DCA Custom Touring Plan and Maxpass

[Marshmelo]

I leave in about 4 weeks and am trying to finalize my TP for DCA. I’ve heard that they aren’t as good for DL as WDW but I loved using them so much at WDW that I wanted to try for DL. My main question is how likely is it that RSR will run out of FPs before I get one? My TP has me getting one at 9:50 with a park opening of 8am and EE of 7am. The predicted crowd level is a 3 that day. Even on the TP site they say to get the FP for RSR ASAP after entering the park yet my plan wants me to wait until 9:50 to get it with a return time starting 10:30.

 

[Marshmelo]

Here is what the beginning part of my plan looks like:
8:07 Mickey’s PhilharMagic (wait 8 min)
8:31 Monsters Inc (wait 4 min)
8:42 get FP for Goofy’s Sky School
8:42 Guardians of the Galaxy (wait 4 min)
9:02 Pixar Pal Around (wait 4 min)
9:17 Toy Story Mania (wait 5 min)
9:33 Incredicoaster (wait 5 min)
9:50 get FP for RSR
9:50 Silly Symphony Swings (wait 4 min)
9:58 Goofy’s Sky school (uses FP)
10:05 Little Mermaid (wait 4 min)
10:25 Luigi’s Roadsters (wait 6 min)
10:36 get FP for Soarin, return beg 11:05
10:36 Radiator Springs Racers (uses FP)
10:56 Mater’s JJ (wait 16)
11:22 Soarin’ (uses FP)

After that we do lunch followed by Grizzly River Run then back to hotel for a break before returning for dinner and to hopefully see Sh’boom and ride RSR and Incredicoaster again at night and possibly GotG MAD if time allows before WOC.

Is there any chance of getting a FP for any of those 3 at night?

I’m not sure why the plan has us doing PhilharMagic first thing. And I’ve played around with it and adjusted it to reduce waiting, reduce walking and balance. It always does the same order.

 

[Plip]

You could pick another day (before you leave on vacation) that has a predicted crowd level of 3, and then use the Disneyland app to see what the FastPass return window is for RSR at 9:50. It's not always going to be the same, but that's probably going to be as good an indicator as anything.

I agree with you, though, 10:30 seems quite optimistic to me at 9:50.

 

[Plip]

That Touring plan must not have you using MaxPass. Otherwise why would you wait until you been in the park for 42 minutes to get your first FastPass?!

If it were me, I'd definitely get MaxPass, and I certainly wouldn't use my first FastPass on Goofy's Sky School. I'd get RSR right away. But that's me.

If you really want to try out their touring plan, there's an argument to be made for doing it exactly the way they lay it out. Then you know how well it works at Disneyland.

 

[Marshmelo]

You could pick another day (before you leave on vacation) that has a predicted crowd level of 3, and then use the Disneyland app to see what the FastPass return window is for RSR at 9:50. It's not always going to be the same, but that's probably going to be as good an indicator as anything.

I agree with you, though, 10:30 seems quite optimistic to me at 9:50.

How am I able to do that? I didn’t think you could see any FPs unless you had purchased MP already.

 

[Marshmelo]

That Touring plan must not have you using MaxPass. Otherwise why would you wait until you been in the park for 42 minutes to get your first FastPass?!

If it were me, I'd definitely get MaxPass, and I certainly wouldn't use my first FastPass on Goofy's Sky School. I'd get RSR right away. But that's me.

If you really want to try out their touring plan, there's an argument to be made for doing it exactly the way they lay it out. Then you know how well it works at Disneyland.

I did input that I will have Maxpass for the plan. I wondered why it had me wait as well, unless it was to get a specific return time.

 

[Blue32]

To be frank...that TP looks terrible. I would prioritize RSR and Gaurdians FP before Goofy. And it has you backtracking early. Check out threads on these forums or Disneyland Daily’s website. I wouldn’t follow that order personally.

 

[soniam]

Did you select "Yes, my group will use Maxpass"? Did you select the correct plan start time for park opening at EE? Sometimes it doesn't pick that automatically. Do "Edit" to change the plan time. I have found that TP at DLR isn't as good as WDW. Also, with Maxpass, you really don't need it, except for non-FP rides. I pretty much just use it to give me a list of things that I want to do. It's especially not worthwhile at DCA, with so many rides that use FP/MP. You can also select "Minimize Waiting" or "Minimize Walking" to adjust the back and forth. I usually end up throwing out the plan with MP.

