Recommendations for Tour Guide Mike (or other planning websites/book)

[scrapah1]

Hi,

I am currently planning a trip for a group of 12 ranging from 18 months to 70 years of age and wondered if Tour Guide Mike is worth it? We have been to Walt Disney World several times in the past but never with kiddos and never with such a large group.

If not Tour Guide Mike, is there a book or service that you are so glad that you bought?

TIA,
April

 

[Iott Family]

I use TGM with every trip now. I have used TGM for the last 3 trips, before that I relied on WDW EMH times with mixed results. I also purchased the passporter with our 1st big family trip and it was a godsend. I also buy birbaums guide for the year we are going in the kids edition to help get the kids excited and planning what they would like to do. Each kid gets to pick their top 3 for each day at a park. Top 3 can be a ride, attraction/show, food item etc. Then we make every effort to hit all 4 kids top 3 each day. It helps in that many of the top 3's are shared so we can ride PoC and hit atleast 2 kids' top 3 in that one ride! TGM is great for planning which day which park and this just sets the tone for where we eat, when we take our break, planning our itinerary with those top 3's, etc. Once we know where we are going to be its time to get those ADR's set, etc. I also spend hours online here reading all the various posts, trip reports, etc. If its happening at WDW it will be here on the Dis. I have also used thea ll ears site but its a bit out of date at this time but its stil a good resource that cost smore in time than $$ to plunder!

HTH!

 

[scrapah1]

Iott Family, thank you so much, that is very helpful. I have heard about the Passporter but haven't looked into it too much. By the sounds of your message, you would recommend that as well?

I have also just started looking at the books and am interested in the guide that is specifcally for Pre-Schoolers, so hopefully that will help too!

Thank You!!!
April

 

[bigsis_22]

We just used TGM for our first family trip and it was right on as far as which days to visit each park. We will use it again the next time for sure. It may be hard to determine park touring strategies for a group that large, but if you do like PP and let each person pic their top 3 must do's and be willing to split up at times you should be fine. Good Luck with your Planning and Have Fun!

 

[scrapah1]

Once you purchase TGM, is it a lifetime membership or does it expire?

 

[Iott Family]

Once you purchase TGM, is it a lifetime membership or does it expire?

No, it is not lifetime but he will send you a discount code to renew with each trip.

 

[Iott Family]

Iott Family, thank you so much, that is very helpful. I have heard about the Passporter but haven't looked into it too much. By the sounds of your message, you would recommend that as well?

I have also just started looking at the books and am interested in the guide that is specifcally for Pre-Schoolers, so hopefully that will help too!

Thank You!!!
April

Yes, I would recommend passporter. It is loaded with tons of great info, touring plans, the contact info for anything you can think of at disney, etc.
If you are still a disney newbie then definitely invest in this guide. Also, passporter has an online site and discussion forum.

With a large group you might want to consider splitting up now and again and just meeting up for special shows, meals, etc. It is nearly impossible to move large groups thru disney w/o dissention in the ranks!

 

[scrapah1]

Yes, I would recommend passporter. It is loaded with tons of great info, touring plans, the contact info for anything you can think of at disney, etc.
If you are still a disney newbie then definitely invest in this guide. Also, passporter has an online site and discussion forum.

With a large group you might want to consider splitting up now and again and just meeting up for special shows, meals, etc. It is nearly impossible to move large groups thru disney w/o dissention in the ranks!

Thank you so much. I truly want to make this trip magical so this sounds like it could really help (and you are right, there will definitely be some splitting up throughout our trip so that everyone can have a good time).

 

[magicaddict]

I've used Tour Guide Mike for our trips over the last few years. I've always gotten a discount code but even if I had to pay $20 or $25 I would consider it well worth it when taking into account the thousands I'm spending on the trip. The Passporter has some great info in it specific to rides and times getting from here to there that TGM doesn't have plus it's already printed out so everything is in one neat little package.

 

[yourMaire83]

I recommend the Unofficial Guide to WDW. The book's website, www.touringplans.com has touring plans that are the best IMO and if you have a smartphone, you can use their new mobile site, Lines (m.touringplans.com), to see the wait times at each ride and FastPass return times in real-time. I can't wait to use the touring plans and mobile site on our trip which is right around the corner!

