Are you planning a trip to Walt Disney World? If so, you may realize that you need a little help in planning it. There are an assortment of books available at your local retailer to help you with this, but the focus of today’s post will be on the PassPorter’s Walt Disney World 2013 travel guide.
We are so pleased to be reviewing this book as this is our go-to travel guide. It has accompanied us on each vacation to Walt Disney World, and it is the guide we recommend to people who are looking at purchasing a travel book. There are other very worthy Walt Disney World travel books which we have also purchased in the past, but if you can only buy one, we highly recommend The PassPorter.
The PassPorter is divided into several different sections, including planning pages, travel pages, resort stays, touring pages, dining, Disney magic pages, and bonus features. We will look at each section briefly.
The planning pages offers ideas on how to get in the Disney mood, how best to use the PassPorter, budget guidelines and worksheets, and money saving ideas. It is a great starting point if you’ve never visited Walt Disney World, and a good reference guide for those who are more familiar with what Walt Disney World has to offer.
The travel section highlights the best times to travel (if you can be flexible with your travel dates), the different modes of travel, Disney’s Magical Express, and travel worksheets (including a packing checklist). We found the packing checklist to be extremely helpful in preparing for our vacations.
The resort stays section encompasses 91 pages and is filled with information regarding the different resorts, how to choose a resort, and specific details pertinent to that resort. There is an aerial view of each resort so you can see the layout, dining and entertainment options, and prices and contact information.
The touring pages offers a detailed examination of each park, including information on how to arrive at the park from your resort, the different amenities that Disney provides to its guests in the park, and tips to navigate the parks. Two of the best features in this section include a foldable color map of the park, and a detailed section describing and rating the different attractions and shows that are available in each park. If you’re wondering if your child can handle a particular attraction, you can find that out in this section. It proved invaluable to us during our first trip.
The dining section outlines the benefits of the Disney Dining Plan and how it works, how to make a reservation (ADR), information on character dining and special dining opportunities, as well as providing descriptions and ratings for all of your dining options on Disney property.
The Disney magic pages outline the extras you can do at Walt Disney World, including backstage passes; children’s tours, parties and activities; classes and educational programs; treasure hunts, hidden mickeys and much more.
The bonus features are what truly make this travel guide stand out from the rest. Additional colorized maps are found here, as well as an elastic band that wraps around the book to keep it securely closed. It offers plenty of areas for personalization, including a place to store phone numbers, and features PassPockets, which offers an absolutely awesome way to record your Disney vacation by providing an area where you can list your ADRs, attractions you plan to visit, memories of your day, a budget and expenses listing, AND a pocket which allows you store your Disney momentos, receipts, etc! It’s like a travel guide and travel journal all in one!
Please feel free to visit the PassPorter website for more information.
http://www.passporter.com/home-of-disney-world-cruise-travel-tips-planning-articles-photos.html
We are pleased to announce that PassPorter has graciously given us copies to give away to our readers! We will be staggering the giveaways over the next month, so please check back often for your chance to win! Our first giveaway will be a spiral-bound copy of PassPorter’s 2013 Walt Disney World travel guide; please click below and fill out the Rafflecopter widget to enter! The Giveaway starts at 12:00am ET tonight!
Wishes And Pixie Dust 
May 16, 2013 at 6:59 PM
I love PassPorter, have been buying the book for over 12 yrs. Was able to meet Jennifer and Dave at EPCOT once.
May 22, 2013 at 8:48 AM
I’ll be at Makic Kingdom for the 24 hour event 5/24-5/25 celebrating my 49th birthday!
May 22, 2013 at 8:51 AM
I have always heard this was a great tool to use while at WDW! Oh, and my next trip is June 9-13! 😊
May 22, 2013 at 11:05 AM
I am hoping to be at MK in time for the free dining. we are actually in the process of listing our properties for sale so we can move closer to WDW
May 22, 2013 at 11:54 AM
Would love to win this book and give it to my bro in law for his kids first visit this year!
May 22, 2013 at 11:56 AM
My next visit is Sept 2013
June 2, 2013 at 12:43 PM
Who were the winners or have you picked them yet?
June 2, 2013 at 1:04 PM
Cindy Foster Schultz was our first winner; we had announced on our Facebook Page. 🙂 Watch for our next Giveaway coming soon.
Mark.
July 24, 2014 at 12:44 PM
PhotoPass is one of the add-on services that I rellay like. Getting everyone in the shot is a big bonus over vacation pics from my childhood where someone is always out of the picture because they’re holding the camera. It’s brilliant marketing, too I was more motivated to buy some downloads since they offered to take pictures with my camera to make it a low-pressure offer.A couple additional tips:Retailmenot.com usually has the current discounts (I got 2 hi-res downloads for $20-saving $10-with a coupon there)I got my photopass card shortly after I made my reservations, so I made a copy for everyone in my party before I headed down to WDW. That way, no matter how we split up, all the pictures wound up on the same photopass account. If you’re planning to go in a big group, this is a good way to make the full discs a better value.