Saturday, August 22, 2009

WDW Information Sites

Many different WDW sites have popped-up over the years. Every site has something new and original to offer. At first glance, it is difficult to tell which sites are kept up-to-date with information, so I will highlight the differences.

Planners are sites that focus on detailed, timely WDW resort information for vacation planning purposes. Some planner sites also provide WDW news.

News-only sites focus more on articles, blogs or the latest Disney/WDW-related news. The news sites may have WDW planning data in some form, but may not have enough planning content or the planning information is not up to date.

Planners
  • AllEars.Net, also known as "Deb's Unofficial WDW Vacation Information Guide", is an encyclopedia of information on WDW activities, parks, dining and accommodations. If you want detail, this is THE online WDW Guide Book. Information is VERY recent. AE has a clean and basic home page with categorized headlines for the latest news, but the overall look and feel of the site is dated. Beyond the Parks is a must-read for non-park days. Blog Central hosts multiple WDW blogs from a team of writers. Anita Answer is a very original idea for a website, modeled after a newspaper advice column. The Tips searchable database is also a handy reference tool. AE has a photo of the week and hosts a weekly newsletter. AllEars also provides information via Twitter and Facebook.
  • DIS is an online WDW Guide, the site also has links to Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, Disney Vacation Club, and Universal Orlando. DIS has a big list of planning topics and good, up-to-date information on refurbishments, park maps, restaurant menus, Disney resort rates, and discounts offered by Disney and other resorts. Some topics are difficult to navigate to, but DIS has only the most often used options shown in the main menu on its home page. The Disney Dining Search tool is almost as good as Disney's, and has an option to select by price range. The dining plan list is easy to search for restaurants. DIS has a great reviews section with reader-supplied reviews for attractions, resorts, restaurants and bars. Park guides have links to photos and the DISboards.com forum. DISboards.com is THE Disney-related forum and claims to be the largest. The forums have any WDW topic you can think of. DIS Radio (an Internet radio station) and DIS Unplugged (a weekly podcast) are hosted by DIS. DIS also provides information via Twitter and Facebook.
  • Disney Links has an extensive list of external planning sites. It does not have detailed planning information, but similar to WDW For Grownups, will tell you where to look. DL has a simple listing of link categories. Sites that point back to DL get preferential treatment in DL listings (their site is placed near the top). Good luck trying to pull URL lists like this from Google. Unfortunately, the last news message on DL is over a year ago, but they are continuing to update the site with new links.
  • Magical Kingdoms has some of the best attraction summaries I have ever seen. A refreshing look at WDW, as every single Disney resort, restaurant and attraction has a "fun facts" section. The site has a modern look and feel, most information is conveniently categorized so it can be easily found and also includes its own Google search. Magical Kingdoms has good Disney transportation and Disney resort benefits guides, a decent list of recreational activities, kid-specific topics, and wet-weather activities. Magical Kingdoms also has forums, a blog and a store. The History of Disney's Audio Animatronics is a good read. Magical Kingdoms has information on Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, Disney Cruise Line, Hong Kong DL, Weddings, and Animation.
  • MouseSavers.com is the site to find how to do WDW on the cheap. The "Time is Money" section has great park tips that everyone should read, including what to pack for your trip, avoiding crowds, and best places to see parades and fireworks. The site also has a good listing of Special Events.
  • walt disney world (for grownups) has its own forums and articles, and a well thought-out categorization of external links to other WDW sites. WDWFG provides links for general planning, tailored planning, and planning tools. The Experts part of the site has me going back to it again and again. Trivia and Games has some fun links, including WDWFG's own quiz. WDWFG has interesting article topics. Top 5 Places to Relax With a Drink at Disney World reminded me of going "Around the World" in Epcot during my WDW College Program days, and I experienced Working Remotely From Walt Disney World just a month ago. There is no news on this site, but WDWFG provides links to some of the major news sites. WDWFG appears to keep its links and content up-to-date.

