Is it worth it?

[TPCShauna]

DH and I leave in 16 days for our first long trip to WDW. It's just the two of us. I'm a Disney nut and want to do EVERYTHING!!!! He does not want me to exhaust him.

I have purchased several guide books and have been walking around clutching my UG for the past two months. I have come to think of it as a bible and love it very much. Having said that, here is my dilemma.

The UG requires a lot of "jumping around" and that will irritate DH to death! I was reading earlier and came across a TGM thread. It said many things including something about TGM being very different and even better than UG and that it doesn't call for as much jumping. It also said TGM takes a lot of time to navigate. My question: Should I sign up for TGM? Will I have enough time to get the benefits in 15 days (with little free time)? Will it make that big of a difference in keeping DH not-exhausted and me not-strangled?

Please, please, please advise! DH would prefer that I not buy any more guidebooks (I already have 4) so I am really going to have to sell him on this one after singing the praises of UG. Please give me some ammo!

 

[chrome64]

Am I reading this correctly, that you will be there for 15 days? IMHO I think the best approach to doing everything when you have that much time is, Wing-it! The first part of your trip shouldn't be very crowded so, wait times shouldn't be that bad. If you come across something that has more than a 20 minute wait, either get a fass pass and come back later or just skip it all together until later! We did this on our last trip and never waited more than 15 minutes for anything and we rode all of the big things!

I understand the obsession of wanting every guide book you can get your hands on. I had to tell my husband "No" when we reached a total of 10 guide books! When we go for short trips, we rely on schedules and tips from those books but, when we have enough time for multiple trips to each park, we take our time and enjoy everything and don't miss a thing!!!

I love the books and have read them all. But, you have to be careful not to spend all of your time worrying about a schedule. You might miss the magic if you are not careful.

But, then again, That's just my opinion, take it for what it's worth!

Have fun on your trip!

 

[gigi1313]

i believe the OP is leaving in 15 days, not will be there for 15 days...

i'm a big fan of TGM... i also like touringplans.com and recommend them both! LOL!

how much time for "studying" will you have between now and departure? if a lot, i'd say go w/TGM as his info is given in "layers" and takes a bit to get used to as well as some time to delve in deep enough to make it worth it... if you will not be online a lot and have very limited time to garner more info, then i'd go w/touringplans.com and pay the $6 to get a custom (not personal, but customized i.e. "adults only late start plan to mgm") plan that minimizes running around

 

[Houston_Disney_Fan]

Here's some advice from someone married for 31 years, and also a Disney nut married to somone who is not. I get a little frantic before each trip, too, wondering how we'll ever do/see everything. My husband and kids have let me know that they enjoy it much more when I don't push so hard, and behave like a drill sergeant. Disney will always be there. Anything you don't catch on this trip, will (probably) be there for the next. Relax a little and enjy the place, and the company of whomever you are with. One exception now is ADR's, make and keep them if you can, or it might be difficult to find a nice place to eat.

JMHO.

 

[nluvwithmickey]

Here's some advice from someone married for 31 years, and also a Disney nut married to somone who is not. I get a little frantic before each trip, too, wondering how we'll ever do/see everything. My husband and kids have let me know that they enjoy it much more when I don't push so hard, and behave like a drill sergeant. Disney will always be there. Anything you don't catch on this trip, will (probably) be there for the next. Relax a little and enjy the place, and the company of whomever you are with. One exception now is ADR's, make and keep them if you can, or it might be difficult to find a nice place to eat.

JMHO.

It has taken me a few trips to finally get this....but this is what we are planning on doing in January. Take our time and just absorb the atmosphere.....I think it's not doing everything that counts but rememebring the things you have seen and done. The attractions will be there next time....

 

[maine_jennifer]

My question: Should I sign up for TGM? Will I have enough time to get the benefits in 15 days (with little free time)?

I do think that you can get some valuable information from TGM in 15 days. There are express planners available for accessing the important information, quickly. Will it be as great as spending the time to go through it in-depth, maybe not, but if you can spend a little time getting the information together, I do think you will find plenty of helpful advice. Try it and if you're not satisfied, you can ask for a refund. TGM also has forums where there are lots of helpful people willing to answer any questions you may have.

Good luck & have a great trip!

 

[The Sweetness]

I personally, absorb as much info as possible from several guide books, (when I was planning a cancelled trip(due to being preggers w/ Ariel), when dd14 would piss me off, esp on a weekend, Id go to the bookstore, get a frozen coffe, or a yummy desert, and grab a couple of books to just study for a couple of hours. Total relaxation!

 

[Eeyore2003]

You sound "frazzled"!!! I can understand your wanting to do "everything", but you just won't do it!!! Relax, enjoy each other's company too. Do the things that are most important to you and let the rest go. If some get done great!!! Enjoy the atmosphere. If you REALLY want to accomplish more and still have relax time, I think the best advice is still to start early (which is recommended by the UG) and then slow down in the middle of the day. If you want to "keep going in the park" do so, if you want to go back to the resort for a break, do so. Leave a little room for playing with.

I really don't care for Tour Guide Mike and also have used UG like a Bible, but have really learned to relax and go with the flow.

You know, I've ALWAYS done AM EMH except for this last trip. Instead I planned parks around the EMH both night and day and went on days when there were none. It worked out so great and gave us that extra hour sleep in the morning too. I know I went on a really non busy week, but doing it on non EMH days 99% of the rides were walk-ons. I still got there 1/2 hour to 45 minutes before opening, but there were allot less people there than on EMH days. Just an idea I found to work well and might give you that extra hour sleep for your DH to feel more relaxed.

