For those Moms/Dads Who've Been with Kids: Touring Plans?

[VTdisneytravel]

I just read The Unofficial Guide to Disney & they STRONGLY suggest touring plans.

This seems a little crazy to me, as I have a 5, 6 & 8 year old, and I think having a solid touring plan will most likely create feelings of a "dictatorship"... NO KIDS, WE CANT DETOUR TO SEE THAT CUTE MICKEY CHARACTER, FOLLOW THESE DETAILED & TIMED PLANS OR ELSE!!!... My kids like to see things and are spontaneous, so I kind of go with their flow 99% of the time. Considering this trip is for them, I think we should let them be spontaneous, even if that means they may not see everything (at least they got to see what they were interested in).

I understand having a game plan & using Fast Pass for the important things, but I don't know about touring plans. What do you guys think?

TRIP: July 5th, 2015 to July 9th, 2015

 

[stevehousse]

As having gone with my kids just about every year since they were born, do not do a touring plan unless you are going during very heavy crowds. When are you thinking of going?

We always just make our way around the parks no rush. FP helps with that a lot.

 

[Weather_Lady]

At the end of the day, however you want to do it is the right choice, because it's your vacation. As for me, we always have a touring plan (and I use the touringplans site extensively to test each day's plan beforehand, just so I know whether my ideas are "doable"), with the following parameters:

1 - Everybody (by which I mean my DH, me, DS 8 and DD 6) gets a say in the plan. The kids each get to pick 3 characters they want to be sure to see. Everyone lists all of their "must-do" attractions and ADR preferences. Everyone expresses their opinions on the parks that interest them most. (*Before the kids' first trip, we watched the planning DVD and leafed through a kids' guide to WDW, so they'd have some idea of what was available.) I then take that list, consult scheduled park hours and crowd calendar recommendations, and figure out what-parks-to-visit-when. Then I fashion the touring plans for each day. This means everyone can rest assured that their must-dos are in the plan, and nobody feels like a "dictator" is presiding over the vacation planning. (I'd love it if DH wanted to plan with me, but he doesn't enjoy it, and prefers to cheerfully go along with whatever proposal I come up with. He's a keeper, I tell ya.)

2 - We don't criss-cross the parks unnecessarily. We combine rope drop arrivals, sometimes morning EMH, and FP+ to accommodate headliners that are far-flung from where we're beginning our tour in the morning. In general, we tour a park by doing headliners in a couple of adjacent lands first, then working our way back through those lands to do the "anytime" attractions, then having lunch, then leaving. When we return in the evening, we'll cover the remaining lands in that park by doing their attractions in order, using FP+ to avoid long lines for headliners. This way, we're minimizing our wait times, and our walking distance, every time. When practical, we use other forms of transportation (e.g., in the MK, the WDW Railroad) to cross a park when we have to.

3 - The plan is flexible. It's just that -- a plan -- and we depart from it as the need or desire arises. I have touringplans calculate our customized touring plans using the "slow" walking speed, and build in lots of rest breaks and snack/drink breaks. If we see something (e.g., a pop-up character M&G or a show) that isn't on the plan but we want to do it, we do. We might eventually return to the plan, and reformulate it if necessary, but we don't put ourselves under any pressure to be at "x" location at "y" time. We also build in extra time for bathroom breaks -- we basically stop and go nearly every time we pass a bathroom, need-it-or-not, to avoid anyone having an accident or suddenly having to go when we're stuck in a queue. Our final day is always left completely unplanned -- that's the day we wake up and just say, "where do we want to go?" and throw caution to the wind.

4 - The plan does not go "all day," because we cannot go "all day" with small children. Each daily touring plan is broken into two 4-5 hour segments: rope drop to lunch, and then 4pm to 9pm (slightly later than the the kids' usual bedtime). The 3 or 4-hour break in the afternoon is used for naps and swimming, so our figurative batteries are fully recharged for the evening. We also don't stay up late except for the last night, so everybody is well-rested every day. Typically, the morning segment is when we cover the most attractions. The evenings are planned to be slower and more relaxing, and include a table service dinner.