News
  • INTERCOT consists mainly of news stories connected to forums. The site also has information on theme parks and resorts (along with links to videos and photos), but the content appears dated (e.g. resort mugs, "Food Rocks" in EPCOT and DVC resorts). info central is a good place to find information that never changes from year to year. INTERCOT also has its own store and an interesting interactive section with countdown timers, newsletters and RSS feeds. INTERCOT hosts sites for INTERCOTwest (Disneyland), WebDisney (Disney-specific news), and MouseHut (web-based email).
  • LaughingPlace is one of the oldest Disney sites, but has one of the weakest planners. Refurbishments were last updated 4 months ago, Disney Dining Plan information is a year old, and the latest DVC resorts are not listed. Otherwise, LaughingPlace is the place to go for videos and pictorials. LaughingPlace has categorized Disney news, a podcast, blogs, forums, Internet radio, a magazine, and a store. LP Live is a way for readers to instantly post their cell phone pictures to the site.
  • Magical Mountain has their own mascot, Shandy the Sugar Glider. MM has a professional look and feel to the site and features Disney company news, its own forums, an impressive list of blog authors and topics, a weekly podcast, and MDTV (a YouTube group). The site includes shopping and Disney movie reviews. This is not a WDW planning site. MM has a planning link that points to Tour Guide Mike. There are good WDW overviews, but most of the WDW detail comes from user reviews. Unfortunately, the reviews are dated and there are not enough reviews to cover all areas of WDW. The resorts listing is not up to date. There are some great sections including recipes, urban legends, and Disney History. Downtown Disney and the Disney Cruise Line have their own news.
  • MousePlanet focuses on Disney-related articles of various subjects, not just news articles, but also opinions and commentary. MousePlanet has a weekly WDW resort update and one of the best "in a nutshell" park guides available. WDW information is not timely (e.g. Bay Lake Towers is missing from the resorts list). The site also has Disneyland info, trip reports, user reviews for Disney resorts around the world, and forums. The "Book your Travel" (hotels) section on the site was last updated 4 years ago. MousePlanet also hosts the MouseStation podcast and videos on YouTube. Disney junkies must congregate here. For something original check the MouseAdventure event that MousePlanet hosts at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.
  • PassPorter.com is another site lacking timely advice. Dining plan information on the rumors page is good content, but over a year old. There is also a 10-year-old link for the "upcoming" Millennium Celebration. Passporter focuses on feature articles. The Best Advice for Disney World Vacations and Ten Surprising Things you should Never Leave Home Without offer good, solid advice that will last indefinitely. Most of Passporter is an advertisement for the Passporter guide book and the site is ugly by today's standards.
  • Walt Disney World News is an official WDW PR site by Disney. WDW News with a salesy-slant. Good for the latest news and upcoming events straight from the horse's (or mouse's) mouth.
  • WDWmagic.com is a good portal to check during your trip. Daily news, weather, refurbishments, reviews and latest posts to its own forum. The site layout is customizable based on what is important to you: site sections can be rearranged to your liking. WDWmagic has good mobile and Twitter interfaces for checking info in the parks. The trip planner and user reviews are nice, but lacking enough data to be of substantial value. This will change over time.
  • WDW News Today is strictly focused on park attractions, but has a podcast, forums, calendar, atractions news, and park maps. WDW New Today also has WDWNTube, a library of attraction videos and a list of links to other "off the main path" WDW sites.

Other
  • A Complete Guide to Walt Disney World: Has a handy downloadable guide to WDW (currently 2 years old), but menus on the site are incomplete and outdated. Disney transportation link points to advertising. The site does have a good tips section and attraction summaries/opinions are interesting to read.
  • WDWPlanner: The site has a forum that has been used for almost 10 years, but the rest of the site has not been completely been kept up to date. Most of the forum content is old, but the recent Bay Lake Towers web content has the first "fun facts" section that I have seen.
  • The Mouse for Less: This site appears to be a Planner site, but its menus and news are not very recent. Room descriptions are recent (includes Bay Lake Towers) and in-depth. Appears to be a site for a travel agency.
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