Has anybody read this e-book on WDW

[jenjen61]

Has anyone gotten the e-book, 'The Ultimate Disney World Savings Guide" by Beth Haworth? It costs $20.00 to order and she promises it will save you hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on your trip. We were wondering if it has any tips or info besides what we're already finding here on the boards and in books like 'The Unofficial Guide' etc., or if we'll just be spending $20.00 on info that we're already privy to. $20.00 spent on info that we can get here for free is $20.00 less we'll have to spend at The World! We don't want to waste it! Thanks!

 

[dylanlogan]

We bought it 2 years ago when we were planning our first family trip and got numerous tips from it. I had been to The World multiple times as a kid but this was my first time doing any of the REAL planning. I think most of her info floats around here but there is SO much I would not have thought of had it not been in her book- KWIM?!? We get an e-mail each year with the updates she has made. I found this site as a result of one tip... rent DVC points! We had 10 in our group and LITERALLY saved thousands of dollars. If you are a very experienced planner you may not gain as much from her.
So, as a first time planner, IMO it was worth it. I have referred back to it for planning 2 more trips. Hope my 2 cents helps!

 

[jenjen61]

Thanks so much for the advice! We'll probably go ahead and order it soon!
Hopefully it'll save us a bunch too!

 

[CleveRocks]

There is nothing in the book that you can't find here on the DIS and other places on the Internet. Now, that alone isn't a reason to skip the book. The convenience of the book is that it has a table of contents and you can basically find everything you want very quickly, as opposed to searching through a website or asking a question and waiting and hoping for responses.

I take exception to her claim (and I'm paraphrasing here) that she has special "insider secrets" that only she and a select few other past cast members would know. That part is just hogwash marketing.

Like I said, it's all publically available information that you can find here and elsewhere, but if you like it all in one place and labeled for you, then you won't mind paying for that convenience.

PERSONAL TESTIMONIAL ...

About 2 years ago, in the midst of planning our young family's second trip, I saw the ad and clicked on the link. I'm always eager to save a few bucks, and I was intrigued. I sent an e-mail asking about the details of the money-back guarantee. The author's brother wrote back to me very promptly. He made me a very nice offer. He offered to send me the link to the entire book for free, and on my honor if I liked the book I would pay for it and if I didn't like it I wouldn't pay for it. I greatly appreciated that gesture!

I was impressed with the sheer AMOUNT of information in the book. I went to the section I probably knew the best at the time, and unfortunately they actually had incorrect information written. They erroneously wrote that some onsite resort guests are not permitted to use Disney's Magical Express. This bit of misinformation surely COST some people a hundred dollars or more, rather than saving them money.

When I looked through the rest of the book, I honestly did not find even a single bit of information that I didn't already know. I'd been combing the Internet and enthusiastically participating in numerous message boards for over a year at that point, and, all humility aside, I knew everything I needed to know about WDW (not everything there is, just everything I needed to know).

So I contacted the author's brother, informed him of the misinformation in their Transportation/Disney's Magical Express section, and informed him that I didn't learn anything from the book. He thanked me for my reply, and he did not ask me to pay, which was our deal. He acknowledged that the book could save WDW novices a lot of money as promised, but very well-informed WDW veterans might not benefit too much or at all. I agreed with his conclusion.

I checked back a few days later and they had already corrected the errors I found.

So all this being said, I agree that this is a valuable book if you are a WDW novice AND you prefer the idea of having all the info at your fingertips (and paying for that convenience) rather than having to scour half the Internet to answer your questions.

 

[imthatgirl]

there was nothing new in it that i didnt already know. there were no great tips to save money.
i have it, though i havent updated it for this year, if you want it give my your email, ill send it to you.

 

[zoie101]

check here to find a lot of disconts and ideas
I suggest the unofficial quide
very informative

 

[Stan's MaggieMouse]

I bought it last year and honestly didn't find anything I didn't already know from the DIS or from previous trips to WDW, I didn't find it to be worth the money.

Maggie

 

[UKDEB]

I was pleasantly surprised with this eBook. I can't say it contains anything new for me, but it's well-written and, as a previous poster mentions, it's handy to have everything contained within one document. It has innumerable clickable links to all kinds of useful information.

My expectations were pretty low, but I'm a guide book junkie, so I figured this was just one more to add to the collection. I consider myself just about as clued-up as anyone where WDW is concerned, but I couldn't have made as good a job of putting all this information together.

I have the 2006/2007 version, but I don't receive the email updates mentioned by a previous poster. That would be useful. Even better would be web-based access to a current copy. Despite my appreciation of the book, it's not something I can imagine myself purchasing more than once.

 

[kellybus]

I purchased it a few weeks ago. All of the information in the book can and has been found on the internet. The only advantage is she sends you updates and hints about once a week to your email. Some are helpful and some aren't. The book ate up about 175 + pages to print out. It is well organized, but I felt it sure wasn't worth the $20 dollars. You can get the same info on the internet and at Half Price books and for alot cheaper. So the decision is up to you.

 

[bawamz]

I bought the book and it is actually what brought me to the DiS. I'll agree with some of the previous posters that a lot of the info is found here, but if you are a first-timer (as I am) it was really good to have that source. I also found the information on how to rent points and verify who you are renting from and all of that stuff really helpful. Since it was where I learned about renting points, making ADRs, and some other things, it sure has saved me some money and will save me some stress at the parks. Also, she has some associations with ticket agencies where you can get additional, unadvertised ticket discounts from non-Disney vendors (Maple Leaf and others) only through her e-book. That discount on tickets alone paid for the e-book. Those were additional discounts that were not found otherwise on the ticket sites. I'll admit, this will be my first WDW trip in Sept/Oct so I haven't really seen the sum total of what the book has done for me yet, but so far I still feel really good about the buy.

