Is Tour Guide Mike worth it?

[teachrfuture]

I have read the Unofficial Guidebook cover to cover. I have read through this forum almost non-stop. I am an experienced Disney traveler. I don't know if what he is selling is more of the same.
What is your advice?

 

[MJMcBride]

I have read the Unofficial Guidebook cover to cover. I have read through this forum almost non-stop. I am an experienced Disney traveler. I don't know if what he is selling is more of the same.
What is your advice?

Its more of the same. Although his touring plans are fine, your experience and the UG should have you covered

 

[andromedaslove]

I had read the Unofficial Guide Book from cover to cover too. I also only live 3 hours from WDW and go ALL the time. There are things that I learned from TGM that I never knew. To me yeah.... TGM is definately worth it, and then some. I have been a member there for almost 3 years now, and have not had to wait in a long line since no matter what time of year we go.

Dana

 

[motofox4]

i think it is definitely worth it. i got it for the 1st time this year and his touring plans and least crowded charts are phenominal. i recommend getting it and will definitely get it again for our next trip.

 

[LadyTrampScamp&Angel]

I'm a former travel agent, Disney College of Knowledge graduate, and have visited WDW many times - and I still think TGM is worth the about $20, you bet!

If for nothing else, I love the which parks, which days feature. It makes life a whole lot easier than trying to figure that out yourself. He's always been pretty accurate.

 

[tinkerbellmagic]

How long is TGM good for? I know it says it is for one vacation only. What if you are not going to visit WDW until, for example, Dec 2008? Can you sign up now and it would be good for over one year? Or is any purchase good for no more than 365 days? Any info appreciated because I can't find this on the site. Thanks!

tink

 

[Donald&Tinkerbell]

Worth every penny. I don't buy books anymore. They are out of date by the time they are printed. TGM is worth it just for the what days to go to what parks. I don't know about you, but I want to be at the park that is least crowded that day, not the most crowded. The first time I used him (and we had been at least 10 times before that) my family really noticed the difference. We don't do commando, ok, maybe the 1st hour after the rope drops, but then we can wander and relax. My DH put in the renewal the day we got back for our next trip.:

 

[bradk]

i've read the unofficial guide. i've read the passporter. i've read the complete guide to wdw. i've read the luxury guide to wdw. i've read fodor's guide, i've read frommer's guide. i've read birnbaum's guide. i've READ mousesavers.com, i've gone through many pages at allearsnet.com, i read quite a few weekly newsletters, i frequent quite a few forums.

i've been to disney world on 3 separate trips so far in 2007.

none of them have been without or would ever be without TGM.

some people can be content with what they already know. i crave learning more. but that's me.

How long is TGM good for? I know it says it is for one vacation only. What if you are not going to visit WDW until, for example, Dec 2008? Can you sign up now and it would be good for over one year? Or is any purchase good for no more than 365 days? Any info appreciated because I can't find this on the site. Thanks!

tink

he wouldn't likely complain about it. a year in advance is a good number, but i know there have been people that have been on there longer than that.

 

[misskaren0894]

TGM is soooo worth it!! I will never go to WDW without it again. Last year when we went TGM was right on with ride waits, FP info, and park days.

 

[JJLJ]

Hi:
We found it to be great. We really picked up some good tips.
JJLJ

 

[Halloweenqueen]

Love TGM! I think our June trip was successful because of TGM and the trip reports here at DIS.

 

[luvgoing2disney]

Just curious as to TGM's opinion of Early Entry?

 

[motofox4]

you have to sign up to TGM for any of his advice/opinions. he specifically states that anything on his site is not to be discussed on any public forum.

 

[Tam1067]

I do not think TGM is worth it. I found much of his information to be very out of date--and I mean by a lot--which is just inexcusable for an online service. Customer service is lousy, too. It took me three separate requests for a refund to finally get my membership refunded to me (though I did eventually get it back).

I much prefer the UG, and by following those plans, we never wait in line more than about 15 minutes even in July. TGM fans are very supportive of him, and there's a nice set of forums over there, but if you want good honest advice, and an updated website (which is current), stick with the UG and save your money.

 

[KBerly]

I just used TGM for the first time and will never go without his advice again. His least crowded charts themselves are worth it alone. At the price that he charges, it's a bargain. Besides the LCC's, his explanation of why he tours like he does is a great tool - especially when things go wrong in the park (rides/FP machines go down, etc.) Because he's armed you with explanations of his touring strategy, you can adjust your plans as you go. However, as one poster said, some of his information is outdated. My DH thought I was crazy for researching his site (and the Disboards) so much but was calling himself "Tourguide Ken" by the end and is now a believer. Definitely worth it in my opinion!!!

 

[bradk]

Just curious as to TGM's opinion of Early Entry?

well, i'll tell you this much, contrary to popular opinion, he can be for it or against it, depends on the specific day and the park, etc. the logistics behind his advice is fully explained though.

 

[Magalex]

We are WDW Vets but after not visiting during the peak month of June for years. We thought TGM was well worth the money. I thought for sure we were going to have trouble with heat/crowds and we would have to take our DS out of school if we wanted to continue our WDW trips. But quess what it was awesome and a wonderful trip. Because I took tips from TGM. I didn't go crazy and have lists from the website. But casually read articles and made a flexible schedule on the least crowded days and times at the parks. I think the combination of info from this board and TGM can be helpful and a fun part of planning a WDW trip. Now we can relax to know that every two yrs we can go to WDW when summer vacation begins in June. Our dates were 6/8-6/16 2007!

Gotta Go Save for 2009

 

[orlando79]

We go to WDW annually and buy both TGM and UOG. They are really quite different. Other than the format difference, the thing that strikes me is that the unofficial guide has page after page of ratings of all sorts of things, without any particular substantiation of them. The web site guy, on the other hand, fully explains the reasons for all of his recommendations. I like that. Their methods of handling touring plans are similar.

Also, I have learned more new things from TGM, at least the kinds of things I thought were helpful.

We got a friend a TGM subscription for her once-in-a-lifetime WDW family trip. She is ecstatic about it! She spends all of her free time planning itineraries and working the forums.

All in all, Tour Guide Mike is much more useful for me. IMHO, of course.

 

[k5thbeatle]

I have read the Unofficial Guidebook cover to cover. I have read through this forum almost non-stop. I am an experienced Disney traveler. I don't know if what he is selling is more of the same.
What is your advice?

Save your money!

 

[Jessmela]

How long is TGM good for? I know it says it is for one vacation only. What if you are not going to visit WDW until, for example, Dec 2008? Can you sign up now and it would be good for over one year? Or is any purchase good for no more than 365 days? Any info appreciated because I can't find this on the site. Thanks!

tink

It's good for the vacation, so you can certainly use it for more than a year. I originally signed up for my December 2007 trip in January 2006. (I loved it so much that I've since had separate subscriptions for September 06, January 07, and May 07). I'm still using my December 07 subscription for that trip though.

I'm a big fan of Mike's advice-- I've never waited more than 15 minutes for anything at WDW and that was for VOTLM just waiting for the next show. I also love the forums.

Actually if you check out the thread about the current temporary outage, you'll see that there's a lot of us that enjoy it so much we practically have withdrawal symptoms when we can't get to the site.