 

[coasternut22]

I love Touring Plans, but that is a terrible plan, and the return times are very unrealistic.

My go to plan for a 9:00 rope drop is generally as follows:
9:00 Fastpass Radiator Springs Racers and rope drop Toy Story
Incredicoaster
Mickey's Wheel of Death
All other Boardwalk rides (inside out, goofy, mermaid, etc)
10:30 This puts me about an hour and a half after rope drop. Basically my return time for RSR dictates how much time I spend on the Boardwalk.
Fastpass usually opens up for Guardians - get this
Head over to Radiator Springs
Use fastpass for RSR and do Maters and Luigi in any available order
Monsters Inc
Philharmagic
Use Guardians Fastpass
This usually puts me about 3.5 hours post rope drop, generally lunch time
12:30ish Get fastpass for Soarin
The rest of the afternoon is Soarin, Grizzly Rapids, and Frozen show in whatever order I choose. By 5pm, I'm usually getting another Guardians fastpass and going on whatever Boardwalk rides I missed earlier. Then drinking at the Lamplight Lounge or drinking at Trattoria.

For an 8:00am rope drop, you should be in better shape.

 

[MNDisneyMommy]

I love these boards, I was just facing a similar question. It kicked out the same weird recommendation for getting a FP for Goofy's Sky School. It just didn't pass any sort of realistic test for me either, but I wasn't sure...Disneyland is so different... so I am very glad you asked and got these answers.

I love Touring Plans, but that is a terrible plan, and the return times are very unrealistic.

My go to plan for a 9:00 rope drop is generally as follows:
9:00 Fastpass Radiator Springs Racers and rope drop Toy Story
Incredicoaster
Mickey's Wheel of Death
All other Boardwalk rides (inside out, goofy, mermaid, etc)
10:30 This puts me about an hour and a half after rope drop. Basically my return time for RSR dictates how much time I spend on the Boardwalk.
Fastpass usually opens up for Guardians - get this
Head over to Radiator Springs
Use fastpass for RSR and do Maters and Luigi in any available order
Monsters Inc
Philharmagic
Use Guardians Fastpass
This usually puts me about 3.5 hours post rope drop, generally lunch time
12:30ish Get fastpass for Soarin
The rest of the afternoon is Soarin, Grizzly Rapids, and Frozen show in whatever order I choose. By 5pm, I'm usually getting another Guardians fastpass and going on whatever Boardwalk rides I missed earlier. Then drinking at the Lamplight Lounge or drinking at Trattoria.

For an 8:00am rope drop, you should be in better shape.

Coasternut, this is awesome and extremely helpful. Do you have a similar rough plan for Disneyland? There are just SO many rides there. We have two days for Disneyland.

 

[CastAStone]

I leave in about 4 weeks and am trying to finalize my TP for DCA. I’ve heard that they aren’t as good for DL as WDW but I loved using them so much at WDW that I wanted to try for DL. My main question is how likely is it that RSR will run out of FPs before I get one? My TP has me getting one at 9:50 with a park opening of 8am and EE of 7am. The predicted crowd level is a 3 that day. Even on the TP site they say to get the FP for RSR ASAP after entering the park yet my plan wants me to wait until 9:50 to get it with a return time starting 10:30.

Touring Plans is very bad at maximizing MaxPass. Very bad. I’ve been struggling with this mightily for my upcoming DLR trip - I want to have a plan but the software is so bad at making MaxPass suggestions that it’s basically useless.

As others have noted, use it to roughly plan what rides to do in the AM when the park isn’t busy yet. That will be a couple of good hours with a 7AM open. Then use the Lines apps Ride Now/Ride Later feature to work through your day.

 

[Marshmelo]

Thank you everyone! It didn’t feel right to me but I wanted to check to make sure.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

I second Disneyland Daily. I’ve been using her strategies the past few years and they really work well.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

I knew Touring Plans crowd predictions were rubbish, but I honestly feel angry looking at those plans and thinking that poor, unsuspecting souls are following those! Holy. Cow. I can’t even.

