I took the plunge...

[Disfan1968]

New to Disney? Read on...

I pride myself on being able to plan things. I'm a planner. I plan. I know the WDW parks pretty well, know my way around the FP+ system, and have a fair amount of knowledge about how to go about optimizing a trip. But I decided to go ahead and see what a membership on the Touring Plans website would do. I begrudgingly admit it's pretty darn neat. The thing I like best is that you are not 'stuck" with their "optimized" routes, and that you can tweak your plans any way you see fit and it will recalculate your day.

I am not a fan of down to the minute planning and the quest to get every last ride I can into the day, so I leave a fair amount of down time in my plans throughout the day. But what it does do is give you a game plan/route for the day that is extremely efficient (without having to think about it), and I really like that it predicts your wait times. I am "told" that, while obviously not 100% accurate, these predicted wait times are relatively reliable, and that alone is a big help in terms of putting things together. **Maybe someone who has used them already could speak to this?**

In any event, if you are relatively new to Disney World, or like me, someone who's no "Disney expert," but certainly knows the ropes, I imagine this is something of real use for you. I highly recommend it.

Now that I am done with this... it looks like a dang infomercial. Where's my compensation?

 

[rtbreneman]

I have really enjoyed using touring plans in the past. From my experience, the times are fairly accurate, with a few minor personal tweaks....

* Touring Plans tends to over estimate wait times at rope drop. If you are near the front of the pack, you can reduce your estimated wait times on the first few rides of your day. For instance, if you went straight to BTMRR, you can probably get it in 3 times before really waiting, touring plans would probably have you in line 10 minutes each time.
* They are fairly accurate in their wait times IF their estimated crowd numbers is correct. I don't remember where it is on the website, but there is a place somewhere that you can look back and compare what they predicted, and what was the actual park rating for historical days. Usually, they are close, but occasionally there will be a day that they predicted a 3 and ended up being a 6. Usually they "over-predict" in my experiences (they predict a 5, it's really a 3).
* I always pick the slower walking option, then stick to it pretty closely. I end up having extra time for meandering into shops, bathroom breaks, grabbing a Dole Whip, etc.

 

[Disfan1968]

I have really enjoyed using touring plans in the past. From my experience, the times are fairly accurate, with a few minor personal tweaks....

* Touring Plans tends to over estimate wait times at rope drop. If you are near the front of the pack, you can reduce your estimated wait times on the first few rides of your day. For instance, if you went straight to BTMRR, you can probably get it in 3 times before really waiting, touring plans would probably have you in line 10 minutes each time.
* They are fairly accurate in their wait times IF their estimated crowd numbers is correct. I don't remember where it is on the website, but there is a place somewhere that you can look back and compare what they predicted, and what was the actual park rating for historical days. Usually, they are close, but occasionally there will be a day that they predicted a 3 and ended up being a 6. Usually they "over-predict" in my experiences (they predict a 5, it's really a 3).
* I always pick the slower walking option, then stick to it pretty closely. I end up having extra time for meandering into shops, bathroom breaks, grabbing a Dole Whip, etc.

Thanks so much for the additional info!

 

[GAN]

I've used it in the past and found the wait times extremely accurate. Much more so than MDE. I also liked the option to post wait times through the app ...not sure if that's still available or not. It's been a few years.

 

[sdomino11]

We used Touring Plans last year and I've got all our days entered into it again for our upcoming trip. It is WONDERFUL! I wouldn't dream of going on a trip without it. Last time we found it unbelievably reliable. When you use the app in the parks it's even better because it allows you to adjust on the fly. It's a great tool to let you see about how much you'll be able to get done in a day. I set it to minimize walking ( I've got little kids with little legs!) and to very relaxed walking speed. That way time to explore, shop, and grab a snack is built in. We've followed it exactly before and also tossed it aside to ride something multiple times. Then when you're ready to begin using it again you re-optimize and start over. I think you'll love using it at the parks!

 

[NJlauren]

You sold me! I'm going to give it a try, does it work if you're hopping?

 

[Disfan1968]

You sold me! I'm going to give it a try, does it work if you're hopping?

Sure does. You can add separate plans for the day for each park you will be at.

 

[NJlauren]

Sure does. You can add separate plans for the day for each park you will be at.

Not bad but I would like to be able to add meal out of the park and the time to get to the other park but this works for now!

 

[DisneyGuy758]

I'm going to check it out too. For $12 a year, I can't complain. I've thrown more money at worse things.

 

[Corndog88]

This looks interesting...might have to give it a try for this June.

