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Touringplans.com, Worth it?
- Thread starter isobar
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kennygman
Active Member
Yes, I think so.
I liked the old way even better where Len would make custom plans for you, but I see that became very hard for him over time. There are a ton of different touring choices for you. We usually followed it until around lunch. Having a plan and starting early are the most important things at Disney. If you start later in the day, expect to use Fastpass a lot (EE and Soarin usually run out by lunch though) and watch a show while you wait.
I liked the old way even better where Len would make custom plans for you, but I see that became very hard for him over time. There are a ton of different touring choices for you. We usually followed it until around lunch. Having a plan and starting early are the most important things at Disney. If you start later in the day, expect to use Fastpass a lot (EE and Soarin usually run out by lunch though) and watch a show while you wait.
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hokielutz
Well-Known Member
I've usually gotten the book, and that has been immensely helpful. Following the touring plans in the book or the website have usually worked very well for me. The trick is not to get distracted by something that is out of order in plan that may be right in front of you, such as a ride with no line or characters, etc....
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SpenceMan01
Well-Known Member
In my opinion, if you're going Sept. 6-13, the crowds would be too low to warrant following a plan unless you're super hardcore. Chances are you're not going to hit giant crowds. If anything, I'd pick up the Unofficial Guide to WDW and use the tips in there to make a rough plan of attack. Even the book itself says if the crowds are light, the plans will save time but are not critical.
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scotth1224
Member
I agree......We are also going Sept 10-17. That time of year, you don't need a touring plan.....You will not ever encounter a wait longer than 30 mins....Usually more often than not...the wait will be less than 10 mins.
Cya there!!!!
Cya there!!!!
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Hurricane
New Member
Far be it from me to take away someone's business but do you really need a plan? I feel bad for you if you have the "get my money's worth" mentality and rush from attraction to attraction so you can say you did it. Sure you may be the most effective tourer and your kids won't have to say "no we didn't go on that one" but did you really have a nice vacation?
Don't get me wrong, from what I've seen of touringplans they're very good -- mirroring closely some of the techniques I've used when showing friends the parks. I'm not advocating waiting in line, lord knows I don't enjoy same but it seems that with a plan it would be hard to absorb some of the details that are really what Disney is all about. Maybe I'm lucky to have had annual passes for the majority of my life, the flexibility to travel more than 2 weeks a year and an intimate farmiliarity with the parks that nullifies any real benefit from a touringplan.
Focus: If you don't know your way around the 'world and want to see as much as you can without getting stuck in summer crowds by all means use a touringplan, but you may be happier if you did what you wanted to, when you wanted to. Just my two cents
Don't get me wrong, from what I've seen of touringplans they're very good -- mirroring closely some of the techniques I've used when showing friends the parks. I'm not advocating waiting in line, lord knows I don't enjoy same but it seems that with a plan it would be hard to absorb some of the details that are really what Disney is all about. Maybe I'm lucky to have had annual passes for the majority of my life, the flexibility to travel more than 2 weeks a year and an intimate farmiliarity with the parks that nullifies any real benefit from a touringplan.
Focus: If you don't know your way around the 'world and want to see as much as you can without getting stuck in summer crowds by all means use a touringplan, but you may be happier if you did what you wanted to, when you wanted to. Just my two cents
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DisneyMarg
Member
My opinion:
The shorter your time and the bigger your group the more you need a plan.
"do what you want when you want" only works if there are just one or two people. But if what you want is to see Festival of the Lion King, and there is only one show left on the last day and what someone else wants is to see the Stars and Cars parade, then you will wish you had developed a plan.
The shorter your time and the bigger your group the more you need a plan.
"do what you want when you want" only works if there are just one or two people. But if what you want is to see Festival of the Lion King, and there is only one show left on the last day and what someone else wants is to see the Stars and Cars parade, then you will wish you had developed a plan.
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LoriMistress
Well-Known Member
Some people need to be in control and try to plan every detail in their vacation. Which is understandable. I plan my trips months, even over ayear in advance to try to get the best advice up to date. For me, I plan my trip on several small but important aspects:
*When is the cheapest time to go to WDW?
*Will it be crowded during this time of year?
*Will the weather be tolerable during this time of year?
*What rides should we go first?
*How much money are we willing to spend on expenses? (Food, Beverages, Suvineers, etc.)
For us, I planned my trip in November for several reason: hate people/crowds, weather, and costs. After saving and careful planning we had $700 to our name for expeneses for our trip. Doesn't seem like a lot of money for a week trip for two but we did cut expenses (bought snacks and bottled water so we rarely had to spend money on breakfest and we also ate dinner early so we saved an extra $20 per person on dinner.) And the only "Danner Tanner Clipbook of Fun" thing we did was hit the first three rides in the morning and afterwards it we did whatever we felt like.
It all depends on the person, how many people are going, and age obviously. I'm probably rambling like crazy but I believe you can plan your trip extremely well without going "crazy" or "neo-nazi." My DH at first thought that I was going to be " retentive" on planning our trip but after the first day of our trip he was so happy that I did the research and planned everything well and so laid back that if we didn't plan our trip and do our research we would have been miserable and probably broke by the third day.
Hoped this helped you a bit.
*When is the cheapest time to go to WDW?
