On holiday with your iphone

by David on Tuesday 5th October, 2010 at 10:10 COMMENTS (0)

We were very excited about going on holiday to Orlando Florida, as we had not been away for at least 18 months and were getting a little stir crazy, as those who are self employed will testify to. 

Christina decided to buy a regular book of choice Rough guide to Orlando and Disney World (even though we were not planning on visiting Disney) a better option would have been the DK Eyewitness Travel Top 10 Orlando which looked much more informative but I went for iPhone apps all the way, it is the obvious choice to make as it does everything and fits in your pocket. 

iphone Apps I decided to buy
iOrlando Tourist Map
Florida Theme Park Maps
Disney World Times, Dining and maps by Undercover tourist

There were many other options available to guide us around Orlando, but I thought I had everything covered and that would be enough. 

Of course the old Google Maps was preloaded with the area we were staying in and in case we didn't have enough to do I preloaded some Geocaching sites with the Geocaching app. 

Did any of these help or make our lives easier?

[IMGD:images/blog/iorlando_tourist_map.jpg{iOrlando Tourist Map{left] iOrlando tourist map was like a big list of attractions and restaurants with a really basic map but we were able to find things quickly and work out where they were in relation to our hotel, but it lacked a feature to show you where you are and how to get there which I think is very important.  So 5/10 for that. 

[IMGD:images/blog/florida_theme_park.jpg{Florida Theme Park Maps{left] Florida Theme park maps would be good but what is the point when you get a free map when entering all of the theme parks anyway, times of events is shown clearly and if you have a pen you can write on the map directly to show where you have been and what you want to do.  3/10 for that. 

[IMGD:images/blog/disney_world.jpg{Disney World Times{left] Disney World Times was purchased in case we decided to visit one of the Disney theme parks, but we didn't so no use whatsoever to us but looked great and had a lot of features well worth the purchase if we had used it. 

The best of the apps was the Google Maps as with GPS we could see where we were and as the maps for our area were preloaded I did not need a wifi or internet connection. 

[IMGD:images/blog/rough_guide_orlando.jpg{Rough Guide to Orlando and Disney World Resort{left]The Rough Guide book was much better as we could quickly find descriptions about some of the attractions we were visiting, as well as having a very basic foldout map at the back. 

While filling up with gas (petrol) we also purchased a road map for $5 and used it throughout the trip, this was money well spent and so much better (easier) than using the iphone apps. 


The biggest problem with the iphone was turning off roaming and cellular data due to the expense so therefore no internet access via the phone networks and so no information when in the theme parks.  Florida has no wifi to speak of unless you visit the Florida Mall and sit outside the Apple store, which we did once just to download maps in Google, but it did not help as the apps I had purchased would not show queuing times for attractions unless in the theme park itself, what a waste of money. 

I gave up on the apps on day two leaving the iphone in the hotel safe, best place for it anyway, no email, no phone calls, it was peaceful and no baggage made me feel free. 

If you are going to Orlando Florida, then travel light, leave the apps, take a paper map and old fashioned guide book or just use the leaflets you will find in every hotel lobby, lo-tech is the only way to travel.