Experience with Tour Guide Mike?

[disneyfantotheend]

Although there is outdated material on his site. I think it is worth every penny. Touring plans and Mike's best days vary a LOT. I know because I purchased both one year, just to compare them. I can't tell you tp works, but I would bet it does. One or the other is fine. The year I bought both, just drove me crazy. I stick with Mike now. He has proven to be accurate for us on our last 2 trips.

 

[carmiedog]

Here's me video review of Tour Guide Mike.

http://www.expotv.com/videos/reviews/21/188/TouringWaltDisneyWorldwithTourGuideMike/287367

Awesome! And spot on! Unfortunately, that's the only video of yours I can get to (since I have a direct link) - I'm going to be forced to upgrade my browser just so I can check out the rest. Seriously, great job.

jediobiwan's post here is also in line with my thoughts on TGM.

I'm still a subscriber to TGM and find it worth it despite the cons. A lot of people love touringplans. I also subscribe there but it just doesn't fit me. I don't think it really matters in the end as long as you have a plan that works for you.

 

[buffalogirl]

I highly recommend TGM. We've used it 3 times in the past 3 years. It was money well spent.

 

[blestmom]

Love TGM! We've used him the last 4 trips. His advice is excellent. People are always amazed at how much we are able to do.

 

[MyMuse]

I have been thinking about using one of these services. I have never before on my trips to WDW (not that there have been many ).

I realize now that my previous trips were always in slow season (early December), so there was never a need. Now, for this trip, I am going in 2 weeks and wondering whether I should.

My concerns are whether any of the touring help sites are taking into account the 4/3 promotions and whether they have any for solo trippers.

Or, is it needed for solo trippers since I can pretty much do whatever I want, when I want?

 

[myladyisatramp]

OMG I used Mike my 07 trip and this past 08 trip. He has never steered me wrong. My husband was quite impressed with our no real waiting in lines and dinner ressies the whole trip was perfect. Definately use Mikes advice

 

[littleelvis]

OMG I used Mike my 07 trip and this past 08 trip. He has never steered me wrong. My husband was quite impressed with our no real waiting in lines and dinner ressies the whole trip was perfect. Definately use Mikes advice

Same with us, I mean even if you only use it to figure out which park is your best bet for the day...... it's TOTALLY worth the money.

 

[chris1gill]

I pay for his site just for his best days. There have been several times that we came back after using his advice to hear about how long the lines were and how crowded it was. We would look at each other and say "Isn't that when we were there and we walked right on ... {name a popular ride}?" Sure enough, we had went to a park that TourGuideMike recommended and the complaint was about one that he told us to stay away from. We are park hoppers so it isn't as important to us because if a park is crowded, we just go to another one. I would think it would be more important for those that do not have park hoppers so are stuck with wherever they start the day.

I have to agree with this, knowing which parks which days is incredibly important, and for sure the use of FP's, getting there at rope drop, heading straight to the busiest rides, it's all really important information. We've also used Tour Guide Mike for 4 years and have been very happy each time. We can get in and out of a park by noon, or 1 if we eat in the park and will have done everything on our list we wanted to do... You can get it down to a science.

 

[suebedo]

I have been thinking about using one of these services. I have never before on my trips to WDW (not that there have been many ).

I realize now that my previous trips were always in slow season (early December), so there was never a need. Now, for this trip, I am going in 2 weeks and wondering whether I should.

My concerns are whether any of the touring help sites are taking into account the 4/3 promotions and whether they have any for solo trippers.

Or, is it needed for solo trippers since I can pretty much do whatever I want, when I want?

TGM is a must have. The least crowded parks chart is great. He explains WHY one park is recommended over another for each day. (Touring plans.com is good but there is not reasons why they list a park as best. ) Even if you don't follow a specific TGM plan, his advice on "how" to tour the parks is awesome. If you learn enough and read enough from his site, you can easily put your own plan together.

I am a very satisfied TGM customer!

 

[btcrane]

I used TGM for the first time over the crazy busy Christmas season. This was our fourth trip to Disney so I warned everyone that it would be insane, we wouldn't be able to do everything we were used to doing, and we were there to just absorb the magic of the Christmas season. But using TGM's suggested parks for certain days, and combining his tour guide with the Unofficial Guide (something we were able to do because we already knew what we couldn't miss and what could be skipped) we had a tremendous time. Definitely worth the nominal monetary investment; in fact, I'm using him again for my trip in March, and fully intend to do so again for our trip in August.

Hope you have a wonderful time!!!!

 

[jewjubean]

I just bought Ridemax..and it is sooo awesome....I couldnt figure out TGM and got sick of reading a million articles... most of the information was the same as on the boards

 

[MushyMushy]

Love TGM. Advice was spot on, and we truly never did wait more than 10-15 minutes in a line.

