WDW GPS POI's

[bora63]

Hi all, I'm not sure if anyone can help with this. I borrowed a Garmin nuvi 600/650 from my friend to take with me on my first trip to WDW. I keep trying to setup POP as one of my favorites, but the address and hotel just won't show up!!! I tried under lodging, i tried spelling the name, different cities, disney, pop -- all won't work. Can anybody think of a reason why? I would really appreciate any feedback.

 

[Diamond Girl]

Hi, I'm the guy who created these. I'm Don Munsil; Mary Waring (the creator of MouseSavers) is my sister. It's exactly the issues you mention that made me want to create these POIs. The points for Disney World that come with GPS units are way off from where you'd want to go, in many cases. They're not perfect anywhere else either, but the ones in Disney World are really bad. I think it's because a lot of the places in Disney World either have no address or a kind of fanciful address that isn't necessarily clearly marked.

I hope folks will get some value out of them; they're completely free. I just did them because I'm a Disney fan (and GPS nerd). Or is it GPS fan and Disney nerd? I did use them in WDW when I was there last month, and I can attest that they work, at least with my Garmin Nuvi 360 and TomTom Go 510.


Best,
Don

Thanks a lot, Don. We have a trip planned for this coming August and we will definitely install the POIs on our Tom Tom One Third Edition.

 

[Us3]

I love my Tom Tom...and thanks Don for the WDW POI file!

 

[clkelley]

Hi all, I'm not sure if anyone can help with this. I borrowed a Garmin nuvi 600/650 from my friend to take with me on my first trip to WDW. I keep trying to setup POP as one of my favorites, but the address and hotel just won't show up!!! I tried under lodging, i tried spelling the name, different cities, disney, pop -- all won't work. Can anybody think of a reason why? I would really appreciate any feedback.

The unit only has stuff that was programmed into it when it was created. You would have to download updated maps to get the latest information.

OR

If the unit has some type of software or way to plug in actual longitude and latitude coordinates, then it could find the place. My Magellan 760 has a Custom POI software manager. If it doesn't have a place or address in it's database, I go to Google Earth and find the place and get the exact coordinates.

I then input that into the software, attach my unit to a USB cable from my computer, and instantly, my unit then knows how to get to those coordinates.

GPS units get their signal from an active satelite that tells it where the unit is at the point, but the maps are loaded into the unit like software, and only change when new information is added.

For example, my last trip, the highway I was on had some new construction and was widened and rerouted some. For awhile there even though I knew I was on this highway, my unit thought I was in the middle of nowhere.

 

[DznyRulz]

Hi all, I'm not sure if anyone can help with this. I borrowed a Garmin nuvi 600/650 from my friend to take with me on my first trip to WDW. I keep trying to setup POP as one of my favorites, but the address and hotel just won't show up!!! I tried under lodging, i tried spelling the name, different cities, disney, pop -- all won't work. Can anybody think of a reason why? I would really appreciate any feedback.

I just looked this up on a co-workers 600 (I have the 350). It looks to me like the Pop is not in the POI list. Even the All-Star Movies is not listed but the other two All-Star resorts are listed. One thing to keep in mind, it can take a couple of years for some POIs to show up or be removed. Why these places are there or not there is anybody's guess.

Here is a way you can locate it:

1. Select "Where to?"
2. Press the down arrow
3. Select "Coordinates"
4. Select the "Format" option
5. Select the third option - h ddd.ddddd
6. Select "OK"
7. In the "N" field, select to change
8. Delete what is there
9. Enter 28.35044, select OK
10. In the "W" field, select to change
11. Delete what is there
12. Enter 81.5451, select OK
13. Select "Next"
14. On the Coordinates screen you can select "Show Map" to see the location, select "Save" to save the location with a name you supply or select "Go!" to get a route calculated.

Mention to your friend that they should download the GPS file from MouseSavers (referenced above) and/or POI Factory to get all the Disney resorts and restaurants.

Interestingly enough I just tried to find the Pop on another co-workers Magellan Maestro and it was there. Like I said, go figure.

 

[Minnie's Mate]

I'm going to show my technology disability here, but as I mentioned in an earlier post, I have two Fords with factory navigation systems. Can these POI's be down loaded or entered someway into these systems? I haven't taken the time to read the manual and become familiar with the units...my bad, but I will look it up if there is. I just have been really busy in my "spare" time.

 

[Duane]

Minnie, I too have the Ford nav system. There is no way to add a POI file to the unit.

 

[clkelley]

Minnie, I too have the Ford nav system. There is no way to add a POI file to the unit.

Got a question though, once you get somewhere does it have a "locate" button (or something similar), when you can then save the location for future reference?? (My next truck will be the V8 Sport Trac with the built-in Nav)

 

[Minnie's Mate]

Got a question though, once you get somewhere does it have a "locate" button (or something similar), when you can then save the location for future reference?? (My next truck will be the V8 Sport Trac with the built-in Nav)

Yes, there are a couple of ways to do that. One is to add current location to address book and another is to add the current location as a POI or as a destination (I don't understand that one, once you're there, why do you need to know how to get there! ). But, you can add it as a POI, but you are there when you do. I wasn't sure about the memory features and if you could add a file some way or not. You can also add bread crumbs. I totally don't understand that one and I did look that up on the internet.

