Guide book questions

[Honeymooners1021]

A few questions and I know these are probably going to be opinion based but I just need some feed back because I feel like I can't make decisions without first consulting the DIS!

To purchase guide books-
I was going to use a website either Amazon or Overstock. What do you do? I am looking for a good deal.

Which ones? Here are a few on my list....
Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2007
Birnbaum's dining guide 2007 (not out yet)
2007 Passporter

Does anyone use the passporter or just cut and paste their own agendas? Is it worth the $15?

Any guide books a must???
DF does not want to do Hidden Mickey's but it is his first time to WDW I will get him to do it next time.

 

[Donald is #1]

I like the unofficial guide because it rates each ride/attraction for various age groups including adults. I am also planning on bringing Birnbaum's dining guide and the Hidden Mickey book. These will be the only books that I bring with me. Edit: This will be my first trip with the Hidden Mickey book. So it will be interesting to see if I actually use it.

As for buying the books, I usually get them at my local Barnes & Noble or order them on-line from either Barnes & Noble or Amazon. Personnally, I have had better luck with Barnes & Noble since it seems like I receive my merchandise quicker. (Bu this could just be luck.)


Have a great trip!

 

[kmccain]

I prefer the Passporter! It seems to get better every year! If there are any updates, you can get them off line.

They also rate each ride by age group and describe the resturants by park.

The last time we went I bought the Unofficial Guide and the Passporter because the Passporter did not give you a plan for "making the most" of each park but they do now!

I purchased it at my local AAA office for the same as I could have gotten it off their web site as a repeat customer only without the shipping.

Hope this helps!

 

[all4fun]

Another vote for the Passporter. I really like the organizer pages, you can really keep good track of what you're doing, where you've been, how much you've spent, etc (if you like that kind of thing)...

We used the Unofficial Guide the first time we went and I think it's a really good read too... we were defintitely not disappointed that we bought it and felt it helped us get the most out of our first trip there so I really have nothing bad to say about it.

I think they're both very useful it just kind of depends on what you're looking for in a book.

 

[DisneyDad in PA]

A few questions and I know these are probably going to be opinion based but I just need some feed back because I feel like I can't make decisions without first consulting the DIS!

To purchase guide books-
I was going to use a website either Amazon or Overstock. What do you do? I am looking for a good deal.

Which ones? Here are a few on my list....
Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2007
Birnbaum's dining guide 2007 (not out yet)
2007 Passporter

Does anyone use the passporter or just cut and paste their own agendas? Is it worth the $15?

Any guide books a must???
DF does not want to do Hidden Mickey's but it is his first time to WDW I will get him to do it next time.

I bought the Unofficial Guide at a local chain that purchases store closeouts or excess inventory. It was $4 for the 2005 book. but the website provides updates. perhaps you can find a copy in a secondhand bookstore. I have seen where they really don't change a whole lot from year to year.

 

[Wigit12]

I bought the Unofficial Guide at a local chain that purchases store closeouts or excess inventory. It was $4 for the 2005 book. but the website provides updates. perhaps you can find a copy in a secondhand bookstore. I have seen where they really don't change a whole lot from year to year.

If anyone is interested in older books (I agree that they don't change much--and we use them a lot for choosing restaurants), join @ www.paperbackswap.com It's a free trade (just cost of postage) site.

There's normally a small wait for the current year as the new book is approaching release, but you can't get the previous year pretty quickly a lot of times.

 

[wdwpirates]

I have to go with the Passporter. I have used the WDW one and like it so much I bought the Disney Cruise Line Passporter as we are going on our first cruise in May 2007. The Passpockets are great for planning. At the back of the book there is a wesite list for anything and everything mentioned in the book. I can't say enough about it. Awesome book.

 

[wdwpirates]

I have to go with the Passporter. I have used the WDW one and like it so much I bought the Disney Cruise Line Passporter as we are going on our first cruise in May 2007. The Passpockets are great for planning. At the back of the book there is a wesite list for anything and everything mentioned in the book. I can't say enough about it. Awesome book.

