Have you tried tourguide mike's plans

[abaldacci]

I am thinking of using them but, will they work if I have my AR's and days I am going to parks already picked out.

 

[luvdiz]

TGM has been a huge help to me - we try to pay attention to his recommendations of when to go where and when to send someone for Fastpasses etc... and it has worked great for us on 2 previous trips. It will be interesting to see how it works in a couple of weeks when the crowds are greater!!!

 

[Christine & family]

I just subscribed to his site a few weeks ago and will be sure to report how it works, but I already feel like I got my money's worth. He has great suggestions that make a lot of sense once you read them. I go to Disney ever year with my family and I'm probably on my 15+ trip coming up and I still feel like I'm learning things from him. He gives you insight on things I've never seen published anywhere else.

 

[staylor]

Where do you find this website.

 

[jjan]

http://www.tourguidemike.com/

And HI! to Christine & Family.... we live in Dover so it is a small world

 

[Atotty]

Tourguidemike is awesome. We started using his info in 2003. This will be our third trip using his touring plans. The other two trips we haven't stayed in line longer than 15 mins for anything...that one 15 min time was Dumbo.

I would **never** go to WDW without my TGM plans.

One of the most useful parts of his service is his best days to go to each park. He rates them in order green for go, yellow for maybe and red for no way...stay out. Has them for Am and PM. And tells you the reasons why for each.

The Touring plans are awesome.

And the third thing would be the best times to ride things at each park for the AM, PM, Evening or anytime.

He's info all turned out to work perfectly.

 

[Cinderella822]

I'm leaving in a week and I was getting nervous about the crowds reported, so I just subscribed to TGM last weekend. There is so much information, I wish I had more time to read it all. I have most of my plans set already, but it was nice to verify that I made some good choices. And there were tips which I found very helpful and will certainly use on my trip. I may not follow his plan exactly, but I'm going to try to start each day the way he suggests and go from there. Good luck!

 

[Noah122898]

I used TGM last year and it worked out to be the best trip ever. Got to do/see everything we wanted with very little wait times. It was also a relaxing trip not battling the crowds. Were using TGM again this trip in August, definately worth the money.

 

[kpalmer35]

Following TourGuideMike's advice made our vacation so much fun!!! We were there June 28 - July 8th and the crowds were really insane. At the Magic Kingdom we went on Dumbo, Peter Pan, Mad Tea Cups, Buzz Light Year 3 times in a row, Goofy's Barnstormer, Saw Mickey and Minnie's House, Rode the RR train, rode Big Thunder Mountain, and Haunted Mansion ALL BEFORE 11:20am when we decided to have lunch at Pecos Bills. We walked on everything except for Big Thunder which was our longest wait at about 15 minutes. After lunch we went on Splash Mountain, saw Mickey's Philharmagic (couldn't believe there was a 60 minute wait for Peter Pan) , trekked through the pouring rain with our ponchos over to Space Mountain to use our fastpasses, rode the transit authority (which was not in our plans) to wait out the rain, then headed back to the hotel around 1:45pm.

We had done so much and had so much fun. My husband and 2 girls couldn't believe that we got right on so many rides.

After resting at the hotel (Pop Century) we had dinner at Ohana at 5:40pm, then went back to MK. Hardly waited 5 minutes for Its a small world, used our fastpasses to ride Splash Mountain again, got right on Jungle Cruise, got right on Pirates, saw Spectro, toured Swiss Family TreeHouse, and saw Wishes on our way to the bus stop.

We went to all 4 parks and both water parks and Mike's advice was right on. We went on everything we wanted to with hardly a wait. He doesn't just tell you what to go on when, but WHY. Also his shortcuts through the park, helpful hints on how to get the best seats, the best way to use fastpasses, and best times to eat are just invaluable. Our vacation would not have been the same without TourGuideMike. I can't speak highly enough of how much we enjoyed using his advice.

 

[brer rabbit 28]

Following TourGuideMike's advice made our vacation so much fun!!! We were there June 28 - July 8th and the crowds were really insane. At the Magic Kingdom we went on Dumbo, Peter Pan, Mad Tea Cups, Buzz Light Year 3 times in a row, Goofy's Barnstormer, Saw Mickey and Minnie's House, Rode the RR train, rode Big Thunder Mountain, and Haunted Mansion ALL BEFORE 11:20am when we decided to have lunch at Pecos Bills. We walked on everything except for Big Thunder which was our longest wait at about 15 minutes. After lunch we went on Splash Mountain, saw Mickey's Philharmagic (couldn't believe there was a 60 minute wait for Peter Pan) , trekked through the pouring rain with our ponchos over to Space Mountain to use our fastpasses, rode the transit authority (which was not in our plans) to wait out the rain, then headed back to the hotel around 1:45pm.

We had done so much and had so much fun. My husband and 2 girls couldn't believe that we got right on so many rides.

After resting at the hotel (Pop Century) we had dinner at Ohana at 5:40pm, then went back to MK. Hardly waited 5 minutes for Its a small world, used our fastpasses to ride Splash Mountain again, got right on Jungle Cruise, got right on Pirates, saw Spectro, toured Swiss Family TreeHouse, and saw Wishes on our way to the bus stop.

