Anyone create their own Touring Plans?

[BucsTex]

I've been micromanaging our upcoming trip (unlike everyone else, who just wings it.... ), and I've been studying the various plans on TP, how fastpasses work, maps of the parks, how wait times change throughout the day on various levels of crowds, etc. I'm starting to feel like I actually understand the flow of things well enough that I might just come up with my own touring plans and forget TP or Ridemax. I'd still use Lines in the parks, but before I venture into these dark, perilous waters I thought I would ask if anyone else has done this. Did it work out for you? Did you find out that it was folly?

Here's an example. We're going to MK on one evening and one full day of our trip. DS loves thrill rides, doesn't really care about characters, and (thank God) doesn't want to ride Dumbo! We get in on Sunday, when MK is open until 2:00 AM. Here's my plan for that evening, followed by Wed full day:

Sunday - Arrive MCO 2:50 PM
ME to POR, check in, chill, maybe nap if possible (ha!)
Bus to MK to arrive around 7:30, crowds predicted 5.3 (neutral)
Train to Frontierland
Grab FP for Splash
Ride POTC, see Treehouse
Dinner 8:20 at CP
MSEP @ 9:00, watch from next to CP
Head to Tomorrowland, get FP for SM
If time, do some low lines stuff in Tomorrowland (Carousel, PM)
Wishes @ 10:00 from the bridge (he wants Tink to fly over us)
Buzz, Astro, Speedway (which is not a priority if the wait is long)
Fantasyland - TeaP, SmWld
Haunted Mansion
BTMRR, Splash, JC, and whatever else we can hit by 2 AM!!! I'm counting on not really needing FP after Wishes. We'd happily ride BTMRR 4 times.

Wednesday, ADR @ 'Ohana 7:45 for 9:00 RD (please God, don't let them change my opening times!!!)
MK crowds predicted 2.7 (Best)
Head to SM at RD, ride & then FP
Buzz
Laugh Floor
SM with FP
Snack @ Bakery
Get FP for Peter Pan
Ride Snow, Pooh, Philhar, PP
Lunch @ Liberty Tree 12:00
Grab FP for Splash
Tom Sawyer Island
Break at POR, nap/swim
Dinner @ Artist Point 6:00
FP BTMRR, then ride Splash
Aladdin, POTC, JC, wander Adventure/Frontier areas
We'll hit rides again when everyone else is at Wishes!
After 9:00 wishes, take our time going out and see Main Street

What do you think?

 

[sl_underwood]

I use my own plan every trip because the others just arent flexible enough for me and do not like to back track or end up zig zagging through the park which seems to be popular with many of the touring plans out there. I do not know ifyou will be able to do everything you have planned but I would just be prepared to skip something if necessary so you can do the things you really want.

 

[mickeyboat]

I've been micromanaging our upcoming trip (unlike everyone else, who just wings it.... ), and I've been studying the various plans on TP, how fastpasses work, maps of the parks, how wait times change throughout the day on various levels of crowds, etc. I'm starting to feel like I actually understand the flow of things well enough that I might just come up with my own touring plans and forget TP or Ridemax. I'd still use Lines in the parks, but before I venture into these dark, perilous waters I thought I would ask if anyone else has done this. Did it work out for you? Did you find out that it was folly?

Here's an example. We're going to MK on one evening and one full day of our trip. DS loves thrill rides, doesn't really care about characters, and (thank God) doesn't want to ride Dumbo! We get in on Sunday, when MK is open until 2:00 AM. Here's my plan for that evening, followed by Wed full day:

Sunday - Arrive MCO 2:50 PM
ME to POR, check in, chill, maybe nap if possible (ha!)
Bus to MK to arrive around 7:30, crowds predicted 5.3 (neutral)
Train to Frontierland
Grab FP for Splash
Ride POTC, see Treehouse
Dinner 8:20 at CP
MSEP @ 9:00, watch from next to CP
Head to Tomorrowland, get FP for SM
If time, do some low lines stuff in Tomorrowland (Carousel, PM)
Wishes @ 10:00 from the bridge (he wants Tink to fly over us)
Buzz, Astro, Speedway (which is not a priority if the wait is long)
Fantasyland - TeaP, SmWld
Haunted Mansion
BTMRR, Splash, JC, and whatever else we can hit by 2 AM!!! I'm counting on not really needing FP after Wishes. We'd happily ride BTMRR 4 times.

Wednesday, ADR @ 'Ohana 7:45 for 9:00 RD (please God, don't let them change my opening times!!!)
MK crowds predicted 2.7 (Best)
Head to SM at RD, ride & then FP
Buzz
Laugh Floor
SM with FP
Snack @ Bakery
Get FP for Peter Pan
Ride Snow, Pooh, Philhar, PP
Lunch @ Liberty Tree 12:00
Grab FP for Splash
Tom Sawyer Island
Break at POR, nap/swim
Dinner @ Artist Point 6:00
FP BTMRR, then ride Splash
Aladdin, POTC, JC, wander Adventure/Frontier areas
We'll hit rides again when everyone else is at Wishes!
After 9:00 wishes, take our time going out and see Main Street

What do you think?

Make sure you are not following your plan so rigidly that you can't deviate from it if necessary. You haven't sheduled time for breaks or character interaction.

Have a great trip!

 

[LuvLuvLuv]

we normally do whatever we want around our ADR times... but in march i'm meeting my mom down there for a long weekend and we only have 2 park days. she hasn't been since 2000--so there's lots she has never seen before. we made a list over the phone together of what we had to see and i made a commando touring plan. it was fun to look at a park map and see what made sense, etc. i will do this again in the future!

