Need a Good Guidebook

[Blackunicorn]

Ok, I know it's probably silly to ask this, since DVC members will presumably be familiar with WDW, but we aren't and I'm wondering if there's a WDW Guidebook that's better than the others for DVC members? I have a guidebook, but I know that at several points I wondered how it pertained to DVC members.

Thanks!

 

[Doctor P]

I have always felt that the Passporter guides were the best. I think they are very good for DVC members because of their heavy coverage of things outside the theme parks (e.g., Downtown Disney, the water parks, Downtown Disney, Pleasure Island, resort restaurants). In addition, they seem to stay much more up to date than the other guides, IMHO.

 

[iankh]

I think the 2 best guides are the Unoffical Guide and Passporter. Having been to WDW many times, and having (I think) my comando days behind me, I now prefer Passporter. It has good, up-to-date, information, and probably one of the best restaurant sections. Information is easy to find and the maps easy to sue. While at first I thought the pouches were dorky, I now sort of appreciate them since I always seem to drag down so much paper work with me from confirmations, to other documents and tickets, it does give me one place to keep everything.

In terms of tone and style of writing, I prefer the Unofficial Guide. It is a bit more adult, and tongue in cheek. Passporter is good but the tone is sometimes a bit too "golly, ghee whiz, isn't that super" for my tastes, so it sometimes has me rolling my eyes. But it is nevertheless a good solid guide and the one I'm using most frequently.

I wish there was a combination of the Unoffical Guide's style, written for the seasoned traveller, with Passporters form factor. That would be ideal for me. But then again, each have found their market. Chacun son gout.

 

[Pluto4Pres]

...and the maps easy to sue. ...

What??? Are you gonna sue them just because there's a little mistake on the map?? There's too many attorneys nowadays!!

Seriously, I always recommend the UG as a starting place for those who wish to join the ranks of park commandos. The UG will get blasted by some on this board because of it's irreverent tone towards Disney. Don't take it the wrong way, UG loves WDW. They just point out that sometimes the Disney "magic" involves making money disappear from your wallet. Plus it's about $16. delivered to your door from Amazon. Good investment.

 

[SueOKW]

There's no guide just for "us" - - besides us! I have used the UG and an on-line network combining info from boards and especially tourguidemike.com

I've kind of gone away from paper becuase it gets outdated so quickly... having said that though, I think everyone should read a few books to start out with - UG being one of them.

 

[OADad]

For Passporter devotees - do you have any opinions on how the "special needs" edition compares to the regular edition?

I've been trying to decide whether it would be worthwhile to buy the special needs version to help us with dining issues for our DS with food allergies. However, I don't want to give up any of the information from the regular edition and I don't know whether the wide scope of the special needs edition means that it will mostly contain information not relevant to my situation.

Thanks!

 

[jaysue]

We are devotees of the detail found in the Unofficial Guide - we also subscribe to touringplans.com for $6.95 per year

Bought the passporter once and found it to be too general for our needs and style

Thanks
jaysue