DW Secret e-book -- anyone know anything about it?

[prberk]

My friend has asked me about an e-book he found on the internet that claims to be a good source for WDW savings "secrets." I don't know anything about it. I would want to know if it is worth buying, or even maybe a risk.

He already looked around Mousesavers and WDW Magic and didn't see anything about it, he said.

So... I thought I would ask you all. It anyone knows anything trustworthy (or not) about this book, I figure it will be one of us -- the WDW braintrust that is WDW Magic!

Here is the link to their website: http://www.dw-secrets.com/ .

Anyone know anything?

Thanks,
Paul

 

[Master Yoda]

You will not find anything in there that you can not find on the internet for free. Sites like WDWmagic, all ears, mousesavers etc will have all the same if not more information. At best that book will save you the time it would take to learn the ins and outs of MYW tickets, AP and Florida resident discounts, seasonal rate changes, DDP, DDE etc. but it will not open up any top secret codes to get you a MK view tower room at the Contemporary for $10 a night during the week of Christmas and New Years.

 

[kiawahman]

wow my 2000.00 vacation was only 1990.00 after buying this

 

[DisneyJoe]

http://www.mousesavers.com/wdwfaq.html#ebook

 

[cdunbar]

Is this one of those things where it might save u a hundred bucks on your trip but by the time you buy the book or w/e and have it shipped you've really only saved 50?

 

[brkgnews]

(Admittedly having never seen the actual book), I'd imaging the "huge savings" on hotel rooms involve renting DVC points from a member and staying in the off-season; ticket savings probably mean buying an AP and then putting your two yearly trips only 11 months apart so you can get two years worth off one AP; and so forth. It is ridiculously unlikely that there are any "secret" codes out there... and if there were, then you can bet someone would have published them in a medium other than an e-book.

In other words... if it was THAT good, it would be a *real* book instead of an e-book.

 

[brkgnews]

Just guessing on content, based on what's on the teasers on their site...

E-bay Bargains – Think those “discounted” Disney Pass Ticket Prices are a great deal? Many times they’re not the bargain you think! I’ll tell you exactly what you have to know - before you make that bid!

My guess: Buyer beware, since there's no way to tell if the tix are good are not. Plus it's technically a no-no to re-sell the tickets. Plus know that they're attached to the "ticket tag" system so if they've been used once, your finger measurements won't match up.

Did you know Disney offers a free “Magical Express” shuttle and baggage service? No more waiting for your bags at the airport! Your luggage is delivered directly to your hotel. Find out precisely how it works.

My guess: Easy to find that anywhere - Disney actually asks when you book with them.

Private Villas: Need a bigger space? I'll show you how to rent your own private villa for half the cost others pay — often even less. How about a 4 bedroom, 3 bath villa complete with heated pool for $400 per week? You can have these homes for less than the cost of many hotels … and they’re spectacular!

My guess: rent points from a DVC member rather than booking through Disney.

Dining Out – Dining can be expensive at the major resorts. I'll show you how to slash your food expenses – without sacrificing the fun of eating out!

My guess: eat at lunchtime rather than dinnertime. Same food, just cheaper.

Restaurant Reservations – Planning on a character dining experience? Beware. Many people don't get the ones they want. Follow my tips and get your seats!

My guess: Know when the earliest you can book is, and call first thing that morning. DOn't beat around the bush on the phone -- know exactly which option to press and tell them "first avaialble" instead of specific time.

The One Park You Should Visit Last! (Especially with young children.) This one will definitely surprise you!

My Guess: Magic Kingdom, since a lot of folks visit it first and are "disappointed" the rest of the trip.

How To Beat Those Long Lines – Did you know it makes a difference if you stand in the Right or Left line? It does – find out which one typically moves the fastest.

My guess: the left one. one of the oldest Disney "tricks" in the book.

Hidden Entrances – There are several “shortcuts” to theme parks and attractions - bypassing most of the crowds. I’ll reveal where they are.

