Which are the best guidebooks fo WDW ?

[pandora174]

Heading out to WDW in early Dec. Just us 3, me, DH & DS (1 years old). Staying at AKL so far. I don't consider myself a Disney expert but we go at least once a year. But I am slightly obsessive specially when it comes to planning our trips. In anyones humble opinion which are the best guidebooks out there & why. I plan on getting a few. So far I've heard of Passporter.


Any tips or advice are always welcomed & appriciated. :sohappy:

 

[lentesta]

Hi Pandora174,

I do research for the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World by Bob Sehlinger. While the Passporter is a nice organizer, the Unofficial Guide is a more detailed guide to all of WDW. It contains reviews of more than 200 hotels, detailed touring plans for minimizing your waits in line, and comprehensive dining reviews. It's also the best selling independent guide to Disney.

If you have any questions about the Guide or its contents, I'll be happy to answer them. My main work for the Guide is with the touring plans.

Sincerely,

Len


P.S. We also named WDWMagic the best Disney "News and Rumors" site on the web in 2002 and 2003.

 

[epcotisbest]

The Unofficial Guide hands down, but the first couple of weeks in December, the crowds are so small that if you pick the right parks on the right days you can toss the touring plans and just wing it. I like to toss them anyway and just have a fun, leisurly trip without trying to do it all. Makes for a much more fun trip.

Birnbaums 2nd for the pictures.

 

[swhite]

I would have to say for me Birnbaum's first and then Passporter currently planning out of both we will be in Disney Dec. 5-12 are you going to the VeryMerryChristmas Party?

 

[kennyj29]

We are going Nov. 29th leaving December 6th and then going on the Disney cruise for a week..Every year we religiously buy Birbaums and then the Passporter the last couple of years. Birnbaums got us started when we first started to go and then when we became "pro's", we still find it fascinating. The passporter has everything, every receipt, everything that happened the week we were there. Funny stories, things we would do again and wouldn't do again. It was the best thing we every got. This year we bought both the Disney World passporter and the Disney Cruise passporter. If you like to save memories it's the best book to get!

 

[SpongeScott]

Pandora,

Don't think lentesta is just hawking his book because he writes for them. It truly is the best book for you to plan a trip around--it gives the best of the best and tells where WDW has its warts. We swear by it for our trips. If you get it, you won't be disappointed.

 

[zoo19]

I have to say the Unofficial Guide by Bob Sehlinger as the best one. We are going in August and I bought Birnbaum's first and thought it was good but wanted more. I then purchased the Unoffical guide and was blown away as to how much information is in there. It gives restaurant reviews, hotel reviews, and it even lists the scare factors for all the rides for the little ones. I would say to go with this one.

 

[pandora174]

Thanks for all the replies !

Thanks for all the fast replies ! I'm getting the Passporter because I've heard it's great for planning & storing things. But I'm also getting the Unofficial Guide & the Birbaum's ! :wave:

 

[mbaker1277]

I am a travel agent and have been to WDW about 32 times in the last 10 years. I still read guidebooks, because there is always something new to learn. That being said, I think that the Unnoficial Guide is BRILLIANT! In fact, I own unofficial guides to several cities and the ones for the cruise lines. I use them as reference tools for my clients, and I always include a copy of it before I send them to WDW, even if they have been before. I really enjoy the candor, and all of the reviews are right on the money! Amother guide I wholeheartedly reccomend is the Walt Disney for Couples guide by Rick and Gayle Purlmutter. It is also good for families, but the thing I like about it best is that it not only gives a detailed description of each resort, but also gives you a detailed description of every resort room on and off the property. They have actually stayed in every category of resort on the property, and this is the only guide that I have found that so richly describes and goes into such great detail about the resort and room experiences.
Can you guess that I am a great fan of each?!

 

[GenerationX]

Before we went to WDW two years ago, I went nuts and bought a bunch of guidebooks. By far, the best is the Unofficial Guide. One caution with regard to the Birnbaum book: spoilers. It tends to give away a bit more of the details of the attraction than I'd prefer.