We DID do AK night time EMH since I had heard good things about it, and that worked out really great too. We got there just before the 3:00 parade and rode Kali River Rapids 5 times in a row, no wait, during the parade. I'm sure you could do Kali River Rapids and the Safari during the parade, since those things close at 5 and then do the rest of the park during EMH. I have not heard good things about the other night time EMH's, so we avoided those parks on those days.

I did MGM on Monday, Tuesday we did Typhoon Lagoon in the AM, (upon opening), we did the the water coaster and all the slides, plus had time for the wave pool in 3 hours and still made it to AK by 3:00 for night time EMH.

On Wednesday we did Epcot, and then on Thursday, we did Magic Kingdom. Although this was November, and I don't know if EMH days have changed for December. Friday my niece did the Albatross Treasure Cruise in AM and we did our last minute shopping in the afternoon before leaving.

We also had been there already the previous week-end, but steered clear of the parks except for the Food and Wine Festival since so much else was going on, and we did other things.

Gee, I guess I wrote a journal. In 3 words, relax and enjoy!!!

 

[iliketoby]

Stick with your UG. If you read the touring plans you'll see that there are 2-day plans for MK and Epcot where you don't bounce around as much. You can get custom-made plans at touringplans.com for a little extra cash.

Now that we've been so often, we don't have to carry the plans around, but I think it is a great idea to do it on a first trip. However, they printed 'em in blue this time around, which might be a problem in the bright sun, so I'd type them up myself in a dark font.

Make yourself a schedule and ask any question you might have to the folks here.

 

[Nancyg56]

Here's some advice from someone married for 31 years, and also a Disney nut married to somone who is not. I get a little frantic before each trip, too, wondering how we'll ever do/see everything. My husband and kids have let me know that they enjoy it much more when I don't push so hard, and behave like a drill sergeant. Disney will always be there. Anything you don't catch on this trip, will (probably) be there for the next. Relax a little and enjy the place, and the company of whomever you are with. One exception now is ADR's, make and keep them if you can, or it might be difficult to find a nice place to eat.

JMHO.

My sister in law is joining us for this trip, and she is our Disney expert. She generally accompanies another family on their trip, and says that it is commando from start to finish. They follow TGM and UG like it is the Holy Grail, and avoid parades and character meet and greets to have more attraction time. The trip is exhausting, and at times a bit frustrating as they whiz past one attraction to get to one across the park. We have the attitude that we have guidebooks to guide us, and will see what we have time to see. The rest will be there for the next time.

I really understand the compulsion to own them all and plan, plan, plan, because I find that I am becoming obsessive. Thank goodness for the DIS

 

[lrpickett]

Here's another suggestion, for what it's worth. First thing in the morning, hit a couple of the rides that have big lines and often run out of Fast Passes (Soarin' for example). Then after you get those out of the way, take your time and see what you want to without a lot of extra park crossing. You can always use Fast Pass if the waits are too long at a ride. That's what we've done with success when we've visited in the less crowded times of the year (which is the only time I'll ever go again!)

 

[TPCShauna]

Hi everyone!

Thanks for your advice! After reading everything, I decided not to go with TGM because I just can't be online a lot. I told DH about it and he is looking into it but if he decides to use it, he will be doing all of the research.

As far as I am concerned, I've done my due diligence. At this point, I'm just ready to be there.

Thanks for your input!

 

[bopper]

My biggest advice is to do two days of parks, and then a day off. Otherwise you get burnt out if you stay the whole day.

You want to plan so you maximize your time, but remember it isn't a contest to see how many rides you get in. You can always go back.

 

[TheBeast]

We've done both commando rushes through the parks and the relaxed "do what you can do" style. I am more the commando vs laid back DW, but still think I've enjoyed it more when we took our time. So somewhere between the two has worked very well.

As for guidebooks, that's half the fun of the vacation - thinking ahead and planning. So we've absorbed as much as we can before hand, and brought a guide book or two to read at night or during day breaks, but never followed a minute by minute plan.

As for going all over the place, I definately don't like that. When we went to a couple years ago, they had unlimited fast passes. I ran all over the place getting fast passes, and it was terrible! I wore myself out running around, just to save time standing around!

I agree with the recommendation to be sure to absorb all of Disney - it's much more than just the shows and rides. So take in all the atmosphere vs rushing by everything.

 

[DisneyMom5]

I am a planner, and dh is a "go with the flow." Sigh
Keep in mind that UG is the "perfect" plan. You don't necessarily need a perfect one, just a well thought out one.
I study the guide, then loosely plan out what I would like to do each day. I make SURE to get there before opening.
With just 2 adults, you should have a lot easier time of getting around.
I think out things like -- which side of the park do I need to be on during the parade so that I can exit the park easier to get to my Chef Mickey's reservation.
Do some things open later than others? I will start at a popular place, and then work my way to the later openers.
We tend to work our way around the park in an orderly fashion, but try to be in a general location if we need to hit something at a certain time, like a show, for example.
But general principles from UG are golden. Do the most popular stuff early. Get fast passes. Hit the parks at opening.
It is really true that a huge mob hits right before lunch.
I guess I want to encourage you that you can "go with the flow" but be directing in a subtle way that is not even realized by the other person. LOL
When we got to open MGM b/c we were there early, and when we got to do 11 attractions before 11 am at MK, believe me I was saying to my family "Who loves me now?" LOL
Have a great trip!