My guess: Fastpass for attractions. shortcuts to the theme parks include going to the MK area hotels instead of taking the ferry/mono straight in; using the international gateway to EPCOT, etc.



So there ya go. All tips I've picked up for FREE along the way from just a handful of sites like allears and mousesavers and wdwmagic.

Now give me $20.

 

[prberk]

Thank you all so much! I knew I could trust the WDW Magic brain trust!!

My friend is watching this thread. Good info!

I would still be interested to hear if anyone has actually bought this product.

Thanks again,
Paul

 

[CleveRocks]

A little background on me first ....

Before my first trip with kids in 2005, I did exhaustive research and learned everything I needed to know. It took months, but I loved it.

I kept going to the various message boards every day, and 18 months later in 2006 we were about to go back to WDW again. I saw the ad for the e-book and was curious. I wrote an e-mail, asking details about the money back guarantee. The author's brother promptly wrote back to me. He was very nice, and offered to send me the link to the book for free, as long as I promised to pay for it if I found it helpful.

I took him up on his kind offer. I scanned the table of contents and decided to look at the subject of Disney's Magical Express. All humility aside, except for people whose work involves it, I know as much about the tiny little details of the ins-and-outs of DME as anyone around. Well, their write-up of DME was just plain wrong wrong wrong. So wrong, in fact, that if readers followed their advice it would have cost the readers MORE money (the book incorrectly said that if you are not flying a "participating airline" then you can't use DME and must pay for your own transportation to and from the airport). They had many important details about DME wrong.

I very quickly scanned some other sections. I saw nothing that would save me money that I didn't already know (stay at a Value resort, go during value season, rent DVC points, get a grocery delivery, etc.) since I'd done such exhaustive research and had been to WDW 4 times (but only once in the previous 10 years).

So I wrote back to the author's brother, informing him of the glaring errors I'd found, as well as the fact that I saw nothing in the book that would save me money that I didn't already know.

He was very gracious when he wrote back, and agreed I should not pay for it. He also agreed that the book would be more useful for WDW novices than for very experienced or already-knowledgable WDW guests. So in other words, there are no "insider secrets" ... that is, there are no secrets at all, nothing that you and I can't already know through other means.

I checked back about a week later and they had, in fact, made the appropriate corrections to the DME section.

I think I could recommend the book for people who don't know a lot about WDW and don't have the time or inclination to do their own exhaustive research. It does lay it all out in one place, as opposed to having to hunt for the information in various websites.

 

[echoscot]

A little background on me first ....

Before my first trip with kids in 2005, I did exhaustive research and learned everything I needed to know. It took months, but I loved it.

I kept going to the various message boards every day, and 18 months later in 2006 we were about to go back to WDW again. I saw the ad for the e-book and was curious. I wrote an e-mail, asking details about the money back guarantee. The author's brother promptly wrote back to me. He was very nice, and offered to send me the link to the book for free, as long as I promised to pay for it if I found it helpful.

I took him up on his kind offer. I scanned the table of contents and decided to look at the subject of Disney's Magical Express. All humility aside, except for people whose work involves it, I know as much about the tiny little details of the ins-and-outs of DME as anyone around. Well, their write-up of DME was just plain wrong wrong wrong. So wrong, in fact, that if readers followed their advice it would have cost the readers MORE money (the book incorrectly said that if you are not flying a "participating airline" then you can't use DME and must pay for your own transportation to and from the airport). They had many important details about DME wrong.

I very quickly scanned some other sections. I saw nothing that would save me money that I didn't already know (stay at a Value resort, go during value season, rent DVC points, get a grocery delivery, etc.) since I'd done such exhaustive research and had been to WDW 4 times (but only once in the previous 10 years).

So I wrote back to the author's brother, informing him of the glaring errors I'd found, as well as the fact that I saw nothing in the book that would save me money that I didn't already know.

