Is touring plans worth it?

[jbrinkm]

Do the plans they lay out for each park actually make for a better experience? As in where to go first, second etc lunch break etc

On my last trip, which was a 4 day, commando-style experience, I estimated that we were able to do 40% more by following the plan than we would have without it. You set your own breaks & eating times with varying degrees of flexibility - like, I want to eat at this place, at this time, but 20 minutes earlier or later would be ok, and the location of that restaurant is also factored into your plan for the day. As far as where to go first, second, etc., it seems counter-intuitive at times but I find that to be the magic because most people wouldn't be doing it that way at all.

 

[jbrinkm]

Another thing I really, really like - and I don't know if these are available free or if you have to have a subscription - are the reviews of attractions & dining. I love to sort the attractions by age group to see what my kids are most likely to enjoy. Obviously, if you are already familiar with all of the rides in the parks, that is a less useful feature, but for newbies like us (planning our only 2nd trip ever), it is really helpful. And the dining reviews as well!

 

[disneyworldsk]

i just got one this wk. i am planning to use it for the lines wait app because of the pandemic and wdw's non consistent wait times. i want to know what im getting into when i approach a super long line. it may be deceiving.

 

[Stitch'sCousin]

It is well worth the small annual fee ($17.95) that they charge for a subscription. We have used it many times to plan our ride order/park order and always had great success and short wait times. On our last trip we used their room request service and ended up with a great partial safari view room at AKL. I will be definitely be renewing my subscription before our next WDW trip.

 

[shawthorne44]

Disney has been grossly inflating the ride wait times. In the last couple of months, touring plans had a blog post showing that data. Just for that, the subscription is worth it.

It makes a better experience because it knows from past data how the wait time changes throughout the day.

Most people like to set the walking time as slow and to minimize walking. That is because most people would rather wait an extra 10 minutes in a nearby ride than walk across the park.

 

[disneyworldsk]

Disney has been grossly inflating the ride wait times. In the last couple of months, touring plans had a blog post showing that data. Just for that, the subscription is worth it.

It makes a better experience because it knows from past data how the wait time changes throughout the day.

Most people like to set the walking time as slow and to minimize walking. That is because most people would rather wait an extra 10 minutes in a nearby ride than walk across the park.

can you explain that further? i don't understand the walking time slow etc. ?

 

[jbrinkm]

You can set these sliders so that they reflect your preferred touring style:

 

[DisneyDad0427]

It is well worth the small annual fee ($17.95) that they charge for a subscription. We have used it many times to plan our ride order/park order and always had great success and short wait times. On our last trip we used their room request service and ended up with a great partial safari view room at AKL. I will be definitely be renewing my subscription before our next WDW trip.

Would the room request work if you book with DVC, if you know?

 

[CatNipRules]

Would the room request work if you book with DVC, if you know?

Yes. That's how I've booked my last 3 trips and it still worked.

 

[beccasmom]

We’ve used it for room requests and it has worked very well - only one minor disappointment at BLT, but we were ultimately able to switch rooms.

 

[bdiddy]

I only subscribe when we have a trip planned and love it. I find the wait times more accurate and the chat is fun too and very in the moment (much more than this site). It’s super convenient to ask a question while in the parks and get immediate answers. Also the reservation finder is super helpful. Like others have said, it’s only $15 for a year and I definitely get my money’s worth.

 

[Tomizgrl13]

Do the plans they lay out for each park actually make for a better experience? As in where to go first, second etc lunch break etc

You can make your own plan, which is what I normally do. It asks you what times your planning on being there, which attractions you would like to do, how much free time you want, and even how fast you want to walk.. LOL and then it automates it in the best order to do things. Personally I LOVE it, it saved us a lot of time early on when we first became passholders. It really helped us out when my cousin and her BF came to visit and we only had a few hours to do AK, and ended up not only getting to do everything, but even had some extra time to shop. You can also choose one of their pre-made plans as well, they have a ton to choose from. I do agree with a lot of people here though that say the main draw right now is their Lines App. I just wrote this the other day, we were at AK and the wait said 25 mins we were gonna skip it and come back later, but touring plans said 8 mins, so we decided to hop on, well there was no wait at all, just took us about 6-8 mins to walk through to the ride, we ended up doing it 2x. Thats happened now multiple times.

I'm not gonna make another post under this so just some extra notes about Touring Plans:
Because Im a passholder, I also enjoy the "tracking days" and the fact I put every time we go in to our "plan list". So it's nice to be able to look and see all the times we've went and what we did.. etc They also have a Universal one too as an add on for like 6 bucks which works the same and is very helpful. They offer a discount when you renew. For $15 being a passholder it's def worth it.

