touring plans

[carver922]

Okay, so I was checking out the unoffical guide to disneyworld book. The book suggests that I visit touringplans.com.

The website wants money for an ittenary of what to do at Disneyworld. Are these ittenaries worth it? There are not much, but I just want to know if I am wasting my money.

 

[Nemo14]

The Unofficial Guide is my favorite guide book, and Len Testa is an active member here on WDWMagic. To me it's well worth the $$.

 

[miles1]

Worth every penny! I led around a group of 13 people this past July using the touring plans, with our own modifications. The adults were all amazed at how much we were able to do given the crowds. On their past trips they spent most of their time standing on lines and hated it.

It's also fun to visit their site during the year for updates and their comments, and the cost is really minimal.

I would definitely go for it.

 

[disneygirl76]

I am a huge huge happy happy planner and personally, they are not for me. I like to create me own and organize my own system. But that's just me.

 

[Pongo]

The Unofficial Guide is my favorite guide book, and Len Testa is an active member here on WDWMagic. To me it's well worth the $$.

I echo this! The book is amazing and the touring plans really do work!

 

[Zip-D-Dude]

I always buy the book. The Touring Plans work. The most important factor, is to get there early though. The plans from the book are probably sufficient though. I have never paid for the customized plans from the website.

Can't speak for those, but the book has everything from hotel, resterant, and attraction guides. Very usefull and gives me my Disney fix while planning my trip.

I read the attraction descriptions even though I have been many times.

:wave:

So, Len, if your reading this, Kudos.

 

[Susan Savia]

We've always done our own park planning. By simply arriving at rope drop, using the fast pass system, avoid EMH parks on those days we have always been able to see and do everything. We use the first 3 or 4 days of our visit to see and do everything in the parks and then spend the remainder hitting our highlights, slowing down and taking in the sights more and doing some shopping. We never know where we're going to be on any given moment in a park and thats whats so great about vacation. Go and do and see what pleases you most and not being ruled by a time frame for doing this or that. Everyone has their own way of spending their time, but we like the enjoyment of the surprise of whats waiting around the corner and not every minute planned out.

 

[pintraderpayee]

I love these books! I look foward to each year's new cover picture and with the 2009 version there are color pix in the front:sohappy: It makes it soooo much easier to explain things to my first timer students when you have a book to show them. I have found that the plans in the back of the book work fine. I usually make an enlarged copy, mark off things that the kids have no interest in (Ex. Dumbo ride, however I've found that teens like the Magic Carpets...something about a camel:animwink, add in things like Dole Whip Float stop:slurp:, and I'm all set. It helps me maximize time since I have students with me who may be on their first-and-only WDW trip.
DD(15) makes her own plans; she has been going every year since she was 6. She has a different theme every year so the plans aren't much use to her (Ex. one year was all about pressed pennies, another was the meet the characters year, then it was get non-character CMs autographs, this year I think it's anything goes year with plenty of pin-trading, yes I'm still enabling her "habit"!)
Good luck and have a terrific trip!


13 days until we are Orlando bound with 27 teens on a school bus for 930 miles of smiles:hammer:

 

[Jebiford29]

I've learned that you'll never do EVERYTHING you want at each trip to WDW, but the touring plans sure help. Example: we went in Dec. 08 with some friends. We went to MK on Monday, not using the touring plan I wanted to use. Well, 6 hours later, we had ridden/seen about 5 rides/attractions :brick:. We went back later in the week and, at my urging, used the touring plans. We finished everything we wanted (about 15-17 things) in about 7 hours! :sohappy:

I will say, though, that if you don't want a structured vacation, this is NOT for you. But for me, I love the rides and attractions more than the other stuff (finding hidden mickeys, etc), so the touring plans ARE for me.

 

[alecshawn]

We never really used the books either.
WDW isnt complicated at all..And, after going a few times, who needs and further direction?
I can see a first timer using some assistance for sure.
I DO enjoy looking at the books at Borders, etc....just to help pass the "Not at Disney time away"..

 

[pattyannke]

.
I DO enjoy looking at the books at Borders, etc....just to help pass the "Not at Disney time away"..

