Touring Plans

[dmatt87]

If you're willing to be the one to put the nuts and bolts of the touring plan together based on input from her, it might go a long way to getting her on board. My sister and many of my friends are not planners when it comes to vacation - they plan the basics and the rest is kept very loose. The idea of having a set "attraction itinerary" or the sheer depth of some of the crowd level information would drive them batty if they had to look at it. So they don't. They give me the things they know they want to do, and I do all the behind the scenes stuff. They don't want to see how the sausage is made, but they enjoy the benefits they reap from the end product.

To me, it's not about over planning or micro-managing - it's maximizing the efficiency of our fun. The fact is with a well done touring plan you can hit up everything you want in the parks, sometimes repeatedly, but all without feeling like you were just dragged all over creation at breakneck speed. Putting together a touring plan has allowed my travel parties to chill out in the parks because no one has to dither over where to go next or complain about having spent all day waiting in line unnecessarily. And in the event that you need to alter the plan day of, it's easy to remove or add items to the plan via the app and update it.

Darn it - I subscribe and I'm in the process of producing a personalized plan. Here goes nothing

 

[KrzyKtty]

I built quite a few plans and will use them. I am a hyper organized and control centered person. Also have gone to DW though most of my life. I don't know how I never heard of these plans before. I hope it works out well this time!

 

[nickys]

For our last trip I subscribed to Touring Plans for the first time. It was also the first time I had joined a couple of forums. I don't even remember why now, must have been a link from a search for something.

Anyway, I started by asking the family what they really wanted to do this time in each park. We were going at Christmas so I knew it would be busy. I spent ages creating personalised plans, DH thought I was over-planning and would have us all on a forced march..! Or at least setting myself up for disappointment. However, it showed me just how busy it was likely to be, and I used them to work out what was going to be achievable. We don't do rope drop, we take our time and wander. I never used optimise, just evaluate, so it kept the order that I wanted. I played around, working out the best plan for us. I think I had. 2 or 3 plans per park for a while, to compare.

By doing all the planning, once we got there I didn't ever refer to them. I didn't need to because I already knew roughly where we were going and when, and was reasonably sure it fitted in the time. And DH was impressed. He could see the wait times on MDE, and couldn't really understand how we didn't have to wait nearly as long. Mission accomplished!

So my advice. Do the planning according to your family's style. Use the plans to determine the best way to fit in the things you really really must do, and as much of the things you would like to do. Use them to check your expectations are realistic. But be prepared for distractions. And don't be a slave to them. Or do, if that's how you like to do it lol!

 

[bjlc57]

some one mentioned forced march.. well I have described WDW as boot camp for adults.. but at the END OF THE DAY.. and this is important. I don't want to get in the car or get on a plane and say.. I spent all this money and DIDN"T GET TO SEE what I wanted to SEE. .so in the past .. yes it was 'forced march" and we all did it with a smile bigger then the Grand Canyon.. and in the end.. no one. .NOT ONE PERSON said.. I didn't get to do what I wanted to do.. and I DON"T WANT TO GO AGAIN.. everyone.. Everyone's needs were met. .did we buy every body every thing. No.. but for our dollars worth.. we squeezed 3 Nickles out of ONE DIME.. and now every one ..has Pixie Dust in their hair and in their blood.. at least my two kids do.. and its being transmitted to their spouses. .and soon my Grandson.. I cannot tell you how many people I have seen who were saying to their kids. the line is too long we won't see this or that. or people who tell me they were at WDW.. and missed this or that.. for no good reason .. other then they didn't plan.. heck I walked some days until my legs burned with lactic acid.. but I was up and ready to go the next day.. the only real bad time was three trips ago.. we went early in March.. the week of time change so coming from Wisconsin.. I lost two hours of sleep ..that was a rough week..( basically getting up at 4 am).. but by the end of the week. .I was still there and getting up early..

 

[Jeff456]

Love them, have used them for years now, it's a good way for our whole family to know we are touring in a way that if not the most effective manner is going to be pretty close, we've all seen how effective using the plan is vs not so we are all somewhat converted I think!

 

[KrzyKtty]

Do you find Optimized or Evaluate the better touring feature to use?

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

I'm leaving my brother in charge of the planning

 

[BigRedDad]

For someone that has been to Disney multiple times, TPs in my opinion is a waste of time. I think the people that get the most benefit are those that have never been or only been once or twice. As a Disney Vet, you should know which rides to FP, which rides to hit at rope drop, and know where to zag when the herds zig. You also know not to show up for a parade 5 minutes before it starts and complain you are not in the front row.

 

[dmatt87]

Very surprised so far... I've planned our whole week with the attractions and shows we wanted to see, and mixed that with our ADR's and the system optimized everything.

Looking at the end product, I feel it's something we can live with, and without feeling rushed or unhappy. We will have the verdict on May 27th when we get back.

 

[JillC LI]

Just to clarify, you don't pay by the touring plan. You pay one time for a membership to the site, and you can create as many plans as you'd like, playing with the info and filters. You also get access to crowd calendars and other useful information. It's relatively inexpensive for all you get, and I find it helpful although the touring plans were certainly more helpful in our early visits than they are now as veterans.

 

[danheaton]

Do you find Optimized or Evaluate the better touring feature to use?

I typically use Evaluate because Touring Plans always wants me to walk all over the park. With my family and two young girls, we have to chop off sections of the park. They do offer an option for less walking, but it's not going to work best. Touring Plans is great for planning out the day, though. Like others have said, it helps me to plan it in my head and then adjust when we're there.

 

[Kate Alan]

Case in point - we're on our way to Disney tonight and our flight ran into massive delays. Our original plan had us in MK all day tomorrow. Tested out another plan that cut out rope drop and has us arriving a couple hours after opening so we can attempt to recoup some lost sleep. With the help of the touring plan info we'll still be able to hit everything we wanted to do, which is a great relief to us.

 

[SugarMagnolia75]

Do you find Optimized or Evaluate the better touring feature to use?

I usually set the plan to minimize walking and optimize first. Then I make any changes I want and evaluate it.

 

[Gravydeen]

I guess it's hard to make a plan until you have your fastpasses. After getting them, create the touring plan according to the advice above. Does that sound right?

I have found creating a personal touring plan can do some weird things. It seems the system has some glitches at times. Such as, I will put in my lunch and dinner plans and it will reverse the two. If I optimize again it will fix it. Odd. I have also seen where when I don't have enough activities for a full day, it will think you want to take a break mid afternoon and pick up riding rides again after dinner for no apparent reason rather than just finishing early. I don't get it.