 

[Trinity88]

I just renewed my subscription last week and love it! They've actually made improvements since I used it early last year. I love the Dashboard where I can see my whole trip and just click on my touring plans. I never use their plans, I like to make my own. But it's great how you can move things around and then see how the times change. You can play with FP+ times and rides to see where you would benefit the most. I also like that you can adjust your walking speed (my 4 year old is slow) and it takes that into account in the plans. I could go on and on. lol

 

[GillianP1301]

I've used them for a few years now and love it. I really enjoy building customized plans. I don't really use the plans down to the minute, but it's a great way to get a sense for how much you can realistically tackle in a day. Having a plan like that in had makes it easier to adjust while you're on the go. It's always good to have some sense of what you want to accomplish, otherwise you end up walking around aimlessly.

 

[Monykalyn]

So glad to hear the good reviews-also took the plunge. Mostly for universal as we haven't been there in over 10 years, but found a great coupon code so both WDW and Uni were less than $10/year. Have to confess that I have been having alot of fun doing multiple plans for each day(fast walker, easy pace etc) . I do wish I could put a resort ADR into the plan but it's not a deal breaker. These boards are awesome for all the tips on how to use the plans as well (evaluate vs optimize for example)

 

[ArwenMarie]

I never got into Touring Plans. Too detailed or something. EasyWDW's thought process and maps make much more sense to me. I also prefer to sketch out the days on the piece of paper so that could be part of it too. The TP app/website is just too much.

 

[MichelleB]

Can you tell me more about this? Is it easy to use?

 

[Disfan1968]

I never got into Touring Plans. Too detailed or something. EasyWDW's thought process and maps make much more sense to me. I also prefer to sketch out the days on the piece of paper so that could be part of it too. The TP app/website is just too much.

Our experiences will vary of course. For me, the web site is very intuitive and I think you can make your plans as psychotically structured or relaxed as you like, depending on your "touring" style. Of course you can print out your plans as well, if you don't want to be bothered with a phone.

But sure, I am sure there are other good planning sites, and EasyWDW has proven a great resource for me in the past as well!

 

[NuJoy]

I also liked the option to post wait times through the app ...not sure if that's still available or not. It's been a few years.

Yep, still available. My husband loves to post wait times on the app. Did so again in January this year.

 

[tinkermomto3]

So glad to hear the good reviews-also took the plunge. Mostly for universal as we haven't been there in over 10 years, but found a great coupon code so both WDW and Uni were less than $10/year. Have to confess that I have been having alot of fun doing multiple plans for each day(fast walker, easy pace etc) . I do wish I could put a resort ADR into the plan but it's not a deal breaker. These boards are awesome for all the tips on how to use the plans as well (evaluate vs optimize for example)

This is exactly why I got it. Last time I convinced myself I had done enough research to do my own plans (and I did fine for most of my Disney days) but for universal and IOA everyone kept saying "you don't have to do as much planning!" and I didn't. And we missed a couple things and it just felt a little chaotic. I got it last weekend for universal and disney and LOVE it. It was also very helpful for our Hollywood Studios day when there were a good bit of shows I was trying to work the schedule around. I travel with 8 other people and I find that planning stops a lot of the "well what do we do now?" and heads off a lot of the hungry crankiness since I can plan to be near the good counter service places around lunch time.

 

[DisneySOS]

I've also taken the plunge and have been having some fun with it. I selected relaxed pace and minimized walking to give us extra time. I have tried both creating my own from scratch and also starting off with one of the recommended ones and editing it from there.

I must admit that some of their wait times seem too good to be true & the other thing that worries me is that it sometimes has us getting to a show about 10-15 minutes before - is it really possible to get into Fantasmic 15 minutes before show time at the end of July?? From what I've read you have to line up at least an hour before! That's why I allowed extra time and plan to use it as a general guide for the day. I'm hoping there will be a second show while we are there and we can go to that one, but it doesn't let you schedule it as an option (or else I might just schedule it as a "break")

Something else worth noting - since it had my Disney days in the calendar it alerted me to a sale that was going on & with a simple phone call I saved $180. on our reservations so it's already paid for itself

 

[Disfan1968]

I must admit that some of their wait times seem too good to be true & the other thing that worries me is that it sometimes has us getting to a show about 10-15 minutes before - is it really possible to get into Fantasmic 15 minutes before show time at the end of July?? From what I've read you have to line up at least an hour before!

I 100% agree and have also taken events out of my schedule to allow me to get to some of the headliners like Fantasmic well ahead of time. Now, I am going in late August, so crowds should be pretty good that time of the year BUT, Disney is Disney, and the headlining attractions, based on my experiences, ALWAYS need to be given some good breathing room in one's schedule.