He was very gracious when he wrote back, and agreed I should not pay for it. He also agreed that the book would be more useful for WDW novices than for very experienced or already-knowledgable WDW guests. So in other words, there are no "insider secrets" ... that is, there are no secrets at all, nothing that you and I can't already know through other means.

I checked back about a week later and they had, in fact, made the appropriate corrections to the DME section.

I think I could recommend the book for people who don't know a lot about WDW and don't have the time or inclination to do their own exhaustive research. It does lay it all out in one place, as opposed to having to hunt for the information in various websites.

Thank you. That was extremely insightful...

 

[bennyw01]

smells like international drive

 

[bennyw01]

either that or pluto is gonna tell you disneys best kept secret

 

[brkgnews]

smells like international drive

:ROFLOL: I think I've got a new phrase to add to my repretoire.

 

[daliseurat]

Here's another thing to BEWARE of. On Ebay someone posted some secrets to saving money a few years back. They wanted 2 dollars for a brochure. Curious, I decided to buy it. It didn't have much that was secret, but it encouraged some less that legit ideas that bordered on devious and scam like. I didn't like this sort of advice, so I wrote as much in the feedback. I received NASTY emails back for the seller. I checked his/her feedback and saw that anyone who dared to put a negative response up was promptly toasted by his/her feedback. Not wanting to have my own account get blemished, I semi-retracted my comments.

The point is, stay away from anything that seems to good to be true. You can get all the best advice on the web (like, HERE) for free. And legit guidebooks are a great help for planning. But there's no free lunch. And some offers bite back.

 

[brkgnews]

Here's another thing to BEWARE of. On Ebay someone posted some secrets to saving money a few years back. They wanted 2 dollars for a brochure. Curious, I decided to buy it. It didn't have much that was secret, but it encouraged some less that legit ideas that bordered on devious and scam like. I didn't like this sort of advice, so I wrote as much in the feedback. I received NASTY emails back for the seller. I checked his/her feedback and saw that anyone who dared to put a negative response up was promptly toasted by his/her feedback. Not wanting to have my own account get blemished, I semi-retracted my comments.

The point is, stay away from anything that seems to good to be true. You can get all the best advice on the web (like, HERE) for free. And legit guidebooks are a great help for planning. But there's no free lunch. And some offers bite back.

Can you elaborate more? I'm just curious what kind of shadiness they advocated.

 

[cdunbar]

smells like international drive

Is that like "Smells like teen spirit"? LOL:ROFLOL:

 

[lentesta]

How To Beat Those Long Lines – Did you know it makes a difference if you stand in the Right or Left line? It does – find out which one typically moves the fastest.

Since the Unofficial Guide has actually done experiments on this exact subject and found no predictable difference in wait times for left and right lines, I asked the author to describe the experiments they did to determine these results.

The answer I got was almost exactly "Everyone knowsthe left line is shorter." How stupid of me! Here we went and actually made people stand in lines to determine whether one line was shorter than the other. I could have kept everyone home and just thought about it really hard. :brick:

Len

 

[echoscot]

Since the Unofficial Guide has actually done experiments on this exact subject and found no predictable difference in wait times for left and right lines, I asked the author to describe the experiments they did to determine these results.

The answer I got was almost exactly "Everyone knowsthe left line is shorter." How stupid of me! Here we went and actually made people stand in lines to determine whether one line was shorter than the other. I could have kept everyone home and just thought about it really hard. :brick:

Len

you were being silly Len.

Everyone knows the best way to write a guidebook is just to play in the parks a bit then make stuff up off the top of your head.

Imagine how much cheaper and quicker it would be to write your books that way:lol:

 

[Testtrack321]

The e-books serve one purpose, to be a one-stop-shop for people who are too busy or lacking the skills to do research. It's not that uncommon, and I don't blame them, though I do find some glaring problems about DME and the "left handed lines are always quicker!" tips little troublesome....

 

[DISMOM]

I love the novices who run for the left line....it makes my wait in the right line so much quicker.!!!