Review - PassPorter

Preparing for our Disney trips is just as much fun as going on them...well almost. In the past we have used Fodor's Walt Disney World (library copy), The Everything Family Guide to the Walt Disney Resort, Universal Studios, and Greater Orlando, and Birnbaum's Walt Disney World. Our web sites to refer to have included All Ears Net, Mouse Planet, Blue Sky Disney, Mice Age, Disney World Information, and Small World Vacations. I recently discovered PassPorter and Magical Mountain.

We have also added the 2007 PassPorter Walt Disney World Resort to our collection. This book has been excellent. There are tabs both along the top and sides of the pages that direct you to parks and activities. There are sections on planning, transportation, the resorts, sections on each park, dining, and special events. It is indexed (librarians love this). In the back of the book there are special "PassPockets" that have special pockets where you can store maps, brochures, or envelopes. There are pockets for "Our Journey," "Our Room(s)," each day (10 of them), "Our Special Day," and "Our Magic Memories and Trip Report." It comes with a spiral binding, and laminated covers that allow you to fold and tuck the cover to protect pages, plus a built-in elastic band to mark pages or to keep the book secure. The covers include maps of Orlando area, Walt Disney World Properties, and spaces to record important phone numbers or addresses, and personal information in case you lose the book.

The book has handy hints that the other guides do not have. I especially liked the large, well illustrated maps printed on heavy duty paper for each of the parks. Each resort has three pages and includes room diagrams, dining, activities, transportation, and hints for making the most of the resort. There are ratings for quality, accessibility (how fast and easy it is to get to attractions), Theme, amenities, fun factor, and overall value and magic. It also includes reader ratings and ratings for younger kids, older kids, teens, young adults, mid adults, mature adults, families, couples, and singles.

It is much skimpier in covering individual rides at various parks than the other guides. Birnbaum's is much better than PassPorter when it comes to this. The description and ratings for restaurants and eateries is about the same as other guides. I was disappointed in their coverage of disability issues, but given the fact that Disney is extremely good to their disabled guests, I can overlook the missing information.

Even with the few flaws they have, the PassPorter is an excellent personal planning guide to Walt Disney World. Updates are available through their web site. Obviously they want you to purchase annual editions, but you could get away with purchasing it every 3 years or so unl;ess you are a dire hard Walt Disney World visitor (or at least more than we are).