For people that have actually subscribed to Tour Guide Mike

[Pedler]

For those that have actually subscribed to Tour Guide Mike

 

[babar41]

Pedler... Is there a question here?

edited to say... it would have helped had I seen the poll! For some reason when I opened this thread I didn't see it! So much for my powers of observasion! Lucky I'm not doing brain surgery today.

 

[Brian Noble]

Went during president's week '05. Saw everything we wanted to, waited more than 15 minutes for an attraction precisely once, and that was when we deviated from TGM's advice.

Well worth the $20 for me, and I've re-upped for this year's February trip.

 

[Mycroft]

I'm a TGM subscriber who has never participated in these debates before. I actually found TGM through these boards about 8 months ago. I like the information I get at TGM a lot. I have always done research before my WDW vacations. In the old days I used to read rec.arts.disney.parks. More recently I've used these boards, but when I found TGM I did find some information that I had not seen before. My feeling is that I have only been to WDW four or five times, TGM goes there almost every day, I figure he has picked up a few things that I haven't.

Anyway, I agree with the 80/20 assessment. I think 80% or more of the information you need is here if you want to take the time to read every day for several weeks and if you can weed out the bad information and the bickering. I just think getting the extra 20% in one place by adding a $17 cost to my $2300 vacation is worth it.

Oh, and I don't agree that the main draw of TGM is the boards. I like the boards there, they feel more like a family, but I go mainly for the articles.

 

[Pedler]

Pedler... Is there a question here?

edited to say... it would have helped had I seen the poll! For some reason when I opened this thread I didn't see it! So much for my powers of observasion! Lucky I'm not doing brain surgery today.

That's OK. You won't believe how long it took me to figure out how to do polls. I didn't have the brains to scroll down a bit on the screen. Dod!

 

[missypie]

Our family of 5 flew from Dallas to Orlando, rented a car, spent 5 nights at YC, 5 nights at CR, had 10 day park hopper passes and ate lots of good meals. Even though an AP, mousesavers and the DISboards saved me lots of money, it was a very expensive trip. OF COURSE it was worth $17 to eliminate standing in long lines!!! It costs more than $17 to feed the 5 of us at McDonalds!

 

[Pedler]

Hmmm... so far 4 out of 5 felt it was worth it. Interesting.

 

[Jennygt]

Will I be able to use this, I am leaving in 19 days? I have been to WDW 12+ times but I am always open to new ideas.

 

[Tissa]

The money is well worth it. I just renewed for my second time with him. I don't like to wait for updated books to be published and I know I can get real time answers.

 

[Eyore4Ever149]

I have subscribed to TGM twice.

The first time I did it a few weeks before my trip. Honestly, I got a little confused, I thought "automated" meant "automatic" and thought it was going to spit out a itenerary personalized just for me. It does a LOT, but it lets you think for yourself. But I was still able to gain a LOT of helpful info even with such short notice.

The second time I found the boards on TGM- which were great help for finding things I wanted, but didn't know where to look, there was always someone, including Mike there to help me find the link with just the info I needed.

I will subscribe to it again for our next trip.

The suggested parks per day is worth the admission in my opinion.

 

[goodferry]

It was worth twice what I paid, we went in August and I already re-subscribed. It was not my first trip and I was hardly a disney newbie, but his advice and logic helped me IMMENSELY and kept us from waiting in any lines at all!

 

[edingerc]

Will I be able to use this, I am leaving in 19 days? I have been to WDW 12+ times but I am always open to new ideas.

I guess the biggest question here is, "do you tour WDW any different today than you did on your first visit?" His advice is based on how the majority of people tour the world and how to avoid what they tend to do. Do you like staying up late and sleeping in? the majority of guests do. Do you watch Specromagic on Main Street? The majority of guests do. Do you leave the park immediately after Wishes ends? The majority of guests do.

Hisa idea is to figure out what everyone else is doing and use that knowledge to avoid spending your vacation in the middle of the crowd.

 

[Okiemom]

Where is the code I can get the Tour Mike Guide for 17.00? I think someone posted it here earlier, but I would like it again. thanks.

 

[scoutsmom99]

Okiemom,
It is A82E8-2AH to save $3.00

 

[DisFlan]

First off, there's nothing wrong with TGM. He has tons of great advice. But it wasn't much help for us. We've been visiting WDW for 28 years and already knew most of what he offers. We were "zagging" long before it had a name. We don't go to parks early. We're DVC and he doesn't offer much for that. My husband is an avid Disney golfer, and Mike doesn't give much up-to-date info on that, either. We've been often enough that we don't "do" a whole park in a day. We do a few things we like and hop to something else. If we miss something, it's no big deal. We know we'll be back.