I do the same thing:wave: -- another idea if you don't want to buy a book is to borrow it from your local library -- they take requests and will call you when the book comes in..you get to enjoy all the information, and if you really like the book you can purchase your own copy later.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

I love the Unofficial Guides. However I dont think Id pay touringplans.com anything, the rough guides in the books are sufficient advice for a decent trip if you are not regular park goers.

I found the indicativewait times touringplans gave was a good bit off, and given no one in even Disney seems to have much of a view to what is happening this year that variance can only grow.

 

[wvdisneyfamily]

I am a huge huge happy happy planner and personally, they are not for me. I like to create me own and organize my own system. But that's just me.

I agree. I love to plan, create, and organize my own trips.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

indeed.

Fail to plan, plan to fail.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

i LOVE the unofficial guide to disney book! i also use their website. if you own a current copy of the unofficial guide you have access to parts of the website without having to pay for a subscription. the touring plans in the book are really good and easy to change to fit your own plans. i highly recommend using the touring plans. you are able to get everything you want done in the fastest amount of time. there is nothing worse than going to disney world and having to wait in really long lines. the touring plans help you spend less time waiting and more time actually enjoying the attractions. i would try adjusting the touring plans to fit your needs and see if that works for you before getting a subscription.

 

[nimbusteach]

Free with book!

Hi there! I too love the UG! Since it is my first adult trip and first time planning I find the information so valuable. I am not sure if this was mentioned but if you bought the 2009 edition then you do not have to pay for touring plans. It comes for free with the book. Register as if signing up for free, click on the crowd calendar and to view the whole thing it says to either pay OR answer 2 questions about the book. My two questions were something like on page 216 what is the 10th word. Now I have access to everything. Hope this helps! :wave:

 

[Lucky]

It's a great book, but the touring plans only make sense if you're going at one of the busier times.

 

[melissw]

I bought the book for our trip last April because neither of us had been for several years and something about reading a book like this makes me even more excited about what I will get to experience. I used the touring guides in the back to help me plan my trip to the parks. It especially helped for our days at MK and AK b/c we were able to follow the advice to get to the parks at/near opening.
Since the book was helpful overall, I bought this years book for our trip next month partly b/c I had loaned the 1st book out and b/c this years book allowed for full access to the website also. The website has the same touring plans as the book along with some addl ones.
Anyways, I would say if you're a planner either register on the website or get the most recent book which which will allow you to also get a subscription to the website at no charge. If you're not a planner, but need more info you may want to try either option anyways to help you make some decisions - you can always try to follow the plans and if it doesn't work you now know and could just plan it your own way.
Sorry for the long response, I just like to give a lot of detail!

 

[slappy magoo]

We never really used the books either.
WDW isnt complicated at all..And, after going a few times, who needs and further direction?
I can see a first timer using some assistance for sure.
I DO enjoy looking at the books at Borders, etc....just to help pass the "Not at Disney time away"..

*I* do the same thing! And then I put my gum in between the pages so whoever buys the book makes less productive use of their time because they don't get ALL the benefits! Out of my way! I'm at WDW! Whoo-HOO! :sohappy: :wave: :kiss: :ROFLOL: :drevil: :hammer: :dazzle:

 

[amontpet]

Our last couple of visits we have used plans. We actually used Ridemax. You can d/l it at www.ridemax.com. It does cost a little bit but the reason I like it is you can choose the date you are going to the park, which park you are going to, what time you want to arrive, a which attractions want to go on and you can schedule breaks. It will even tell you when to get a fast pass and when to use it. The last time we used Ridemax was on Easter/Spring Break last year. We had very little wait time - I believe under a couple of hours if you combined the waiting for all day (from park opening to closing). Those were days that the Touring Plan's website crowd calendar rated them a 9 or 10 for crowd levels. Considering the amount we pay for our park passes another $19.00 is nothing if I can avoid hours in line. Especially with kids.

I have looked at the Touring Plans in the books but I wanted something I could customize to what we wanted to do. I would run it different ways so I would be covered for different days or if we arrived a little late as well. It really does work and they offer a 30 refund if you are not satisfied.