Favorite guide book?

[Kion10]

Thanks everyone!

 

[Cool-Beans]

The Unofficial Guide is the best book for touring info and planning.

The Complete Guide is an interesting read. The Birnbaum book is cute and fun. And the Passporter has cute maps with the time it takes to make the walk included. They're all nice for this or that.

But the best and overall most informative book is the UG.

 

[kellypooh]

Count me as another vote for UG -- I don't use their touring plans (over the years, I've developed my own "plan" that works well for me) but I love all the ride and restaurant information....I don't get a new book every year but when I DO, I read it cover to cover!

 

[mademluc]

UG is our "bible". We study, we plan, but we leave it in the room (minus a few pages we've ripped out). Passporter we carry with us into the parks - filled with paper clipped pages with touring plans and food recommendations etc. In the end the Passporter becomes our favorite souvenir and a great way to go back and relive the days we spent.

 

[WALTSAGOD]

If you've never been, then Birnbaums is pretty good for a first visit; not very much info to dizzy you, but enough to enjoy.

For the serious WDW fan, UG is the only way to go!

 

[mainegal]

Unofficial Guide - a huge book full of helpful information. I read it and read it again before my trip. Great for research. I took lots of notes. Made copies of the touring guides in the back. But I didn't take it on the trip with me. Too heavy to take on the plan!

 

[randomDisneyFan3000]

Unofficial Guide is the best for real info. I do like Birnbaums now and again for the pics and the "disney" feel.

 

[loonytoony]

What is your favorite guide book for touring Walt Disney World?

I think my favorite has to be The Complete Walt Disney World 2009. But i'd love some other recommendations!

UG is best

 

[GSLand]

Love the complete descriptions of everything in the UG. We only go every few years so it's nice to be refreshed on what's there. I try to get the most recent version from our public library - but I've also bought the massive tome in the past. I like to on-line version too.
Also for the past few trips I have bought the special $1 version of Passporter and liked that one too. The $1 is the older version offered sometimes thru their website. The Passporter is a little more "friendly" and I like to share it with family who are traveling with us.

 

[kimcshan]

I'm with the pp who said that for me, UG is a little too negative (ok, for me, it's a "little" too negative; for my son, who will go on and on about this for hours, it's way too negative).
I love the Complete Guide, now that they've added the predicted wait times throughout the day I find it even more useful than before.
I like Passporter, but don't find it as useful as the Complete Guide.
This is not touring information, but the Imagineering Field Guides are really interesting.

Kim in Kansas

 

[VikingInMouseEars]

I love to research and have read 6 or 7 of the various guides out there. I have not checked out Passporters yet, but its on my list. My favorites are the same as most of you seem to like.

The Complete Guide-lots of good info and great pictures

UG- Also great info, particularly about the resorts, but as mentioned already it can get overly negative at times.

Birnbaums- I love this book and I consider it to be a great companion book choice to any other guide you choose. Yes it is the "official" book so it is very partisan in its information, but I basically look at it as a great big WDW brochure. It has most of the information right there at your fingertips that you might spend hours looking for online.

Frommers- Don't waste your money. I have the 2009 version and in numerous cases the information is 1 or 2 years out of date and I mean way to out date to blame on things changing after publishing date.

Anyway, thats my 2 cents. Which ever book you choose, remember its your vacation and jsut because a book says something is good or bad, thats the authors opinion, try things out for yourself. Also the touring plans are suggestions, you don't have to follow them to the letter.

Have a great trip.

 

[frisco]

I have pretty much all of them, as travel guides make great reading. Here are my pics:

1.Complete Guide To Walt Disney World - Great pics, lots of info, strictly Disney, and lots of backstage info.

2.Birnbaum's - Not much help as far as touring goes, but it gets the point across the easiest.

3.Unofficial Guide - Too much useless info, but if you weed a lot of that out, has some good stuff. Unfortunately, doesn't say much about the resorts themselves, other than best and worst room locales.

Years ago, Fodor's had a book called Couple Guide to WDW. That was a great book. Had the most detailed info about the resorts of any book I'd ever read. Sadly, it hasn't had a new edition in 5 years.

 

[rluey29]

We use both the UG and Birnbaums. With the combination I feel like we have everything we need. Of course if I need an answer that I can't find in either of them I use the Disboards!

 

[Nermel9]

I love Birnbaum's, but I feel it's information isn't as up to date as some of the other books! I also have the Complete Guide which is great, they give really detailed descriptions of the rides! I also like that they tell you where you can find certain characters in the parks!

I don't have the Passporter, but my friend at work does, so I've pretty much read the whole thing and I really like it! I'm considering buying it so I can take it on my trip with me, but I'm not really sure I need it!

I don't have the UG, but I would also like to buy that one at some point.

 

[SimonV]

A new book worth considering (especially for those who have been before and have a good idea of what's there already, and are looking for that 'something different' factor) is The Hidden Magic of WDW. It's not a comprehensive guidebook of the parks but it IS a look at a lot of the small-scale detail, Imagineer secrets and back-stories which many people miss, all written in narrative style with a loving affection for the real artistry behind Walt's creation.

And I should know because my wife wrote it

 

[goofy4tink]

For first timers, I always recommend Birnbaum's. It's the 'official' guide book and has only good info and comments. I also like the Unofficial Guide for more 'honest' info. But, I sometimes think that book can be overwhelming to the novice.
Best all around? Passporter. It has good info, not too sugar coated (like Birnbaums) but not as 'hard' as the Unofficial Guide.....it has good reviews of dining, attractions, and resorts. It has those handy dandy pocket pages, in the back of the book, where you can stick stuff. Those pages also serve as a trip report of sorts..fill in the questions/statements. I love going back and reliving my trips via my Passporter.

If someone is headed down to WDW for the first time, I usually get them Birnbaums and the Passporter. I love the Birnbaums WDW for Children..that one is great for kids to make their own plans with.

I don't have much use for the other books...I've found way too many errors in them.

 

[VikingInMouseEars]

A new book worth considering (especially for those who have been before and have a good idea of what's there already, and are looking for that 'something different' factor) is The Hidden Magic of WDW. It's not a comprehensive guidebook of the parks but it IS a look at a lot of the small-scale detail, Imagineer secrets and back-stories which many people miss, all written in narrative style with a loving affection for the real artistry behind Walt's creation.

And I should know because my wife wrote it

Cool! I pre-ordered this book from Amazon a couple weeks ago. I am looking forward to reading it.

 

[fredster]

I'm a big UG guy. We used Birnbaum's the first year or two, but I felt like it was written by the marketing department at Disney. It was too "positive" to be honest. UG, on the other hand, gave what I felt were honest assessments of rides and shows. My experiences confirmed the majority of the reviews and I have come to trust them in areas where I have not yet ventured.

The popularity of Passporter in this thread is compelling me to take another look at it.

And, I'll also check out the Hidden Magic of WDW mentioned above. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Bouncing4Tigger]

Passporter all the way!