 

[Moeluv4u7]

I bought the book and it is actually what brought me to the DiS. I'll agree with some of the previous posters that a lot of the info is found here, but if you are a first-timer (as I am) it was really good to have that source. I also found the information on how to rent points and verify who you are renting from and all of that stuff really helpful. Since it was where I learned about renting points, making ADRs, and some other things, it sure has saved me some money and will save me some stress at the parks. Also, she has some associations with ticket agencies where you can get additional, unadvertised ticket discounts from non-Disney vendors (Maple Leaf and others) only through her e-book. That discount on tickets alone paid for the e-book. Those were additional discounts that were not found otherwise on the ticket sites. I'll admit, this will be my first WDW trip in Sept/Oct so I haven't really seen the sum total of what the book has done for me yet, but so far I still feel really good about the buy.

Same for me! I wouldn't have probably stumbled across these boards if it weren't for her book- also she gives other accommodation options if you choose to do so, as well as sites to check out options- along w/ ticket price discounts to the park, which I have to say I haven't seen any less yet- not a huge savings there but savings none the less. Also, great info on the parks, resorts, etc as well as site addy's and such. Also, she refers to many sites that I belive would be her competitor sites- so she is also bringing business their way (I browsed them) Her book gave me many ideas of what I'd like to try when we go for our first time- I am getting e-mails of hints and tips and yeah, as PP had stated some are helpful and some are not- I take the info that suits me- great tips on items to bring, etc- all in all I have enjoyed it- & yes, I would still get another guide book from another author because I am trying to get more than one take on what we should look for and expect-
I will say the only thing she has in her book that I saw was wrong is that she states that park goers can enjoy the resorts even if staying off property- now that does apply to a lot of things but what I have now learned since we have decided to actually buy into DVC (not her suggestion) only resort guests are supposed to be able to use the pools at each resort and only certain pools are available for hopping and only if the resort desk says it is not at capacity. Other than that, very helpful guide for us.
These boards rock & for finding you guys alone through her book (I know I could have ventually found ya on the web by myself) I give her much credit. Thx for all you guys have done for me!

 

[jenjen61]

Wow, thanks everybody for your input! We have been to WDW several times and have learned so much from the boards and the books (like Unofficial Guide) and from just being there and learning from experience. Plus, I'm a Virgo so I take this organizing and being prepared stuff very seriously! haha! Money is tight for us so we camp at Ft. Wilderness, buy the basic park tickets in advance and try to keep the cost of food down the best we can by taking snacks in to the parks, and eating at counter service places. We've never taken the little individual packs of drink mix in before, but came up with that idea recently from one of these boards. We'll definitely do that this October! For a family of 6, it's amazing how much money you spend on drinks there, between meals and just staying cool! I'll just save up the little packets here and there over the next two months and we won't even feel the pinch in October! My husband wanted to buy this e-book, but I felt like with the amount of time I spend looking around here on the boards, it just might not have anything new for us and that's what I seem to be hearing. We're not newbies at the World, and I didn't want to waste money by simply looking for more, new information and simply finding the same stuff. The only thing that I've heard of through here that I'm not familiar with is renting DVC points. What's that all about?

Thanks for all the great info!

 

[mkwj]

I would like to know more about DVC points as well.

 

[kschafer]

I got 2 good pieces of advice from this book:
1. Rent DVC points and
2. Check out Disboards
Everything else you can figure out easily or learn from the boards. Jenjen61, I suspect you will think it is a waste of $)

For those wanting to know about DVC points here are the basics (and it will only cost $5, I'll assume the check is in the mail ).

Click on this link:
http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=29

This is where you will find DVC members who cannot use their points before they expire. They sell these to people directly at $10-12 per point. (I believe you can find a points chart on mousesavers or allearsnet, both of these websites can give you a lot of info on renting points and how the process works). The number of points needed for a night depends on which resort, type of room (ranging from a studio to a multi-bedroom villa) time of year and night of the week (Fri and Sat are significantly more than sun-thurs). We stayed in a studio at OKW for 4 nights in June (tues-sat) and it was 60 points. So at $10 per point = $600.

You then contact the member directly about the number of points you need. When they agree, they will have to make the reservation in your name and you work out the payments to them. Members have a "home" resort which they can book 11 months in advance, all other resorts can be booked at 7 months out.

This works out great as you get a nice room (comparable to deluxe rooms in size) at a price closer to a moderate. DVC stays, including rentals, get all the benefits of any other resort guests plus you can add the dining plan without having to purchase a package, thus allowing you to buy discounted tickets.

It is a bit of a risk as you have to have trust that this person will not cancel your reservation and run off with your cash. Most members have some type of contract and payment requirements. Also, nobody at member services or the resort will talk to you ahead of your arrival unless you are a DVC member (including confirming your reservation)

I'd be happy to answer any other questions for those thinking of trying this.

 

[schmass]

I bought the book and it was valuable for me for 2 reasons:

1. I had not previously heard about renting points.
2. I didn't know of the existence of the disboards.

Since finding the disboards, however, I have realized that everything I learned in that book I could have learned right here. I am still grateful that the book led me here, though.

 

[wano]

If you are here you have already found the motherload of information . the book has some useful info for the novice who has not found DISboards yet but nothing that can't be found here. I found it after I had already booked and paid for our trip.really didn't find much use for it.