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Hi, I'm Pat, and you may have heard by now that I love Disney.
It´s a new year, and time for a new batch of Disney books. Santa was good to me and left several new books for me to review this winter. These are not professional reviews, so no stars or ears or other ratings systems. Just more of a casual look at the titles in my collection. So, come along and check out what I´ve taken Off the Shelf for us to enjoy today! Today´s Book:The Disney Queue Line Survival Guidebook Author: Kimberly Button Publication: Infinity Publishing.com, West Conshohocken, PA. ©2006 Click Here to Purchase directly from Amazon.com
One thing almost every visitor to Walt Disney World dreads is standing in line.
Even with the FastPass system, there are still times that we have to wait for attractions, characters, and shows. The Disney Queue Line Survival Guidebook by Kimberly Button is a delightful new way to turn waiting time into fun time.  Yes, this is a guidebook. It is broken down by theme park and gives an overview of every attraction and show. It will tell you which attractions have FastPass available or height restrictions. Additional information about each attraction includes disabled access, including wheelchair and ECV use and where the test cars are located (if you are concerned about your ability to get into, out of, or fit comfortably in a ride vehicle, Disney has placed stationary cars at some attractions, usually located in a private area, so you can try it out before reaching the front of the lines). It also identifies which attractions interact with assisted listening devices and captioning devices.There are excellent helpful hints and things to be aware of identified for each attraction. Each park has a section of other things to see and do. If Ms. Button had stopped here, she would have created a nice little guidebook. But there is so much more, and that is what truly sets this book apart.
Enter the survival part of the title. For each attraction, show, and anything else you might have to wait for (okay, well maybe not the line for the ladies´ room, unless you count that in the `general´ category), there are puzzles, trivia questions, and games to play, all related to the line you are stuck in. The scavenger hunts help bring your attention to the myriad of details Disney has in its parks, as well as help get the whole family involved while they wait. The puzzles and games include word searches, matching, fill-in-the-blanks, scrambled words, and hidden Mickey hunts. The trivia questions are not exclusively Disney (although they always relate to the theme of the attraction you are waiting for), which is nice for those in your party who may not be Disney Fanatics, and they are not all geared towards children. There is a good mix of levels and Disney vs. not Disney questions for each section, so the whole family can play along. There are also "general" sections good for when you are waiting for the parades and fireworks shows, and a special section of tips and games for character meet and greets. The only downside to this book is its size and layout. At 386 pages, it´s a bit weighty to carry around for a whole day. Each park has its attractions logically arranged in alphabetical order by area, but attractions and even areas don´t necessarily start at the top of a page, making finding a particular ride quickly a little tricky. In future editions, I would love to see the use of more graphic symbols (for FastPass, height restrictions, disability access) and less white space to shrink the size of the book a bit, or perhaps to actually make it a pair of books - the `guidebook´ with all the full details, and the `carry along survival guide´ with the games, trivia, and a very quick summary for each attraction. I definitely recommend this book be a part of your Walt Disney World vacation planning, be packed at the top of your suitcase for easy reference in your hotel room, and tossed in the backpack you carry to the parks. It will help you pass the time waiting for just about anything, as well as give you plenty of advice on how to avoid those waits in the first place, and make sure you know just what it is you are waiting for anyway! 
Author Kim Button (left) with Lou and Deanna Mongello at MouseFest 2006. Photo by Pat Whitson.
Have you read this book? Or do you have a suggestion for something I might want to add to my bookshelf? Discuss it in our Disney Books sub forums! Pat is on the DisneyWorldTrivia.com staff, and you can read about her here.
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