*Will it be crowded during this time of year?
*Will the weather be tolerable during this time of year?
*What rides should we go first?
*How much money are we willing to spend on expenses? (Food, Beverages, Suvineers, etc.)
For us, I planned my trip in November for several reason: hate people/crowds, weather, and costs. After saving and careful planning we had $700 to our name for expeneses for our trip. Doesn't seem like a lot of money for a week trip for two but we did cut expenses (bought snacks and bottled water so we rarely had to spend money on breakfest and we also ate dinner early so we saved an extra $20 per person on dinner.) And the only "Danner Tanner Clipbook of Fun" thing we did was hit the first three rides in the morning and afterwards it we did whatever we felt like.
It all depends on the person, how many people are going, and age obviously. I'm probably rambling like crazy but I believe you can plan your trip extremely well without going "crazy" or "neo-nazi." My DH at first thought that I was going to be " retentive" on planning our trip but after the first day of our trip he was so happy that I did the research and planned everything well and so laid back that if we didn't plan our trip and do our research we would have been miserable and probably broke by the third day.
Hoped this helped you a bit.
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SpenceMan01
Well-Known Member
kennygman said:
Yep, I know. I was going to say that in my post, but I thought it was obvious.
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CAPTAIN HOOK
Well-Known Member
I've bought The Unofficial Guide before our last two visits which have both been over the busy Easter fortnight. Having read the books cover to cover, I have produced our own touring plan. Now I'm not saying that by subscribing I could have avoided lengthy lines (Lets face it - at Easter the crowds are everywhere) but I think we did pretty good by ourselves
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SpenceMan01
Well-Known Member
I think THE KEY to good touring is being there at park opening. Sure you have to drag yourself out of bed, but it will equate to less time spent in line, which is a plus. We had Fantasyland done in an hour on our last trip and it had 30-45 minute waits later in the day. It was great basically having it to ourselves.
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kachow
Member
I think it also depends whether you like following a detailed schedule. For me, the LAST thing I want to do during a vacation is follow a list, "Go to Space Mountain, now go here and get a fastpass, now go use the bathroom..." I just don't think it's fun or necessary. If you just read the book, read these posts, you'll get the general ideas that are used to make the plans anyway. Then you'll be in a better spot if something unexpected happens.
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syoungkin
New Member
Touring Plans comment
I've read the book and it is very informative (I followed their advice on Cinderella's Royal Table and was able to get a breakfast seating for the day I requested) and thorough. However, I attempted to follow their plans and it did sap the fun out the trip. I quickly abandoned it and just followed a simple setup:
1) Get there when the park opens (#1 advice). The crowds aren't quite as heavy and you have a better shot at character photos (particularly with Mickey and Minney out front in Magic Kingdom).
2) Go to your favorite ride first and work outwards from there (the touring plans has you hopping from one end to the other which may look good on paper but becomes quickly exhausting and stressful)
3) Use FastPass where needed (at one point, I had a FastPass for Pooh and rode on 2 other rides while waiting for the time to come up and walked right up to the Pooh ride) and avoid lines requiring wait times over 20 minutes
4) Don't assume you're going to hit all the rides (there were a few that we missed but that's what this year's trip is for)
5) Rest occassionally. There are plenty of places to sit and relax and it will make it feel more like a vacation and less like an obstacle course
Once I followed those pieces of advice, I was able to have a great time. Sure, I may have "wasted" time and not hit as many rides as I could have under the Touring Plans. But I consider any time I have having fun not to be wasteful.
Steven
I've read the book and it is very informative (I followed their advice on Cinderella's Royal Table and was able to get a breakfast seating for the day I requested) and thorough. However, I attempted to follow their plans and it did sap the fun out the trip. I quickly abandoned it and just followed a simple setup:
1) Get there when the park opens (#1 advice). The crowds aren't quite as heavy and you have a better shot at character photos (particularly with Mickey and Minney out front in Magic Kingdom).
2) Go to your favorite ride first and work outwards from there (the touring plans has you hopping from one end to the other which may look good on paper but becomes quickly exhausting and stressful)
3) Use FastPass where needed (at one point, I had a FastPass for Pooh and rode on 2 other rides while waiting for the time to come up and walked right up to the Pooh ride) and avoid lines requiring wait times over 20 minutes
4) Don't assume you're going to hit all the rides (there were a few that we missed but that's what this year's trip is for)
5) Rest occassionally. There are plenty of places to sit and relax and it will make it feel more like a vacation and less like an obstacle course
Once I followed those pieces of advice, I was able to have a great time. Sure, I may have "wasted" time and not hit as many rides as I could have under the Touring Plans. But I consider any time I have having fun not to be wasteful.
Steven
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kennygman
Active Member
Main thing is to save your fastpasses for the headliner attractions. Fastpass something and then as soon as that one allows FP another, then ride the ride. You'll always have a FP in your pocket that is "charging up" that way. Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, BTR and Peter Pan usually have long lines and allow FP.
At Epcot - Soarin and Test Track are usually the only ones you'll need them
AK - EE and possibly Safaris
MGM - ToT and RnR
At Epcot - Soarin and Test Track are usually the only ones you'll need them
AK - EE and possibly Safaris
MGM - ToT and RnR
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