 

[BucsTex]

Make sure you are not following your plan so rigidly that you can't deviate from it if necessary. You haven't sheduled time for breaks or character interaction.

Have a great trip!

You didn't see the afternoon break? I plan to go back to the POR for at least 3-4 hours. Character interaction isn't really our thing, but if he sees a character he actually wants to interact with, I'm flexible. Usually he just kind of glances at them and is like, "yeah, that's nice. Let's go ride something!"

And yes, we understand that we may not get as many repeat rides as we want, but we'll see how it's going as we go.

 

[AlexandAndysMom]

We do out own plan every trip. We decide the night before which way we want to go once inside the park and we just go with it. We might FP something if it's important enough, but we've never really found it impossible to do what we want. We've also never been a break family. We are going to try that at least one day this trip to take nap so we can stay in MK until 2am!

 

[Tlamp]

I tend to make my own but use the touring plans for guidance. I am flexible with mine. In this I mean if the wait time line isn't long I would still grab a fast pass but use it later in the day. If it is long i may grab a fastpass and ride other rides in the area then ride the fastpass ride when it matures.

 

[jpkkld]

I've tweaked a few touring plans, with generally good results (probably not OPTIMAL results, but it satisfied my family). Usually, though, I do actually FOLLOW the real plan and just substitute similar events. I've also used the first half of one plan, followed by the 2nd half of another. I think your MK plan looks pretty good. It is nice to have enough knowledge and confidence to develop something specific to your family.

However, I did note a few places where you could be using FPs better, mostly on your Wed plan. Get a FP for SM, THEN get in the standby line. It will open up the "next available" FP time that much quicker. Get FPs for PP BEFORE you hit the bakery, and get your next FPs before Liberty Tree. Grab yet another FP before you leave for your break. By the end of the day, you may be able to accumulate an extra FP or two, overall. You or dh can be a runner - no need for the whole family to trek over to Splash just before lunch - have one adult go get FPs while the other adult checks in for your ADR.

Of course, with a crowd level of 2.7, you may find FPs to be more trouble than they're worth. But watch that number as you get closer to your trip! I've watched our crowd levels skyrocket over the last week. I've stopped checking the TP website. It's just getting too scary And yes, I did have days that started out below 3 and are now close to 6. Not cool!

 

[shalom]

I do my own, since I'm more interested in the live entertainment than the rides (not always true of who I'm with ). It's worked out great! Except that one time we didn't get up and get there by rope drop. Should have tossed the first part of the schedule and done it the next time.

Like jpkkld, I thought you could pick up some FastPasses sooner. I also wouldn't count on getting seated for dinner at 8:20 and out of there by 9:00, although it could happen. But in my experience, TS can be a serious timesink, so I'd build some flexibility around meals.

Of course, the real advantage to scheduling for yourself is you often prioritize while setting it up, so you know if you "have" to see it, and where you can move something if you miss it.

 

[sharona]

I made our own touring plans for our first WDW trip because nothing on TP fit our family's wants. I did use their plan as a starting point and just substituted as needed. It was a slower time of year (early March) and it worked out fine. I think for higher crowd levels you want to stick to their tested plans and for lower you can improvise a bit. You can always print one of the standard TP plans and then make your own. if you find yourself running into wait times w/ your plan, switch over to TP.

Re your first night plans - I have never been to CP so not sure what their reputation is for on time seating? It's a buffet (?) so should not be a long meal but since WDW TS meals are $$$, you want to be able to enjoy it and take your time. If you can move that earlier, you may want to do it or just grab a CS meal and save your sit down meal for a less busy night when you are not itching to get out there in the park. You don't have a lot of time in there to get a good spot for the parade if that's a priority for you...

 

[BucsTex]

Thanks for the feedback! I take the point about getting FP's earlier on. That's definitely good advice, and I probably would have figured that out on further revisions... This was off the top of my head, which is not the way it will ultimately end up.

Regarding getting out of CP by 9:00, I figure we'll show up at 8:00, be seated by around 8:20, and then just walk out and see the parade. I'm very tall and DS will be on my shoulders, so we don't need a great spot to see.

Regarding FP runners, it's just me and DS, so any FP we get we have to get together.

Here's a refinement of Wednesday:

Wednesday, ADR @ 'Ohana 7:45 for 9:00 RD (please God, don't let them change my opening times!!!)
MK crowds predicted 2.7 (Best)
Head to SM at RD, FP and then ride
Buzz
Laugh Floor
SM with FP
Snack @ Bakery (to go)
Get FP for Peter Pan
Ride Snow, Pooh, Philhar, PP
Lunch @ Liberty Tree 12:00
HM, Tom Sawyer Island
Grab FP for Splash on the way out of the park
Break at POR, nap/swim
Dinner @ Artist Point 6:00
FP BTMRR, then ride Splash
Aladdin, POTC, JC, wander Adventure/Frontier areas
We'll hit rides again when everyone else is at Wishes!
After 9:00 wishes, take our time going out and see Main Street

I may still decide to shell out $20 for Ridemax, but it sure would be nice if TP would implement the custom touring plan option they promised in UG.

 

[kennythepirate]

I make all my own touring plans and have set multiple touring records doing so. Took the knowledge I acquired from TP and applied it to my own desires.

 

[indydizman]

it is......

Do what we want, when we want. We do not plan every minute of ourday or every meal 180 days out. That is ridiculous I think for people with kids. The most important thing for me is that my boys have a great trip, not skip something they want to do in the moment becuase a touring plan says I have to go clear across a park.