What the "Unofficial Guide" says about CR rooms

[missypie]

My 2005 "Unofficial Guide to WDW" arrived Saturday...I was so excited. We want to split our stay between the CR and the Yacht Club, so one of the first things I looked up was what the book has to say about those resorts.

I was very surprised that the book says that they CR rooms are decorated in a very drab manner with neutral colors. Say what you want to about the rooms, but they certainly aren't drab and those colors don't look neutral to me.

How old is that info? I've been researching the on-site resorts since April 2003, and ever since then I've seen pictures of the bright decor at the CR. It sort of makes me question a lot of the other info. if what he says about the CR is so out of date.

 

[3for Me]

I LOVE the UNOFFIFIAL GUIDE, but I noticed that too, the first time I bought it was for a trip in EARLY 2002. Imagine my surprise when we opened the doors to find purple, red, blue and black everywhere!

 

[mr.mike]

You will find some information out of date or just wrong. I noticed the same with the edition from 2 years ago.

I was looking at the new edition at a bookstore yesterday and was thinking if this "2005" edition is out now, when was it written and/or updated to be released in August of 2004.

mike

 

[Kimberle]

Perhaps the writter stayed in a 14th floor concierge room. They are decorated in tan's. But the spreads are the same......

Weird comment, would make me question the other writtings of this author........

 

[daannzzz]

The Unofficial Guid is a great read though they have edited out more of the humor in favor of pertinent information so it isn't quite as fun as it used to be. I have noticed that they keep some of the reviews for rooms, resorts, restaurants and attractions that are old and no longer relevant. The CR rooms is one example. There are still reviews for some restaurants that have the exact same wording as when I got my fist 1995 version even though what it says is way out of date.

 

[webray]

Purple, red, yellow, blue..definately not drab..lol

 

[Jen D]

I adore the Unofficial Guide, but some of the resort reviews definitely need updating. They continue to insist that the Polynesian rooms are slightly smaller than other deluxes at 351 square feet... this doesn't jibe with anything I've read or heard elsewhere.

He Len Testa, pass these notes up to Big Bob, willya?

 

[sotoalf]

The Unofficial Guide doesn't always update its entries. That information is probably from the early '90s.

As for the Polynesian's room size - I scratched my head at that too. Then again, the 2004 edition still listed the old longhouse names (Pago Pago, Moorea, etc), so go figure.

I noticed that this year's edition features new restaurant reviews; sadly, most of Sehlinger and company's acerbic humor is gone. I always depended on the UG for informal, no-nonsense information. It has a way of cutting thru some of the Disney pixie dust in a manner that's most refreshing.

 

[wanna-b-Tink]

I read every WDW guidebook out there. Keeps me going between trips.

I am currently reading "Inside Disney" from the Unoffical Guide people. I know this book has been out a while, but not on my local Barnes & Noble shelf. I just found it there this weekend. Though some of the "current" info is outdated, I am having a great time reading all of the history. It is a short read, and I'd recommend it to anyone who wants a shortened history of the World.

 

[lentesta]

Hi folks,

Thanks very much for bringing this to our attention. I'll check with Bob to see what rooms in the CR we reviewed, and when.

missypie, I'm staying at the CR this coming October, so let me know if there's something specific you'd like to know.

daannzzz, our restaurant team re-reviewed every single restaurant in WDW in the past 12 months. In some cases, new reviews were written, while in others it was decided that the original review was still valid. Let me know which restaurants you're looking at, and I'll ask the team if they have any additional comments we can pass on.

Also, I personally went through every line of every attraction review, and we had at least two members of our team go on every attraction at least once. If there's something we've missed, please let me know.

Jen D, we went round and round with Disney on both the square footage and number of rooms in each resort. I was on the conference call. What we found was that Disney's own internal documentation isn't consistent; some documents list one number, other documents show something else. We ended up calling the resort managers and using the numbers they quoted, as they're the people closest to the actual data.

sotoalf, we corrected the names of the Poly buildings on our website, and updated maps of that resort are available for free on the site as well. My sig below has the link. And we've still got the same sense of humor. Check our our review of Mission:Space in this year's guide. Or the background information on our "best ticket" options.

The cartoons, sadly, are the first casualty of the page count we're restricted to by Wiley. But we've got something in the works for that, too.

Thanks very much for reading the Guide. Again, if there's some piece of information that folks think needs updating, please let me know either here or via email (len@touringplans.com). Don't forget that updates to the Guide are available online, too.

Sincerely,

Len Testa

 

[Jen D]

Thanks Len!

Finally getting through my new guide-- I didn't get one in 2004 so I'm not sure what's new but I LOVE the Jim Hill trivia. Really great!

 

[daannzzz]

Thanks Len. I have not gotten the newest version but will go through last year version and let you know. Thanks again.