A question for anyone who has used Tour Guide Mike

[karensi]

I am a subscriber to TGM and have a trip planned to WDW for April 28th to May 5th,2007. I compared the crowd prediction levels for those dates this year, both in the Unofficial Guide and with what TGM had predicted (the 2007 crowd level predictions are not out yet). The Unofficial Guide had predicted 6 - 7 in the crowd level and TGM had predicted a much more manageable sceanario, for those same dates, but 2006. A big difference . I'm just wondering do you think that TGM is more on target, or from past experiences do you think The Unofficial Guide is more on target?? Thanks for any info you can give me. Of course I'm rooting for TGM.

 

[John's Mom]

Karensi,

We used TGM the week of Dec. 17-24, 2005. We followed his plan for best days and parks. We'll probably use TGM again unless we go at a very slow time. I would use his info on crowd levels and not the unofficial guide.

 

[dixiedizfan]

We found the Unofficial Guide (Touring Plans) recommendations to be totally off-base when we went. We went to the parks on the days they suggested and were overwhelmed by the crowds. They also greatly underestimated the crowd levels for the week we were there. After subscribing to TGM later, I found out he had completely opposite recommendations ... the ones I WISH I had known about. He also predicted the crowd levels accurately. TGM is the only way to go!

 

[Dan Murphy]

Same as above.

 

[nurseypoo5]

i adore tgm. Doesnt he look like doogie howser

you should really be asking this on the TGM forum. There are lots of people there who have been burned by the Unofficial guides and have used TGM and are repeaters. Have you signed up for your month planner forum yet?

 

[2infinityandbeyond]

Follow TGM's recommendations for both the least crowded parks, the park tours and how to plan your week and you'll have a great trip.

 

[disney4me4ever]

Just wanted to say we're going the same time period as you are! I am a repeat subscriber to TGM and have been very pleased. His crowd prediction levels have been spot on, both when we've gone, as well as based on feedback from returning travellers that have posted on the TGM boards.

 

[karensi]

Yeaaaaaaa!!!! I am sooo happy to hear that. thank you all so much. I booked our trip (April 28 - May5,2007) using TGM's recommendations from this past April - May, low crowd predictions,but then looked in the Unofficial Guide for those same dates and was really surprised (upset) to see they had predicted just the opposite. I used TGM's touring plan last Labor Day weekend for a quick trip to Disney and was very pleased. TGM is the way to go. Thank you for confirming that for me.
I TGM.

 

[Kick Save]

Out of curiosity I checked those dates, and I don't understand why people are saying that the Touring Plans guys are totally opposite of TGM. Their crowd ratings are 3 out of 5 for TGM and 6 out of 10 for Touring Plans...that's exactly the same.

As for which parks on which days, both are based on when EMH are at which parks, and touringplans won't have that info for next year yet, and TGM is based on this past year. Tough to say which ones they'll recommend when the time comes, it changes as the Disney schedule changes. They do base a lot of their recommendations on the same things, though, so on which days to go to which parks, they shouldn't be too far off. Which I've found to be the case in watching both calendars for a while. Sure, they'll occasionally offer different best days for a park, but most are pretty close.

Personally, I think they both provide valuable information, but I haven't seen where one blows away the other, yet. TGM goes into more detail after subscribing on which days to go to which parks than touringplans.com's crowd calendar.

 

[jordansmomma]

I just subscribed to TGM and i am lost. I am not sure what to do or what i am doing.

 

[coruth4]

I just subscribed to TGM and i am lost. I am not sure what to do or what i am doing.

When I first subscribed to TGM I thought it was a little overwhelming - but if you read through it just as he says to do - there is TONS of information for you. I went for the first time last year and used his advise and it worked great! What made it hard was traveling with three other adults who were not sold on his strategy and were more into winging it.
I am planning another trip next year and am still using TGM. I print out a lot of the info to review later when I have time. Make sure you sign up for the forum for the time that you are going so that you get all the updates that pertain to your trip.
Even I didn't relaize last time that I could sign up for different forum discussions and be alerted each time there is a new topic discussed. It definately keeps you right up to date on what's going on.
Little side note - check out the "water cooler" forum and the design section. If it's your first trip - there are a lot of really talented people that can help you create some beautiful custom t-shirts for your trip.
Good luck and don't give up - his advise it worth it!

 

[dixiedizfan]

Out of curiosity I checked those dates, and I don't understand why people are saying that the Touring Plans guys are totally opposite of TGM. Their crowd ratings are 3 out of 5 for TGM and 6 out of 10 for Touring Plans...that's exactly the same.

As for which parks on which days, both are based on when EMH are at which parks, and touringplans won't have that info for next year yet, and TGM is based on this past year. Tough to say which ones they'll recommend when the time comes, it changes as the Disney schedule changes. They do base a lot of their recommendations on the same things, though, so on which days to go to which parks, they shouldn't be too far off. Which I've found to be the case in watching both calendars for a while. Sure, they'll occasionally offer different best days for a park, but most are pretty close.

I compared the week we visited using Touring Plans as a guide to the same week with TGM. Touring Plans listed that week as 5's and 6's. TGM had it as a 4 out of 5 ... which was right on. Touring Plans was waaay off base on the crowd level.

And here was the kicker ... The UG recommended we visit the parks on the days they had EMH's. TGM told people to AVOID the parks on EMH days. As usual, TGM was right-on again, as the parks are jam-packed on EMH days.

 

[mill4023]

Out of curiosity I checked those dates, and I don't understand why people are saying that the Touring Plans guys are totally opposite of TGM. Their crowd ratings are 3 out of 5 for TGM and 6 out of 10 for Touring Plans...that's exactly the same.

