touringplans.com, anyone ever use them?

[kccne]

Anyone ever use them? I have seen the page and they have crowd estimators, touring plans, wait time list, ect. ect.

We are "creating" our own trip plans at home based on EMH, dinner reservations, parades, ect. ect. So I'm not actually looking for the "plans" they offer, but more of use for the crowd estimator, and the wait time app they offer. Is the 11.95 worth it? (They have a 45 day moneyback guarantee.)

Has anyone ever used the wait time app for the lines? Is it pretty accurate?
Thanks for the help

 

[MrRomance]

I bought a subscription and in my opinion it was worth every cent. I got a discounted subscription because I'd bought the book but I'll be renewing this year. I found it helpful, I don't use the touring plans as such, it was helpful to pick the best park, avoid crowds and get up to date wait times.

 

[merbobear]

I have been a TP subscriber for 2 years and I plan to renew for a third year. I have read through a good number of their actual plans and I feel like it helped me to understand the flow of traffic in the parks and how to tour efficiently. I also have a now 5 year old daughter, though, so stopping to smell the roses and detouring for snacks or character M&G are always on the agenda, so I will probably never be a hardcore stick-to-the-plan girl.

That being said, I do find TP to be a valuable resource, I like to check out their crowd calendars and I like the wait times app as well. I know that Disney has their own app now, but let's face it, their website is less than reliable and I would hate to count on a Disney app in the parks only to have it fail, so to me, the $12 a year is more than worth it!

My advice, as far as the actual plans go, is to take a look and take some advice from them, but unless you are going at the busiest times of year, you probably don't have to stress about following them to a T.

 

[mhnewcomb]

I am enjoying my subscription, but I am using the planner function. I've never used the Lines app, but I will in October. LOVE the layout and functionality of it!

There are other FREE ways to access calendars to create your own plans. We have twice relied on Josh and his easywdw site...so far this year, his calendars are only complete through August. You can also check out the undercovertourist site for free maps.

 

[JulFromMD]

Loved using both the custom touring plans and the Lines app. It was great for figuring out how to avoid crowds with one group that had a toddler and another group with limited ability to stand but wanted to do the thrill rides. Will certainly be renewing this one every year we plan to go down.

(The other thing I liked was being able to search all restaurants for a particular food. It was a lifesaver going with a picky eater.)

 

[brightspark]

I have only used Tour Guide Mike in the past, but have purchased TP this year as have found TGM is rather out of date at the moment. Looking at your signature, it looks as though this is your first visit... If so, I highly recommend reading up on some of the touring plans so that you know where it is most important to visit first, so you don't end up waiting in really long lines...

 

[kccne]

I have only used Tour Guide Mike in the past, but have purchased TP this year as have found TGM is rather out of date at the moment. Looking at your signature, it looks as though this is your first visit... If so, I highly recommend reading up on some of the touring plans so that you know where it is most important to visit first, so you don't end up waiting in really long lines...

I have been several times, (Only once since 97.) But I went 8-10 times as a child. My wife has been once when she was much younger. But this is our first trip as a family. (Went in 06 with a EX.)

But one mistake we made in 06 was how much time we wasted waiting on parades, fighting crowds during peak times, not taking full advantage of the EMH, plus this time my 8yo is very into his trip and has a list of must do attractions. We aren't planning on using actual "touring plans" we have customized our own, (I.E. hitting certain rides early, using the fast pass to double up on things we know the kids will enjoy, {Buzz lightyear spin, toy story mania, dumbo ride.} going to only hit 2 parades total on our trip and spend the time hitting some of the rides more than once during that time.)
Also in 06 we would take our "break" too late in afternoon and by the time we went back to the parks the afternoon rushes had already been in full swing. This year we have a list of rides we really want to hit, dinner reservations, and such. The lines app is really the big selling point for me on this if it is accurate. I have a 8yo/4yo/2yo and don't want to be stuck in line for 45 minutes waiting on the jungle cruise if we can ride pirates of the caribbean twice during that 45 minute time period instead.

 

[Levenseller215]

I thought the Lines app was awesome in park - not only can you see wait times from anywhere to plan your next move but you can also see estimated wait times which most of the time were spot on - also helps to plan next move at the end of a ride or while eating.


