I am now a Believer - Tour Guide Mike

[unixadm]

Well, did our first touring day today in the Magic Kingdom using Tour Guide Mike's Advice.

All I can say is that it was worth the $18...even double that!

My wife even said to me that she had her doubts with all my planning...getting the Passporter, subbing to TGM, spending MANY hours tweaking my spreadsheets. She is now a believer as well.

Longest wait we had all day was 10 minutes which was at Big Thunder Railroad...we chose not to do Fast Pass, but to wait in line because my son wanted to go right then. Most rides were walk right on with ZERO wait time!

We hit EVERY ride on my itinerary that the kids wanted to for MK for the day by 2pm. This is with a 4 year old and a 3 year old (who has many issues with rides). We even hit Goofy's Barnstormer 3 times, and Mickey's Philharmagic twice! We were then able to head out of the park a little after 2pm, and relax for a while before having dinner at Epcot (Le Cellier) at 5:30pm. We looked at the ride wait times as were were leaving and many were 30 minutes and higher! We just hit all the right rides at the right times because of my research using TGM as well as tons of reading here, the Passporter, etc.

Is his info available elsewhere? Some of it, yes, but other stuff I hadn't read anywhere else. I probably won't re-subscribe for our upcoming April trip because I doubt much will be different, but would probably re-subscribe for a 2007 trip.

Well, tomorrow, we will see what how his Epcot info is, on Tuesday, is MGM.

 

[Sorcerer Figment]

Glad you had a great trip!

(Everyone please play nice! )

 

[unixadm]

Glad you had a great trip!

(Everyone please play nice! )

Still having a great trip! Posting from BWV right now. We arrived yesterday and will be here until Sat 9/24.

I will post more thoughts as the rest of the week unfolds.

 

[Sorcerer Figment]

Still having a great trip! Posting from BWV right now. We arrived yesterday and will be here until Sat 9/24.

I will post more thoughts as the rest of the week unfolds.

Wow, good for you! I've never gotten to stay there, but have cruised by the Boardwalk and was amazed. I'm looking forward to hearing about the rest of your trip. Hope the rest of it is as good, no, even better!

 

[JennaTX]

Glad you are having a great trip! Hope the rest of the trip is wonderful for you and your family also! We went this summer with 2 kids under 5 and TGM worked for us at every park!

 

[jennymouse]

Glad it worked well for you! It's the slow time of year right now, we'll have to see how it works on our busy Thanksgiving trip!

 

[MaryKatesMom]

Sounds great! I think a real advantage is to have a plan. It is a shame to see people wandering around looking at a map and asking 15 people "What do they want to do next?"

 

[TallyLassie]

Glad TGM is working well for you. I have bought his service for my October trip and still really need to dig into his web site. Also have the Unofficial Guide for 2005, but I don't think enough has changed for me to get an updated copy. Maybe the library has one?

Also, ordered my Pal Mickey (old model) for $13.99. Never can be too prepared!

 

[Donnask8pro]

I also am going to use TGM in my upcoming trip. Are you following the sample for touring w/ young kids? I have a 5 yr old. That seems to be the way to go. Thanks. Have fun for all of us. We wish we were there NOW....

 

[unixadm]

I also am going to use TGM in my upcoming trip. Are you following the sample for touring w/ young kids? I have a 5 yr old. That seems to be the way to go. Thanks. Have fun for all of us. We wish we were there NOW....

Yes, I used his sample touring w/young kids and tweaked a bit for what our kids wanted.

I had my Passporter organizer in the stroller with the maps, and my Touring plans, so I was able to quickly figure out what was the next ride and where to go. (Yeah, I must have looked like a nutball walking around with an organizer....friends at work said it looked like I was taking my kids on a business trip with the organizer, spreadsheets, etc, but if it works, who cares? )

 

[addicted2disney]

Jennymouse.. I used TGM last year for Thanksgiving and it was AWESOME!! I used him again in January, but they went and changed the EMH's and added the evening ones.. But I resubscribed AGAIN for this Thanksgiving. I thought we had a great trip avoiding crowds at T-giving last year!!

I use TGM basically to know which parks to go to and which parks to avoid. I like when he says. .. this park is great in the morning, but Id go here at night. He tells you why and I like that alot. I also like that if you are NON emh users like us, that is a different schedule than those who use the EMH.

unixadm.. Glad its working for you and you are having a great trip!!! I cant wait 67 days for mine!!! We stayed at BWV this past January, and LOVED the location. The boardwalk area is awesome!!! Have a great time!!

 

[TheWho]

His AK tour plan is a slam dunk. I used it during the 4th of Juky week and it's a charm.

 

[PigletsPal]

I also will be using TGM for our Dec. trip. I think he is the bomb. Having so much fun learning this that I never new about and I've been so many times I've lost count.

 

[edingerc]

Please post your success on his board. He LOVES to hear positive feedback from guests who have benefitted from his advice.

 

[bertalander]

So tell me this...

I have a trip coming up next week... I have NO plan of action other than my ADRs. Today I was thinking about either getting the Unofficial Guide plans online or the TGM. I already have the passporter for maps etc.

Is TGM that much better than UG?

Thanks for any input... gotta get to planning!

~Berta

 

[jennymouse]

Jennymouse.. I used TGM last year for Thanksgiving and it was AWESOME!! I used him again in January, but they went and changed the EMH's and added the evening ones.. But I resubscribed AGAIN for this Thanksgiving. I thought we had a great trip avoiding crowds at T-giving last year!! QUOTE]

That's good to know! We aren't doing his advised park on TG day though. It's only a short trip and we won't be going to that park at all this time, unfortunately. Where we're going it's red, but we plan on hitting it before opening and do what we can then get out. The rest of the trip we're doing green parks.lol

 

[joanchris]

I'm so happy to hear it's working for you! I purchased the Passporter (LOVE the maps!) and hadn't planned on anything else, but kept reading about TGM, so I purchased that too, and I'm glad I did. His reasoning makes sense, and I love hearing my time spent on his plan and website should make us able to do all we want in 3 weeks!

 

[dizplanner]

I have a trip coming up next week... I have NO plan of action other than my ADRs. Today I was thinking about either getting the Unofficial Guide plans online or the TGM. I already have the passporter for maps etc.

If you only have a week before your trip, I would not get TMG. It does not spit out a customized touring plan and it takes some time to read his web site and really get the value out of it. You really don't have enough time. Think of TMG as an online guide book, not a touring plan.

Now, I am subscribed to TMG and plan to use his ideas for my March trip. But I have time to read and understand his techniques. I do think he has some good information and I like his website (although navagition is an issue, but I don't have any great ideas on how he can improve it - there is just a lot of information there and depending on what you are doing, you may want to access it in different ways).

 

[bertalander]

Thanks for the info...

~Berta

 

[Katerbug]

Lots of people mention the great maps in the Passporter guide. Is there something different or special about these maps that makes them different from the ones you get at WDW. Do I need to buy the Passporter also just for the maps?