Review: The Color Companion to the Unofficial Guide

A few months ago I did a review of “The Complete Guide to Disney World.” At the time I recommended teaming it up with the Unofficial Guide to have everything you could possibly want in a guide book - the Unofficial Guide for planning and the Complete Guide to get you pumped up. I even got my overall opinion read on “Inside the Magic” episode 259 in the listener feedback section.

I have to retract that recommendation.

The Color Companion to the Unofficial Guide is here. It’s bigger, has more photos, more information and is funnier than the Complete Guide. This is basically the guide you’d get if the Unofficial Guide and the Complete Guide had a kid.

I’d state the good but that would take a while and it would sound like my Complete Guide review. There isn’t much bad about this guide either. There are only two areas where the Complete Guide beat the Color Companion. The first is the paper quality. The paper quality of Complete Guide is slightly better than the Color Companion but the Color Companions paper is better than the Unofficial Guide.

The second are the Complete Guide beats the Color Companion is in the quality of the photos. Don’t get me wrong, the Color Companion has amazing photos but the photos in the Complete Guide are nearly flawless.

Those are the only two areas I could find. The Color Companion is better in every other way.

If you are in the market for a guide book here is my recommendation:

If you can only buy one – The Unofficial Guide

If you can buy two – Unofficial Guide + the Color Companion

If you can buy three – Unofficial Guide + the Color Companion + Complete Guide

I’d recommend all three because you will get two different viewpoints if you have all three. Using Amazon you can get all three for less than $50. In other words for less than $50 you’ll have enough info to answer almost any Disney World vacation question.

Review: The Complete Guide to Disney World: 2010

I recently purchased "The Complete Guide to Disney World" by Mike and Julie Neal. This is a top notch Disney guide book.

Visually the "Complete Guide" is stunning. Not only does it have a lot of color photos, the photos are top notch. Many of the photos make you want to get off your butt and run down to the parks. I don't I've ever seen a guide book with better photos.

The guide isn't that long. It's about on par with the official Disney World guides and about a fifth of the size of the Unofficial Guide. You could bring this guide book with you but you'd want a backpack for it. It's a little too large to fit into a cargo pant pocket.

The information in the guide is diverse and they attempt to cover a lot of subjects. For the size of the guide there is a decent amount but if info is on the top of your list you'll want the unofficial guide. One thing this guide does well is adding a list for "fun finds" and "hidden Mickeys" for each ride.

The quality (wear and tear resistant) is very good. They used high quality gloss paper. This makes it slightly water resistant and helps to reduce wear and tear.

Overall this is the guide that will get you pumped up for your trip or help you while you are on your trip. If you are researching your trip, buy the Unofficial Guide. If you own both you will be prepared for all things Disney World.