Is a Touring Plans subscription worth it?

[mala55]

We have done only three trips to Disney. I used it more the first two times for planning and I think the MDE app wasn’t as robust as it is now. I still used it this past/last trip but more for the personalized plans vs the pre-planning. The MDE just gives you wait times, where as Touring Plans adjusts on demand where you should go next taking into consideration wait time...posted and reported, ride load times, where you are in the park, fastpasses and best guess as to what wait times will be later. We have used it like a bible and it has never let us down. Worth the cost!

 

[disneyfreak202]

I use it solely to make a touring plan. I could do that on my own because I have been a few times now and understand crowds building and what not from that and from disneyland experience of many years. However, I am too lazy to look up a map and write out a plan while doing that and for the price it isn't too expensive. Instead I just pick the rides I want and then let touring plans create a plan and I move it around so I am not criss crossing the park all day. Other than that though, you can easily get away without it if you have been a few times.

 

[RaySharpton]

I have been using Touring Plans since it first came out. I love it. I even buy multi-year subscriptions just so I won't forget to resubscribe. There are so many things that you can use it for.

 

[bmahokie]

FANTASTIC value and service for very little cost. WELL worth it!

 

[1234lucky]

Love it. We make detailed iternaries and follow them pretty closely. With school aged kids, what I like best is having a good plan in place and then just following it. No dealing with kids arguing about what to do next, whose turn it is to pick the ride. Just follow the plan. I also get so much more done with a plan.

 

[Lovetherodent]

Yes it is!

 

[rwdavis2]

For the minimal cost, why not?

 

[kathy884]

Your decision totally. I think my personality is one who really likes to do a lot of up front planning, so that means a touring plan is something I love putting together. My son, 22, is the same way, so I have a blast working together with him and planning any WDW park day.

Despite my next trip to Orlando (March of 2019) being number 35 for me and despite my only going to one WDW park (the Magic Kingdom) for one day on that trip (coming to Orlando for a family wedding and family activities -- only planning two theme parks days -- the MK and SeaWorld, our two favorites), what am I doing? -- planning our MK day with the touring plans app. Two of us will be doing the Keys to the Kingdom tour and then some attractions after that and two will be doing a busy full day at the MK. The plans give me a good idea of what we can fit in and is a great tools for planning our day, setting priorities. When lines are longer than the original predictions, we sometimes decide to skip some things, etc, and can re-optimize during the day. One day for one person at the Magic Kingdom at the value time is $116 when you includes taxes, and the Keys to the Kingdom tour for two of us is another $99 pp, so a good tool to help me make the most of that very expensive day, especially for the price they charge is worth it to me.

I like it that they keep up with park hours, extra magic hours, special things going on, parties, spring breaks across the nation that might affect crowds. I like their ratings by age group for attractions if it's something we are maybe considering adding that's new.

I'm a bean counter personality that usually doesn't go for the extras (I don't pay for a credit score, find out about my ancestry, check the kind of mix my dog is, buy a magic band when my little plastic card is free, etc.), but I do pay to look at the touring plan recommendations and wait times.

I've been using the touring plans from the book (before they had the computer version) since 1981. They just with their computer models help me make better decisions. It's not perfect, though. If crowds are higher than expected and some lines are longer than expected, we though know where we are on our plan and often reprioritize and drop attractions we don't care as much about.

I've just had way more fun on days that I have used their plans vs. days that I have done my own thing, especially at busy times which now at the MK seems to be all the time lol. And with having done more up front planning, it makes it easy at the park to just really enjoy ourselves and the wonderful vibe at that very happy place, that is a little happier if you can do fewer really long lines.

 

[stinkpickle]

I don't use their planning tools or crowd predictors much, but I use the Lines app all the time.

 

[wdw71]

I never let my subscription expire. It’s great for deciding on which park which days, for making a touring plan and great for scoping out room to request.

 

[Fernanda Diaz]

The personalized planner is awesome! Just bought a subscription last week for my November trip and I love how it optimizes your plans.

 

[DizneyMommy]

Yes 100% I have been using the lines app for Disneyland and the planning tools for WDW, in addition to buying the books for years. Never once felt it wasn’t worth the money.

 

[gharter]

I have loved it and resubscribe each year.
I really like creating a custom plan for each park based on my ADRs , FPs, activities and rides that we want to do.
While we don't always follow it perfectly, it does seem to be a big help in minimizing wait times.
I also like their hints for FPs for each park.
I love their reservation finder (even though that is free).
And we have had good success with their room reservations.

Also a HUGE fan of their waiting time app. When people in the park are using it, it seems to be more accurate than the Disney waiting time app.

 

[Laura's Dad]

ABSOLUTELY. We consider ourselves WDW (and DIS) veterans of over 20 years and we still use TouringPlans a bunch. I am still playing with our plan for our upcoming Memorial weekend trip. We have always used their Resort Room Finder to fax our room requests and have successfully used their Dining Reservation finder to get ADRs. Last year we wanted to change our ADR at O'Hana from a table for 3 to a table for 5. We kept looking and looking for an update without any luck. We thought we were going to have to tell my stepson and his wife that they could not come with the rest of our family the next evening. I was leaving the MK at about 12:15 am after a MNSSHP. I was walking back to the MK bus stop to PO-FQ when I received a text from TouringPlans that a table for 5 had just come open. I went to MDE on the bus ride back to the resort and I was able to book O'hana for 5 the next night. The next night we all agreed that O'hana was one of the best dinner experiences we have ever had. We considered this a little bit of WDW pixie dust. We never would have had that experience without TouringPlans. I like to check off the steps of my personalized touring plans as I go through the parks. It is half the fun of planning a WDW trip.

 

[McNs]

I used it for my first visit last year (after 3 trips to DLR). It was great to build a loose plan for each day, but we like to stop and smell the roses as we tour rather than commando. The great thing about the TP app was I could re optimize during the day once we had finished rose smelling and it would tell us where to go next based on what was happening in the ark at that time.

 

[chiisai]

Love. We like to veer off the path in park, plus frequent bathroom breaks so I select the slowest walking speed when I creat the plans. Then, in the park I’ll have the app reevaluate periodically to refresh wait times, get us back on track after an unplanned diversion.

 

[solfan68]

Going in June. We've been to The World before. But its been a couple of years. So we figured that the subscription would be worth it for the Lines app alone.