There are many invaluable guidebooks and much of the information that I used when planning my trips to Disney World was garnered from the ones that I read. I started by checking out a few from the library to see which ones were the most helpful. You won’t usually find one for the current year, but try to find one as recent as possible. Most of the information will not change, and you can choose to purchase any that you find will be useful, both in your planning, and to take to the parks. The guidebooks explain all the attractions in detail, including what rides might scare young ones; suggestions for renting or bringing strollers; hotel information and recommendations for both inside and outside Disneyworld; and restaurant information, including character meals.
In my opinion, the guide that is the best for pre-planning is The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World by Bob Sehlinger and Len Testa. It has over 800 pages of information on everything related to Disney World (and even a chapter on Universal Studios as well). The best thing about this book is that they include quotes from actual families so you get an idea of what people like yourself experienced. It also has many different time saving park touring plans and even suggestions on where exactly to stay in each resort. It has a corresponding website called Touringplans.com with its own Facebook page. There is also a version of the book specifically for families entitled, The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World with Kids, by Bob Sehlinger and Liliane J. Opsomer, which I have reviewed in a previous post.
I also think that one of the best book for the parks is The Passporter’s Guide to Walt Disney World by Jennifer, Dave, and Allison C. Marx . It includes fold out maps, planning sheets, and pockets to hold information, tickets, etc. Birnbaum's Walt Disney World: The Official Guide is also very good, and includes valuable coupons in the back for such things as restaurants in WDW and stroller rentals. Other popular travel guides such as Frommer's have annual Walt Disney World and Orlando guidebooks too.
There are many great independent websites with information on Disney World including allears.net and wdwinfo.com. Websites such as these give important information such as restaurant menus so you know whether or not there is a kids menu, and what the choices are. My son does not like pizza with sauce on it, and usually wants a cheese or peanut butter sandwich. Allears.net gave us great information including the prices. Mousesavers.com has money saving tips on it. EasyWDW.com has very useful crowd calendars to help you to decide which days to go and which park or parks to choose.
The website and app, My Disney Experience is important not only for information but also for making dining and Fastpass reservations. Remember though that you must have a Disney Resort reservation or have purchased your park tickets for Fastpasses (see another post on this topic), but only a credit card is needed for most dining reservations.
The last website I want to mention is Tripadvisor.com (again there is another post on using it). This website provides user’s reviews on hotels, restaurants and attractions, and ranks them based on how people rated them. We chose the Holiday Inn in Walt Disney World in large part due to the reviews on tripadvisor.com. Everything they said in the reviews was correct including how nice the rooms and pool were, the high level of service, and the frequency and punctuality of the shuttle to the parks. This hotel is located on Hotel Plaza Boulevard, a five to ten minute walk to Downtown Disney.
Photo by Lisa Jeffries
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