 

[VTdisneytravel]

As having gone with my kids just about every year since they were born, do not do a touring plan unless you are going during very heavy crowds. When are you thinking of going?

We always just make our way around the parks no rush. FP helps with that a lot.

Trip dates: July 5th, 2015 to July 9th, 2015

 

[VTdisneytravel]

[QUOTE="The plan does not go "all day," because we cannot go "all day" with small children. Each daily touring plan is broken into two 4-5 hour segments: rope drop to lunch, and then 4pm to 9pm (slightly later than the the kids' usual bedtime). The 3 or 4-hour break in the afternoon is used for naps and swimming, so our figurative batteries are fully recharged for the evening. We also don't stay up late except for the last night, so everybody is well-rested every day. Typically, the morning segment is when we cover the most attractions. The evenings are planned to be slower and more relaxing, and include a table service dinner.[/QUOTE]

I like this suggestion. So you make your plans for time periods (which seems logical!). Do you cover just one land for the time blocks?

 

[DisneyJoe]

Love TouringPlans - but use them as a GUIDE, not a strict set of rules.

In fact, if you have their subscription and use their Lines App, you can set up a Personal Touring Plan (even based on one of their arranged plans), and change it on any whim you have while in the park. The plan can be optimized or re-optimized at any time.

You arrive early or late? Re-optimize.

Decide against a ride or want to add one in? Do it, and re-optimize.

Take a break? add a meal? Re-optimize.

It will automatically adjust everything based on the plan AND on the current conditions it sees in the parks.

Again, we use it as a guideline, and not as a strict set of rules. It has made suggestions that we would never think of, and helped us maximize our time in the parks - yet we still have the flexibility to go with the flow and do what we want.

 

[SAV]

We had looked into the Touring Plans, but ended up not using one. I found the information in their WDW with kids book more valuable to me to form my own plan, than an actual plan from them. But I had been to WDW without kids at that point, so I knew some of the do's and don'ts.

I'd really suggest going to your local library and checking out the book. Then you can determine if you want to do a touring plan.

 

[dlmof2]

I used the for my trip at the busiest time of year- Christmas! It works! Especially for MK! We did differ from it at times but it helped give you a general direction and not miss something and have to double back! At the time there was no fast pass plus just the fast pass with the magic band. We were traveling with twin 3 year olds at the time. I'm going back in October and plan on using them again.

 

[gooftroop5]

Our kids are now 10, 7, and 4 and we have been going to WDW with them for 7 years now. One year I tried to follow a strict touring plan and ended up throwing it out the window. So instead we do as @Weather_Lady has stated and plan little chunks of time giving the kids a huge say in what we do. With FP+ it is necessary to plan, but we are always flexible. Make a plan and then revisit and revise when necessary.

We arrive on July 5th too!!! Make sure to plan for breaks. The afternoons are brutally hot and it rains pretty much every day.

Happy planning!!

 

[jimbojones]

All my trips are either with little ones or as a little one myself. My advice echoes others. Don't plan out the whole day but if you have a general idea for the first 3 hours and leave the rest of the day as open you get the best of both worlds. The plan makes sure that you get to enjoy things that you are particularly excited about when lines are shortest and then once you tick those3 or 4 things off your list you can take the rest of the day at a casual pace.

 

[Weather_Lady]

[QUOTE="The plan does not go "all day," because we cannot go "all day" with small children. Each daily touring plan is broken into two 4-5 hour segments: rope drop to lunch, and then 4pm to 9pm (slightly later than the the kids' usual bedtime). The 3 or 4-hour break in the afternoon is used for naps and swimming, so our figurative batteries are fully recharged for the evening. We also don't stay up late except for the last night, so everybody is well-rested every day. Typically, the morning segment is when we cover the most attractions. The evenings are planned to be slower and more relaxing, and include a table service dinner.

