Anyone used TourGuide Mike or other touring plan?

[cherokeemamma]

Hey Everyone,
I was wondering if anyone could give me information on TourGuide Mike or other touring plans. Is it worth the money? What were the pros and cons?
What type of info did you recieve and was it accurate? I would love to hear from some folks who have used one of these services. We are considering it but really feel uncertain if it is worth it.

Thanks so much!

 

[lexmelinda]

I have subscribed to TGM but have yet to put his info into action. I enjoy planning so it's nice to have advice from someone who gets paid big bucks to make sure celebrities and CEOs have the best experience possible at WDW. You can search this forum using the "search" button on the toolbar above...when you type in TGM you'll get lots of threads with mixed reviews on his info. I figured it's only $18 and compared to the price of our vacation, if it saves me an hour in line it will be worth it. Good luck!

 

[disney1313131313]

I subscribed to touringplans.com before i found TourguideMike. I did not find that site to be too helpful, but at least it wasn't very expensive. I debated about Tourguidemike, but since i got hand me down guide books (Unofficial Guide and Birnbaum) from my sister who went in March, i decided to try it. I am glad i did. I was doubtful at first, because it is a LOT of information. It took me a week or two to really get the hang of things. We haven't gone yet, so i don't know how his advice will play out on our trip, but everything he says is very logical and he explains his reasons for everything. I think it will be great. If nothing else, all of the information helps build the excitement level.

 

[debbi801]

TGM was awesome for our last trip!!! There is a lot of information to go through on the TGM website, but it is so worth reading through. We were there June 19-25 and were able to ride an absurd amount of rides in a short period of time and get back to our hotel by 1:00 or so to swim, nap, relax, etc. I've already signed back up for our next trip.

 

[cherokeemamma]

Thanks for the info. I am going to do TGM..I figured it can't hurt and compared to the money you spend on the vacation it really is cheap.
My concern now is all of the planning I have already done may have to be changed based on the info and suggestions I receive.

 

[kjs1976]

Just got back last night...we used Tourguide Mike. I consider myslef a WDW veteran who knows her way around the parks with eyes closed, so I was skeptical of using a plan that differed completly from mine, since my plan had always been pretty fool-proof. Well, consider me wrong!!! TGM was awesome!!! As another poster said, we were able to do everything we wanted in a short amount of time at each park, rest for 2-3 hrs. in the afternoon, go back and do some more things, and turn in early!!! Loved it!

Feel free to PM me if you have any other specific questions about his program!!!

 

[drogerstn]

We followed guidelines (best days for the parks and touring plans) from the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World (UOG) and it worked great for us. Between these boards and the UOG, I've always had a good idea on how to tour the parks but didn't follow a strict plan.

I paid a little more attention to the UOG this time around which made me change a little of what I normally do. For example, I've have always felt that I need to get a Fast Pass (FP) for a major attraction as soon as I enter a park in the morning. However, I followed UOG advise for EPCOT and went directly to Test Track then to Mission Space to ride both in standby before going to Soarin' for a FP. If we had gone to get the FP for Soarin before riding TT and MS, we would likely have had to wait longer for those two attractions. We filled in our wait time for Soarin by going to Turtle Talk and Honey I Shrunk the Audience with minimal waiting time.

 

[sbpuckett]

I subscribed to touringplans to get the cheat sheets which I plan to carry with me. I printed out the touring plans and altered them a bit (knowing that all of that running would drive my dh crazy) so we'll see how it goes. Our first trip is in October. I think we'll be fine and get to do everything we want (weather permitting). The tours (esp for Epcot) just wouldn't work for us with our boys. I read the UG and decided that a lot of Epcot would have to be caught on a later trip when our boys are older. I'm glad I invested the time and money on the guides and will continue to scour the boards until our trip for any additional tips. I'm already driving my husband crazy b/c it's all I talk about!!

 

[gigi1313]

we used TGM for our aug/sept '05 vacation and "no plan" for our january trip (w/friends... let them call the shots even though i knew they did not do their homework but they very much wanted to be in control after begging us to go w/them so they could "follow the pros" GO FIGURE!) and using TGMs plans made a HUGE difference! we accomplished twice as much in half the time... so we're using it again for our sept/oct trip

 

[Armandocme]

I used TouringPlans. We just got back from our vacation 7/2/06. I had every day planned out before we left. We used one plan for Magic Kingdom day and it worked out a lot better than I expected. We hit all the attractions we wanted to do. We had wait times in line of less than a few minutes (Dumbo had 0 wait time - I should have taken a picture of the sign that said that!). The other days, we went to the suggested parks that had the anticipated least crowds. On the whole, it worked out great! My wife was skeptical at first but was a believer after we actually used the touring plans.

 

[dangler]

We absolutely loved TGM and will use him again for our next trip! We saw so much being able to basically walk on everything. In my opinion, it was so worth the money!
Good Luck!

 

[DonnaDuck]

I also "thought" I was a touring pro until I tried TGM our last trip in January. I will never go again without using his "Best Days Chart". Worth every penny and more!! My dh was amazed. On one of our MK days, I followed TGM's plan...we had no waits on anything. There were people everywhere and we were amazed that we had done everything in 1/2 the time! Surprisingly, it's all about being in the right place at the right time and he knows exactly where you need to be.

Can't wait to use his plans again this January trip. Happy Planning!!

 

[clonetothebone]

We just got back and used UOG and touringplans.com and were very pleased. I subscibed to TGM but couldn't ever get the hang of it to feel like I had gotten my money's worth.

 

[2infinityandbeyond]

We used TGM during Jersey Week last November and his plans worked perfectly. The longest wait time in any of the parks was about ten minutes for the AK safari. We rode the major rides multiple times with little, if any, wait.

We used TGM again in January with similar results. We're headed back in August and we'll be using TGM again.

 

[iwynlea]

We've been to Disney 6 times in the last 3 years. For our first trip, which was our honeymoon, I used Tour Guide Mike. My DH was very skeptical, but literally after the first 45 minutes in the park was asking me, "What does Mike say to do next? What rides have no wait?!" It was amazing advice, and I'll admit we didn't follow it to the letter but adapted it to fit our needs.

Since then, we've done it on our own based on experience and advice available on the many great sites online free (like the DIS). However, we're going back in September/October with the free dining, and I've signed up again for TGM because it's been a few years and I wanted his up-to-date advice about several events taking place while we're there (MNSSHP, Food & Wine festival).

TGM can be very overwhelming at first -- I'd forgotten that aspect when I logged in for our new trip last week. However, I spent some time poking around and reading his help articles, and within a few hours, I didn't feel overwhelmed at all and I just love the up-to-date info his site provides. I feel like for the price of a tour book, I'd rather have the most up-to-date information, which books just can't provide because of the publishing schedule.

The Unofficial Guide is also great, and some of the info is the similar to what TGM says, but my personal preference is TGM. I know lots of others may not agree, so your milage may vary. Personally, I find TGM's touring plans easier to follow with less running around.

Hope this helps!