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

This is the second time I’ve subscribed. I used it for planning our 2019 trip, mostly to plan our park days and submit room requests for both parts of our split stay (my expectations on that front were exceeded). I didn’t use the Lines app or use it to make any detailed plans, but still felt it was well worth the $15.

I subscribed again for our upcoming 2022 trip since I found it so useful last time, and also because I think detailed plans will be necessary in the event that fastpass is a thing of the past by May.

 

[RogerShrubber]

Im trying to use the app. Its good so far except for a couple of things:

1). My son has bladder issues and seems to need to go to the bathroom every hour which is basically after every ride. The app doesnt allow for bathroom breaks after every ride. Its allows for timed breaks,but not untimed breaks

2). Id like to spend about an hour at each country in epcot, but the app doesnt allow for that either. I have to manually enter so called breaks for each country, but again i have to make it a timed break. But by doing so, you cant optimize the day

 

[jbrinkm]

Im trying to use the app. Its good so far except for a couple of things:

1). My son has bladder issues and seems to need to go to the bathroom every hour which is basically after every ride. The app doesnt allow for bathroom breaks after every ride. Its allows for timed breaks,but not untimed breaks

2). Id like to spend about an hour at each country in epcot, but the app doesnt allow for that either. I have to manually enter so called breaks for each country, but again i have to make it a timed break. But by doing so, you cant optimize the day

Hi @RogerShrubber

1). Yes, bathroom breaks have to be manually entered which can be kind of a pain OR you can just leave them out, take the breaks you need and reoptimize the plan after you go. It may not change much, and they recommend re-optimizing after the attractions anyway to account for in-park data coming into the system. (ETA - a potential hack is that you could set your walking speed to the slowest and that may help cover some of the time used for a quick bathroom break, if you are actually walking a bit faster than that)

2). You CAN add the pavilions and change the amount of time you want to spend at each. I've attached screen shots for you to see. When you're in your plan, you can use the attractions drop down menu, scroll down to the second section, and you'll see the different lands. Add it (default is 10 minutes) and then Edit which allows you to change the amount of time to spend at each one. Then optimize as usual. Hope that helps!

 

[0FF TO NEVERLAND]

I just added my plans to the line app and it makes me wish I had fast pass again lol Wait times are up there in July.

I noticed most of the time they put the busiest rides at the end of the night, which I guess makes sense.

I will follow the lines wait times, and see how they compare to the actual plans they optimized when I am there

Either way, really worth the small price for each trip

 

[Micca]

I've subscribed for several years, wasn't sure if I'd continue. Decided that our April/May trip would be the determining factor of whether or not to continue, and it was spot-on for almost everything. There were a couple of times it was off by 20 minutes or so, but mostly it was within a minute or two. A WDW trip costs thousands of dollars, the $15 for the subscription seems inconsequential.

 

[RogerShrubber]

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Hi @RogerShrubber

1). Yes, bathroom breaks have to be manually entered which can be kind of a pain OR you can just leave them out, take the breaks you need and reoptimize the plan after you go. It may not change much, and they recommend re-optimizing after the attractions anyway to account for in-park data coming into the system. (ETA - a potential hack is that you could set your walking speed to the slowest and that may help cover some of the time used for a quick bathroom break, if you are actually walking a bit faster than that)

2). You CAN add the pavilions and change the amount of time you want to spend at each. I've attached screen shots for you to see. When you're in your plan, you can use the attractions drop down menu, scroll down to the second section, and you'll see the different lands. Add it (default is 10 minutes) and then Edit which allows you to change the amount of time to spend at each one. Then optimize as usual. Hope that helps!

Thank you so much!

 

[cantsayNolaf]

Some people staying at Disney hotels like to use it for room requests.

Have never gotten my room request when using Touring Plans. I dont think it works as well as just calling the resort yourself.

 

[jbish]

Just downloaded the app and there's really nothing in the free version, so I found this thread to see if it's worth getting the subscription. So for clarification, it looks like the cost is now $17.99 (not the $15 referenced throughout this thread).

Still debating internally, though - have never used their actual touring plans. In the past, I've subscribed to get their calendars when I was planning ADRs and FPs way out in advance. I'm leaving on Saturday and, I think, having the real time wait times would be the most beneficial feature. But maybe I'll give the actual touring plan a whirl, too.... Any additional insight on how to maximize this app would be helpful. I thought, as a WDW veteran, I wouldn't need a "touring plan" - I know what I want to see. But seems like this would be good for our family, too, if you get to pick your hit list of rides and then the app suggests how to go about that - is that a correct understanding?