Going on vacation? Why getting a guidebook saves money and enriches your experience.

I remember our first trip to Disney.  We were total newbies!  It was overwhelming to plan such an expensive trip and we wanted to get the most bang for our buck, let alone get the most enriching experience for ourselves and our children.  After all, you always remember your first trip to Disney!  We solicited advice from Disney pros -- friends and family who had already been there -- and then decided to get a vacation guide to learn all the rest of the secrets that we didn't glean from our friends and family.

Inside, we found a ton of great information, including hints on finding Hidden Mickeys.  It was our own little game of "Where's Waldo", only we were looking for mouse ears.  Also extremely helpful was learning which rides were the most popular so that one of us could run ahead with our park passes to secure a place in line via Fast Track.  That saved us lots of time and energy, and we could then visit other rides and attractions until the appointed time.

Armed with information, it made selecting which parks we were going to visit each day infinitely easier.  Knowing that Magic Hours would increase traffic to a particular park, we chose another park because our children were young and would tire earlier, making the Magic Hours rather useless to us.

In the end, the vacation guide that we got to plan our vacation saved us lots of time, made going to the parks with our young children less stressful, and saved us money by letting us know to look carefully at our receipts for valuable coupons at specific retailers in the park.  Buying souvenirs in those stores instead of the many others scattered in the park saved us money on clothing, autograph books, and stuffed animals our kids couldn't live without.

Be sure to request a vacation guide to help with planning, even if you plan to vacation locally to your region.  Don't miss out on insider tips and savings. Best of all, many vacation guides are even free!

Disclosure:  This post is brought to you by your friends at TravelGuidesFree.com. The opinions stated herein are 100% my own and are based upon my own personal experience.