I like this suggestion. So you make your plans for time periods (which seems logical!). Do you cover just one land for the time blocks?[/QUOTE]

It depends on the park. Here's how we typically break it down (I'll just list blocks of 4-5 hours' worth in each park, assuming a crowd level of about 6 out of 10 and good use of FP+ -- FWIW, we're all pretty impatient and we try to avoid waiting in line for more than 10-15 minutes for anything):

Magic Kingdom, block 1 (morning or afternoon): Adventureland, Frontierland (except for Tom Sawyer Island) and Liberty Square (except for Liberty Belle)

Magic Kingdom, block 2 (morning, at rope drop): Fantasyland (with 2 M&Gs or Enchanted Tales with Belle, but not both -- if doing ETWB, get a FP+ for late morning so as not to waste precious "rope drop time" on this lengthy storytelling experience), Tomorrowland (except for Stitch's Great Escape, which we always skip)

Magic Kingdom, block 3 (afternoon): Tom Sawyer Island, Liberty Belle, 2 M&Gs or Enchanted Tales with Belle (whichever we didn't do before), WDW Railroad, Treasures of the 7 Seas Scavenger Hunt in Adventureland if desired, and/or return to 3 or 4 favorite headliners for re-rides

Epcot, block 1 (morning): all of Future World (typically skipping the Lion King movie, Character Spot and Ellen's Energy Adventure, and not spending more than 10 minutes in each Innoventions building)

Epcot, block 2 (afternoon): World Showcase (doing all "rides" and watching 2 of the 3 films in France, China and Canada), plus anything we want to re-ride in Future World

Hollywood Studios: all "rides" (skipping the "Shrunk" playground), plus our pick of two or three live shows (my kids' favorites have been the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular and the Disney, Jr.! show). If time, visit One Man's Dream exhibit or a character M&G. (If desired, return later to do what was missed.) If participating in the Jedi Training Academy is a priority, you need to go there immediately after rope drop, with kids in tow, to get signed up -- in that case, get a FP+ for Toy Story Midway Mania as there's no other way to have a reasonable wait for that attraction.

Animal Kingdom: all "rides" and 1 of the 2 animal trails (Pangani/Maharajah), starting with Kilimanjaro Safaris and working clockwise around the park (skipping Rafiki's Planet Watch, the Boneyard and the cost-extra games at Chester & Hester's). Choose one of the 3 live shows (Lion King, Nemo, Flights of Wonder) to watch. (If desired, return later to catch the other shows, walk unexplored trails, play at the Boneyard, do M&Gs and/or Rafiki's Planet Watch/Affection Section, etc.).

 

[40goingon7]

I just read The Unofficial Guide to Disney & they STRONGLY suggest touring plans.

This seems a little crazy to me, as I have a 5, 6 & 8 year old, and I think having a solid touring plan will most likely create feelings of a "dictatorship"... NO KIDS, WE CANT DETOUR TO SEE THAT CUTE MICKEY CHARACTER, FOLLOW THESE DETAILED & TIMED PLANS OR ELSE!!!... My kids like to see things and are spontaneous, so I kind of go with their flow 99% of the time. Considering this trip is for them, I think we should let them be spontaneous, even if that means they may not see everything (at least they got to see what they were interested in).

I understand having a game plan & using Fast Pass for the important things, but I don't know about touring plans. What do you guys think?

TRIP: July 5th, 2015 to July 9th, 2015

We have taken our 2 kids (3 and 7 this year) and have been going during the spring rush times, due to school. We don't use touring plans, instead we go in the morning (using EMH or soon after rope drop), hit fantasy land, one or two of our fast passes then have breakfast. Following breakfast we cruise around having the kids point out a ride they want to go on then lunch and go back to the resort for a rest and pool time. Head to dinner then back to the park through EMH.

Never had any issues. We always try to make sure each child gets their favorite ride/attraction at least once for each park. If you can keep the kids up (naps in the afternoon work great), staying into EMH usually means a very empty (relative) and usually walk on to most attractions.

I would suggest the entire family select their favorite so you can besure they get to ride, then just take your time and look at all the details!!!