When should I get guide books for a January trip?

[MinMou]

We are planning our trip for January 2018. Will the info in the 2017 books still be useful, or should I wait to get the 2018 books?

I already got the Unofficial Guide color companion, since no year is specified, and I figured it would be good for explaining things to DS and DH. Although the satire pages might confuse them. But I do want to get other books for doing the meat of my planning for ADRs and FPs later this year.

 

[AuroraRose22]

The only major differences between the books for each year will be the new things that open during that time period.

Typically, the next year's books come out around September of the previous year, so if you wait, you'll have to wait until three or four months before your trip.

If the books refer to pricing, that will change, but that's easy enough to look up online. Information about restaurants, rides, resorts, etc will most likely be very similar if not identical from one year to the next, depending on the publisher. The biggest drawback to buying now is the books won't contain much practical information about things like Pandora or new restaurants or shops that will open in Disney Springs over the next year.

If it were me, I would probably either buy at least one now and another later, or see if I could order the 2017 version through my local library and buy the 2018 copy when it comes out. If the Unofficial guide has a recent publication date, you may not even need the 2017 one. If it's a few years old, you may want to consider updating.

 

[KyGirl]

One other thought, some of the books have coupons in them. For example, I bought the Birnbaum book just because I knew that it would have a 20% off coupon for a fishing excursion that I'm surprising my husband with. Those coupons are tied to the year that you're going to use them. Our trip is in 8 days so I had to wait until the 2017 book was available to get the one that would have the appropriate coupon even though I booked the fishing trip way back in the summer. I just preordered the book on Amazon so I would get the lowest price between ordering date and shipping date and it came when it was released. I think it showed up in September? Anyway, I ended up paying around $12 for a book with a coupon that will save around $60. Plus we get to use and enjoy the book.

Just another thing to think about.

 

[MinMou]

Thank you Ky Girl, I forgot about those coupons! I am thinking of getting a 2016 or 2017 book at a resale shop, and then waiting for the 2018 books, especially since the 2017 books won't have info on Rivers of Light.

 

[Accident]

Most books are all basically reiterating the same information.

however, the easy guide to your walt disney world vacation is a book that actually went a different direction. It's made by the easywdw guys (and probably the best crowd calendar out there). I would get it asap as it's filled with a lot of information that doesn't change often. Also going in jan, nothing is going to be different from 2017. Although the last year there is a bunch of trials they've been doing that I would never expect a book to keep up with.

you can find the book in various places but here is the amazon link to it: https://www.amazon.com/*****************************/dp/1683900200

 

[AshleeH]

I would get the current books. Not a lot will change between now and then (with the exception of possibly AK) and there are all kinds of restaurant recommendations and other tips. You'll have to book ADRs before the 2018 edition comes out, so I'd want to research those as much as I could if you haven't been. I would recommend the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World - it helped me so much planning our trip to WDW that I bought the following edition the next year (Fantasyland was reopening at that time, so there was a lot of changes), the Disneyland version, and the Disney Cruise version. I liked that they tell it like it is about Disney, but they clearly enjoy going, so you do get the good and the bad, but it's an enjoyable read.

 

[MinMou]

I am very lucky that our library stocks most of the guidebooks, but I haven' seen the easywdw book there. Maybe I can get them to order it, so I can test drive it.

 

[GrumpyDudeByChoice]

You can pre-order Birbaum's 2018 from Amazon right now for around $13 or so. It comes out in September.