Customer Reviews

PassPorter's Walt Disney World 2010: The Unique Travel Guide, Planner, Organizer, Journal, and Keepsake!

5 star:		(47)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Passporter had held the spot of favorite Disney guidebook in my household for years! While we own several other Disney guidebooks, the Passporter is the one that we use primarily for planning. The detail in it is great, with brief descriptions of every ride, attraction, and restaurant. The different types of ratings (such as how children will like a certain ride or how the Passporter online community rates a particular restaurant) are helpful in deciding whether a particular attraction or eating place is the right one for my family. The full-color pictures are very nice, even if they aren't able to include actual Disney characters in the shots. I always complain about other books that they either have all words and no fun pix, or that it's all about the fancy pictures with no real content; the Passporter is a great mix of both, with enough pictures to provide some color and add some excitement, but with plenty of space for the real content I'm looking for.

My favorite part of the Passporter is actually several parts: the many parts that actually help me plan my trip to Disney World, rather than just reading about it. Worksheets in various sections of the book allow me to pencil in my plans and easily erase and rewrite as those plans inevitably change. Checklists in the Touring, Feasting, and Making Magic sections allow me to mark the rides, attractions, and restaurants I'm interested in. The 14 handy pockets at the back of the book help me make notes about our travel plans and daily schedules, and they're great during the trip itself, for jotting notes as we go through the park and for saving small souvenirs, receipts, Fast Passes, and other easily misplaced items.

I recommend this book both for first-time Disney trippers and for experienced Disney goers. First-timers will find the detail of the book very helpful in determining what is most important to see, as well as providing great tips and tricks for how to accomplish this to-do list. Returning Disney fans will love the detail to which they can plan the perfect trip, using the many tools and worksheets provided in the book. And everyone will love having the book in the park, to find the best route around the parade that is blocking your path, or to pick a different quick-service restaurant when your first choice is out of the chocolate cake you were craving, or to stow away a Mickey-shaped-confetti memento of your special dinner with Pooh at the Crystal Palace.

We don't get to go to Disney World every year. But when we do get to take a trip to our "Happy Place", the Passporter helps us have everything so well planned that we have a great visit every time!

I just received my 2010 Passporter and I love it!! It is a wonderful guidebook and planning tool which I would recommend to anyone planning a trip to Walt Disney World. The colorful pages, maps, pockets, and more make this planner amazing. On our trip a few months ago to WDW I purchased a rather pricey watch. When it recently stopped working I was able to pull out my 2009 Passporter and easily locate the receipt. Thank you Passporter!!

I have been using the Passporter Guide Books for many years. As a frequent traveler and reader, I think I own every Disney guide available. Passporter wins, hands down, every time. This guide book is unique in that it is more than just information. It is a way to plan and a way to journal. My yearly Passporters have become mini scrapbooks of travel memories. This book is updated yearly and I believe it to be the most current Disney guide out there. Of course things change at Disney all the time and the writers do need time to get the book printed, so there will always be a few things that have changed. The beauty is that readers can log onto the Passporter site for current updates, forums and so much more. There is no charge for the website. To the previous reviewer that suggested not writing in this book due to the glossy pages, I suggest a change of pen. My 2010 edition is already full of underlined phrases, highlighted sections and notes. No smudges, no problem at all. The pass pockets in the back keep all the important documents together as well as stuff we pick up in the parks. The planning sheets are a vital part of our planning process. Even though we are serious Disney Veterans, I would not take a trip to WDW without the current edition of Passporter!

We got the 2009 version of this book and it was VERY useful. We carried it around with us in our bags. We found the maps useful! It suggests what rides and shows to see and the best order to do them in to save time.

We loved the restaurant guide too. Everything in this book is useful. I kept our recipets and jotted notes.

If you only buy one book for WDW make it this one. It's condensed but chock full of great information and very easy to navigate quickly.

We also got The Unofficial Guide Walt Disney World but I found we didn't use it much. This book was far better than TUGWDW.

I have traveled to Disney several times in the last 10 years. At first, I used several of the other guidebooks out there, but they always seemed to be missing something, then in 2006 I discovered Passporters. I've never looked back! I now own Passporters for Walt Disney World, Disneyland and Disney Cruise Lines.
I personally own the deluxe versions of the books because I love the leather binder, the ease of adding and removing pages and updating the book every year. I use the book for planning our trips, and have purchased books for family and friends who are traveling with us or are planning their own trips! I find they make wonderful Christmas presents!
One feature I really enjoy with the deluxe is the ability to remove unneeded pages from the book for the actual trip, leaving a slimmed-down version to carry to the parks.
It is by far the best guidebook I have found for Disney. It is clear that the books are written by people who know and love Disney.

