is a touringplans.com subscription worth $8.95?

[KelseyLaPerle]

I am comtemplating a subscription to touringplans.com. I am worried that the information they provide I may be able to get from the Disney Mom's Panel, this site and other discussion boards. Any suggestions?!
Thanks!

 

[Mom23Disneybelievers]

I think that you can do a lot of great planning without the subscription. Disboards, mom's panel, and the "unofficial guide" gave me so much information (much more than is actually necessary.....)

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

I do really like the Crowd Calendar on touringplans and pay the 8.95 really just to get access to that, but you could certainly do without it, and there are some flaws in their system (these are made clear in the explanation of how they work their system).

Last trip I sprung for Tour Guide Mike's site and really liked his take on which park to visit which day. Even after more than a dozen trips, he did have something to offer. But again, I could have done without it.

 

[MS_mom_1965]

It really depends - are you already set on when you are going? If so, you might not need the crowd calendar on the touringplans site.

Are you going during a busy time of year? If not, you may not need TGM either.

 

[sksjasams]

We went at Thanksgiving time last year. I did subscribe to touringplans and also tourguide mike before our trip. I really thought both sites were great and the forums on tourguide mike were invaluable. I did use advice from both sites to decide which park for which day. What I really liked about touringplans was the way you could use their program to input your own plan and then print it out. I modified plans from touringplans and tourguide mike based on what we wanted to do and suggestions from the TGM forums, then I was able to key them into the touringplans program and it printed out our very own personalized plan, including a map with each stop numbered for our day. It was so great to just grab our plan each morning and go. The plans were outstanding and made our first vacation ever a real dream come true.

The Unofficial Guide book is also really great if you don't have that already.
Good luck and enjoy your trip!

 

[TrustedTraveler]

This will be my 4th year using Tour Guide Mike. I look at it this way: we'll spend about $1,000 on park passes and from conversations I've had with others we see/experience 30 to 50% more than most people who take on the parks without a plan. It's a no brainer for us.

 

[emh1129]

Don't you get a free subscription to touringplans.com when you purchase the Unofficial Guide book? Or has that changed?
I think their crowd calendar is great and we've had good luck following their recommendations.

 

[Praying Colonel]

I've been a subscriber for years now. IMHO it's very helpful, but YMMV. They have a 45-day money-back guarantee if you decide it's not worth it for you.

 

[squirrel]

If you own the book or borrow it from the library you can access the website and get the crowd calendar.

 

[AlternateEgo]

I'm going to be so honest with you. I paid alot more than $9 for a toursite. I am so disappointed in it. I knew just abou tall the information i received. I am not a Disney veteran, maybe I just have more time to read and collect information from reading the dis...

but I am telling you... it wasn't for me.

On the other hand... there are tons of people that LOVE it!

 

[HsvTeacher]

Don't you get a free subscription to touringplans.com when you purchase the Unofficial Guide book? Or has that changed?
I think their crowd calendar is great and we've had good luck following their recommendations.

Yes! We bought the book because we thought we would get a 1-year subscription to touringplans.com. However, we bought the book in October 2008, and the subscription doesn't expire until February 2011.

 

[GenieCat]

The 2010 edition of the Unofficial Guide will be released at the end of next month. Unless you need it right away, I would wait a few weeks. Access to the website is free to owners of the current edition.

We would not plan a trip without it.