The scales don't really mean the same thing, but your point is very true.
UG crowd levels of 6 to 7 do NOT mean huge crowds.
In fact, it sounds like TGM and UG are in full agreement about these dates. They are both saying that there will be average crowds.

For those who don't know, UG changed the way they do their crowd levels last year. If you look, you'll find that the lowest number you'll see for the entire year is a 4. The scale used to be setup so that a 1 meant the lowest crowds of the year and a 10 meant the highest crowds of the year. But now, what it represents is the peak wait times you can expect on the headliner attractions. So a 6 means that in the middle of the afternoon, at the busiest time of the day, you should expect there to be a 60 minute wait for rides like Space Mountain, RockNRoller, Soarin, etc. What that means is that there will be many times during the day that the wait times will be much shorter than that. So a 6 or 7 UG rating is quite manageable.

 

[mill4023]

And here was the kicker ... The UG recommended we visit the parks on the days they had EMH's. TGM told people to AVOID the parks on EMH days. As usual, TGM was right-on again, as the parks are jam-packed on EMH days.

I'm a big TGM fan, but I find that odd. From what I've seen, the UG has typically recommended people avoid EMH's. By the way, you should probably remember that you aren't supposed to be discussing specifics of TGM's advice.

 

[Kick Save]

I compared the week we visited using Touring Plans as a guide to the same week with TGM. Touring Plans listed that week as 5's and 6's. TGM had it as a 4 out of 5 ... which was right on. Touring Plans was waaay off base on the crowd level.

And here was the kicker ... The UG recommended we visit the parks on the days they had EMH's. TGM told people to AVOID the parks on EMH days. As usual, TGM was right-on again, as the parks are jam-packed on EMH days.

Were you using the website or the UG itself for the recommended days to go to which park? If you were using the book, Disney could change the EMH days a couple times between when it goes to print and when it hits the shelves.

The website I've noticed they recommend some EMH days, but their explanation is above or below the chart (don't remember which) and that's that they try to recommend each park as "best" in a 7 day period, which sometimes means scheduling during an EMH of some kind depending on the time of year. TGM does the same thing at times. True, he recommends avoiding EMH, but will then explain how to best utilize them if you go.

I get what you're saying overall, but I just haven't seen a huge difference between them myself. The two are very similiar sources. They arrive at their data slightly differently, but a lot of it is the same. Both are going to give great ways to plan your trip and a good idea what you're about to run into. I've used both, not sure which one I prefer, though...

 

[clonetothebone]

The website I've noticed they recommend some EMH days, but their explanation is above or below the chart (don't remember which) and that's that they try to recommend each park as "best" in a 7 day period, which sometimes means scheduling during an EMH of some kind depending on the time of year. TGM does the same thing at times. True, he recommends avoiding EMH, but will then explain how to best utilize them if you go.

I get what you're saying overall, but I just haven't seen a huge difference between them myself. The two are very similiar sources. They arrive at their data slightly differently, but a lot of it is the same. Both are going to give great ways to plan your trip and a good idea what you're about to run into. I've used both, not sure which one I prefer, though...

I agree 100%. Both have good information and I truly believe they are both correct. They just arrive at their answers differently.

As for which is better, I don't think you will get a good answer here. People on the DIS seem to be fiercly loyal to one or the other much like people are about pick up trucks. Both a Chevy and a Ford will get you where you need to go but for some reason there is a strong loyalty to one or the other.

I personally like UG. It is the first book/website I used and I am comfortable with it and understand the planning theories that they use. Like the above post said, sometimes UG will recommend an EMH park by default because it is the lesser of two evils. As an example, UG recommends going to Epcot often on holidays because of the park layout it is able to handle large crowds better than the other parks. So because each park is going to be at capacity that day he recommends the one he believes will be more managable.

I subscribed to TGM before our last trip and after spending countless evenings on it after the kids went to bed all I ended up with was a migrane. I don't think it is a bad site though...I just dont' have the ability to navigate my way around to where you actually get any usuable information out of it.

By the way, I would rather walk than drive a Ford. Go Chevy!

 

[Amyg]

I agree that initially TGM is overwhelming, but after a few times it gets easier to navigate. If you need help with where to start and how to set up your touring, the best thing to do is to ask the members at TGM's discussion board. That's what I did and it was a HUGE help!

Also remember, when signing up at TGM you have agreed NOT to discuss anything he advises with others (who are not on that site).

 

[T-i-double-g-err]

We're first time TGM subscribers for our trip coming up in December. I did find the site difficult to navigate at first because of the number of available links. I kept getting distracted by following links. Once I started reading the full page before jumping, everything worked a whole lot better with my navigation through the site.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

We're first time TGM subscribers for our trip coming up in December. I did find the site difficult to navigate at first because of the number of available links. I kept getting distracted by following links. Once I started reading the full page before jumping, everything worked a whole lot better with my navigation through the site.

I too am a first time TGM subscriber for our upcoming October trip. The site is a bit more unwieldy to navigate, but I figured it out without too much fret. Anyhow, I appreciate both UG and TGM. At this point I am really appreciating TGM's reasoning behind his best day recommendations. For some reason I find his thinking easier to follow than UG.

 

[vatmark]

i adore tgm. Doesnt he look like doogie howser :

Yes, I think he looks very much like Doogie at least in his picture but i have seen other pictures of him and he didn't look like Doogie.

I hope UG is right as far as crowd levels. They have my dates as a 4.

But whatever the levels turn out to be I'll be fine because I use TGM.

Annie