I first used this in 2007 and found it completely invaluable. I used it again in 2010 and barely used it. It definitely has some info I've found nowhere else, like prices for tours. But with smartphones the need for something like this that you'd bring with you is dwindling, especially for veterans. If you know nothing about Disney World and buy only one book, this is the one. Be sure to buy it before you starting planning, not just before the trip.

This will help you pick where to stay, where to eat, what to see, plan how much time to a lot for activities, travel options and time from place-to-place. You can keep all your travel documents and reservation information in here. There are original maps of resorts, and entertainment and activity information that you might otherwise have to "hunt" for on websites and newsgroups.

Even if you are a veteran I think buying the book once every 3-4 years is probably still a good idea, you never know what nugget of information you'll find. Disney World isn't stagnant, and I find it difficult to obtain detailed information prior to arriving in FL. Disney doesn't seem to want you to know too much until you actually arrive, yet you need to plan and reserve things so far in advance. Odd.

I can't tell you how much I love this book. I have used these in the past on I don't know how many trips. I mean, the other day I was looking for my 2009 Guide and while searching I found 2 from 2007. Two. Didn't go the the parks twice in 2007 but for some reason I had two copies of the Guide from that year. I am the type of person who has to plan everything out, while at the same time, I forget everything. That's why the Passporter Guide has been my go to life saver on so many trip.

But I got my 2010 Guide today and I'm incredibly disappointed. All the Guide's I've gotten in the past have had just regular paper for the pages. Now they've gone to this slick paper and it's driving me nuts. You have to understand, by the time I leave for my trips, I've added half again as much content as the authors have with all my notes and comments and plans. But this glossy paper is not letting me write on the pages!!! Well, I mean, yea I can write on it if I want everything smeared the second I turn the page. And being left handed I don't even need to wait that long. I usually use Sharpies and different color highlighters, but they're just not sticking. I've tried waiting, I've even tried blowing on the writing after I was done but it still smears some when you even lightly touch it. And ball point pens aren't working that great either. Thankfully the Passpockets section is still on regular paper. if I couldn't fill those yellow pages up with all the flight info, reservation numbers and use the pockets for all the mailings i get setting up the trip, I would be completely lost.

As always the content is great and I love the addition os so many color photos, but these glossy pages have made the Guide a whole lot less useful.

As a kid we visted Disney every year, and last year and this year I am bringing my daughter there, this is by far the best book I have seen out there! Yes it is a little expensive, but it is so worth the extra money!

Being a regular Walt Disney World (WDW) traveler, I have learned the value of planning each trip. The 2010 Passporter guidebook enables any traveler to WDW to plan as extensively as either they wish or their experience level dictates. The book is very helpful for the rookie (which we all were at one time) as well as the ultra experienced WDW visitor.

There are a number of items in the book that enable the traveler to plan and track every aspect of their upcoming vacation. The various charts, graphs, and reviews of everything at WDW enable you to have a central place to file and locate all of your information. The pass pockets in the back of the book are invaluable while traveling to keep track of park hours, Extra Magic Hours, Advanced Dining Reservations, etc. I could go on about everything in the book but those things have been covered in other reviews.

The things that impress me most about the whole Passporter package are:
1 - the book which is as up to date and accurate as any annually published guidebook can be
2 - the Passporter website which provides updates to everything in the book as they occur, you don't have to wait for the next issue
3 - the Passporter online community which is second to none for information from experienced travelers to WDW without the condescension which is so prevalent in some other forums
4 - the Passporter Club which provides tons of information for all levels of travelers as well as interactive books and worksheets that allow you to really get down to the "nitty gritty" of travel planning
5 - this is probably the most important thing, the authors have a large group of contributors and reviewers but they, themselves, make numerous trips each and every year to stay current. They know their subject matter inside and out.

There are lots of guidebooks and other WDW travel information sources out there and I do use some of them but my primary resource is Passporter. Although I don't travel to WDW every single year, I do get a new passporter every year.

Ken Brown

I first discovered the Passporter Series when planning for a Disney Cruise in '08. The Passporter Cruise Guide was so good that I did not hesitate to get the Passporter Guide to Walt Disney World when I started planning a WDW vacation, and I was not disappointed! A Disney vacation is a significant expense with so many different Parks, Hotels and options that I wanted to make sure I did all the pre-planning I could to make the most of my time in Florida. The Passporter Guide helped me to do just that! It has so much information about the Orlando parks (Disney and non-Disney), hotels, resorts, maps, ride & restaurant reviews, and entertainment. Nothing is left out. It also includes many handy planning and packing worksheets and organizer pockets for storing information about your travel arrangements, accommodations, and plans/tickets/receipts for each day of your stay, and is well-written and entertaining to boot! I know that if I had arrived in Florida without pre-planning with this book I would have been overwhelmed with choices and decisions. The Passporter Guide to Disneyland is excellent as well.