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WDW Tour Book and Advice

V

vidalq1

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Hello, Can anyone recommend a tour book for WDW. Will be visiting during X-Mas break with my three kids, ages 11, 8 and 1.5 for the first time. Was wondering if their are some can't miss things to do during the X-Mas holiday at Disney. I heard about a X-Mas dinner package, but don't have any info. Any and all recommendations and advice are appreciated.

Thanks, Vidal
 
The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World

I have this book and thought it was very helpful for our Thanksgiving trip last year. There is a lot of information about booking priority seating for dining, when to do what, what parks to avoid. It reviews all the rides and restaurants and rates everything. I read it cover to cover :) . Which resort are you staying at?
 
I really haven't found a good Orlando tour book but I really swear by tourguidemike.com He has a comprehensive list on which days to visit parks based on whether you are staying onsite or off site. His site can be very overwhelming at first because there is so much information. Good luck...
 
I second that!!

I have also used the Unofficial Guide to WDW twice. Once during spring break and once in June - both high traffic times. Follow their touring plans exactly as they update them yearly. It means getting up early and avoiding the parks that have early entry for WDW resort guests. We were done touring by 1pm or so and then went back to our resort and napped or swam. We then returned to whatever park closing we wanted to see that day with our hopper passes. (once you pay to park, you are good at any WDW lot that day) We only used fast pass 1 time and didn't wait in line more than 20-25 minutes. Also remember that hopper passes don't expire so if you ever plan to go back, spend the money for the flexibility of visiting more than one park on any given day.

Have a great trip!!
 
I found the Unofficial Guide and the Passporter very helpful. Amazon had a good selection of Disney planning books as well as some very good local maps.
 
My wife and I took out 3 kids this past x-mas thru new year to Disney and had an absolute blast. There are a couple of really good disney boards that we found very helpful.

Just some important advice. Christmas thru New Years is the busiest week of the year. Expect large crowds and long waits. If you are staying in a Disney resort, take advantage of the extra hours at the parks for Disney resort guests. We found that the early extra hours were better then the late extra hours.

You can make dinner reservations way in advance, do it! I was really surprised how many of the resturants were booked up all day with no availablity. Also, if your kids are younger and you plan on the character meals, book them earlier so as not to be shut out.
 
Oh yeah, you have to see the Osborne Christmas Lights display at MGM/Disney Studios. One word......WOW!

And the christmas parades are great!
 
Oh yeah, you have to see the Osborne Christmas Lights display at MGM/Disney Studios. One word......WOW!

And the christmas parades are great! :D
 
3 things I always buy/read ...

vidalq1 said:
Hello, Can anyone recommend a tour book for WDW. Will be visiting during X-Mas break with my three kids, ages 11, 8 and 1.5 for the first time.
Click to expand...

Go to http://www.disboards.com/ - this is ALL things Disney and they will give you the scoop on what to see/do and when it's best! Give you timelines for when to get in to character meals, etc.

The Unofficial Guide is really good. We've never gone a super-busy time, so never had to use their tours, but I still enjoy reading what to see/do and best days to hit the parks. They really do have those things figured out!

The kids (well, the 8 yo for sure) will enjoy the Birnbaum's Kids guide. My girls will pull it out even now - a year after our last trip!
 
Check your local Entertainment Books for great coupon for dinner and movie free

at Universal's Citywalk. We used our coupon in our Orlando book and discovered the same coupon in our Denver books, so we will go absolutely free this December-- both of us. The regular price for the "Dinner and Movie deal" is $19.95, includes nice meal with softdrink at many of the restaurants, including tax and tip, followed by a movie of your choice.

I also recommend The Unofficial Guide, which has great advice on what days to avoid certain parks and other great info. We buy a new book almost every year.
 
Thanks

Hello , Thanks for all the great advice. I went to Amazon and purchased Unofficial '06 , The Passporter and also the Birnbaum WDW Dining Guide. Thanks Ciscogizmo for info. on tourguideMike website, never heard of the site so it will interesting. Thanks SDWRDT for the link to the Disney Boards, they look to be really useful. Deniselew, we are staying at Sheraton Vistana Resort a recent resale purchase, couldn't find any bargains for DVC.

We put down the Osborne X-Mas lights and X-mas parade as must do's.
Just need to reserve those character meals.
Thanks Again, for taking the time to respond.
 
We swear by the Unofficial Guide. Also, go to mousesavers.com and subscribe to the newsletter for good ticket deals.
 
start with
www.mousesavers.com - as had been noted sign up for her emails (ticket discounts)

www.wdwinfo.com - home page of the Dis and where the information you are interested in would be located.

www.disboards.com -on the resort page very pro staying on site only - Orlando hotels/attractions - realized that not everyone can stay on site.

www.magictrips.com - is family friendly - you nor your kids would get :eek: on this site

www.allearsnet.com - get information generally and excellent for meal planning

remember this will be a very crowded time. So get there early, early, early and be prepared to stay late, late....

Disney will probably close the parks (they haven't done this since 1999)...so much more people than usually are expected....

also fast pass is great ideal - but when I was there on a holiday the fast passes were gone by 9:30am and the waits were around 35 minutes to 90 minutes (the R&R) - soarin' was the only more than 90 minutes.

my favorite stuff for christmas - MVMCP, Candlelight Procession, the lights at studio, christmas around the world.

then just go look at the resorts and DD - Disney decorates everything for Christmas....

there are several dinner - there is always one for CP, I think there is now one for the light at studio, there is one for both Illuminations and Fantasmic.


here is MVMCP at the MK
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wd...ickeysVeryMerryChristmasPartySpecialEventPage

http://www.wdwinfo.com/photos/mvmcp/

here is Epcot - christmas around the world
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wd...ail?id=HolidaysAroundTheWorldSpecialEventPage

here is studios
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/parks/specialEventsDetail?id=OsborneLightsSpecialEventPage

holiday highlites in general
http://www.wdwinfo.com/holidays/christmas_world.htm#Magic

http://allearsnet.com/tp/holiday.htm

http://www.magictrips.com/parks/xmas.shtml
 
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The sites Spicey listed are all great. For one tour book, I would invest in the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World. It can be tough reading, but if you are going on the most crowded week of the year (which you are), you need to be armed with as much information as possible to avoid the "I didn't see or do anything because of the crowds" pitfall. Using the Unofficial Guides touring plans will save you a LOT of time!
 
Thanks Spiceycat

Greetings, Thanks Spiceycat for all the links, it's incredible how much info. they have for WDW. I realize it's the worst time to go because of the crowds but I'm hoping it can also be an incredible time to go because of the holiday spirit, at least that's what I'm telling myself. :) I ordered the unofficial guide a few days ago but I used the free shipping and will probably ship next month.

Thanks Again.
 
The only book I ever use is Passporter. Our family swears by it. I've been to WDW 26 times (27 in June!) and still buy the new issue every year.
 
Busy times have a major plus side. Parks open earlier and stay open later. When the parks opened at 8 a.m. this Christmas it was amazing how much we saw before 10 a.m. How disappointing to visit Disney and not see fireworks because the park closes at 5 p.m.

Also, all the rides are open so there won't be the disappointment of a major attraction being closed, and Disney opens the rides that are never open at those very busy times. Have fun!
 
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