Ridemax, TouringPlans, or Other App

[surfmontana]

Looking for recommendations and maybe some useful user tips for a touring app for both DLR and DCA.

I have heard some are better for WDW and not so hot for DLR

We have a late model Samsung Galaxy

Thanks!!

 

[GeneralTso]

I've subscribed to Touring Plans for years and have no complaints. I really like it. I have an iPhone, and no glitches or weird issues.

I've never used any of the others so no help there. Touring Plans has everything I need and it just works.

 

[Fantaluminishes]

Honestly, I think these sites are a waste at both DLR and WDW. Part of the magic at these parks is being able to take it all in. To "stop and smell the roses" if you will.

I will use TP for the crowd calendars and the waits. I also use Mousewaits at DLR. But I'm not about to use another site to plan my trip. I think it's more fun to do it on my own.

Disneyland and DCA have a ton of attractions packed into 2 beautiful parks. WDW has about the same amount of attractions spread-out among 3 huge parks (and DHS). At DLR, everything is very close. It's much easier to do things on fly. At the Florida parks, can take your time strolling through larger parks, seeing a little less in each, but taking your time.

When you have a week or more plus FP+ at WDW, rope drop becomes less of a necessity, and more of a preference. Most people do DLR in 2 or 3 days. With this much time you can see pretty-much everything. Add a couple days and you can do everything multiple times, and also take-in the other on property sights. Rope drop may be more necessary if you have a day or 2. But in any situation, an extensive plan is not needed at DLR.

Just my two cents.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Hope you don't mind if I add a question....

Any good apps that have somewhat accurate wait times listed? It would be cool to check wait time from across the park or from our hotel.

 

[tarheelalum]

For android phones the mousewait app is the only way to go. Its free, don't buy the premium mousewait.

 

[surfmontana]

Sounds like mousewait is the way to go

 

[BriannaRuth]

I have several of the apps. And an iphone, don't know about android. Here are some observations:

Mousewait: As far as I can tell, Mousewait only has "reported" wait times. This means that someone currently at the park has to input the wait time they just saw. Great, but if no one has reported a wait time in the last 1.5 hours, the data is not relevant. Right now, for instance, I'm typing this at 7:10 PM. RSR's wait time is from 6:46, GRR is from 6:09, ToT is from 7:05, Alice is from 6:14 ... you get the message. I don't really care at 7:10 what the wait time was an hour ago.

Lines is from Touring Plans. They show current posted wait times (I'm not sure where they get these from), along with an "expected" wait time of how long you should actually expect to wait. For instance, they're showing Alice at posted of 30 and expected of 25. The "expected" wait times are based on their historical projections. In addition, you can also look at submitted wait times. The downside here is that they aren't nearly as many people submitting on Lines as on Mousewait. Alice, for instance, hasn't had a wait time submitted since 8:36 this AM.

One thing I do like about Lines is their menu function. Not only can you browse menus, you can search for a particular item. Churros, for instance. Returns a list of 16 different places you can find one. (I have the paid version; not sure if this is on the free one.) I would buy Lines for this function alone!

You can also create a touring plan either using Lines on your phone or on their website. If you create it on their website, it downloads to your phone. Comparing their custom touring plans to Ridemax -- Lines/TP seems quite a bit more optimistic about the wait times.

Ridemax doesn't have an app and doesn't show current wait times. But you can create a custom plan, print it out, and take it with you to the park. I've found their plans work well, but definite points off for no app.

Finally, you can always call Otto for free. 714-520-7090. It's updated by DL, but I don't know how often. I can say that it's very quick and easy to use. When I called at 7:10, it also gave me a wait time of 30 minutes for Alice. No touring plans, though.

Good luck and have fun!!

 

[kellietony]

We were there the 20th-26th of July. We used the free version of Touring Plans' Lines app. It was pretty on-target for the wait times. The fast pass info may be a bit off on some of the rides. At one point someone had posted that all the Autopia fast passes were gone but we could see right in front of us that that wasn't true. Since we weren't registered, we weren't able to correct that.

The food aspect is also great like the previous person posted.

 

[ClaraOswald]

I don't trust touringplans. For our WDW trip the information wasn't accurate at all. I definitely don't care about "historical" waits.

 

[surfmontana]

Finding food sounds nice

 

[BayGirl22]

I prefer Touring Plans for planning out my day. Personally I don't like to just enter the park and "wing it", that's wasteful and stressful to me. I like to plan out where and what we'll be doing each day and in the optimal order. That way I know we'll do the things we want to do and not stand around deciding, which is not at all magical for me. This is especially important with shows, which we're likely to miss if we don't have on some kind of schedule. The last day or two are usually more open, those days I add in whatever is left for us to do.

I don't use the "optimize" feature in TP. Here's my process: I enter the rides and attractions we want to do that day. I may optimize it once, but after that i move them around into what I think is the best order based on my research here, my experience, and logistics. Then I hit "Evaluate" and look at the predicted wait times. If anything seems crazy long I'll adjust, but usually I use it more to organize my own plans than to accept theirs. I tried RideMax but it doesn't allow me to plan meals, add in EE, or include parade and shows.

I use the Crowd Calendar just for relative crowdedness. I know its not exact but it doesn't influence my trip that much anyway. In using it to pick low crowd weeks its been right for me.

 

[Sjwillia]

BayGirl, it looks like you and I use Touring Plans the same way. Because I always have young grandkids with me, I set the timing to 'relaxed'. I must admit after the first few rides my plan may go out the window but I have lots of fun making them and it helps me be sure to get to all the shows and entertainment.

 

[Blue32]

I prefer Touring Plans for planning out my day. Personally I don't like to just enter the park and "wing it", that's wasteful and stressful to me. I like to plan out where and what we'll be doing each day and in the optimal order. That way I know we'll do the things we want to do and not stand around deciding, which is not at all magical for me. This is especially important with shows, which we're likely to miss if we don't have on some kind of schedule. The last day or two are usually more open, those days I add in whatever is left for us to do.

I don't use the "optimize" feature in TP. Here's my process: I enter the rides and attractions we want to do that day. I may optimize it once, but after that i move them around into what I think is the best order based on my research here, my experience, and logistics. Then I hit "Evaluate" and look at the predicted wait times. If anything seems crazy long I'll adjust, but usually I use it more to organize my own plans than to accept theirs. I tried RideMax but it doesn't allow me to plan meals, add in EE, or include parade and shows.

I use the Crowd Calendar just for relative crowdedness. I know its not exact but it doesn't influence my trip that much anyway. In using it to pick low crowd weeks its been right for me.

I have nothing really "bad" to say about TP... I do like the Lines app. I prefer working with Ridemax touring plans though. They seemed more realistic than TP. And they do allow you to put in break locations for meals now, as well as put in many of the best shows at DLR. And while they don't give you wait times for EE/MM, they do give advice about using it during your trip in their Tips section.

 

[ClaraOswald]

I can't imagine having an itinerary. To me, that sounds stressful and not fun. But then again, my husband and I have never really had to stand around trying to figure out what to do. When you know the park pretty well, you know what rides will most likely have long lines at certain points of the day. So you know what to hit early or late. And when both people in the party enjoy the same rides and have the same touring "style" there really isn't any discussion at all so "winging" it is just the best option.

A wait time app would be nice though if we're on one side of the park and we're wondering what things are like elsewhere. Or over at DCA or whatever. So I'm hoping Mousewait will give us an idea.