Posted from DISboards.com App for Android

 

[cowcrazy65]

I bought it, after I bought the book so I got a discount $3. I built my own custom plan. I have had it up on my phone and looked at it daily. I really looks like it will be helpful. You can put your reservation numbers in for your meals. Everything is on your phone, crowd tracker, fastpass. Others can actually update the line wait times etc. It is all at your fingertips. I think it will well be worth the money spent in time saved! I downloaded disney's app and this one seems to be more accurate.

 

[GreenCntryGirl]

They are my primary planning tool.

 

[J.C.&ALI'SMOM]

I use it all the time. And I love lthe Lines app. I am always posting our wait times and posted wait times of attractions.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

There are other FREE ways to access calendars to create your own plans. We have twice relied on Josh and his easywdw site...so far this year, his calendars are only complete through August.

I second the use of Josh's site. I've used TP for... maybe... 6yrs, and I've personally found their models to be less accurate (and much buggier) over the last couple of years. That said, I'm a data junkie, so I renew anyway (LOL!) and compare with Josh's site!

I never use any of their daily plans either - just crowd calendars. I use them to pick time of year and specific days to go. I don't use them as gospel for planning any particular day, though. We use EMH, etc. as you mentioned to plan any individual day.

Of note... Since we stay onsite and get there at rope drop, many of TP's assumptions that go into their recommended parks each day aren't important to us. Depends how you're going to tour...

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Forgot to say that we HAVE used TP's wait times app, and we do like it. It has almost always seemed to be in the ballpark for us. Interesting to compare theirs with Disney's official app... the latter is what's POSTED as a wait time, but there have been times when we've noticed TP was more accurate wrt ACTUAL wait time.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[roost0524]

We have used Touringplans for the past few years. I find the crowd calendar and lines app to be most useful. The wait times are very accurate (more so than posted in my experience) and we really like seeing the FP return times.

 

[DisNikki]

Love TouringPlans - they helped me keep my sanity on our first and last trip with extended family. If not for them we would have been "that" family getting through the gates, opening the map and having 9 different opinions on where to go first.

Love the Unofficial Guide. So full of info and I go back and reread sections often

Love the Lines app. Haven't been back to WDW since the optimize feature was put in but look forward to using it to cut our wait times down even more.

Love the WDW Today podcast. Not officially a TouringPlans/Unofficial Guide thing but one of the four main guys is Len Testa, coauthor of the UG, and Touring Plans is one of the show's sponsors. I've learned so much from that podcast!

 

[Diegosmom]

If you book your trip with AAA you get a free subscription. So I have been messing around with it. I picked my days using easywdw but was trying to figure out my touring plan...what I didnt like was it was not up to date. You can put in all of your rides and activities for they day and then it will tell you the best tour...wellit didnt work right...it is still saying you have to hit dumbo first and it didnt ustilize fastpass efectivelly ...only having us grab maybe one fastpass all day even if we were going to be in the area riding other rides...especially fantasyland...why would I stand in line for 20 min for peterpan when I am also doing IASW, mickeys philharmonic and the carousel...but what I did like is I could add in fastpass and switch around the order and such...so for me I had done my research and know how to schedule it but for a new person i dont think it would work too well...It also was giving me wait times of 2 min for Brave meet and greet and tiana in the middle of the day in june...somehow I think that is wrong. I am thinking the line apps will be great. But doesnt disney have an app like this?

 

[DisNikki]

But doesnt disney have an app like this?

Yes. But from what I understand Disney jacks up their wait times to encourage people to NOT ride certain rides at certain times, like as it's getting toward park closing. Lines uses historic plus real-time data to figure wait times (which is why the actual is sometimes far off from the posted).

 

[Stinky_Pete]

I use touringplans.com every trip. I plan what days I am going to be in what park based on their crowd calendars.

One feature I really like is their personalized plans. You choose what attractions you are interested in, when you are arriving at the park, when you are taking breaks for meals, etc., and it gives you a plan. You can adjust it one the fly if your plans change or you stop to smell the roses. I love it!

To me, given how much a WDW trip costs, the $12 for touringplans.com is peanuts for such a helpful tool. Even better if you can get a discount.

 

[Disneyaunt4]

Been using it for years.

 

[kccne]

Went ahead and got the subscription, been toying around with it, making mental notes and using the personalized plans, seems worth the $12 now.