Best DL Guidebook?

bookbabe · Post by **bookbabe** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 8:15 am

My brother has decided to take his family (him, wife, 4yo daughter, 2yo son, plus our mom) to Disneyland in May. (He lives in BC, so they're driving down.) However, he's done very little research. Yesterday's questions were about rides...as in, are there rides there? I think he'll be okay when he gets there, but my SIL is a potential SG if I ever saw one...she's very high maintenance, and very over-protective of her kids.

My stomping ground is WDW, and I've only been to DL once, years ago, so I'm not much help in providing info. I want to get them a good guidebook for Christmas, to give them enough info to hopefully stave off potential SG behaviour. So, I was hoping there's some DL CM's out there that could help. From your perspective, what's the best, most useful, most accurate Disneyland guidebook out there?

WEDFan · Post by **WEDFan** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 8:53 am

I've been really impressed by the Passporter's Guide to WDW (I understand they have some very reputable consultants on that ;) ), so I would expect their Disnayland one to be of the same high quality, although I am not personally familiar with it, or Disneyland for that matter.

BRWombat · Post by **BRWombat** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 11:49 am

I ditto the Passporter recommendation! It's especially awesome for clueless first-timers -- it covers everything! Plus it can be used as a planner in advance, as a guidebook in the parks, and as a trip-memory log for afterwards. I've contributed to it in the past, though I'm not sure if the most recent edition still uses my quote; but the very best reason for choosing Passporter is that SGT's very own Disney history guru and Smiliemeister, Zazu, is an editor! :zazu:

Their website is at Passporter.com.

Shorty82 · Post by **Shorty82** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 1:04 pm

I third the Passporter recommendation! Very well written and informative. Zazu is a walking encyclopedia of all things Disney so him being an editor makes it all that much better.

bookbabe · Post by **bookbabe** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 2:45 pm

Okay, so I checked out the Passporter site and it looks great. Unfortunately, it would mean international shipping, and add duty, and it wouldn't arrive until after the holidays. And I can't seem to find the current edition on Amazon or Chapters (our Cdn chain). The newest they list for DL is 2006. Any ideas? Is there somewhere else to get one that could do cheap/fast international shipping? Or is there a good second choice?

drcorey · Post by **drcorey** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 3:08 pm

some guides now come as a program.
buy a smart phone or tablet and get one.

Shorty82 · Post by **Shorty82** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 8:34 pm

bookbabe wrote:Okay, so I checked out the Passporter site and it looks great. Unfortunately, it would mean international shipping, and add duty, and it wouldn't arrive until after the holidays. And I can't seem to find the current edition on Amazon or Chapters (our Cdn chain). The newest they list for DL is 2006. Any ideas? Is there somewhere else to get one that could do cheap/fast international shipping? Or is there a good second choice?

Looking at the Passporter's website it appears 2006 is the newest edition for the Disneyland Passporter. Looking at the Chapters website the 2013 edition can be preordered but that won't do you any good. The newest edition I can find on there is from 2004 but Amazon has the 2006 edition.

bookbabe · Post by **bookbabe** » Fri Dec 07, 2012 8:15 am

How bad are the Birnbaum guides? I really want something new and up-to-date, covering Cars Land and all of the other recent changes. There's no way they'll do the research to compare and know what's new or changed since a 2006 book.

Near Philly · Post by **Near Philly** » Mon Dec 10, 2012 8:36 pm

UNOFFICIAL GUIDE
pm sent

Zazu · Post by **Zazu** » Tue Dec 11, 2012 1:28 pm

BRWombat wrote:I ditto the Passporter recommendation! ... the very best reason for choosing Passporter is that SGT's very own Disney history guru and Smiliemeister, Zazu, is an editor! :zazu:

Their website is at Passporter.com.

Shorty82 wrote:I third the Passporter recommendation! Very well written and informative. Zazu is a walking encyclopedia of all things Disney so him being an editor makes it all that much better.

Good thing my face is covered in beak and I can't blush! Thanks for the kind words. But in truth, I'm primarily a fact-checker (okay, and fact-adder). The concept and basic writing for PassPorter are done by Dave and Jennifer Marx, who deserve the lion's share of any credit.

Sadly, the Disneyland Guide didn't sell nearly as well as the WDW and Cruise Line guides, so it isn't updated as often. There have been a lot of changes since 2006, and many of these are covered by PassPorter updates or through their weekly newsletter.

Growing up in Southern California, I never felt the need to read any Disneyland guide books, so can't offer suggestions about others.

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