app to plan attractions/rides

[Always Dream]

Has anyone used touringplans or ridemax to plan their trip? How did it go?

 

[Twitterpaited]

Used Touring Plans. I actually had lots of fun using it, but the true test will be in the next week when we are at the parks to see how well it does at predicting and minimizing the wait times.

 

[GoofyMB]

I use Touring Plans to plan my park days. I have found their wait times to be pretty accurate. I use their Lines App in the park to make sure things haven't changed as the day progresses and optimize and adjust accordingly. The most important advice I would give you is to use this planning as a guide and not something to be relied upon. Be flexible and willing to change your plan. Just because the app says to do something in a certain order doesn't mean you have to follow it you can always switch it up and re-optimize.

 

[skippytx]

Another vote for Touring Plans. Worth the cost.

 

[McNs]

I use Touring Plans. I don't always stick to the plan I set each day but will always refresh during the day as I check off activities. This then takes in to account what is happening in the park that day and is really useful when we inevitably stop and smell the roses (or just do something else)

 

[kiford]

We haven't used Touring Plans in a long time to plan out our route although I've used it in the past and it was the absolute best. We now just use some of their philosophy and hints and I always use the Lines app. It's way more accurate than Disney. It's saved me many times from crossing the park just to end up in a huge long line. It's well worth the small amount you pay for it. I've kept up my subscription for 8 years and never regretted it; I also buy the book every year even when I'm not going just to keep up with what's happening.

 

[MomOTwins]

We skip touring plans and just use the refresh method. Touring plans can try to predict what the wait times will be, but it can't make the wait any shorter. With refresh method, we just fastpass rides all day long with 5-10 minute fastpass lane waits.

 

[ellbell]

I don't use any app. Any ride that has a fastpass I ride with a fastpass. The others generally don't have a long wait so I ride in between.

 

[Kabby]

We had great success using the Touring Plans Lines app on our last trip and plan to use it again when we return later this year. Definitely worth the small cost to be able to benefit from their wealth of data and analysis.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

I like TP for the room and ADR finder function and some help with park planning days like hours and suggestions on crowds. It's a nice feature to see what events are going on at which park on a certain date but the lines wait time app in our experience has not been very reliable. I just stick with the MDE app while at the parks and refresh often.

 

[gharter]

I like touringplans for the line app. Have not had a lot of success with the scheduling program.
It used to be useful. With the change in FPs and ease of getting more, we do that mainly. Also with the parks being more crowded, their estimated wait time for their schedule were not correct.

 

[sethschroeder]

We skip touring plans and just use the refresh method. Touring plans can try to predict what the wait times will be, but it can't make the wait any shorter. With refresh method, we just fastpass rides all day long with 5-10 minute fastpass lane waits.

I think TouringPlans is more so about trying to get what you want in the most economical during the allotted time you have set. So while someone who visits often can use the refresh method those who don't need a little more structure to make sure they get through everything.

 

[Twitterpaited]

How well does the refresh method work if you have a larger group, for example, a group of 8?

 

[sethschroeder]

How well does the refresh method work if you have a larger group, for example, a group of 8?

From what I have read very poorly. You can make it "work" but you need to split the group up. Grab a time for a group of 2 or 4 and then grab times that overlap with that group as an example.

It might be better to have 1 or 2 other people doing the refresh method for their part of the group. Example Person A takes 3 people and Person B takes 3 people and you talk about what times you both can lock in.

 

[rose4disney]

Touring Plans online was a good way to plan out my days so I would know how long an attraction would take and the time it would take to walk and wait based on how busy they thought it would be that day. It is good if you are not super familiar with the parks (we used it for Universal because I literally had no idea!). You can also tinker with it so it makes sense to do the least amount of walking or the least wait time. I think it is worth it! You get a discount with an online subscription if you purchase the book and then you get the app with it as well.

 

[CastAStone]

Touring Plans and their Lines app are indeed great and very much worth the price, but I would suggest that the actual planning part you'll want to do on the Touring Plans website from a computer; the Lines app is great for on the go but it isn't very good for planning from scratch, and their mobile site has some (small) functionality gaps vs the desktop site.

If you subscribe via their website, you get access to the Lines app included, and it also won't auto-renew.

 

[HarlanE]

Any personal experience on the relative efficacy of these tools since Covid? Thx

 

[scrappinginontario]

Zombie thread. Closing