 

[eeyorepixie]

Love my TGM, love the best days and my vacation club!!!!!

 

[MyMuse]

TGM is a must have. The least crowded parks chart is great. He explains WHY one park is recommended over another for each day. (Touring plans.com is good but there is not reasons why they list a park as best. ) Even if you don't follow a specific TGM plan, his advice on "how" to tour the parks is awesome. If you learn enough and read enough from his site, you can easily put your own plan together.

I am a very satisfied TGM customer!

Isn't that chart already free?

 

[creativeamanda]

Let me let you all in on a secret about TGM. If you print out his information from one year to the next, you are going to see the same things over and over. I believe he cuts and pastes advice. He can also be really slow getting out his best/worst park info--to the point that you've missed your ADR window beginning. It makes no sense to me that it takes him so long, as he is cutting and pasting the information, anyway.

ETA: His advice works best, IMO, for a family spending 2 or more weeks at Disney World, as there is never a recommendation to go from rope drop to close (with a break) into a rope drop for the next day. IMO, he expects people to have at least 10 days in the parks.

 

[creativeamanda]

Isn't that chart already free?

Touring plans is only free for about a month leading to a visit. You can get the entire year's chart if either 1. you pay for the site or 2. you have the Unofficial Guide

 

[2infinityandbeyond]

ETA: His advice works best, IMO, for a family spending 2 or more weeks at Disney World, as there is never a recommendation to go from rope drop to close (with a break) into a rope drop for the next day. IMO, he expects people to have at least 10 days in the parks.

I don't recall ever seeing TGM suggesting that you need ten or more days in the parks. Our trips are usually 5-7 days and TGM has worked perfectly every time.

 

[MickeyPalace]

I always loved TGM and had great experiences up until this year. I just got a refund and won't be back again.

Mike used to monitor the forums and be an active participant. His customers felt like they were actually getting his "personal" advice--or at least felt like he was running his website in a hands-on manner. I have to second (and 3rd and 4th) what other former TGM'ers are saying about his seriously slow posts and OUTDATED advice. For instance, he still had the Cheescake Factory Express listed as a restaurant within Disney Quest, even though it apparently closed last fall.

I didn't even KNOW about Toy Story Mania until I read about it somewhere else, because it isn't listed in his touring plan??

Those are just 2 examples...

Customer support is almost non-existent. The only time you get a timely response (3 days or less) seems to be when you're trying to pay... I am SO disappointed with what used to be a great site. I used it for my last 2 trips and was happy with it for the money, and I think a lot of the people here who recommend TGM are ones --like me--that used it with excellent results in the past. I know that I was a big fan, too. I don't know what happened there recently???

I've switched to Touring Plans for our next trip (I think their crowd prediction system is more precise) and will also be trying out RideMax, which I've heard some good things about.

 

[DisneyGalAlways]

After looking around TGM (and paying for it), I don't think I found anything there that wasn't already here or on allears.net or someother site - FOR FREE!!!

I posted a couple of questions to the forums and got fairly quick responses, but again, nothing shared there that I haven't already gotten here.

... except attitude. One question I asked explained that something was confusing me, and instead of trying to help, I was sent back to some article (that I'd already read) to get myself edumacated. It seems to me that if someone asks a question, they shouldn't be simply told to "read the article".

So, I read the responses in this thread. I watched the video review of TGM by ScotnSteph. Which linked me to her review of RideMax.

I requested a refund from TGM and bought RideMax.

So far, I've been very pleased with RideMax. I tell it what I want to do, punch in my meals and arrival times and tahdaaaaahhhh!!! I get a plan.

I don't have to read a million articles that someone wrote 3 years ago with the SAME OL STUFF that I've read here and elsewhere (again for FREE!!!) I don't have to read his bad grammar and sentence structure and incorrect punctuation and crazy use of an apostrophe as a quotation marks and over-use of italics. (Not that I'm very good at any of these. He just annoys me. I'm aware that I can be a snob at times, but I have my quirks. Love me or hate me - I don't care. I just don't like reading his writing. Then again, I have a horrible cold, and it's making me quite grumpy. I'll blame this attitude on the cold.)

So, TGM wasn't for me. I think RideMax will suit me best.

Besides, I've got my Tour Guide DISers.

Thanks for the opinins and recommendations. I'm glad everyone has had good results with TGM. I'll let you know how RideMax worked for us.

 

[mommyaof2]

I just bought Ridemax..and it is sooo awesome....I couldnt figure out TGM and got sick of reading a million articles... most of the information was the same as on the boards

How did you get Ridemax to work? I also purchased it, but it would not go past March?

Oh and by the way, we have used TGM and loved it, but I wanted to take a look at Ridemax this time around.