Beyond Disney: The Unofficial Guide to Universal Orlando, SeaWorld & the Best of Central Florida

( 5 )

Overview

  • According to the Orlando Tourism Bureau, Orlando hosted 47 million domestic and international visitors in 2009 (the most recent year available). 
  • Includes comprehensive coverage on the Wizarding World of Harry Potter which opened in 2010
  • Both Universal Orlando®  and SeaWorld® remain in the top theme parks to visit in the United States- each with attendance of almost 5 million in 2009.  Universal ...
See more details below
Paperback
$12.07
BN.com price
(Save 32%)$17.99 List Price
Pick Up In Store

Pick Up In Store

Reserve and pick up in 60 minutes at your local store

Other sellers (Paperback)
  • All (26) from $6.47   
  • New (16) from $9.56   
  • Used (10) from $6.47   
Sending request ...

More About This Book

Overview

  • According to the Orlando Tourism Bureau, Orlando hosted 47 million domestic and international visitors in 2009 (the most recent year available). 
  • Includes comprehensive coverage on the Wizarding World of Harry Potter which opened in 2010
  • Both Universal Orlando®  and SeaWorld® remain in the top theme parks to visit in the United States- each with attendance of almost 5 million in 2009.  Universal Orlando's Islands of Adventure attendance is expected to increase with the much anticipated arrival of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
Read More Show Less

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780470886083
  • Publisher: Wiley, John & Sons, Incorporated
  • Publication date: 4/5/2011
  • Series: Unofficial Guides Series , #275
  • Edition number: 7
  • Pages: 384
  • Sales rank: 202,197
  • Product dimensions: 5.10 (w) x 7.90 (h) x 1.00 (d)

Meet the Author


Bob Sehlinger, a Lowell Thomas Award-winning journalist, is best known as the creator and producer of The Unofficial Guide series.

He is credited with being the first to apply research techniques from the fields of operations research and statistics to travel guides. Among other projects, he was able to develop mathematical models that could save theme park patrons more than three hours of standing in queue in a single day.

Bob Sehlinger is founder and co-owner of Keen Communications, a book publishing company that includes Menasha Ridge Press, Clerisy Press, and Wilderness Press. The author of 27 books, Sehlinger is a past president of the Publishers Association of the South, and has served at the invitation of the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Information Service on educational missions for publishers in Hungary, Romania, and Russia.

-----

Robert N. Jenkins, a native of Washington, D.C., earned a B.A. in journalism at Michigan State University and after working “up North" for four years, he moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, where he still lives.

In a 39-year career at the Tampa Bay (formerly St. Petersburg) Times, he served as editor of national news, state news, and features, and for 19 years, he was the travel editor. His work as travel editor won eight Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition awards.

Since taking a buyout, Jenkins has been a freelance writer. His work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Toronto Star, San Francisco Chronicle, The Dallas Morning News, The Miami Herald, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, various AAA magazines, CruiseCritic.com, USAToday.com—and his former paper.

Read More Show Less

Table of Contents

List of Maps.

About the Authors.

Introduction.

Why “Unofficial”?

There’s Another World Out There.

The Attraction That Ate Florida.

Trying to Reason with the Tourist Season.

It Takes More Than One Book to Do the Job Right.

Letters and Comments from Readers.

PART ONE Accommodations.

Orlando Lodging Options.

Selecting and Booking a Hotel.

Getting a Good Deal on a Room.

Condominiums and Vacation Homes.

Orlando’s Best Hotels for Families.

International Drive & Universal Areas.

Lake Buena Vista & I-4 Corridor.

US 192 Area.

Hotels and Motels: Rated and Ranked.

What’s in a Room?

Room Ratings.

A Word about Toll-free Telephone Numbers.

The 30 Best Hotel Values.

HOW THE HOTELS COMPARE.

HOTEL INFORMATION CHART.

PART TWO Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.

Getting There.

Admission Prices.

Arriving.

Contacting Busch Gardens.

Attractions.

Morocco.

Egypt.

Nairobi.

Timbuktu.

Congo.

Jungala.

Sesame Street Safari of Fun.

Stanleyville.

Bird Gardens.

Dining.

Shopping.

PART THREE Legoland Florida.

Getting There.

Admission Prices.

Contacting Legoland Florida.

Attractions.

Fun Town.

Duplo Village.

Miniland USA.

Castle Hill.

Land of Adventure.

Xtreme.

Pirate’s Cove.

Lego City.

Imagination Zone.

Botanical Gardens.

Dining.

Shopping.

PART FOUR Gatorland.

Getting There.

Admission Prices.

Arriving.

Contacting Gatorland.

Attractions.

Gatorland Adventure Tours.

Dining.

Shopping.

PART FIVE The Holy Land Experience.

Getting There.

Admission Prices.

Arriving.

Contacting The Holy Land Experience.

Attractions.

Dining.

Shopping.

PART SIX Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

Getting There.

Admission Prices.

Arriving.

Contacting Kennedy Space Center.

Attractions.

Visitor Center Complex Hub.

Kennedy Space Center Bus Tour.

Other Tours.

Viewing a Launch.

Dining.

Shopping.

PART SEVEN SeaWorld.

Getting There.

Admission Prices.

Arriving.

Contacting SeaWorld.

Attractions.

Dining.

Shopping.

Discovery Cove.

Getting There.

Prices and Reservations.

Arriving.

PART EIGHT Universal Orlando.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios versus Universal Studios Florida.

Universal Orlando.

Lodging at Universal Orlando.

Arriving at Universal Orlando.

Early Entry and Universal Express.

Singles Lines.

Lockers.

Universal, Kids, and Scary Stuff.

Quitting Time.

TNA Wrestling and Blue Man Group.

