When my boyfriend and I were planning our first trip to Walt Disney World together, he bought me a copy of Birnbaum’s Walt Disney World. This is the guide book that he’d used for every previous trip, and he swore by it.

However, I had never been to Walt Disney World before, and so Birnbaum’s Walt Disney World was a little beyond me. I wasn’t used to guide books period, and WDW is unlike any other vacation spot in the world- including other Disney parks.

Needless to say, I was a little lost, and quickly gave up. However, I fell in love with Walt Disney World, and so when we began to plan our next vacation, I pulled out my copy of Birnbaum’s Walt Disney World and it all began to make sense.

Birnbaum’s Walt Disney World guides are an excellent source for vacation planners. They’re divided into easy to search sections, covering such things as travel, accomodations (on property), the parks, activities, and dining. In fact, Birbaum has a separate guide to Disney Dining, though it’s mostly a rehash of the dining section in their Birbaum’s Walt Disney World.

The guide’s sections are divided into even smaller internal sections. For example, the parks are divided into Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom. There are good descriptions of the water parks, mini-golf, Downtown Disney, and more. And since Birnbaum’s Walt Disney World is the official guide, there are even coupons included in the back, which if used, may more than cover the cost of the guidebook.

In fact, I love reading Birnbaum’s Walt Disney World guides so much that we buy a copy every year even if we’re not traveling to the World that year. I’ve been to the Walt Disney World 6 x’s, while my husband has been 10 x’s total. We definitely know our way around the parks, and yet we still use the newest volume to plan our trips. Every time.

For the seasoned Disney traveler, Birnbaum’s Walt Disney World can also serve as a wonderful memory book. 20 years from now, you can pull out your old copy of Birnbaum’s Walt Disney World to show your kids or grandkids some attraction that is gone or much changed. My husband has guides from the 1980’s, which I pored over delightedly for quite some time, as my first trip was in the early 2000’s.

The only real problem with the Birnbaum’s Walt Disney World is that many editions have the same descriptions word for word from year to year. In some cases, the new editions are inaccurate because of changes to the attraction/resort/etc, and yet the description hasn’t been updated to match. If you’re not interested in the newest attractions, you may want to consider buying an older copy.

But the best thing when choosing between Birnbaum’s Walt Disney World and another guide is to go to a book store and flip through several copies, or read reviews of Birnbaum’s Walt Disney World.

If you found this article on Birnbaum’s Walt Disney World useful, please visit the rest of this site for more advice on planning a Walt Disney World vacation.