Anyone use Unofficial Guide's Touring Plans?

[thesoldtrain]

We LOVE the Unofficial Guide to WDW and have used MANY of the ideas in it in our planning for our upcoming trip, but wanted to get input on the touring plans. Have you used them, and if so, do they work? Is a plan necessary to get to all you want to do in the parks (which is FINE for me if it is as planning is my middle name! )

Thanks!
Jeanette

 

[disneyag]

I would use them as a guide, but don't feel you must stick to them rigidly. Sometimes you come across a better plan by accident!

Make sure you use the Fastpasses. Take advantage of EMH if you are staying on site.

Don't be so into planning that you forget to see the magic!!

 

[catnik]

I have to admit that when my kids were younger we used the "Dumbo Do or Die" plan with great success (they rode Dumbo 3 x in a row using the Chuck Bubba strategy!). As my children have gotten older, we have used the plans more as outlines without strictly adhering to every step. I tend to use the plans for guidance/strategy on where we need to be during specific periods of the day in order to maximize time/minimize waiting in line. We do have a 9 month old now, so we just may need to dust off the Dumbo plan in the near future

 

[lentesta]

Hi thesoldtrain,

Thanks for reading the Guide. The plans really do work. Following them step-by-step will save you the most time, but that's not strictly necessary for saving *some* time.

If you don't/can't follow the steps exactly, try to follow the order of the lands as close as possible, especially in the morning at the Magic Kingdom. That should give you the best tradeoff between shorter lines and flexibilty.

If you do use the plans, please let us know how they worked.

Thanks again for reading the Guide.

Sincerely,

Len Testa

 

[Dopey Sharon]

We used the plans and they worked out great, for us. If this is your first or one of your first visits, I would definitely recommend using them and trying to stick to them...they will save you valuable time. Good luck and have a great time!

 

[dizagain]

I used the plans to create our plan and it worked beautifully!!! We were there in early May with moderate crowds - not many waits without FP more than 10 minutes or so. I know that if it had been a busy season, we would have followed the plans religiiously. We started off with the "Dumbo or Die" plan to take care of Fantasyland and I was almost laughing as we sailed through and I realized IT REALLY WORKS!! As the parks weren't too crowded, I lightly followed the plans - the greatest help to me were all the little tips for various attractions....of course, I had actually READ the whole book cause I'm crazy!!!

Anyway, Unofficial Guide rocks and my non-planning/non-caring DH will be glad to testify that I rock too because I was so prepared!!! He just couldn't thank me enough for the wonderful SMOOTH trip! WDW is magical, but it is EXPENSIVE and it pays to have a plan!! Good luck!

 

[punkin]

absolutely they work. The first time I followed the plans religiously and after that used them as guidelines, only seeing my favorites. Even at very busy times of year, we never stood in line for more that 30 min. (on Peter Pan at the end of the day for a repeat ride-not part of the plan).

 

[MichaelP]

Originally posted by dizagain
of course, I had actually READ the whole book cause I'm crazy!!!

[/B]

I tghink I've rerad it through twice. What does that say about me?

 

[thesoldtrain]

Thanks for the advice! All of your help has been WONDERFUL and I think our trip is SO much better due to the advice from all of you!

Jeanette

 

[jimmiej]

I wouldn't dare tour w/o the UG plans. Did that once-what a disaster!

 

[Turner5]

I've been reading it and plan to follow it as close as possible. I am getting a little frustrated though. I have one child (age 7) who I know will not want to ride some of the thrill rides, and 2 other children who will want to ride the thrill rides (9, 11). I hate to separate, but I guess it would be best. The youngest really needs to follow Dumbo, but the rest of us want to follow the 2 day plan. What to do? How in the world can you make everyone happy so that we all have a good time!!!!????

 

[thesoldtrain]

Yes, and the challenge we are having is knowing that we will need to baby swap on some rides and how to figure that in!

 

[budget mom]

I read the book cover to cover and studied some parts! I couldn't even stand just taking the sheets with the plan.......I took the whole book in my back pack, just in case I needed info. We are returning this summer and I've already read the book and will take it to the parks. If I hadn't followed the advice of measuring my kids and taking platform sandals, my 3 1/2 DD would have been miserable. As it turned out she could ride everything we did. I LOVE UG! We went in July and did everything and never waited in line more than 15 or 20 minutes.

 

[barb3779]

I'm addicted to both the UG and Tour guide Mike. Does anyone have feedback on using TGM in the summer crowds?

 

[4greatboys]

I have ordered 2 touring plans for our upcoming trip. We will be there 2 weeks but my bil/sil will only be there 1 week and there will be 11 of us so I wanted to make sure we got in all that we wanted to in the best time. We ordered one for MK and one for Epcot. I will give a report wjem we get back.

 

[Turner5]

I considered ordering the touring plans, but I have decided to try the plans in the book afterall. We just are not morning people, so I didn't think getting up early would work very well. Now, I think we are just going to take a late morning/early afternoon break every day at our resort and get up early and stay up late. I'm a little worried. I hope it works out!!!!

 

[BAST]

WIth one exception, we have not used the plans on our previous two trips since we took those trips at slow times (May '02 and January '03) and the plans simply were not necessary given the lack of crowds. The one exception is the advice to ride the most popular attractions early in the morning - which we did. However, we were also able to ride them at other times of day with little wait.

That said, I will be using the plans when we go in August (17th to 27th) because I anticipate it will be much busier than our previous two trips.

 

[Suziequz]

DH and I always use the plans! I also buy the UG every August as soon as it is published.

DH says it best "You know you want to see these things. This is the best order in which to see them. It's a no-brainer."

We are going August 1-11 with two people who've never been to WDW. We will absolutely use the plans to make sure they have the best trip possible (and us too!).

Oh, and on 2 previous trips in 2 years, I don't think we've ever waited more than 20 minutes.

 

[HaleyB]

Originally posted by thesoldtrain
Yes, and the challenge we are having is knowing that we will need to baby swap on some rides and how to figure that in!

We used the two day MK tour with babyswap (18 month old) and it worked like a charm. Plus our 8 year old got to ride everything twice!

For those with split ages or thrill/non thrill riders I would advise either splitting up for at least half a day or touring together and just getting snacks and bathroom breaks during the rides (for those not riding). The worst thing you can do is split up for an hour or two. You will waste too much time joining back up. My youngest child always loved the 'pre show' line theme stuff on the rides she was too young to go on and never really knew she was 'waiting' for her brothers. In her eyes she was resting and getting treats!

 

[mic_key_mouse]

I have used the UG touring plans every time I go (I also use TourGuideMike and the Passporter). One word of advice- don't get "militant' about using them, use them as guides. The first time I used them I was too 'serious' about following them step-by-step, and we had a less than relaxing time. I now use them as guides, and we still don't wait in lines much longer than 5-10 minutes.

To Turner5 I would be VERY worried about sleeping in. I look at it like this: you can get up early and get more rides done in 3 hours than you can during the entire rest of the day, or sleep in and stand in lines an hour (or more) long. It's a choice, but my opinion is any benefit you may get by sleeping in will be dwarfed by the misery you will experience in long, intolerable lines. While 'the masses' are standing in those intolerably long lines in the intolerable heat in the middle of the day, I (and hopefully you)will be back at the hotel for a swim and a nap, getting rested up to enjoy the evening fireworks/parade/entertainment. A person's decision on this one issue will (IMHO) make or break your vacation. You will see what I mean the first time you arrive with the 'masses' between 10:00 and 11:00. It sounds like you have chosen to avoid that nightmare, which will make for a worry free vacation

Blessings,
mic_key_mouse