I absolutely recommend Disneyland Daily’s plans. As someone who is in the parks at least weekly, at a variety of days and times (and someone with a spreadsheet of Maxpass/FP return times going back to May 2108), I find hers the closest to the reality of what I see in the parks.

As far as specifically asking about RSR FP times, other than the true ghost town conditions of this summer, I can’t find any days in my records where you could pull at 9:50 and have a 10:30 return time. Even on the empty summer days when FPs were overwhelmingly “immediate,” RSR was often at an 11:00 return time by 9:30 or so - its the FP that most people pull first by a long shot.

 

[lalasmama]

I love Touring Plans, but that is a terrible plan, and the return times are very unrealistic.

My go to plan for a 9:00 rope drop is generally as follows:
9:00 Fastpass Radiator Springs Racers and rope drop Toy Story
Incredicoaster
Mickey's Wheel of Death
All other Boardwalk rides (inside out, goofy, mermaid, etc)
10:30 This puts me about an hour and a half after rope drop. Basically my return time for RSR dictates how much time I spend on the Boardwalk.
Fastpass usually opens up for Guardians - get this
Head over to Radiator Springs
Use fastpass for RSR and do Maters and Luigi in any available order
Monsters Inc
Philharmagic
Use Guardians Fastpass
This usually puts me about 3.5 hours post rope drop, generally lunch time
12:30ish Get fastpass for Soarin
The rest of the afternoon is Soarin, Grizzly Rapids, and Frozen show in whatever order I choose. By 5pm, I'm usually getting another Guardians fastpass and going on whatever Boardwalk rides I missed earlier. Then drinking at the Lamplight Lounge or drinking at Trattoria.

For an 8:00am rope drop, you should be in better shape.

^^^^^^ THIS! This looks like a MUCH better plan that the one from TP!

 

[lalasmama]

I knew Touring Plans crowd predictions were rubbish, but I honestly feel angry looking at those plans and thinking that poor, unsuspecting souls are following those! Holy. Cow. I can’t even.

I absolutely recommend Disneyland Daily’s plans. As someone who is in the parks at least weekly, at a variety of days and times (and someone with a spreadsheet of Maxpass/FP return times going back to May 2108), I find hers the closest to the reality of what I see in the parks.

As far as specifically asking about RSR FP times, other than the true ghost town conditions of this summer, I can’t find any days in my records where you could pull at 9:50 and have a 10:30 return time. Even on the empty summer days when FPs were overwhelmingly “immediate,” RSR was often at an 11:00 return time by 9:30 or so - its the FP that most people pull first by a long shot.

I always feel bad when someone says they payed for Touring Plans, knowing that their recommendations will so often lead people astray!

 

[Skyegirl1999]

How am I able to do that? I didn’t think you could see any FPs unless you had purchased MP already.

Click on any ride in the app and it will show you the current FP return time.

I always feel bad when someone says they payed for Touring Plans, knowing that their recommendations will so often lead people astray!

It’s appallingly bad. I can’t get over starting with Philharmagic. I just... no. So very, very no.

 

[ab21au]

Marshmelo, I have also noticed the TP are not very good and very confusing as to the reason for the placement. I have moved some of the attractions and then optimized and they are put back to unrealistic positions within the plans.

I used it many years ago and then when I got into the park, didn’t really follow it anyway. We’ve got 5 days and EE each day and intend to get MP each day so I don’t think we need it anyway but I thought it was a good exercise to try it out. But I was getting disappointed with the results.

Thanks for all the comments, you have saved me from much frustration.

 

[Marshmelo]

Thank you all so much for all the input. I’m so glad I asked! And @ab21au I’m glad it also helped you! It’s very disappointing that TP is that bad for DLR. I will make sure to complete their survey after my trip. They were wonderful for my last two WDW trips I used them for.

 

[ab21au]

I just put in the plan as suggested by Coasternut22 above and the TP moved the RSR FP and ride to afternoon. It in almost every case moved the ride to immediately after the FP for that ride. It doesn’t make any sense and it has shown to me, for DCA it is not correct.