Allears.net
Many Disney fans have abandoned reason in their slavish devotion to the cause, much like the Star Trek fan who exclusively speaks Klingon or a Lord of the Rings dweeb who turns his living room into a model of Middle Earth. Deb Wills, though, brooks none of the lunacy and gossiping prevalent on many fan sites. Instead, she’s a principled completist, and her destination is an exhaustive and well-respected compendium of the goings-on at the Walt Disney World resort, down to updated listings of the prices at the popcorn carts. If you want a full serving of useful information with no servings of Kool-Aid, there’s no better site to choose (www.allears.net).
The DIS Discussion Forums
…and if you’ve already taken a mighty swig, these often contentious message boards, the most active in the Magic Kingdom realm, are the place to obtain hotel reviews, touring tips, and a ring-side seat to some entertaining smackdowns among fans, who come here to compare the size of their Mouse ears (www.disboards.com).
Orlando Sentinel’s Tourism Central Florida
In much the same way that Variety covers Hollywood, the local daily newspaper keeps tabs on the mass tourism scene that’s so vital to this town, only in a way you can understand, and without logjams of minutiae. Nearly as cool is the paper’s tracking of what’s going on within the parks from the guest’s perspective, Theme Park Rangers (blogs.orlandosentinel.com/features_orlando).
A Guide to All Things Tacky Fabulous in Orlando
The author of this blog doesn’t go by name (although her bio says she’s “a single Mom who wears go-go boots to PTA meetings” who once worked as a tour guide at Disney), choosing instead to let the city’s eccentricities speak for themselves. She dishes out irreverent, ironic jabs at crackpot local legends, bygone tourism failures (Xanadu: Home of the Future, you will never be banished to the past), and adult-appropriate weirdnesses (where to find area pole-dancing classes). This is the trashy, often tasteless side of town the big parks don’t want you to see (tackyfabulousorlando.blogspot.com)
Food. Drink. Other Stuff.
Local food critic and restaurant writer Scott Joseph maintains this active blog of the events in the Central Florida food scene. Lest you think it’s all about corporate kitchens and theme park gristle mills, Joseph shines the light on the thriving dining scene (openings, rising chefs, star dishes) that only the residents seem to be much aware of. A pre-trip visit here will give you plenty of ideas with which you can round out your palate (scottjosephorlando.typepad.com).