The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World is easily the BEST book I have ever read on the subject. It is brilliant. Thank you, Len, et al.
Also, for the last several years, I have paid for Len's website (touringplans.com) and love it, too. As I am leaving for Disney in two days, I have been giving that website a workout this last week. Thank you, again, Len, for all of the useful information!
I have looked at Josh's website (easywdw.com) in the past and enjoyed reading it. I had forgotten about it for this upcoming trip, so I will have to check it out again tonight and tomorrow.
With Len's website, it's easy to remember each year, because I count on it for numbers and charts and quick recommendations. With Josh's website, as I was planning my trip a year ago, I read it more for pleasure than for critical information. So I did not remember it this year. But I like a PP's suggestion of reading Josh's website like a daily blog, and I think I am going to try that. It will give me my daily dose of Disney all year long, just like the DISboards.
Although I find Len's website invaluable, two things have frustrated me:
1) Last year, I made all of my ADRs based on the recommended parks well in advance. As the date of my vacation approached, some of the park recommendations had changed, and my ADRs were in the wrong parks.
2) In the summertime, too often Animal Kingdom is the recommended park and Hollywood Studios is the park to be avoided. I understand that might be accurate, as far as wait times, but it is frustrating. If I am going to Disney World for 10 days, I do not want to visit Hollywood Studios only once and Animal Kingdom six times. Perhaps touringplans could add a feature where it lets you know the best TWO days to visit each park out of every week?
As for Len's participation in this thread, I am grateful to him for taking part. Tonight, I went back and read every single post in this long thread twice, and never once did I hear a tone from Len that was not respectful. To me, he came across as someone VERY enthusiastic about what he does and on a genuine search for information about how to do it better.
In life, I often find that people try to squash anyone with enthusiasm, and I believe that is sad. I have no idea why Len put Josh's name in quotes. The first time I read it, I just assumed it was an inside joke between the two of them, since they obviously know each other. Why would anyone think that it was something more?
Perhaps people are so attuned to sarcasm nowadays, that they do not know how to recognize sincerity. Len's posts came across to me as animated and exuberant. He seems passionate about his website.
I feel fortunate that both Len and Josh share their zeal for Disney World through their websites. I tip my hat to both of you. Thank you!