Kim Wright Wiley

I used the 2012 edition of Walt Disney World for Kids when I planned my family’s first Disney vacation four years ago. I liked the book so much that I used the 2016 edition to help me plan the Disney and Universal vacation that we took back in late September. Once again, I found it very helpful.

A good portion of the book is the same as what was in the 2012 book. It was still good to read because I had forgotten pretty much everything since it had been four years. There have been two significant changes though – Magic Bands and Fast Passes. The Magic Bands that Disney uses now is a room key, park ticket, meal pass and fast-pass all in one and are new since the last time I went. I was glad for the information on how they worked. Also, the Fast Pass system for the rides has changed considerably and can be confusing. I’m glad I could read up on how it worked before planning.

My biggest criticism of the 2012 book was that it didn’t have much information on the quick-service (fast food) options in the parks. I feel like this book had more information on them this time. The authors also included short descriptions and reviews of all of the sit-down restaurants. There is also information on all of the on-site hotels.

All of the rides are rated both by age and by scariness factor which is nice if you have small children. Some of the rides that they are big enough to go on may still be too intense for them.

Universal Orlando is included in this book as well. At first I was worried because only two chapters are devoted to it, one for Universal Studios and one for Islands of Adventure. I needn’t have worried though. Universal is really small compared to Disney and those two chapters contained all of the information I needed. The information on the Harry Potter stuff was particularly helpful. I would have been totally overwhelmed without the authors’ tips on how to navigate the Harry Potter world.

I personally think this book is a must if you are planning a Walt Disney World vacation with kids. If my husband and I take our kids again – and I’m sure we will – I will be using the latest edition of this book to help me plan.… (mais)

Fodor's Walt Disney World with Kids 2012: with Universal Orlando, SeaWorld & AquaticaFodor's Walt Disney World with Kids 2012: with Universal Orlando, SeaWorld & Aquatica by Kim Wright Wiley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I used this book to plan a trip to Walt Disney World with my husband and two sons who are five and seven years old. The most helpful part of this book was the detailed descriptions of the rides for each park and the discussion of what ages the rides were most appropriate for. There is an easy to refer to chart for each park of the "Don't Miss" rides for different age groups of kids. This was helpful because there were several rides that our kids could have gone on because they met the height requirement that would have been too fast and/or scary for them. We rode a couple of rides that the book said our kids were too young for because they really wanted to and both times the ride turned out to be too intense for them just like the book said.

The part of this book that I thought was lacking was the discussion of restaurants and food options. There is virtually no discussion of the quick service restaurants because the author says there is only so much to say about fast food. I think there is actually a lot that could have been said about the quick service options. I would have liked to know ahead of time what foods each one offered so I could have chosen to eat at the ones that had the healthier options. I thought the descriptions of the table service restaurants could have been more detailed as well.

Overall, this was a helpful guide for planning our Walt Disney World vacation.… (mais)