I'm glad I gave TGM a try. He has a great site and good info, but I doubt I'll do it again.

DisFlan

 

[gigi1313]

i'll just echo all the positive sentiments about tgm... i, too, subscribed for my '04 trip only shortly before i left and was disappointed that it was so much work (automated vs. automatic)... i had a subscription for my '05 trip, started using it sooner, gave myself time to get familiar w/it and loved it! his "which days" charts are the best! we followed them precisely and i was shocked at how dead-on his advice was! and when we did not follow his advice, we knew it! LOL! i will be subscribing soon for my jan '06 trip for sure!

 

[Tammi67]

I subscribed to TGM for our December trip, mainly because we are going the week before Christmas and I knew the crowds were going to be heavy. We have previously travelled earlier in December and didn't have to worry about the crowds. I like TGM, his info, and his humor. His site is a little overwhelming but if you have the time to read through it you can get a lot of info. After spending thousands of dollars on a WDW trip, whats 18 more, even if you find only one "tip" useful? Personally, I don't take life serious enough to argue either for TGM, UG or any other "guide." I have better things to do. But I did just want to post my "thoughts" for the sake of this poll.

 

[Pedler]

Hmmm... still holding at 80% and only one asked for thier money back. TGM must be doing something right.

 

[luuuceee]

I purchased the TGM AVP back in November '03, for a June '04 trip. I hadn't been to WDW in 11 years, and I'd never been as the "adult/parent planner". I didn't know where to begin, so for me TGM, was the best thing I ever paid for. I wouldn't have known about PS's, CRT, and all kinds of other stuff had I not joined TGM.

Could I find this info on the DIS? I'm sure I could have. Did I know the DIS existed then? Nope. I use the DIS when I'm looking for info on a specific topic, but other than that, I find the sheer volume of users and threads overwhelming. That's not saying anything negative about the DIS, by the way. Just that there is SO MUCH info here, I get lost sometimes...

Anyway, as soon as I got back last summer, I renewed my AVP, without even knowing exactly when I'd go back next. I ended up taking a trip to FL last month, with 2 days spent at WDW, and TGM's advice again proved to be invaluable. I will probably use TGM for every trip I take to WDW.

The best thing I've gotten from TGM is learning to tour parks with his way of thinking. I love the way Mike explains the "whys" behind each of his recommendations. I've applied the same park touring principals at Universal, IOA, and even 2 Six Flags parks, and I have learned how to do everything I want to in a park without waiting in long lines. Other than 2 unexpected situations in the past 2 years, I can honestly say I've not waited in a line that was longer than 15 minutes since I discovered TGM.

I'm an extremely busy working mom who doesn't have time to read the UG, get info on the DIS, AND use TGM. I choose TGM as my main source of planning my trips because everything is pretty well consolidated and I don't have to fish for every piece of information I need to find.

For those of you who will never use TGM, I have nothing against you. Same thing for those of you who have used TGM and will never go back, or have requested a refund. I'm sure you have phenomenal WDW vacations, just like I do.

For me, TGM works wonders and I'll continue to use that site.

 

[MrsNick]

Went to WDW in July 2003, and although I hear that the parks were crowded, we did not suffer for it. Only one ride did we wait more than 5-10 minutes for, and it was the one ride where we deviated from TGM's advice, since DSD wanted to do something very badly. So, to accomodate her, we changed our plan. Families do that

July was also very hot, but we left the parks at lunchtime to go for a swim at the resort, so we avoided the hottest part of the day. Didn't feel like we missed out on anything. Did we do every attraction? No, but then we weren't going commando. I feel that we were able to do just about all that we wanted to do, and still have some down time. Things that we could not do (i.e. E-Night), because Mother Nature decided to let loose, were things beyond our control, so we didn't get bent out of shape over them.

DH had been very apprehensive about going to WDW in July, because a friend of his at work had taken his son in July 2002. DH's friend reported that the parks were mobbed, the water parks were mobbed, and it was exhausting, and never again.

I am certain that if I wasn't armed with that info, we would have suffered a similar fate, since my DH and DSD have quite different habits then the ones we were advised to do by TGM.

Fortunately for us, DH went along with it when I told him (yes told him) what our daily itinerary was (maybe it's the Teutonic in me? ). After Day 1, he didn't question my itineraries at all. We had a great vacation, and my DH was able to brag to our friends how we didn't wait for anything, got to do lots of stuff, and still had time to relax at the pool.

I'm going in January 2006, and am undecided about whether will use TGM since I predict low crowds, but since we are bringing friends who have never been to WDW, I may utilize TGM anyway. We'll be able to maximize our time spent in the parks and do all that "first time" stuff.

P.S. If you don't want to use TGM, fine with me, since it means that many fewer people who "zag" when we're zagging!