Unofficial Guide's reliability

[twinsman]

I see a lot of posts stating that the unofficial guide is inaccurate and/or unreliable. I have read it cover to cover and I am depending on it for my first time planning. What is inaccurate in it? Thanks

 

[SueM in MN]

I have not read the most recent one, but have read it in the past. I have been told the newest version still says:
Timeshare owners can get Florida resident tickets.In actual fact, the DVC and some other timeshares specifically say in the papers signed at closing that ownership may not be used for proof of Florida residency.
People with disabilities get into rides without waiting. In actual fact, most lines are mainstream, which means people with wheelchairs or ecvs wait in line with everyone else.

 

[LMHB]

I have never seen wheelchairs waiting in line with us - I think they go in separately. I think the Unnofficial Guide is an honest and very useful book. You will see it get bashed a LOT. It has enabled our family to tour very efficiently and see way more than we would have. otherwise. I don't imagine there are any inaccuracies, but if they are, they are so minute that the usefulness of the book would still not be affected, at all. Some people just think the book is too negative. I LOVE Disney but think the book is honest.

 

[pdzabe]

I used this guide (2001 version) along with my Passporter 2001 for our recent visit and was pleased with the information, especially the touring plans at the back of the book which I used as a guide around the parks. I think the value of it far outweighs any negatives I've seen and it serves to give you another viewpoint on the restaurants and attractions. Used in conjunction with my Passporter, I was able to see almost everything I wanted to and eat where I wanted to and everything was on target. Good luck!

 

[SueM in MN]

I'm not saying it is a bad book, just that I know of some things that are not true, so (IMHO) take what you read (in this book or anywhere else) with a grain of salt. I can tell you for sure that the 2 things that I mentioned are not true.

We are DVC members and some of the papers we signed on closing indicated we could not use our DVC ownership as proof of Florida residency. This subject comes up fairly frequently on the DVC Board as people read it in the Unofficial book and then come to ask about it.

We have a DD who uses a wheelchair and we wait in line with everyone else. There are places where wheelchairs or ecvs users have to board at the ride exit, but they wait in line with everyone else until the regular line goes thru a turnstile, up steps or gets to the boarding area.

 

[All Aboard]

Sehlinger has been harvesting his book lately. Seems that he doesn't put the effort into updates like he used to. For example, his crowd chart by month is desperately out of date. Crowd flows have changed alot in the last five years.

Also, he claims that priority seatings can be made online - that's never been true.

His travelling advice for someone coming north on the turnpike is to exit at I-4 and come back down. Well, the Osceola Parkway has been open for how many years now??

Minimum height info is wrong in many cases. He makes no mention of the Plaza restaurant anywhere in his book.

There's plenty more, but I am away from home and don't have access to one to remind me.

Sometimes I wonder if anyone is editing it anymore.

 

[Planogirl]

There are slews of Unofficial Guides for many locations in the market now and I wonder if they are spreading themselves too thin? I have noticed errors but never anything I couldn't live with. Funny, but I never noticed that the Plaza wasn't in the book!

I still believe that the book is valuable. There is certainly no sugar coating and the advice on touring is invaluable.

 

[welovemickey]

Hi, just want to add my humble two cents . . .

The first time we went to WDW, I got the Birnbaum's Guide to Disney. Since then I have always used the Unofficial Guide.

We were once told that the Unofficial Guide gives much better tips on various things than the Birnbaum book because Birnbaum actually is contracted by Disney to write the book. I'm not sure how true that is, but just thought I'd pass it along.

 

[BevS97]

I bought the Unofficial Guide, but was put off my the massive negativity. I also have 'The Brits guide to Orlando' which is excellent and covers many non wdw attractions, a passporter (which I also love) and the guide to WDW with kids by Kim Wright Wiley - I think this is my favorite. Really honest accounts of each ride - warnings if something will be scary, and reviews of all the restaurants, including how comfortable kids will feel there. We used it and the passporter every day.

Bev

 

[stacie_d]

I guess it might depend on what info you are focusing on in the book. We used it mainly to help devise a bit of a touring plan on our first vacation over Easter 2000. For being on the othe busiest weeks of the year, I can say that by using the advice given by the book, and the fastpass, the longest line we waited in was the ride in Norway, and it was about 20 min. But, I will also say that it didn't say anything much different from the info I have gotten from the boards. The most valuable advice that we followed was in regard to epcot. We did this whole park, and was able to avoid most of the crowds. But for our first trip, and before I really read much on here, it was a life saver.

 

[shamrock30]

I enjoy reading the "Unofficial Guide" every time we go to Disney. I have noticed that some of the info is out-dated, even though I always buy the current book. That is true of almost any guidebook, however.

I would avoid putting much stock in the hotel recommendations section. We relied on their recommendations twice, and were twice disappointed. The food info and info on the rides is useful, and I do like their touring advice. I don't consider them to be overly negative--I like to be warned about potential problems and disappointments. Setting expectations unrealistically high by whitewashing everything (as in the "Official Guide", in my opinion) causes more disappointment.

 

[The Hunt]

The Unofficial Guide has so much info in it some of it is bound to be wrong or out of date. The Birnbaum Guide is probably more accurate, sure, but there is lots that it simply doesn't tell you. The Unofficial Guide is mainly useful in providing you with a strategy to avoid lines, and I think it does a great job at that. One guidebook I had, Hidden Orlando, however, had lots of erroneous information.

 

[jfranklyn]

I would suggest the Passporter- I think it's definately better than the rest.