tour books

[ilvsocr00]

I am looking for recommendations for Disney tour books. What do you use when planning? My friend and I are thinking about traveling in October and need suggestions.

Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated.

 

[Grumpy92]

I love the Unofficial Guide to Disney World. But Birnbaums is also a good resource.

 

[cinmell]

My favorite book is the passporter. You can find it at passporter.com, amazon or most bookstores. I prefer the deluxe version because you can buy refills for it insteard of buying a new book each year. The passporter is good because it has folders, worksheets for travel, resort and dining information. It gives a good amount of information about attractions, resorts and various restaurants and character meals. It also provides maps of the resorts and theme parks.

 

[ilvsocr00]

Thanks everyone! This should start me in the right direction.

 

[dizzyintx]

I just got my 2003 passporter, it is so great. I'll never buy another guidebook. The thing I like the most is that it helps you organize your trip!
Kim

 

[Mark P.]

Definately the Passporter! We got ours today in the mail

 

[sogger1]

Another vote for the Deluxe Passporter. You can rearrange it to suit your needs and lighten the load to carry in the parks by removing some of the text.

 

[cindy_k]

Another vote for the Passporter. It has my favorite maps. Parks and Resorts.

Enjoy your trip!!

Cindy in NY

 

[tjkraz]

I like all three mentioned here:

Unofficial Guide to WDW - At nearly 800 pages, this book has the most raw information of those listed here. Particularly detailed in its restaurant and ride descriptions and ratings. It can be a bit overwhelming, simply because of the size. It's easy to miss information that might be of real interest to you--for example, the Unofficial Guide has just a single paragraph on Illuminations fireworks cruises, which are must-see attractions to many vets. All things considered, this book doesn't change much from year to year. Check your library, while realizing that if you get a version that's a few years old the strategies for parades and other special events may no longer apply.

Birnbaum's guide - This is the "official" Disney-endorsed publication. That means that you don't get as many of the "reality checks" that the Unofficial Guide presents. Much of it is the Disney company line. Nevertheless, it has some great photos and illustrations, along with detailed descriptions of restaurants, rides and even shops. No ratings though. This is a good book to use to get your kids fired-up due to the nice presentation.

Passporter - admittedly I'm a Passporter rookie. So far I've been very impressed. It's not nearly as long as the unofficial guide--about 280 pages. But the info seems to be arranged and presented in a more concise manner. dizzyintx said "I'll never buy another guidebook", and I'm beginning to agree with that philosophy. The Unofficial Guide goes into more detail in many areas, but I have yet to find any real area where it really matters. Passporter is also updated periodically via their website. I bought the deluxe edition, and will likely be getting the annual updates for years to come.

You really can't go wrong with any other books listed above, but hopefully these descriptions will help you decide what is right for you.

 

[Pat_Elliott]

A big vote for the Passporter. In addition to being a reference manual, the trip planning folders allows you to have everything in a single book, including hotel and air reservation numbers, priority seatings, things you want to see and do on a given day (so you don't forget), and space on the same-day pages to write down things to help you remember the trip, such as the weather, the best thing that happened that day, etc, and something we found VERY helpful in the past, which is reminders on what you want to do next time.

We use a pile of manuals, and I haven't seen a bad one yet (although see tjkraz's comment on Birbaum's and take their info with a grain of salt, it's half information, half Disney commercial). We cull information from each. Then we map our strategy in the Passporter and wouldn't be caught dead in the park without it.

Ok, if I left it at home I wouldn't cancel the trip! But it's a big help.

pat

 

[elemusing]

Here's a vote for the Unofficial Guide to WDW by Bob Sehlinger! It does not sugar coat anything and is a very amusing read. WE always use the plans in it and have saved countless hours because we did!!!!

The Passporter is good for you if you like to have pockets and places to store things and write things down, but I have to say that I have both and use my UG alot more. I just don't have the need for the Passporter's pockets, etc and I find the info in the UG much more helpful. I do like the wdw links in the Passporter so I can look up lots of stuff on the Internet!

You could also try the Official guide - Birnbaum's - but it is like one big ad for WDW. (There are a few good coupons in it.)