World Killer Special Edition Is Back!

I finally got around to turning the cleaned up version of World Killer into the Special Edition.  The Special Edition has more than 60 photos and links to help the story come alive.

It's available on Amazon now.

CMDTA's Pictorial Guide to Disney World Now Available On Kindle

I finally cracked down and finished off the Pictorial Guide to Disney World.  It comes in  around 136 pages.  

So yo might ask why write another Walt Disney World guide book?

There are a few reasons. The first one is simple. No one has written a pictorial guide book that prepares you for Disney World. Most guide books give tell you about rides, hotels, and dining locations. A few guide books have a picture or two. None of them really drive it home. My goal with this guide book is to make you relive your vacation or be prepared for what you will face.
The reason I want to prepare people is so they will enjoy their vacations. Nothing is worse than showing up somewhere just to find out it’s not what you expected. I’ve seen that first hand in the parks over the years. I’ve seen a lot of people who spent a lot of money and ended up miserable.


You can get the guide book here.

A New Kind of Disney Guide Book

After being on the fence for quite a while I've decided to start book number two.  I did not want to do another book of satire.  One thing I've always thought was missing was a Walt Disney World guide book that really showed you what it was like to go to WDW and a book that showed you tips instead of just told you about them.

A lot of people have a hard time grasping concepts based on text alone.  That's why I am wrtting a guide book that brings you through the parks and WDW through pictures.  This is almost a reversed guide book.  Most guide books describe something and then, if you are lucky, they give you a professional photo that looks nothing like the photos you take.  This guide book will display a photo and then tell you what to look for in the photo.  The photos used are going to be raw but they will also allow for a more realistic sense of the parks.

My goal is not write a guide book that rivals the Unofficial Guide and other guide books.  My goal is to write a supplement to those books that will enhance the readers experience when they go to Disney World.

I've started the writting process but right now I am not sure how long it is going to take.  I will make an announcement once it is completed.

CMDTA on Vacation - Secrets St. James - Day One

Who wouldn't want to be here?

I've never been to an all in inclusive resort but my wife (the anti-Disney spouse) wanted to go.  We ended up booking Secrets in Montego Bay Jamaica.  I didn't do much research I mainly just booked it in Montego Bay because there was a non-stop flight from Boston. 

From what I've been told there is a huge range of all inclusive resorts.  You have the real rat trap, bottom shelf resorts that serve the cheapest booze known to man and have downright scary rooms.  On the other end of the spectrum you have the ultra luxury resorts that cost more than a nice car to stay at.  About a third of the way down from the ultra resorts you get Secrets.

To give a quick standards breakdown I'll do my normal comparison.  The tried and true VS Disney test.

Food - about the same as a signature dining location.

Rooms - better than a Disney Suite at one of the deluxe resorts. 

Atmosphere - about the same as a moderate resort.

Service - amazingly better than Disney...by a good portion.

These are just first impressions but I should explain the "Service" item.  The service you get at Secrets is the service that Disney used to offer.  It's the service you expected when you went to Disney back in the mid to late 90s.

The location of Secrets in Montego Bay allows for some nice sunsets.  Montego Bay is on the north west side of the island. While you don't get to see the sun dip below the water you still get a great view.

There are a number of places you can watch the sunset.  The resort stretches in a long line down the beach.  Dotted along this line are pools, bars, and restaurants.  Not dining locations but actual restaurants.  They have a large offering from French to Jamaican.  You can go do a different one everyday if you want.

On day one we went to the Blue Mountain which was the Jamaican restaurant.  It was surprisingly good...for the most part.  The service was top notch.  The first round was excellent.  The main course was mixed.  The problem was I ordered the Jamaican Stew.  It was salty.  I mean saltier than beef jerky.  It was nuts.  It turned out just the beef was salty so if you mixed it with everything else it was bad. 


The atmosphere is broken up.   You have the St. James side which is more colonial and you have the wild orchid side which is more Asian. Don't let this fool you.  Both look almost the same.  There are only slight differences.  Don't expect one side to look like the Poly and the other side to look like the Yacht Club.  They don't go that crazy.  Both sides look like you are in your average upscale Caribbean resort.  The real star is what is around the resort.  Like this shot to the right.  You get a nice tropical, mountainous landscape.

The pools are nice.  Some of them include swim up bars.  Most are endless pools which means the dump into an overflow.  At night they all light up with LED lights that change colors every few seconds.

All around the resort there are a lot of trees and vegetation.  It's not quite what you find at the Poly but it's still very nice.

The bars a nice. The fact that you can get anything you want, including top shelf, for free helps.  Even considering that the service is very good.

As you can expect you can find some people who have no self control.  People who are do pie eyed that they have hardly stand up.  Maybe I'll snap a few of them and upload them to Park Wrecks.

I'm not sure if I'll do a post everyday but I will at least a few more times so keep checking back.