College Independent Study about Disney using Birnbaum

disneydaughter96

disneydaughter96

New Member
Original Poster
Hello everyone!!
I will be a part of the Disney College Program next semester!! However, I will still need to take credits through my university, so I will be conducting an independent study while I am there. Though I have a few ideas, I still need some help!

One of my ideas is to test out the theories and ideas of Birnbaums Walt Disney World Resort books or the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney. I'm currently typing up my proposal for this independent study, and since I have never owned any of these books, I'm looking to you guys before I head out and buy a copy.

What are some chapters or ideas of Birnbaum's book/Unofficial Guide that you may believe could be fun to test out?? Any best parade/firework spots, any park routes??
 
M

Minnie Mum

Well-Known Member
Birmbaums - theories?? Ideas?? :joyfull:
Surely you jest. It's one long ad for all things Disney. If you're going to do a serious, college level study, at least select a book that is heavy on the theory/ideas/ planning and lighter on the fluff. The Unofficial Guide is the oldest in this category. Another one, although relatively new, would be The Easy Guide to Your WDW Visit. There are others. Proper selection will require a trip to your library or bookstore and actually reading them. Or at the very least scanning them for content. How can you prepare a proposal for a book you haven't even bothered to read?
 
Goofyernmost

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
I don't know all that stuff, but, I can show you the cover of the first one. I picked it up at a yard sale.
img003.jpg
 
disneydaughter96

disneydaughter96

New Member
Original Poster
Minnie Mum said:
Birmbaums - theories?? Ideas?? :joyfull:
Surely you jest. It's one long ad for all things Disney. If you're going to do a serious, college level study, at least select a book that is heavy on the theory/ideas/ planning and lighter on the fluff. The Unofficial Guide is the oldest in this category. Another one, although relatively new, would be The Easy Guide to Your WDW Visit. There are others. Proper selection will require a trip to your library or bookstore and actually reading them. Or at the very least scanning them for content. How can you prepare a proposal for a book you haven't even bothered to read?
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Thanks so much for your insight :) I was just looking for some insight as many posted about the book being heavy disney promo- or even a suggestion for another book. Between working and being a full time college student, it can be a little challenging driving out to a book store to scan for content, especially only having limited days to meet with advisors and prepare a proposal; thanks again
 
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Pixieish

Pixieish

Well-Known Member
disneydaughter96 said:
Thanks so much for your insight :) I was just looking for some insight as many posted about the book being heavy disney promo- or even a suggestion for another book. Between working and being a full time college student, it can be a little challenging driving out to a book store to scan for content, especially only having limited days to meet with advisors and prepare a proposal; thanks again
Click to expand...

I can totally understand being time-crunched...I'm a full-time double-major student and mom of 2 young boys...sleep is not my best friend as of late, lol. But I agree with the others above - Unofficial Guide is very unbiased and gives the pros and the cons and if you join their site ($12 a year, I think?) you'll have access to all their touring plans (and can customize them), wait-times, and crowd calendars. Maybe test out how one of their plans holds up with their predicted crowd calendar for the day and the wait times they've posted? As in, how accurate their predictions were and whether you found the plan useful or full of bull...etc. Or maybe do a Disney day unplanned vs. one using a touring plan?
 
awelpjourneys

awelpjourneys

Active Member
I agree with others about looking at either Unofficial Guide or Easy Guide. Take a look at their one or two day touring plans for different parks and give it a go yourself to see how they stack up. Maybe look at the crowd calendars to check whether their predictions "seem" to be accurate. I like your idea about parade/fireworks viewing locations, as each resource I look at has different ideas about the best places to view them from. Bus transportation times would be another intriguing subject to consider. Good luck on your project, and enjoy your time with the DCP!
 
dreamfinder

dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
Birnbaum is really just a thick glossy brochure for WDW. More of a "This is everything they have to offer" type book with pretty picture. Almost like someone took parts of the WDW Official website and printed them in book form. No real secrets or anything like that. A good primer for what WDW has to offer, but that's about it. The Unofficial Guide should definitely offer more things to consider evaluating about various in park strategies and such. If the ~$17 for a 2018 edition is too expensive, you can grab an 2017 copy for like $2 on Amazon plus $3 shipping, or older copies for like 25 cents. I'd get your hands on a copy and read it before you get too far into your write up.

You may want to find a single point to compare. Trying to evaulate something like a touring plan by yourself is going to be really hard to do. You would need to run that plan each day, and assuming you end up working 5 days a week, you would be spending all your free days to get maybe 30-40 points of data since the CP is what, 5 months? You might be able to say compare crowd level predictions from several places. Doing something like a wait time calculation for a given ride at a set time each day. Depending on your work schedule, you might be able to do that before/after your shift to get extra data points instead of just your off days. It also wouldn't require you to be in park each day if you didn't want to.
 
JIMINYCR

JIMINYCR

Well-Known Member
I agree... Birnbaum is just fluff compared to The Unofficial guide. Thats the one guide I always get friends to pick up and get the best info from. Passporter could also be an alternative book to scan through.
Passporter has times printed on their maps detailing how long it takes to get from one area to another. You could evaluate the best routes and times it takes to cover the parks. Busy times vs quiet.
It would be interesting to look at the transportation side of Disney. Evaluate the various methods, times and routes taken to maneuver around Disney resorts, parks, and property. Evaluate the effectiveness of moving groups of people at different times of the day and how openings and closings of parks alter the efficiency.
 

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