It seems like yesterday that we let our then 7-year-old daughter know that we were finally “going to Disney World.” The memory of their screams and excitement accompanies me to this day. We had saved a long time to be able to do this trip, and we had a great time when we went. I learned a lot about the best way to plan a Disney vacation and quickly realized that in order to have an affordable Disney family vacation, you had to do a lot of research. And I also learned that a Disney savings guide was essential if you wanted to save any kind of money on this trip.
However, it can be a challenge choosing the best Disney travel guide, because there are so many! They all look promising, with colorful images of happy families having the time of their lives. But which ones will help you save money on your Disney vacation? This article will review some of the most popular ones and provide my thoughts on what each one has to offer.
For starters, there’s Birnbaum’s Walt Disney World, the classic Disney-approved travel guide. This was the first guide I bought for our initial trip and it was a useful start to my planning. With great visuals, some nice maps that help the Disney beginner get familiar with park layout, and reviews of top rides and attractions, it’s a great start to learning all about Disney World. It doesn’t provide much information on how to save money though – since it’s Disney’s “official” vacation guide, there’s not much discussion of non-Disney food or lodging options. So while this is a great guide to get you started, particularly for your first visit, it wouldn’t be my first choice for a good Disney savings guide.
Probably the best known of the many Disney World vacation guides is the Unofficial Walt Disney World Guide. It is also possibly the most comprehensive guide, with over 800 pages. There is a lot of information in this travel guide as the author thoroughly covers almost every potential aspect of a trip to the Orlando area in great detail. And he’s also unbiased, which is appreciated by many who want to know more than Disney’s perspective. The author does an admirable job of providing many options for saving money, and it can be a very useful option for a Disney savings guide. However, with all the details in this book, keep in mind that it will not be a small guide that you want to take with you to the parks.
The travel guide that I have found to be the most useful in terms of saving money on a Disney vacation is the Ultimate Disney World Savings Guide. This is actually an e-book that was written by a former Disney cast member, and I have appreciated the “insider” information that has been very helpful in planning an affordable Disney vacation. The author shares a wealth of cost saving tips and ideas that can potentially save the Disney vacationer hundreds of dollars. This book provides the money saving strategies that make it an excellent choice for a Disney savings guide. Now if an e-book is a new concept to you, let me tell you that I love the flexibility an e-book offers – being able to download it immediately, read it, and then print only what I need / want to take with me to the parks for reference.
While there are probably hundreds of Walt Disney World travel guides, if having an affordable Disney vacation is important to you, then the Ultimate Disney World Savings Guide is my recommendation for a truly great Disney savings guide. Well organized, easy to use, with lifetime access to the author’s website for the latest updates from Disney, and literally hundreds of money saving tips and strategies make this guide, in my opinion, a must-have for saving money. on your Disney vacation. .