Best Disney Guide?

[yyzgurl]

We were looking into purchasing a Disney guide book. Which one should we get? It seems the passporter is the general favourite. Is there a reason? Are there better guides out there?

Thanks in advance!

 

[SnackyStacky]

I think it really depends on what you're looking for.

If you want to cram as much in as you can into your vacation, the Unofficial Guide is best. The touring plans work. Their information is also unbiased. They really try to put positive and negative reviews about something. But when you're dealing with things like food, rides, accomodations - it's a tough thing to adequately review because EVERYBODY is going to have different tastes.

If you want a good planning tool, the Passporter is a great book to have.

From there, I think all books are created equal. I have quite a few. Econoguide to Disney World, Fodor's Disney World, Birnbaum's, the couples guide to Disney World. I've also looked through Disney World and Orlando for Dummies, Rita Aero's Guide, the Luxury side of Disney World, cause I considered purchasing them.

They all contain about the same information. Even the specialist guides (for couples, for luxury) are the same as all the others.

The one that does stand out, however not really as a guidebook, is the Walt Disney World Trivia book. It's FASCINATING! It's a great companion to any of the aforementioned guides.

 

[heffalump9]

We have used Unofficial Guide since 1996 and love the tour plans, although I never knew how well they really worked till our Spring break vacation 04'. Birnbaum's is okay but needs to be more accurate.

 

[aubriee]

When I was planning my trip for January I bought the Unofficial Guide, PassPorter, Birenbaums, and Birenbaums for Kids. I definitely preferred the Unofficial Guide with the PassPorter coming in a close second. If you buy the Unofficial Guide, you better like to read because it is thick and chock full of information. As I plan my solo trip for May, I find myself going back repeatedly to the Unofficial Guide or the PassPorter. They work very well together and the Unofficial Guide even recommends the Passporter as a companion guide to theirs. I did not care for Birenbaums. In my opinion it was too sugar coated and didn't have near the information the other two did. Just my .02.

By the way the Unofficial Guide even gives you specific rooms to request for certain views. Some people say they're too hard on Disney, but everyone has to admit they're unbiased.

 

[MiJo]

until we discovered the DIS! Everything you need to know is right here. And, it's free!

 

[kirbsam]

I keep a copy of the unofficial guide in the bathroom. Great for those quiet times.

 

[swilphil]

The Unofficial Guide is the best though I've never used Passporter.

 

[mwerner2]

Unofficial Guide and Passporter - Read UG at home before going, and use the Passporter at home for planning. Take the passporter with you and you will have all the info you need at your fingertips for those unexpected moments at WDW.

 

[twocat]

I use the Unofficial Guide and the Passporter. The unofficial guide is great for overall knowledgs of WDW and is very thorough. The Passporter is just so nicely organized. If you order the Deluxe addition, you can pull out the pages and maps for the park(s) uou'll be visitng for the day and take them with you for attraction and dining info instead of havioing to lug the book around. The maps in the Passporter are far superior to what the parks distribute.
Birnbaums guide is only good for the pictures IMHO.

By the way--I also have ALL the books SnackyStacky mentioned above. Yes. I am obsessed

 

[MaryKatesMom]

I use both the UG and the Passporter. For the thousands spent on vacation, the extra $25 is definately worth it.

 

[snyderla]

but I always buy Birnbaum's first. It has wonderful pics and descriptions of everything. It does put a positive spin on it all, but that helps create excitement I think! Everytime we take someone new, we buy them a copy of Birnbaum's, then have them go through it with a highlighter and mark want they must see and would like to see/do. I don't think I could do that with the other planning guides, wouldn't create as much excitement & I don't think any of them would have wanted to go through a book without all the photos and such. That being said, I do get Passporter for my own planning and I ordered UG (& a WDW trivia book) for the first time last week. (I love overstock). We have also purchased Rita's guide, Frommer's, Insight, Hidden Mickey's and another one that I can't remember the name of off hand, something about Making Magical Memories, I know that's not it, but something like that. Just my 2cents.

Lori