Do we need to buy a tour plan?

[escapeartist]

Hi everyone. We are going in mid april with a 5 year old, first trip. How important or unimportant do you all think a tour plan would be for us? Are there free ones, if not where to purchase one? Thanks so much.

 

[Monty]

I wouldn't bother. You're not going to be able to see everything your first trip. Touring plans seem to take all of the adventure out of a Disney trip in my opinion. If you spend some time on-line before your trip and work out what your 5 year old is tall enough for and then what you really want to see you'll be fine. Get to understand how fastpass works and use it for the busier/more important rides. Also, if you want to dine at Table Service restaurants [not necessary, there are acceptable quick-service options, but I always enjoy a TS every day], make sure you book soon if you haven't already.

Spending time with you in Disney is going to be a great experience for your child, even if they don't remember specifics later on. Don't push too hard or let yourselves get burnt out. There will always be future trips!

 

[dopeylover]

If you spend enough time on here and do your research, you don't need one. You're going to most likely want to take a break mid-day for the little one, and there's probably rides they won't be able to do due to height requirements or fears (like Haunted Mansion maybe), like Monty said, so just explore, pick out your priorities, make your dining reservations, and ask us questions on here!

Some of those touring plans have you going at breakneck speeds the whole trip, and that's a guaranteed meltdown for your little one!

Welcome to the boards, and have fun on your trip!

 

[Allygator]

Figure out the rides, shows you would like to see. Also if you are doing any dining try to match them up with the park to minimize travel time and if you are going to watch any of the fireworks make sure you give yourself plenty of time for eating, traveling for reservations.

 

[RedDad]

We use them for every trip, but didn't for our first (mainly because we didn't know about it). Then again, we are planners and like to know that we're getting our money's worth for every trip. Their info is very useful if you're going during a crowded time of year - particularly the recommendations about which park to go to on which day, and which rides to knock out first. If you like to plan things out, have certain rides that you really want to do, and want to maximize your time in the parks then it's probably worth it. But you can certainly go and have a good time without it as well.

Since it's your first trip, I highly recommend you spend at least some time planning your schedule and think about what rides you want to make sure you do ahead of time. I do not recommend you simply show up to the parks thinking "we'll just wing it." Far too many people who do this come back complaining that they didn't get to ride anything or eat anywhere they wanted, when all it takes is a little planning and knowledge! At least pick up one of the Unofficial Guides and read it before going, and stick around here to ask questions.

 

[luv]

Yes, I think you should pony up the $12 for the touringplans.com subscription...or $7, if you have the Unofficial Guide book.

It will give you a much better idea of how much you can actually do. And you can make your own touring plan, where you just check off the stuff you want to do, etc. it will tell you the quickest way to do what you want to do.

There are a gazillion free sites out there. Some know what they're talking about and some really don't. But they all think they know what they're talking about, lol.

The touringplans site is the best of the bunch for plans, no doubt about it. People complain about the cost, but its twelve freaking dollars. Take a year, save up for it. Then plunk your money down. You'll be glad you did.

Oh, and you get the Lines app with it, which alone is worth the cost, IMO. I freaking live here and sometimes use the thing.

(I don't work for them. I don't know them. They don't pay me - though they should, lol. I have nothing to gain and am genuinely trying to help you.)

 

[erasure fan1]

I don't think a plan is really necessary but I would recommend going to the library and checking out the unofficial guide to Disney world. I believe the key is to educate yourself as best you can. That way you can prioritize what might be best for your family and know some of the things to avoid. Use things like youtube to show the 5yr old ride videos and other Disney stuff and see what interests him. Also use this site as there is a lot of great info from a lot of different opinions. I just think that touring plans can make things too stressful. Of course if you go completely blind that can be plenty stressful too.

 

[escapeartist]

Thanks Everyone! Sorry so late to acknowledge your replies, I found I cant post off my phone and its been this long to get to laptop at home. I can read the post on phone, just not reply. Whew!
Anyway, I think I will try to formulate my own tour plan and if its too hard, Ill pony up the $12 and buy, lol! Ive got a tentative daily schedule for my week Id love for you all to look at and critique. Ill post a new thread for that. Once i feel good with that Ill work on the tour plan. We already spent a good amount of time going park by park, researching and identifying all the attractions we want to hit, what we dont care for, etc., so the daily schedule will be based on how much time we feel we need in each park...it will be unbalanced. Thanks for everything.

