Reflections on Using the Live Guide for Planning and Touring About This Page:

[MAKHayes-DisneyDiva]

I guess I should begin by saying that I LOVED the old school Passporter books. I used the spiral book on my first trip, then upgraded to the binder for the rest. I loved the pockets. I loved leaving the book in the room and taking a few pages to the parks in my purse or bag. I loved physically writing trip details as they happened, and including them in photo books and trip reports later. I loved knowing that all the details I needed were in that book. Ah, the old days.

In the winter of 2017 I purchased my first Live Guide. I was planning a spring trip to WDW and was sad to see that Pass Porter books were no longer available. However, I was open to the change for the following reasons:
1. I'm never far from my devices. I love a good app!
2. Saving trees is never a bad thing.
3. No choice, really.

The Pros:
1. Something new and different.
2.Saving the planet one guide book at a time.
3.The budget worksheet is awesome! It did the math for me, and we came in under budget!
4. Good for planning, once I figured out the ins and outs of the Guide.Updated, trip-planning info was readily available.

The Cons:
1. The guide is very small on a smart phone, and it's hard to see an entire page.
2. Though a visual improvement, I didn't carry my iPad around the parks because it's big and I didn't want to damage it on water rides.
3. I seriously missed the convenience of the pockets, and the ability to carry a few pages in my bag each day.
4. I initially had a few problems with Chrome and cookies. It was frustrating, but I worked them out.
5. I ended up not using the Live Guide once the trip was basically planned.
6. My Disney Experience (the Disney app) is super helpful and user friendly! I used this so much more than the Live Guide, and I kind of felt like the cost of the Live Guide was a waste of money.

I realize that there are no plans to publish paper books again, but my suggestion is to offer both the Live Guides and the traditional books, at least for WDW and DL.

[Disney Dork]

Thanks for the review. I haven't tried the live guides myself. I prefer a book to hold and flip back and forth through.

[revral]

Good review. Although I understand why physical books are no longer being offered I too wish I had the option of getting a physical book. I've tried using the Live Guide and am just not a fan of a digital format for reference books (I consider travel guides reference books). Unlike most other genres of books reference books typically aren't read cover to cover like a novel or biography are. Reference books you tend to skip around going back forth between the index and whatever subject you looked up in the index. This isn't easily done when the book is digital. It's also not easy to make notes when a book is digital.

[Lampoon2012]

I agree, I wish I could get the book. The kids and I loved flipping through it prior to our trips. They helped plan and the books really added to the excitement. Not all of my kids understand how to use apps and computers, so it really dampens the fun.

[Jennifer Marx]

The number of people who wish to have a traditional printed book are no longer great enough for us to actually afford to print them. This is not changing nor improving, and I can't see how it ever will. For years we paid to have the books printed even though they could no longer pay for themselves, because we didn't want want to disappoint our readers and see posts like this. That was not a very good idea on our part, in retrospect.

I spent two years developing the LIVE! Guide system, and the next two years maintaining and updating it. It has so many more features (other than the physical pockets) than our print books. The print books were out of date the moment they were printed and everyone complained all the time about this. Now I spend hours every week keeping the LIVE! Guide up-to-date and maintaining its systems for one reason, and only one reason at this point -- because I care about my readers and I think (perhaps incorrectly) that they would miss PassPorter if we simply went away. The cost to purchase the LIVE! Guide only pays for our overhead costs for things like servers and such -- we do not turn a profit.

I'm at a loss right now. I am very sorry you were disappointed by the LIVE! Guide and that you wasted your money. I have refunded your $14.95. Your card was charged nearly a year ago and the credit card company would not allow me to issue a refund, so I sent the refund to you via PayPal.

[GingerJ]

I admit that I'm biased as a co-author (for DLR), but the LIVE! Guides have so much cool stuff available! I'm not sure everyone has seen all the features that make it so unique.

To me, they're of most use in planning, and it's neat that you can bookmark attractions, events, restaurants, etc., for later use. The fact that you can make notes, as well as share your Guide with your trip-mates, makes it even more convenient for group planning.

The planning worksheets that pair up with the LIVE! Guides are really helpful features, too.

In the parks themselves, the My Disney Experience app is unsurpassed, for finding wait times, locating attractions, and getting full menus for restaurants, but the LIVE! Guides are still useful for looking up ride descriptions and ratings, as you try to decide, for instance, whether a given ride is too thrilling for you, finding suggested touring plans, and getting tips from those who've been there before you.

MDE can help you make resort reservations, but you need the LIVE! Guide to find four pages of information and tips, such as which buildings to request and veteran travelers' tips.

I think the key to getting the most out of the new Guides is to recognize what they are and what they can do, and taking the time to explore them and the associated trip planning tools that Jennifer has put together.

[lalapodip]

Hi Jennifer,

On the eve of shutting down the message boards, I just wanted to say THANK YOU!!! I have many, many years of PassPorter books on my shelves, and I am very grateful to you for the years that you kept producing the books - although the information wasn’t “new”, it was like bringing an old friend along for the adventure (and I would write in any updates if needed!). We even used loose pass pockets for other non-Disney vacations.

PassPorter was the first book I would recommend to my friends when they would ask for helping planning their first trip - it was my literal bible back in 2001/2002 when I was planning my first trip for my 3 kids ❤️❤️ - and we will be using the LIVE guide for our upcoming trip in October 😊

All the best to you in 2019 - see you on Facebook !!

[Jennifer Marx]

Originally Posted by lalapodip

On the eve of shutting down the message boards, I just wanted to say THANK YOU!!! I have many, many years of PassPorter books on my shelves, and I am very grateful to you for the years that you kept producing the books - although the information wasn’t “new”, it was like bringing an old friend along for the adventure (and I would write in any updates if needed!). We even used loose pass pockets for other non-Disney vacations.

Thank YOU!! I so appreciate this. I truly do.

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[leslishambly]

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