Anyone follow your touring plans times?

[mickeymom629]

I have signed up for touringplans.com and am creating itineraries for DS's upcoming trip in Nov. I'm curious if anyone has actually followed their exact times that these plans give, with success during crowded times of the year.

Some of the wait times make me wonder if they are for real. Also, for instance, what if you don't really get into the LM show at the time you have on the itinerary because so many people were ahead of you. The touring plans don't seem to take that into account.

Anyone have thought on this for me?

Thanks!

 

[Happy_2_B]

Been using the UG since way back when it was a couple hundred pages...that was quite a while ago. Have rarely waited in a line more than a few minutes over the years- and I have been there many times. All you need to do is get up for rope drop- follow the plan- and enjoy yourself.

These days we only spend a few hours in a given park, as for us it isn't about touring as much anymore, but on those days we do tour we are there at rope drop and can get everything done that we want to do usually by lunch. That said, we don't do everything like many people do- but the plans work, and I really like the site now that you can customize your own plan since we tend to skip a lot of things anymore.

 

[SleepingUgly]

I just used TP on our recent trip (Sept. 7-12) and it didn't work as well for me as hoped. Some of the show times were completely off ... for instance, Frozen SingAlong is more like 30 minutes, not 20 minutes. Some of their walking times may also not take into consideration the crowds or (if you have small children) the need to search for your stroller upon exiting an attraction / ride. I suggest adding in extra breaks / times between attractions to give yourself more flexibility. At one point, I found myself hustling my children along, just to keep up with TP's itinerary for us, and I noticed they looked like soldiers trekking off to battle so I scrapped the plan and just winged it, using the plans as only guidance but not down to the last detail. We were much happier that way. Also, because TP was predicting lower crowd levels than what we really experienced, the wait times for most rides / attractions were a bit longer so that threw the plans off as well. A few minutes here and there ends up being a 30-minute difference after just short delays at just 3-4 rides so it adds up!

 

[minnie mum]

I've used TPs park plans for years, but stopped paying attention to actual times after the first couple of times. Trying to adhere to a rigid schedule just made everyone miserable. And anything can throw them off, whether it's an unscheduled bathroom break, a temporary ride closure, or wanting to linger in a gift shop for a few minutes. And then there's the question of the accuracy of the crowd predictions. I used them earlier this summer at DLR, and the times were so far off that by noon each day we just threw them away.

We were much happier when using the plans as a guideline. In recent years we've preferred using easywdw.com's cheat sheets.

 

[serene56]

I do not pay attention to times. I use it to tell me where to go and in what order. if your rides are giving you large wait times I suggest to move it around some

 

[ChloesDaddy]

I've used TPs park plans for years, but stopped paying attention to actual times after the first couple of times. Trying to adhere to a rigid schedule just made everyone miserable. And anything can throw them off, whether it's an unscheduled bathroom break, a temporary ride closure, or wanting to linger in a gift shop for a few minutes. And then there's the question of the accuracy of the crowd predictions. I used them earlier this summer at DLR, and the times were so far off that by noon each day we just threw them away.

We were much happier when using the plans as a guideline. In recent years we've preferred using easywdw.com's cheat sheets.

This is the the attitude I take as well. I still use the TP website to create plans just to get an idea on wait times. Between that and the easywdw cheat sheets I kind of come up with a plan for each day centered around rope drop (on days we do that) and FP+ for popular attractions, filling in gaps with "less popular" attractions, and either taking an afternoon break or doing long/quiet/air conditioned attractions (HoP, CoP, etc...). Once I've got the basic plan together we're set to do our priorities and then kind of be spontaneous around those with some ideas and options on what else to do.

So to answer the OP's question, no, I don't follow the plans to the minute. As others have said, that's a sure way to make everyone miserable.

 

[mesaboy2]

Any WDW plan that predicts times to the minute will be off before the first hour passes. It's a guide, nothing more.

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

We use them more as a guide. Sometimes we're ahead, sometimes we're behind. When I make my plan, I usually set it to the slowest walk time possible.

 

[mickeymom629]

Thanks for all the responses! Very interesting, and much of what I was imagining if one were to really try to stick to their plan.

 

[Trinity88]

I do follow the times, but also know that I'll probably end up off at some point and I'm ok with that. My experience has been that we end up ahead of schedule. I do use a slower walk time to give us a bit of extra time.

 

[gtpoohbear]

I make a TP mainly to get an idea of how much we can realistically expect to get done, and we usually follow it pretty closely for the first couple of hours. But after that, inevitably something has to change. So I've never followed one exactly. But I like to have a plan in mind anyway, even if I make a last minute change it's still better than going in with nothing. The times vary for accuracy - I'd say about half of the time they are really close. My experience has been that when it's off, it's usually that the line is much longer than what it predicted, but maybe I've just been unlucky.

 

[Happy_2_B]

Being at rope drop is the key. In my experience you can't get behind schedule if you get out of bed and get to the parks well before they open- we usually arrive at the turnstiles 30-45 minutes beforehand in case there is a soft opening that day. I bolded this because it is not 30-45 minutes ahead of time in the parking lot- it is at the gate. During busier times- you will want to be there even earlier. Here are two of the best articles I have seen that have time- elapsed photos of how the crowds increase before park opening at the MK during a busy time- it will reinforce just how important getting up and getting to the turnstiles is:

http://www.easywdw.com/uncategorize...gdom-morning-touring-over-spring-break-32715/

and

http://www.easywdw.com/uncategorize...er-bell-moves-the-4th-fp-magic-kingdom-52814/

The second post has a YouTube video which is fun to watch, and both articles provide a lot of visuals that will make your rope drop experience much better- in the first if you have an early breakfast, and in the second during a regular rope drop.

I actually find just the opposite to be the case of some of the PPs- and find myself way ahead of where the TPs tell me that I am supposed to be- and wind up having a bunch of free time on my hands. Another key is to follow the advice they give to 'tour expeditiously' until around noon. We set our plans up at the slowest possible walking speed to allow for a bathroom break or other diversions from the plan.

You can use whatever plan you want to use- whether free or paid for- but if you want the best attraction experience possible be at rope drop, as even being 10-15 minutes late will put you in much longer lines that just get longer and longer throughout the day. If you don't want to follow the schedule and use it as a guideline that is fine, too- you just have to be willing to stand in lines.