 

[HappyCamperToo]

The Unofficial Guide is a terrific resource! We bought one in 1997 and followed their touring plans. I remember we marveled at how we practically sailed into attractions in early August and saw huge lines waiting to get in as we departed.

That said, we probably won't buy one again. It isn't useful to carry a thick book into the parks. The current book can be checked out of the library for planning purposes.

I will also say that the feature of the Passporter I like the best is their MAPS. It is SO COOL to have the names of restaurants, and I think stores, printed right on the map and not just a letter or number to look up on a list at the side. A friend gave us a copy once and I think I shocked her by cutting out the maps and laminating them. Much easier to carry into the parks. And maps don't change too often/too much.

 

[raspberrysharpei]

The Unofficial guide was a must have planning tool. Unfortunately I had forgotten this at home & wished we had it when our WDW plans had changed . I also found Passporter to be extremely convenient & easy to organize all our travel documents & plans, the maps were also easier for us to use than some of the actual park maps .
If you like to be well informed & organized, I'd go with both. With these two resources our first trip was planned & organized well.

 

[Smileybug]

The Unofficial guide was a must have planning tool. Unfortunately I had forgotten this at home & wished we had it when our WDW plans had changed . I also found Passporter to be extremely convenient & easy to organize all our travel documents & plans, the maps were also easier for us to use than some of the actual park maps .
If you like to be well informed & organized, I'd go with both. With these two resources our first trip was planned & organized well.

I use both the Unofficial Guide and the Passporter as well. those books have helped to keep me sane!!

 

[kimis]

I use all three books and more. Most of them say a lot of the same stuff but each one has a different take on Disney. Of course the dining book is great for deciding what resturants you want to try. For fun you might read some of the trivia books. Enjoy!

 

[iggbees]

i just bought the passporter 2006, then realized that they were going to have 2007 by november so i brought the 2006 one back and bought the 2007 one. i did flip through the 2006 one and i loved it. it was so convenient to have those maps! and the pockets in the back were great as well. it'll be my first time without my mom (it's my boyfriend's christmas gift) and i can never remember all that she can about the place (even though i've been 16 times. i'm looking forward to getting the new one and i miss flipping through the one i brought back.

i bought the 2007 one on their website with the discount that they had in their email subscription. i ended up getting a 20% off discount. don't know if that's better than amazon or not. i didn't check.

 

[Plantlady]

We bought both the unoffical guide and passporter. I prefered the Passporter, because of it's organization, and ease of finding the resturant or ride I was interested in reading about. I also liked the maps, and it tells you how many minutes it takes to walk from place to place.

For the kids we got For Kids by Kids, which they LOVED. And, they got the hidden Mickey book, but we forgot to take that book with us, every single day, so it got no use.

 

[fonsy]

I have both, the unofficial guide and the passporter. My fav. is the unofficial guide, it has everything in it, plus if u plan to go to universal theme parks and sea world they have that info too. The passporter is just for Disney. But I LOVE, I MEAN, LOVE! the maps included in the passporter.

 

[pbnjrockette]

The 2007 Passporter isn't coming out until November...we leave Dec. 1. Is it worthwhile picking up the 2006 version? Should I wait until November? Am currently using the 2006 Unofficial Guide and of course DIS!!


Also: Just added:

How useful would a 2005 copy be? Passporter.com is listing it for $1.00 plus shipping of about $3.00

 

[fakereadhed]

Another vote for passporter. Go ahead and pick up the 2006 version so you'll have time to review it before your trip. If you're looking for touring ideas, though,TGM is the way to go!

 

[pbnjrockette]

TGM??

 

[powellrj]

TGM??

Tour Guide Mike, there are links to his planning service all over the DIS.


I would go with the 2005. The information doesn't change that much. I got the 2004 last year when they had them for $1 and it was a great bargain!

 

[poppinspal]

I leave for my trip on September 29 and have currently been using the 2006 Unofficial guide that I bought for my last trip. Would it make sense to buy a passporter at this point?