? about custom touring plans for lentesta...

[jcemom]

Do the custom ordered touring plans "schedule in" any shows you want to see based on posted times, or just say somewhere to "check the times guide?"

Len? or anyone else who knows?

 

[lentesta]

A good question. If we can get the scheduled show times in advance (we check Steve Soares' site every week), then we do so. If not, we have a database of typical show times for the past year, and we use those.

For Disney-MGM Studios, the show times in the middle of the day don't seem to vary significantly (around 30 minutes either way, IIRC). During peak times, more early and late shows are added, but those don't generally affect touring. For one thing, early morning time is usually better spent on attractions, and late shows sometimes conflict with either parades or dinner.

Send me an e-mail with the attractions you're interested in, and I'll send you back a sample plan: testa@ncat.edu. Or use the order form from the touringplans website and add a quick note at the bottom.

Len

 

[jcemom]

Thanks Len! The Studios is where I was thinking of ordering the plans for. I know we are going at a very "uncrowded" time and everyone will say I don't "need" touring plans, but I always have trouble fitting things in at any park/place with so many scheduled shows. I am rather curious to see how you guys do it!

I will go ahead and order them, but I suppose I should wait until closer to my date for the best chance of having the correct show times available, right? (I don't want to email you for a sample plan because I think if you're going to give me the plan then I should pay for it -- you give out so much free advice as it is! Thank you!) What sort of note do I put at the bottom? "Please schedule things in where possible and don't ask me to check the times guide?" LOL

 

[lentesta]

A quick "Forget the entertainment schedule - I'll be checking the coffee" at the bottom of the form will suffice.

One quick note: if you're going to be seeing most of the attractions on one of the touring plans in the Unofficial Guide, I'll be happy to help adapt those. And those are free. If you're going to be at the parks when they open, want to see most of the attractions listed there, and don't have unusual PS reservation times, those plans are the best available. If not, though, we'll still be happy to help.

Len

 

[jcemom]

Originally posted by lentesta
A quick "Forget the entertainment schedule - I'll be checking the coffee" at the bottom of the form will suffice.

email on the way

 

[QuickGold]

Len knows his stuff....you're in good hands with him.

 

[jcemom]

Originally posted by QuickGold
Len knows his stuff....you're in good hands with him.

 

[jaysue]

Another for Len - his plans/schedules rock and keep you ahead of the crowds

thanks
jaysue

 

[lentesta]

Jeez...thanks everyone. Where's the blushing smilie?

Len

 

[jcemom]

 

[Julia M]

at the risk of sounding quite clueless, can I ask a couple questions?

1. if I order custom plans, can I say we have a PS at a certain time, and that will be built into the plan? The same for taking a break?

2. since we're not traveling until Aug., what is a good lead time to order, to have the most accurate plan? a couple of weeks?

3. We are DL regulars, but have only been to WDW once recently. We found we did fine, since it was pretty uncrowded....I assume the custom plans are of most benefit during busy periods?

We're pretty average, in that we want to see most everything, and our kids are now at the age that it works for us (they'll be 7, 9 and 12 on our next trip). It sounds like you said that the regular touring plans work fine for that. However, our kids also like to ride "favorite" rides multiple times....do you build plans with that in mind (for example, riding Buzz Lightyear 3 or 4 times during the day!!)

Thanks

Julia

 

[lentesta]

Hi Julia M,

Yes, you can have specific PS reservations built into the plan. The software will schedule around them nicely. For meals for which you don't have PS, we'll be happy to make restaurant recommendations, too.

Two weeks is a good lead time to order. And we can do multiple requests for the same attraction, too. Buzz is fairly popular in that department.

The touring plans in the Unofficial Guide are geared towards summer crowds, so they should work well in August. Custom touring plans are generally most useful if at least one of the following is true:

1) Your group will not be arriving at the park when it opens.

2) You have PS reservations during the first few hours the park is open (especially between 9-11 a.m. in the Magic Kingdom), or at unusual times (e.g., dinner at 3:30 p.m.).

3) You want to see a set of attractions significantly different from those listed in the Unofficial Guide's touring plans.

So, if you're willing to get up early, eat at the usual times, and see the most popular attractions, you probably don't need customized touring plans; The touring plans in the Unofficial Guide will work great.

Feel free to send me an e-mail with more specific information. If the best fit for your situation is a simple tweak of the standard touring plans, we'll help out with that for free.

Thanks for writing!

Len

 

[Julia M]

Thanks Len,

As the year goes on, I will really look at the touring plans, and figure out if we should follow the standard plans or if we need our own.

As I said, when we were in WDW at an off time, we did okay, (the week following Easter break) but we were also there during the week of Easter break....oh my! We did okay in the morning, but by mid afternoon the crowds were SO big, and we were quite paralyzed, it was so crowded.

We'll only have 4 days in the major parks this trip, so we'll want to do a good job!

Thanks again

Julia