While the Ford unit doesn't have all the options that the mobile units have, it is a good unit IMHO. One feature that was important to me is that I park in downtown Atlanta and my previous truck (also an F-250) had been broken into several times so I wanted a built in unit so I wouldn't have to worry about it being stolen or having to "hide" it every time I parked. BTW, I did have an after market security system installed in both the previous truck and my current truck.

 

[clkelley]

Yes, there are a couple of ways to do that. One is to add current location to address book and another is to add the current location as a POI or as a destination (I don't understand that one, once you're there, why do you need to know how to get there! ).

I find that feature helpful, because street addresses are sometimes "off" a bit and things like National Parks, State Parks, and other places usually give you the address of the main entrance and I'm really heading to a campground well inside the area. Once I'm there the first time I can hit "locate" and program it in, and then the unit takes me directly there on future trips. Also, for example, my Magellan was taking me to what it thought was the closest Wal-Mart in Orlando and I passed another one on the way there, so I pulled in and hit "locate" and now I know how to get to the closest Wal-Mart. Also, If I'm driving down the road and see a sign for someplace I want to visit in the future, I can take a short detour, find the exact location, and program it in for future reference.

Anyway, thanks for the info!!!

 

[Minnie's Mate]

I did try to add the current location as a destination once and it gave me an error message.

There is a good selection of POI's in the system. We find restaurants and grocery stores on trips with ours. You can also add POI's which is good, but you have to be at the POI to enter it...at least that is the only way I have found unless maybe you have the address and just add it to the address book. I added the check-in at FW as a current address into the address book because the location in the system was for the parking lot.

We plan to move in a few months so I felt it was a good idea to have Navigation systems in both vehicles so we could start learning our way once we relocate. Even though I have lived in Atlanta for 23 years, the city has grown so much that there are parts of town that I'm not overly familiar with and I am currently consulting with the City of Atlanta and have to go to those areas with some of my projects and the GPS has proven invaluable. I can't imagine moving to a new city and not having one.

 

[bora63]

I just looked this up on a co-workers 600 (I have the 350). It looks to me like the Pop is not in the POI list. Even the All-Star Movies is not listed but the other two All-Star resorts are listed. One thing to keep in mind, it can take a couple of years for some POIs to show up or be removed. Why these places are there or not there is anybody's guess.

Here is a way you can locate it:

1. Select "Where to?"
2. Press the down arrow
3. Select "Coordinates"
4. Select the "Format" option
5. Select the third option - h ddd.ddddd
6. Select "OK"
7. In the "N" field, select to change
8. Delete what is there
9. Enter 28.35044, select OK
10. In the "W" field, select to change
11. Delete what is there
12. Enter 81.5451, select OK
13. Select "Next"
14. On the Coordinates screen you can select "Show Map" to see the location, select "Save" to save the location with a name you supply or select "Go!" to get a route calculated.

Mention to your friend that they should download the GPS file from MouseSavers (referenced above) and/or POI Factory to get all the Disney resorts and restaurants.

Interestingly enough I just tried to find the Pop on another co-workers Magellan Maestro and it was there. Like I said, go figure.

Thank you so so very much Chris! I followed your directions and added it to my favorites so crossing my fingers now and hoping for the best!

 

[2goofycampers]

here is the new updated down load from mousesavers poi some have been waiting for. http://www.mousesavers.com/gps.html

 

[Us3]

Very cool, thanks for posting. I can't tell you how well the POI's worked for us! I don't like to drive much while at WDW, but for the few times that we did drive (and for the one time that we left Disney property)...it was awesome! Even if I did know how to get there, I still set the route just to see if it took us in the same direction we normally drive!

 

[BigDaddyRog]

bumping this because I found using these GPS directions got us around in a slighly different way than following Disney signs, and actually saved us a considerable amount of time. Disney sends you the way they want you to go...for sightseeing purposes....these directions get you there quickly and legally.

 

[incoo]

I used your excellent work on my Nuvi 680 and the routing and poi"s were a tremendous help and was seamless in installation.Thank you

 

[Shan-man]

I just wanted to interject a word of caution: some GPS systems do not have very detailed information on WDW roads. This file is just the destinations and it is up to the GPS system to determine the route. When using my Mom's system in her late-model Buick, it wanted to route us down some bus- and cast-only roads, and even the wrong way on a one way. Just use with caution.

 

[2goofycampers]

A good read on GPS at WDW

http://www.mousesavers.com/gps.html

 

[clkelley]

I just wanted to interject a word of caution: some GPS systems do not have very detailed information on WDW roads. This file is just the destinations and it is up to the GPS system to determine the route. When using my Mom's system in her late-model Buick, it wanted to route us down some bus- and cast-only roads, and even the wrong way on a one way. Just use with caution.

My Magellan 760 does the same thing inside Disney.

 

[armadafrfs]

I am going to try to load these for my TomTom now. I was surprised that it was not in the POI load to begin with since other campgrounds in the area are loaded. For those of you with TomToms that did see Ft. Wilderness already in the system, how did you find it?