Like Reading Guide Books?

[Club Cooloholic]

My wife laughs at me, because I can go to the library and take out 3 Disney Guide and study different resorts etc...even though I already read the previous years and have our resort booked anyway. I told her I like to just "know" about certain places, even though I have no intention of ever staying at them. I'll admit I am a bit wierd as I find travel books in general to be very satisfiying recreational reading for me. For instance, I probably planned out 2 or 3 trips in my head to places like Seattle or Yellowstone, but have not been...yet. Anyone else like reading travel guides for the heck of it? I'm just curious.

BTW- Excuse my spelling...should be GUIDEbooks...

 

[ChrisQ]

I read the Imagineering Field Guides pretty much every year, particularly when we start planning the next trip.

 

[DizneyPryncess]

Haha, my husband laughs at me for the same reason. I love guide books & planning trips I probably won't take for years! I have bookmarked folders on my computer of hotels/restaurants/etc of various places like hawaii, alaska, and other places I may never even end up going to.

As far as Disney, I buy the Passporter guide book every year even though it's really nothing new! I love to fill out all the info about my next trip. Guilty pleasure.

 

[Mukta]

I don't really read guidebooks for places I am not going. I do read the WDW guidebooks obsessively and memorize everything about hotels I will never stay in and restaurants I will never eat in. I just want to know as much about WDW as possible.
If I am planning a trip to another country, I usually pick up a Lonely Planet for it.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

Haha, my husband laughs at me for the same reason. I love guide books & planning trips I probably won't take for years! I have bookmarked folders on my computer of hotels/restaurants/etc of various places like hawaii, alaska, and other places I may never even end up going to.

As far as Disney, I buy the Passporter guide book every year even though it's really nothing new! I love to fill out all the info about my next trip. Guilty pleasure.

We are very useful to friends though right. A friend of mine was going to Las Vegas, which I had not been to in years, and I was like, let me help you plan that!

 

[disneychic71]

What a coincidence: I was just re-reading Barron's Disney guidebook from 1996: our first trip with our son (then 2). So many things have changed: I keep it for nostalgia and re-read it every six months or so!

 

[lbrad]

I read my AAA magazine cover-to-cover when it comes in the mail!!!

 

[The Duck]

A favorite Disney guidebook is "Mousejunkies" by Bill Burke. It's not your typical guidebook since it's mostly composed of anecdotal stories by the author and his close friends (all who visit WDW at least 4-5 times a year). The sequel, "Mousejunkies 2" is being released sometime in the next few months so be on the lookout for both. It's also one of the funniest books that I've read in a long time.

 

[MansionGoer13z]

I always read the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World when a trip comes close. I find them enjoyable. Is there a Cheap Basterds guide to WDW out there? I now always try to find ways to save money. And if it can be done at Disney, I want to read about it.

 

[bmarkelon]

Yes I do! Even though I could probably write one myself it's part of our annual trip tradition to get them each year and pass them around as a family. I really like Birnbaum's because the kids seem to like that one the best for all the pictures, it's super easy to flow and flip through.

 

[erasure fan1]

We read (skim read) them as well, mostly the unofficial guide to WDW. Personally I like going to the early editions and remembering things like the rope drop. It always makes me laugh at how true it was.

 

[stratman50th]

I do, but I also read everything I can get my hands on about Walt.
I read about the design and building of all the parks too. I think one book I have is called "RealityWorld". That one I've read several times. Just the trials and tribulations of what the Imagineers and the company went through to get the parks done. I also get a trip planning Tape and now DVD every year. What could I possibly learn from one of those? I just like to see how stuff changes.

 

[epcotWSC]

We usually buy a guidebook, but I hardly use it, if at all. I figure that WDWMagic is the best guide around .

 

[sublimesting]

My wife laughs at me, because I can go to the library and take out 3 Disney Guide and study different resorts etc...even though I already read the previous years and have our resort booked anyway. I told her I like to just "know" about certain places, even though I have no intention of ever staying at them. I'll admit I am a bit wierd as I find travel books in general to be very satisfiying recreational reading for me. For instance, I probably planned out 2 or 3 trips in my head to places like Seattle or Yellowstone, but have not been...yet. Anyone else like reading travel guides for the heck of it? I'm just curious.

BTW- Excuse my spelling...should be GUIDEbooks...

Yes, I do. I have 2 Disney guide books sitting next to my TV chair that I peruse each night with my hard copy of my spreadsheet, revising my plans.

I also am planing a Canada trip an out west cross country trip and a Washington DC trip, as well as a Myrtle Beach trip. I love that kind of stuff!

 

[alawrence]

We have the Birnbaum's and the Unofficial WDW books from the past several years, along with some others. I am not sure why, but we purchase these two guide books every year, even though they pretty much say the same thing, (And even reuse a lot of the same pictures) from one year to the next. They do update some of the pages, and change the order around sometimes. I think that it is just a right of passage for us. No explanation, but I can assure you that we will continue to buy the same two annually. :wave:

 

[MattyFresh]

I always buy a Birnbaum guide every year we go, do I need it no. But it has become a bit of a tradition for me, a way to remember each trip.

And yes, I get laughed at by my wife....."don't you already have that book??"

 

[miles1]

In our house the latest edition of the Unofficial Guide shares a place of honor right next to Uncle John's Bathroom Reader.