Guide Books Used for recent trip

[PoohPlanner]

The two guidebooks that I used the most were Unofficial Guide and Passporter. I got the books back in January and now have them dog-eared. It had been 7 years since we were last at WDW so studying park maps and attractions before going paid off. We were there 6/1 to 6/6 and crowdes were beginning to pick up. I’d planned the morning up until lunch the first day at each park. Sometimes we adjusted that a little as we went but it worked well. Knowing about Fastpass, Fantasmic Dinner package, and E-Night ahead of time was useful. I extensively used the descriptions and ratings from both to set priorities, draft itineraries and select restaurants.

Unofficial guide strengths
 modified touring plans for our interests
 time estimates of when attractions lines shorter
 travel time estimates
 restaurant reviews
 hotel pool ratings
 character breakfast summary, especially ratio of people to characters and which characters

Passporter strengths
 good for keeping all the documents & notes together
 added notes by restaurants for discounts
 Wrote summary notes about the previous day in my Passporter when I woke early
 Passporter maps were more useful than those provided by Disney, but I didn’t want to tear it out & crumple in my pocket. Next time, I’ll probably make a couple of copies to be crumpled & damp.
 Mentions if counter service are inside or outside

We toured the parks on 6/2 to 6/5 and the heat (mid 90’s) limited how much we could do and it was fairly crowded, although I’m sure it will get worse. We wore out from the heat before our legs gave out and the evenings were still hot. It was more crowded than I'd hoped, but still manageable, and better then the peak of summer. Wished that there'd been less people, but my research paid off so we got to do more than if we'd gone unprepared.