Universal Studios Florida.

Universal Studios Florida Attractions.

Live Entertainment at Universal Studios.

Universal Studios Florida Touring Plan.

Buying Admission to Universal Studios Florida.

Universal Studios Florida One-day Touring Plan.

Universal’s Islands of Adventure.

Beware of the Wet and Wild.

Getting Oriented at Islands of Adventure.

Decisions, Decisions.

Universal's Islands of Adventure Attractions.

Marvel Super Hero Island.

Toon Lagoon.

Jurassic Park.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

The Lost Continent.

Seuss Landing.

Universal's Islands of Adventure Touring Plan.

Rolling the Dice with Harry Potter.

Universal's Islands of Adventure One-day Touring Plan.

PART NINE The Water Parks and Water Sports.

Wet ’n Wild, Aquatica, and Adventure Island versus Disney Water Parks.

A Flume-to-Flume Comparison.

Wet ’n Wild.

Body and Mat Slides.

Raft and Tube Rides.

Other Attractions.

WakeZone.

Aquatica by SeaWorld.

Raft and Tube Rides.

Other Attractions.

Adventure Island.

Admission Prices.

Arriving.

Getting There.

Contacting Adventure Island.

Raft Rides.

Body and Mat Slides.

Other Attractions.

Water Sports.

Buena Vista Watersports.

Orlando Watersports Complex.

PART TEN Miniature Golf.

PART ELEVEN Old Town and Fun Spot USA.

Old Town.

Getting There.

Admission Prices.

Arriving.

Contacting Old Town.

Rides and Attractions.

Nonticket Rides/Attractions.

Ticket Rides.

Dining.

Shopping.

Fun Spot USA.

Getting There.

Admission Prices.

Arriving.

Contacting Fun Spot.

Rides and Attractions.

PART TWELVE International Drive.

Plan Ahead.

Getting There.

Attractions.

PART THIRTEEN Airboat Tours, Horse Rides, Zoos, and Nature Tours.

Airboats.

Airboat Tours.

Other Animal Attractions.

PART FOURTEEN Museums and Cultural Attractions.

Kids and Museums.

Attractions.

PART FIFTEEN After Dark.

Dinner Shows.

The Shows.

Family-friendly Comedy Show.

Universal Orlando CityWalk.

Getting There.

Admission Prices.

Arriving.

Contacting CityWalk.

CityWalk Clubs.

Downtown Orlando/Church Street Station Area.

Getting There.

Bars and Clubs.

PART SIXTEEN Dining.

Dining outside Walt Disney World.

Take Out Express.

WHERE TO EAT OUTSIDE WALT DISNEY WORLD.

One Man’s Treasure.

Buffets and Meal Deals Outside Walt Disney World.

Fast Food in the Theme Parks.

Dining at Universal Orlando.

Universal Orlando Restaurant Profiles.

INDEXES AND READER SURVEY.

Accommodations Index.

Restaurants Index.

Subject Index.

L I S T of MAPS.

South Orlando and Walt Disney World Area.

Hotel Concentrations around Orlando Area Attractions.

International Drive and Universal Areas.

Lake Buena Vista Resort Area and the I-4 Corridor.

US 192–Kissimmee Resort Area.

Rental-home Developments.

Busch Gardens.

Legoland.

Gatorland.

The Holy Land Experience.

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

SeaWorld.

Discovery Cove.

Universal Orlando.

Universal Studios Florida.

Islands of Adventure.

Universal Orlando–CityWalk. ?V

Read More Show Less

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 3.5
( 5 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(0)

4 Star

(3)

3 Star

(1)

2 Star

(1)

1 Star

(0)

Your Rating:

Review Guidelines
Add Recommendations
Your Name: Create a Pen Name or

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked, or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer. However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

  • - HTML tags, profanity, obscenities, vulgarities, or comments that defame anyone
  • - Time-sensitive information such as tour dates, signings, lectures, etc.
  • - Single-word reviews. Other people will read your review to discover why you liked or didn't like the title. Be descriptive.
  • - Comments focusing on the author or that may ruin the ending for others
  • - Phone numbers, addresses, URLs
  • - Pricing and availability information or alternative ordering information
  • - Advertisements or commercial solicitation

Reminder:

  • - By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.
  • - Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.
  • - See Terms of Use for other conditions and disclaimers.
Search for Products You'd Like to Recommend

Recommend other products that relate to your review. Just search for them below and share!

Create a Pen Name

Your Pen Name is your unique identity on BN.com. It will appear on the reviews you write and other website activities. Your Pen Name cannot be edited, changed or deleted once submitted.

 
Your Pen Name can be any combination of alphanumeric characters (plus - and _), and must be at least two characters long.

Continue Anonymously
Sort by: Showing all of 5 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted May 5, 2010

    Excellent Disney Alternative Guidebook

    Being a big guidebook fan, I love to read about any place before visiting. Most books focus on the big Disney and Universal parks so it's nice to find an alternative when your visit's focus is outside of the parks you've already visit several times before. We chose Sea World, Aquatica and Bush Gardens and thoroughly enjoyed all three. The book's easy reference quickly pointed out the highlights not to be missed and those attractions we could skip if pushed for time. Ratings were accurate and suggestions all helpful

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted March 22, 2010

    good book

    Having been to Disney with kids, we wanted a book to reference for other Orlando-area things to do. This is the one. We're planning to go to Cape Canaveral, Sea World, etc., and this book has the information we need to make our plans.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted July 6, 2010

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted April 8, 2010

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted June 18, 2010

    No text was provided for this review.

Sort by: Showing all of 5 Customer Reviews
If you find inappropriate content, please report it to Barnes & Noble
Why is this product inappropriate?
Comments (optional)