Alerts about hour changes, crowd level changes...

[slpeters]

I have seen several people mention getting alerts about potential changes in their plans. Where are these alerts coming from? Travel agents, touring plans, some site I'm not familiar with?

 

[Mrs~Incredible]

I would love to know this too!

 

[CAS239]

If you pay for it, touring plans will send you a notification if an adr time you're looking for opens up.

Other than that there's no notifications I've ever heard of. No notifications for new FP's, hours changing, etc.

If there is a change in a FP you have, like if the ride goes down, you'll get an email about it and it'll result in an anytime FP. That might be the alerts you're seeing people mention

 

[sharonabe]

I have seen several people mention getting alerts about potential changes in their plans. Where are these alerts coming from? Travel agents, touring plans, some site I'm not familiar with?

I would love to know this too!

If you're talking about park hour changes, and the addition of FP (like FoP last week), there may be some TAs out there that email/text their customers when they see it happen as the TAs are online with Disney every minute of every day. But for the most part, I think the alerts come from users here who just happen to see it as they are rearranging their own plans.

There are a couple of reliable sources who also pop in to give a heads up on discounts (especially when there's a thread waiting/watching for FREE dining), but most of them also now have their own FB page and use that to give out info. Some people subscribe to their FB page and then come here to alert the DIS.

 

[focusondisney]

Touring plans reservation finder is free. You don't have to pay to use that service. You can have them send an alert for up to 2 different ADRs. If their system detects the adr you want is available, they send you a text message alert. It is up to you to sign in to the Disney site & try to get the open ADR. This service is open to anyone.

However, if you are a subscriber, you can "track" days in their crowd finder section. Once you track a day, they will send an email alert if their crowd level estimate changes for that day.

 

[Lorelei18]

I have seen several people mention getting alerts about potential changes in their plans. Where are these alerts coming from? Travel agents, touring plans, some site I'm not familiar with?

I think you need to be more specific regarding what you mean. Can you give an example or two? Some people may get an alert if something have made a reservation for or fastpass for has changed. I am signed up for Touring Plans and receive alerts when they have changed their Crowd Estimate for a given day that I'm tracking. I have other things I follow, like checking the park hours mid-month every month up until my trip to see if park hours have changed, as that's usually around when they update the travel agent calendar hours.

 

[slpeters]

I think it's the crowd level changes, which appear to come from Touring Plans. I believe I just haven't received any because it hasn't happened yet--going in mid-November. Can anyone who has received such a notification confirm that it would appear in your Touring Plans dashboard as an alert? I'm great with my work email but not so hot with my personal emails.

 

[mamamelody2]

Like PPs said, if you have a Touringplans subscription and crowd levels change for a day you're tracking, they will send email alerts.
As to alerts regarding hour changes, I don't think there's such a thing. Someone on here usually posts about it, though!
If you are actually on your trip, you need to check MDE or Disney.com to see if hours may have changed. Sometimes they do it really last-minute.

 

[Lorelei18]

I've had Touring Plans for several years and never see changes to my crowd tracking as an alert on my dashboard, not to say there definitely isn't a place it does this. But I've never seen it. Also, I don't put much faith in the crowd numbers anyway, other than a general idea. Often if there's a drastic change in the crowd estimate it's because Disney has changed hours or entertainment for that day however, so it can be used as a bit of a tickler for you to look at the hours and see if anything has changed.

 

[Surgie2]

Can anyone who has received such a notification confirm that it would appear in your Touring Plans dashboard as an alert?

I subscribe to Touring Plans and I have put the dates of my May 2018 trip in. Once your trip is within 365 days and if you have entered your trip dates in the site, you will start to receive email alerts as projected crowd levels change. So you should be receiving alerts for a November trip. I do not see any kind of alert on the dashboard but the dashboard lists the most current projection for the park I indicated I planned to visit each day. For the undecided days, general WDW crowd levels are listed but the speicif park estimate obviously isn't listed in my plan. I can go elsewhere on the TP site to find it. Once I have chosen a park for each day, I will be able to see the specific park projects as well as general WDW on the dashboard. The most recent email I received on 9/14 stated:

"Most updates to the calendar are the result of changes in park hours. We may also change our forecasts if we receive new information about crowds, including from wait times we and our users collect from the parks every day. We provide these updates so you have the best available information to help plan your vacation."

 

[CAS239]

An alert for a crowd level changing is pointless. No matter when you go, it'll be busy. It'll be between 6-9 unless it's Christmas week or Nye then bump it up to 10

 

[notrub98]

I think it's the crowd level changes, which appear to come from Touring Plans. I believe I just haven't received any because it hasn't happened yet--going in mid-November. Can anyone who has received such a notification confirm that it would appear in your Touring Plans dashboard as an alert? I'm great with my work email but not so hot with my personal emails.

Mid-November did change (increased crowd level) and TP sent out a alert a couple weeks ago. I was not surprised as I have done mid-November the past two years and it was much more "moderate crowds" than TP was implying.

 

[slpeters]

Mid-November did change (increased crowd level) and TP sent out a alert a couple weeks ago. I was not surprised as I have done mid-November the past two years and it was much more "moderate crowds" than TP was implying.

Mine haven't changed but maybe they changed before I set up my touring plans.