 

[jrogue]

My family and I have been going to Disney World since I was younger and we've always made up our own tour plans. You'll need to do some research to find out what works for your family. Every family is super different so some things that work for you won't work for others and vice-versa. I know when I was younger, my parents used to let me walk around all day (with no nap!) and work myself into an exhaustion so by the time dinner rolled around, I'd be fast asleep for the rest of the night.

There are tons of WDW sites made by fans and the company itself that will be able to give you tons of useful tips and tricks to help you create your own tour plan. Below I've added a few of mine that my family and I figured out after 22 trips to WDW!

- Definitely make dining reservations ahead of time. Although you can walk up to some restaurants last minute and request a table, the wait will be much longer than if you had a reservation.

- When you get to a park first-thing, pick up a park map and a times guide sheet. Those will tell you what special events are happening that day (or week) in the park you're in (and sometimes other parks as well!)

- In the middle of the day, the waits for Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion and It's a Small World will be more than 15 minutes sometimes. More often than not, my family and I found that at night, the waits for those rides go down to 5 minutes. We don't wait on line for those rides unless they're a 15 minute wait or less.

- Don't waste time waiting on extremely long lines for rides (ie Peter Pan's Flight) -- you can get FastPasses for those instead and do something else with the time you'd spend waiting.

- If your kid is still up: Sometimes the Magic Kingdom will have two nighttime parades. This is prime time to go on some attractions since many people will be watching the parades.

Also, keep in mind that some kids are scared of fireworks and/or the characters. I know my sister and I were!

Overall, you'll definitely want to do enough research before you go and make a list of your must-do rides, restaurants, and experiences. There are different apps and websites that track wait times for rides and attractions and usually I'll start looking at those a few weeks before I go to get a general idea of when some rides are the least busy.

Most importantly, remember to have fun! In making your own touring plan, you'll be able to cater to your family's needs and not feel bad if you missed something that's on a plan.

 

[Figgy1]

I wouds save the money if you are on a budget but I would run not walk to the library to get a copy of the Unofficial Guide to Disney and read it cover to cover before you go.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Hi everyone. We are going in mid april with a 5 year old, first trip. How important or unimportant do you all think a tour plan would be for us? Are there free ones, if not where to purchase one? Thanks so much.

Nope. The five-year-old will dictate your touring plans. It will be his schedule, not yours.

 

[Weather_Lady]

You don't need a concrete touring plan, so much as a good idea of what attractions you need to hit first (in other words, those with lines that build the fastest in the morning, and/or which have the lowest capacity), and which ones you can visit any time of day without a terrible wait. Once you know where to go first (e.g., Toy Story Midway Mania in Hollywood Studios, any of the Mountains or Pooh/Peter Pan in MK), you'll be able to develop your own touring plan. (That being said, I bought the Unofficial Guide and paid the $7 to join touringplans.com, and it was money well spent!)

You can get a good idea about which attractions these are by checking out the easywdw.com, Dad's Guide to Walt Disney World, and Your First Visit websites. (Just google the names and you should find them).

 

[Zipadeelady]

I wouldn't bother. You're not going to be able to see everything your first trip. Touring plans seem to take all of the adventure out of a Disney trip in my opinion. If you spend some time on-line before your trip and work out what your 5 year old is tall enough for and then what you really want to see you'll be fine. Get to understand how fastpass works and use it for the busier/more important rides. Also, if you want to dine at Table Service restaurants [not necessary, there are acceptable quick-service options, but I always enjoy a TS every day], make sure you book soon if you haven't already.

Spending time with you in Disney is going to be a great experience for your child, even if they don't remember specifics later on. Don't push too hard or let yourselves get burnt out. There will always be future trips!

@escapeartist... reread this. It is simple, short and accurate. Don't try to do too much it will just frustrate your party. Plus it gives you a reason to come back to WDW since you didn't get a chance to see everything.

Have a great trip, The first one is the best, I'll never forget our first trip in '06. It was wonderous!!

 

[bethymouse]

The only suggestion I would make is to look at the restaurants and decide on making your reservations ASAP. I wouldn't pay for touring plans. Just my opinion. There are so many websites that will help, including this one! Enjoy your trip and don't stress please! Disney is a magical place and you'll go back some day to see some of those things you might have missed.