We went to all 4 parks and both water parks and Mike's advice was right on. We went on everything we wanted to with hardly a wait. He doesn't just tell you what to go on when, but WHY. Also his shortcuts through the park, helpful hints on how to get the best seats, the best way to use fastpasses, and best times to eat are just invaluable. Our vacation would not have been the same without TourGuideMike. I can't speak highly enough of how much we enjoyed using his advice.

this sounds amazing!!!i did mk the same time as you last year.We only managed 5 or 6 rides in one day cos the queues were so mad,that's using fp as well.I recently subscribed to TGM for next years trip and it's like the mist has cleared and i can see the light!!!
This will be my 4th disney holiday and i'm sure it will be the best thanks to Mike...............THANKS MIKE!!!

 

[andromedaslove]

I have been going to Disney at least 5 or 6 times a year for 3 years now. AFter reading so many wonderful reviews I gave TGM a try for our HUGE family trip (as in a lot of people not alot of days) thinking that I would need all the help I could get. I LOVED IT!! We got to ride everything we wanted and were done with just about everything by 1:00pm. We spent every afternoon at the hotel resting and playing in the pool. After resting and dinner we headed back to the parks for the nighttime shows and any other rides we wanted to ride again. The trip didn't turn out all that well, but I think that was because of my in laws definately not my planning. Since then have used him for every trip I have taken and will continue to do so. As long as I keep my Annual Passes TGM has a lifetime member!!

Dana

 

[IwannaseeMickey]

Are these useful and/or needed if you are going in a lower crowd time of year? Namely early Oct. Not sure if they are really needed then. thanks!

 

[MiniMe]

I wondered the same thing since I'm heading to WDW in Oct or early Jan. I would prefer Jan since it's value season and lines are short.

 

[ajcolorado]

We used Tour Guide Mike this summer (6/16 - 6/23) and never waited more than 15 or 20 minutes for any attraction, as long as we stuck to the plan. We encountered longer waits when we deviated from the plan. We enjoyed the articles and help available on his website too. This was our 4th trip to Disney World and I highly recommend TGM. I believe that there is a $3 discount code available when you click on the Tour Guide Mike add (side bar) on themouseforless.com

 

[ryanmilla]

Can you use TGM for two separate trips? I have a trip planned for March and subscribed to TGM for that trip. Well, I just booked a surprise trip for my family for this Dec and want to use him for that.

What I'm concerned about is if I change my dates to the Dec trip, then I will have to subscribe again for the March trip. Has anyone had a similar experience?

 

[NCombs]

Can you use TGM for two separate trips? I have a trip planned for March and subscribed to TGM for that trip. Well, I just booked a surprise trip for my family for this Dec and want to use him for that.

What I'm concerned about is if I change my dates to the Dec trip, then I will have to subscribe again for the March trip. Has anyone had a similar experience?

It's only for one trip at a time but you get a discount to sign up again on another trip.

 

[MissK]

Are these useful and/or needed if you are going in a lower crowd time of year? Namely early Oct. Not sure if they are really needed then. thanks!

Just echoing this posters question as I don't think it has been answered and I'd like to know as well

 

[ajcolorado]

We used Tour Guide Mike this summer (6/16 - 6/23) and never waited more than 15 or 20 minutes for any attraction, as long as we stuck to the plan. We encountered longer waits when we deviated from the plan. We enjoyed the articles and help available on his website too. This was our 4th trip to Disney World and I highly recommend TGM. I believe that there is a $3 discount code available when you click on the Tour Guide Mike add (side bar) on themouseforless.com

 

[andromedaslove]

I used them for our trip in April, and I am using him again for our trip in September. I definately think it is worth it. Even during non-peak times you definately want to avoid the crowds as much as possible and his site will definately help you do that. He points out which days are best to go to which parks and why, how to use FP to your fullest advantage, when to have eat and still avoid the lunch/dinner crowds. The entire site is full of really helpful information that you can use no matter which time of year you will be visiting.

Dana

 

[missypie]

If you happen to hit the slowest time of the year, no, you don't need any touring plan if the rides are literally walk ons. But there are so many special events, conventions, etc. that it's hard to hit those precise weeks.

TGM was wonderful. Don't subscribe unless you can put some time into it. The more you read and delve into it, the more you understand WHY you're doing what you're doing. I guess that is the difference I see between UG and TGM. When we went to Disneyland, I slavishly followed the UG plans and everything went great. At WDW (during a more crowded time) I followed TGM and everything went great. Because I understood the WHY of what we were doing, we could be more flexible and could vary the plans a bit.

We were at WDW for 10 days (incl Memorial Day weekend) and our longest wait for a ride was 17 min., for a non-FP attraction. It was like being in an alternative reality...all around us, folks were waiting in long lines, and we simply weren't!

One more thing: I don't think I'm giving anything away by saying that Mike likes you to get to the parks early. If you insist on sleeping in every day, Mike's plans won't work as well for you. (Although you could still benenfit from the shortcuts, best places to sit, etc. info.)