wrong exit.
The flaw with this rosy scenario at Walt Disney World is that most current GPS units have a very limited selection of POI (Point of Interest) locations within the Disney World property, and what they do have is in many cases poorly placed. Many restaurants and hotels are left out, and the points for the various major parks are often placed not on the entrance to the parking area, but in the middle of the park itself. Faced with a point that is not actually on a road, GPS units will route you to the nearest road, which may be a service road that runs backstage. If you follow the GPS's instructions you'll likely find yourself at a security gate nowhere near the actual entrance to the park.
To help prevent this situation, I've created a file of accurate POI locations. Read on for the details!
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The MouseSavers POI File[/FONT]
I've created a file of POI locations for just about every place you might need to drive while on vacation at Walt Disney World. All of the major Disney theme parks, water parks, shopping areas, golf courses and hotels are in it, plus all the MouseSavers Preferred Hotels. It contains all of the Disney sit-down restaurants, a handful of distinctive Disney counter-service restaurants, all of the Downtown Disney restaurants, and the restaurants and dinner shows discussed on MouseSavers.com. There are also nearby grocery stores, drugstores, medical facilities (urgent care and hospitals), and selected Disney outlet stores. The Universal Orlando area is also covered to a smaller extent.
For now, the files are only available for recent-model Garmin, TomTom and some Magellan units. If you have a GPS that allows custom POI uploads and would like me to make a version of the POI file for your unit, let me know. I'll add new formats if there are enough requests."
I've tried to get these maps before and couldn't 
)
. We haven't even been on our first trip but I'm already thinking of going back when the resort opens plus Fantasyland will be done with it's makeover.
Now that graduation is drawing near, I wish that I had waited to tell her, but she has had the best time planning. She is now even a member on here!!
This trip is going to be a little bitter sweet though. DH is staying at home with DD (cheerleading camp/practice) so they will be missed, BUT my mom is coming!!!
Lauren's graduation Mickey ears are hear and ready to go!!
