Do you think more people are using plans?

[janica]

On our previous visits to DW, 10 and 20 years ago, we used the Unofficial Guide plans and they worked great! I only saw a few people who appeared to have the book or be following a plan of any kind. It seemed that most people, probably 99% of them, just showed up at the parks and then decided what to do and where to go, (many of them standing in the middle of the walkways while they did this!)

This time we are going to use both ug and tgm. With these guides and forums like this, do you think that the plans are becoming less effective as more people are becoming familiar with them, all of which emphasize the need for
a plan, or do you think that most people still show up without a clue as to
where to go and what to do? How many people do you see that seem to be
following a plan?

 

[The Sweetness]

I just got my UG 2007 yesterday, and I couodnt be happeir to have such a complete volume of information, advice etc... I will not, however, be following a plan. I will stop when I see a character to greet, and this takes time. I will be allowing up to 2 days per park, not including the extra afternoon/ evening when we arrive. This should be ample for us to fully enjoy ourselves (as much as my piddly $5,000 budget will allow) I will get much info and valuable time saving advice from the UG. I just dont think following a *plan* will work for us w my baby being only 2 when we come up.

 

[helenm29]

Plans can be a good thing. We are going to use a plan to shorten times between rides but there is no reason we can't sort of veer off the other direction. If there is someone or something we want to see, we'll do so.
a lot of times we just hit a park and sort of play hit or miss as far as certain rides go but this time we have a rout to follow so we don't waste so much time in between. Helen

 

[gems_smiling]

This is something that i think many people think about (me including) however as it says in the UG, it does not have an effect because there are far more people that dont follow a plan. And another thing to remember is people customize the plans (eg they miss out attractions they dont want to see). I couldn't do WDW without touring plans, as i still feel a little lose with them so i dont no what i would feel like without a plan. I would feel like I'm not making the most out of our trip. I dont take the UG to the parks as i customize their plans and then type them up. I try to memorise the plans so i dont have to get them out at the parks.

 

[Devil_Dog99]

I believe the plans actually take into account people using plans. As for more people using them, I would think that a vast majority of people at any given theme park at any given day would be using the same plan. I think the plans are very effective. We used them last year and it was great!!!

You can also tell how many people are using the plans by the number of people you see at the same attraction ('Dear, I think those people are following us - they have been on every attraction we have today!!!'

 

[cleo]

As someone who creates Plans for a specific market, I think the most savvy visitors do use a plan of some sort, at least for their first few trips. Orlando in general and Disney specifically do require a great deal of pre-planning, especially for the first- (and second, possibly third) timer. Even after several visits a basic plan is necessary, taking into account there will ALWAYS be a significant number who will wander aimlessly or many hundreds who visit often enough not to care about doing everything in the 5 days they have available for vacation.

20 years ago there were far fewer visitors, far fewer options and far fewer 'terms of use'. The savvy traveler knows this and plans accordingly, which includes some sort of Day Plan, either comprehensive or at least including the basics.

The UG and even TGM are plans used by several thousands of people each day. It doesn't take a mental genious to do the math on that and figure out how much in-park 'competition' you have when you use those plans. Still, some plan is better than no plan for guests who don't visit more than once a year. Obviously, I'm biased in favour of a Plan that's being used by hundreds, rather than thousands, each day, but again, something is better than nothing.

 

[Max Rebo]

The UG estimates that less than 1% of park visitors have been exposed to its plans.

FWIW.

 

[marconat]

I will be using TGM this year and see how it goes... I'll let you know when I come back ha! ha!

 

[jb.brooks]

I have used the plan from the UG and i like you 10 or 20 yrs ago 4th of july was crowded but very managable them i used birnhbams. I took DD back in 1992 when she was six, then again when she was ten, then again when she was 14 and her last trip when she was sixteen she is now 23. when i go through the tapes seem i saw more then of course AK was not open then either. DW and went in 04 and 06 by ourselves and followed UG but did not seem have seen as much as before. I think you should have some sort of plan, being totally clueless{and i have seen those parents and feel sorry for them}is miserable.

 

[BlindTyldak]

The UG estimates that less than 1% of park visitors have been exposed to its plans.

FWIW.

I think that is an old number . . . just from what I saw on my last trip I'd push that number up to about 10% with about 10% of those actually using it, which puts the number closer to 1% USING the tour plans, or a variant thereof (and if one math genius opens their mouth about percentages or ratios I'll bap you with a trout, I suck at math! ). We spoke to many many MANY more people in 2004 who had read the UG than had in 1998, many of which used at least part of the plan in the MK to get to the big rides, and in AK for the same thing. It seems though that many people tend to drop it after what they want to see most is out of the way.

 

[Max Rebo]

I think that is an old number . . . just from what I saw on my last trip I'd push that number up to about 10% with about 10% of those actually using it, which puts the number closer to 1% USING the tour plans, or a variant thereof (and if one math genius opens their mouth about percentages or ratios I'll bap you with a trout, I suck at math! ). We spoke to many many MANY more people in 2004 who had read the UG than had in 1998, many of which used at least part of the plan in the MK to get to the big rides, and in AK for the same thing. It seems though that many people tend to drop it after what they want to see most is out of the way.

You may very well be correct. However, the figure I quoted is from the 2007 edition I just purchased. But as you stated, there is a difference between being EXPOSED to the plans and actually USING the plans. This is where the UG may have errored.

Also, part of the UG's reasoning is that its plans require visitors to be at the parks for opening. And since vast numbers of visitors are not on hand for openings, well, they must not be using the plans. (Doesn't mean they haven't been exposed to the plans though )

 

[mmmears]

I would say that, yes, many more people are using plans (you can see them with their lists at the parks). But so many people are either unaware of these plans or not willling to use them. Even many people who want to use them have families who wont cooperate with them.

I think the UOG and TGM plans are great, when we follow them we end up around other families that are using them, too. Not so many as to make a huge difference in line, however.

 

[vatmark]

Having a plan works best for my family. We used TGM back in Oct. and it worked out great. I like to know where we are going and where we may want to eat instead of sitting there staring at each other deciding Hmmm what should we do next. My planning has now filtered down to other places besides disney. We went to a local theme park in our area and I even made up a little plan for that.

I think more and more people are starting to use some sort of plan but not all plans are the same so there is very little effect on lines.

Annie

 

[janica]

I believe in using a plan, but you have to remain flexible. Without a
doubt something will happen to change it, so it's also a good idea to have
some alternatives, or at least enough knowledge in your head to change the plan in mid-stream. We have always used plans on vacations, and the biggest benefit to a plan that I have found is that it eliminates disagreements within the family, making for a happy, peaceful trip. No arguing over what we are going to do, where we are going to eat, etc. We have family meetings before the trip
to work all this out, taking everyone's preferences into account and coming
to a mutual agreement. The result is a much less stressful trip.

I was concerned though, that with TGM, UG and the forums, that their
recommendations may be getting less effective with more people using them.
I'm not sure about UG's estimate of only 1% either. That's why I was
wondering what others thought. I guess it seems to me that some of these plans seem a bit optimistic about what can be accomplished before noon on a
busy day, especially after reading some of the posts about the mob scenes at EE. I have a tendancy to want to allow more time then some of the plans
do, but maybe I'm being too cautious.