[off topic]Len - let us know when the 2004 book is available ... I may have written something quotable this year (at least I hope I have)! [/off topic]

 

[Big Pooh]

I agree with everyone else about the Unofficial Guide. The 1st one I bought was for Las Vegas, and I've been hooked since. For first timers, the Passporter is great because it will help you get and stay organized, but if you've been a few times already, nothing beats the Unofficial Guide. It's worth it simply for the off-beat humor throughout the book. Have fun planning.

Cheers :wave:

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

I use both the Unnoficial Guide and Passporter. Both are excellent.
However two minor things, I think Unofficial guide tends to be overly critical of resturants when compared to my own experiences. Passporters layout is a little less structured when you look at how its presented. I prefer bullet points.

There is also a guide for Universal, but it is so sycophantic its not a true guide.

 

[lentesta]

Hey GenerationX,

The 2004 edition should be available in the early fall - late August, early September, somewhere in there. What quotable thing did you write in with??? I have a preliminary copy of the 2004 edition, and I may be able to look it up.

In another thread around here, I described some of the new additions to the 2004 edition. One thing I forgot to mention was the new off-site hotel travel time information. You know how lots of off-site hotels claims they're "minutes from Disney" or "2.4 miles from Disney?" Earlier this year we decided to time how long it takes, on average, to get to each theme park entrance from more than 200 off-site hotels.

It took a team of researchers, driving in separate cars, the better part of a week to gather the data. It took another month to crunch the numbers. In the end, we distilled it down to a handy chart that shows you the average commute time from each hotel to each theme park. We include this with our other hotel information, so you're able to compare hotels by room quality, service, price and travel time. Should be a cool addition to the Guide. I think the actual number of hotels covered is more than 250.

If anyone has other questions about the 2004 edition, feel free to ask. Oh, and, of course, WDWMagic made the list in 2004. Congratulations, Steve. Hope to see someone from WDWMagic in December.

Len

 

[wdwmagic]

Originally posted by lentesta
Oh, and, of course, WDWMagic made the list in 2004. Congratulations, Steve. Hope to see someone from WDWMagic in December.

Len

Hey Len! Thanks as always! and keep up the great work with the Unofficial Guide

 

[TURKEY]

Originally posted by lentesta
Hey GenerationX,

The 2004 edition should be available in the early fall - late August, early September, somewhere in there. What quotable thing did you write in with??? I have a preliminary copy of the 2004 edition, and I may be able to look it up.

In another thread around here, I described some of the new additions to the 2004 edition. One thing I forgot to mention was the new off-site hotel travel time information. You know how lots of off-site hotels claims they're "minutes from Disney" or "2.4 miles from Disney?" Earlier this year we decided to time how long it takes, on average, to get to each theme park entrance from more than 200 off-site hotels.

It took a team of researchers, driving in separate cars, the better part of a week to gather the data. It took another month to crunch the numbers. In the end, we distilled it down to a handy chart that shows you the average commute time from each hotel to each theme park. We include this with our other hotel information, so you're able to compare hotels by room quality, service, price and travel time. Should be a cool addition to the Guide. I think the actual number of hotels covered is more than 250.

If anyone has other questions about the 2004 edition, feel free to ask. Oh, and, of course, WDWMagic made the list in 2004. Congratulations, Steve. Hope to see someone from WDWMagic in December.

Len

Wow... that's very cool and a lot of work for something that really will be beneficial for many many people.

I've always used Birnbaum's, but may have to check out the Unofficial Guide, although being a CM and frequent visitor, guidebooks don't offer a lot to me anymore.

 

[Yecats]

I like both the Passporter and the Unofficial Guide. I really don't like Birnbaum's book at all. JMO.

 

[RandeB]

THE UNOFFICIAL GUIDE!:sohappy:

 

[tigsmom]

We use Birnbaums, but this year we got the Unofficial Guide, too. Just love it. There is soooo much info.

 

[Momx3]

I've read the Unoffical Guide cover to cover twice! I also bought the Passporter because I like the pockets and daily pages. Len--a suggestion--A chart that lists all of the height restrictions in one place would be very helpful. I had to go through each park and hilight the rides with restrictions and it took awhile.

 

[Melora]

I really love the unofficial guide! I have one and read in constantly when I know a trip is coming up.

I do have to say though, that I think they are WAY too critical of the food. I have almost always loved the food that we get and while most of it is pricey it is usually filling and yummy .