[gingles]

Originally Posted by ddoll

Just a follow-up here:

I went with my neighbor to Borders to check out the books. The Unofficial Guide was so big that she looked positively terrified and gasped, "I have to read all that?".

I had to agree with her that it looked intimidating for someone who didn't know the first thing about Disney. She was more interested in the Passporter with the fold out maps and tabs for each heading, so that was what we settled on. She also go the Birnbaum's for kids book for her granddaughter, who was quite excited to thumb through it.

I think I will go hunt out some park maps for her too. She really needs a detailed property map.

The UG is a reference book that is very easy to navigate and it's not meant for you to read all of it. I prefer it over the Passporter because it has more info (the Passporter is just cuter). A lot of people swear by the Passporter guides though.

The Official Guide is really a puff-piece for WDW but we often buy it anyway for the "brochure" quality.

[simplytall]

We get at least one guidebook every year - you never know there might be something new I need to know. I like "The Complete Guide to Walt Disney World" by Julie Neal. It is informative, gives some fun history tips and is set up very simply.

The official guide is not in depth enough for me and it is too biased - hence "official". I tried the Unofficial guide and, if I am thinking of the correct one, it was too much unnecessary info and I did not like the set up of the book.

Our last trip was in February and we still pull the book out every few weeks just to read and bring back that "Disney" feeling.

Happy planning!