Question about Disney Travel Guides

[Winka]

Would anyone know when the newest edition of those Disney guides are typically set to be released? Which ones are your favorites and why?

Am looking to give these to friends as gifts. TIA.

 

[Mom2Em]

Usually the new guides come out in September, except for the Passporter, which comes out in January... I prefer Birnbaums and the Passporter...

 

[Harambe]

I agree - the guides make wonderful Christmas gifts for those going in 2004!

 

[lasmickey]

I'm a disney travel guide fanatic! I have current copies of the PassPorter, Birnbaums Official Guide, the Unoffical Guide and Walt Disney World With Kids.

My favorites, like Mom2Em, are also Birnbaums and the PassPorter. Birnbaums because it paints the most "magical" picture of WDW, and has lots of great color pictures, and PassPorter, because it covers every question that I can come up with, and helps me to better plan my trips than the others do.

 

[jaysue]

I prefer the Unoffical Guide 1st and Passporter 2nd - the Unofficial Guide is honest, truthful and straight forward and chock a block with great advice

September sounds about right - I preordered my 04 edition

Thanks
jaysue

 

[zcomic]

Add another vote to the unofficial guide. I like the fact that they get input from visitors, not just the author and his staff. Also the touring plans are great. We used them on our first trip (with a little tweeking) and had no long waits.

 

[mog]

I was wondering the same thing and I went to amazon.com to check it out. I typed in the names of the books in the search window, being sure to include "2004" instead of 2003. They came up saying that they were not yet published and gave the expected release date. One of them was in August - maybe Birnbaums? Anyway, when it comes up, over on the right side is a place to sign up to receive an email reminder when that title is available to purchase. You don't have to be registered or anything, just type in your email address!

 

[jkovick]

Passporter---a must if you are staying on property. Birnaum's is great for the photos. Unofficial is ok, but I find it to be overly critical at times and is somewhat intimidating for those with less WDW experience.

 

[tjkraz]

My take:

Unofficial Guide - Great resource, but often overwhelming and doesn't change a whole lot from year to year. I first purchased back in '97 and again in 2002. Not a whole lot was different (aside from the obvious adding/deleting of resorts, rides and restaurants that have changed since.) If you can get a copy at your local library that's a couple of years old, you won't be missing much over the most recent version.

Birnbaums - Great for the kids (with the color photos and such), but mostly fluff. There are a few tidbits that you won't pick up elsewhere, but being the "official" guide, you mostly get the Disney party line.

Passporter - I didn't buy this until after our last trip, but it's my new favorite. Very concise. Probably has as much useful info as the Unofficial Guide, even though it's about 1/3 of the size. Doubles as a vacation planning tool.

You can't go wrong with either the Unofficial Guide or Passporter. Unless you really want to immerse yourself in vacation planning, I think the Unofficial Guide is just too much for many people. I've never heard of anyone being disappointed with Passporter.

 

[Winka]

Thanks for the info and reviews.

Was planning these as little gifts for Disney vets(they are more or less vets)...so I'm sensing that either the Passporter or maybe the Unofficial are the ones I should look at?

Tough choice, but either way, I'm sure they won't be disappointed. Thanks again.

 

[lentesta]

Hey tjkraz,

There are several significant differences in the most recent versions of the Unofficial Guide. For one, the touring plans are much improved. The 2003 Magic Kingdom One Day Touring Plan for Adults, for example, can save an additional 90 minutes of waiting in line on busy days. Similar savings can be had with the other 2003 plans.

The 2003 edition also lists the best room numbers in each Disney resort. This includes both standard-view rooms and above.

Lots of other new information is included in the 2003 edition, too. It's certainly worth getting, IMSBO.

Sincerely,

Len