 

[clanmcculloch]

Until our most recent trip, we've always gone during a very low season. For our Aug/Sept trips all I used was a Passporter book for disabilities (newest one is called Open Mouse) because we have food allergies plus one of my girls is autistic. For our February trip, I discovered the DIS. I think we did pretty well. At least I thought we did until this most recent trip.

Our most recent trip was 12/17/09 - 12/29/09. We had never gone during a peak season so I was very nervous. I decided to spend the $20 to buy a TGM subscription. OMG I can't believe the difference. Even though this was the busiest time of year, we encountered LESS crowds than we had any other trip and we accomplished more per day than any other trip despite being in the parks less time per day. We got to really experience our resort in addition to the parks. This was the first time we've managed only minor meltdowns (kids or adults LOL). We were all so much happier.

We are now total TGM converts and will use them for EVERY future trip we take. I'm totally sold on this service. Make sure to take advantage of the message boards.

 

[scrapah1]

Until our most recent trip, we've always gone during a very low season. For our Aug/Sept trips all I used was a Passporter book for disabilities (newest one is called Open Mouse) because we have food allergies plus one of my girls is autistic. For our February trip, I discovered the DIS. I think we did pretty well. At least I thought we did until this most recent trip.

Our most recent trip was 12/17/09 - 12/29/09. We had never gone during a peak season so I was very nervous. I decided to spend the $20 to buy a TGM subscription. OMG I can't believe the difference. Even though this was the busiest time of year, we encountered LESS crowds than we had any other trip and we accomplished more per day than any other trip despite being in the parks less time per day. We got to really experience our resort in addition to the parks. This was the first time we've managed only minor meltdowns (kids or adults LOL). We were all so much happier.

We are now total TGM converts and will use them for EVERY future trip we take. I'm totally sold on this service. Make sure to take advantage of the message boards.

Wow, this is such a great endorsement...thank you! I am always hesistant to spend money if it is something I should be able to do myself. It is great to hear that you had such good luck! Thanks for taking the time to answer.

One quick question, in your last sentence, did you mean to take advantage of DIS message boards or TGM message boards?

Thank You!
April

 

[scrapah1]

Wow, thank you. This is very helpful. My DH just got a smart phone and while he isn't proficient yet, this sure is incentive to figure it out.

Thank You!
April

 

[clanmcculloch]

Wow, this is such a great endorsement...thank you! I am always hesistant to spend money if it is something I should be able to do myself. It is great to hear that you had such good luck! Thanks for taking the time to answer.

One quick question, in your last sentence, did you mean to take advantage of DIS message boards or TGM message boards?

Thank You!
April

The message boards that I'm referring to are the TGM message boards. Obviously I still use the DIS or I wouldn't be here, but I got so much help on my touring plans from the TGM message boards. You can use the sample touring plans on TGM but if you don't want to do everything in the samples or if you want to do certain rides or shows multiple times or just want to customize, the folks on the boards with plenty of TGM experience will give LOTS of help with this based on TGM touring philosophy. I've made some great friends on the boards and even met some of them during my trip since we all planned our trips based on the same type of information.

Make sure to sign up using the ad here on the DIS to get a $3 discount.

 

[scrapah1]

The message boards that I'm referring to are the TGM message boards. Obviously I still use the DIS or I wouldn't be here, but I got so much help on my touring plans from the TGM message boards. You can use the sample touring plans on TGM but if you don't want to do everything in the samples or if you want to do certain rides or shows multiple times or just want to customize, the folks on the boards with plenty of TGM experience will give LOTS of help with this based on TGM touring philosophy. I've made some great friends on the boards and even met some of them during my trip since we all planned our trips based on the same type of information.

Make sure to sign up using the ad here on the DIS to get a $3 discount.

Oh wow, I love saving money. Thank you so much for all of your help!
April

 

[magchavez]

I highly recommend Tour Guide Mike. We've used him the last 3 years in a row, twice in August (very busy time of year), and once in October. He is always right on as to which park will have the least crowds. I also love that he takes it a step further and tells you which park to visit in the morning and which park to visit in the afternoon. In addition to TGM, we used Ridemax.com last August. We never waited more than 15 minutes for any ride the entire week.