Sites for Personalized touring plans

[mshanson3121]

Is www.touringplans.com the only website that does custom touring plans? The Animal Kingdom glitch is certainly annoying, also, it doesn't allow you to enter meet & greets (only the ones that offer Fast Pass). Is there a better one out there?

 

[loutoo]

There are plenty of other places that allow you to build itineraries, but nothing like touringplans that uses a powerful engine that calculates wait and walk times for you that I know of. As for the non FP+ M&G, You can add those as a "break" with a starting time and duration to help build your plan properly.

 

[soniam]

There is Ride Max, but I have never used anything but TP. Love it, and I'm going to be using next week for the 3rd time on a WDW trip. To which AK glitch are referring?

 

[amberama76]

I'm not having any luck with Touring Plans and I am regretting spending money on it. Since I don't really know where things are in relation to each other at the parks I can't really build my own plans and the pre-made ones don't seem to encompass things that my family wants to do.

 

[HCinKC]

I'm not having any luck with Touring Plans and I am regretting spending money on it. Since I don't really know where things are in relation to each other at the parks I can't really build my own plans and the pre-made ones don't seem to encompass things that my family wants to do.

I use a combo of crowd calendars, itineraries, and maps from EasyWDW and KennythePirate to form my plans at TP. I have lots of tabs open, but I don't mind. I also tend to "evaluate" rather than "optimize". I also evaluate as I go along. Let's say I have ADRs and FPs...I like to add the earliest time in, evaluate, add the next, evaluate, etc...if that makes sense. If I add them all at once, it gets all wonky on me. (And as an FYI, I just use the basic free version, so I am not sure how the paid one differs.)

 

[amberama76]

I use a combo of crowd calendars, itineraries, and maps from EasyWDW and KennythePirate to form my plans at TP. I have lots of tabs open, but I don't mind. I also tend to "evaluate" rather than "optimize". I also evaluate as I go along. Let's say I have ADRs and FPs...I like to add the earliest time in, evaluate, add the next, evaluate, etc...if that makes sense. If I add them all at once, it gets all wonky on me. (And as an FYI, I just use the basic free version, so I am not sure how the paid one differs.)

so you add one attraction at a time then click the evaluate button? I added everything at once and then tried to drag and drop looking at a tiny map trying to get things that were close to each other because this thing had us crisscrossing Future World like crazy. Not sure how big the place is but going back and forth from one side to the other instead of doing things close by one after the other seemed like madness to me.

 

[JimmyV]

Since I don't really know where things are in relation to each other at the parks I can't really build my own plans

You should take your issues up with the folks at TP. I have found them to be very responsive. It sounds like you may not be doing it right. If you start to make your own plan, one of the first things that you do is input the attractions that interest you, and when you are done, the computer makes a plan especially for you. You don't need to know where things are in relation to one another as the computer will build you what it perceives to be the most efficient plan. You can then drag and drop things to re-order them if you want. (If you do this, then you want to hit "Evaluate". If you hit "Optimize", it will re-order things back to the way things started.) But the initial plan that it builds for you should be pretty decent. For example, you don't need to know where the Safari, Everest and Dinosaur are. If you pick those three rides, the computer is not going to make you start at Dinosaur, then go to the Safari, and then cross back to Everest. Just pick what you want and let the computer figure out the order. I usually re-order the suggested plan a bit, and usually come out pretty close to the "optimized" plan. But sometimes you will be better than the computer. For example, even if you say that you will be there at park opening, the computer never assumes that you will be among the first at the turnstile, which, if you are, can make a big difference. They just don't have any way of knowing or accounting for the fact that you intend to be the very first person to get to TSMM. The computer just assumes that you will get there "fairly early". That can make a big difference as the day goes forward from there.

 

[cigar95]

. . . . but going back and forth from one side to the other instead of doing things close by one after the other seemed like madness to me.

There's an option to reduce walking rather then minimize waiting. That should give you at least part of what you want, but at the cost of an increase of your overall touring time.

 

[HCinKC]

so you add one attraction at a time then click the evaluate button? I added everything at once and then tried to drag and drop looking at a tiny map trying to get things that were close to each other because this thing had us crisscrossing Future World like crazy. Not sure how big the place is but going back and forth from one side to the other instead of doing things close by one after the other seemed like madness to me.

Sorry, it is confusing to type it out.

I add all of my attractions at once. Then I drag them around using the maps and itineraries from those other sites. The cheat sheets at EasyWDW are a pretty good place to start. Then once I have an order I like, I add in anything with a set time, starting with the earliest set time, evaluate, then do the next earliest set time, evaluate, etc. Anything already booked, like ADRs won't change, but depending on FP availability, you might have to adjust your plans after you book those. I have found trying to put in all of my times at once, it gives me the notice that one thing or another isn't working. If I do the times singularly, then I don't get that.

Another nice thing about using it before booking FP, it helps me decide what time frames to look for. If I will be in Future World's Land Pavilion in late morning, then I know to look for something, say, between 10-12. I have a focus with flexibility.

If you don't care about character's, then the maps and cheat sheets at EasyWDW are excellent. If you do need to hit characters, too, then also consult Kenny the Pirate. Between those two, pretty much everything is covered clearly and thoroughly.

 

[HCinKC]

Oh and you may also want to use the slider at the top to minimize walking. I always do that as well. We have a 6yo and baby, so I would be wise to put the pace at the slowest possible, but I just leave it on average.

 

[clambert1273]

so you add one attraction at a time then click the evaluate button? I added everything at once and then tried to drag and drop looking at a tiny map trying to get things that were close to each other because this thing had us crisscrossing Future World like crazy. Not sure how big the place is but going back and forth from one side to the other instead of doing things close by one after the other seemed like madness to me.

So what I have learned to do with it ... I put everything in there we want to do that day (including inputting my number of FP's, shows, food etc.. ) and then click optimize... I will glance and see if I like it. I will also look at their map they present with the numbers of all I want to do.. if I see something out of the whack or out of the way, I reorder it then hit evaluate and keep doing that until I have everything grouped together in the best possible manner...

Yup... I get all crazy with it

 

[mchelle77]

I use a combo of crowd calendars, itineraries, and maps from EasyWDW and KennythePirate to form my plans at TP. I have lots of tabs open, but I don't mind. I also tend to "evaluate" rather than "optimize". I also evaluate as I go along. Let's say I have ADRs and FPs...I like to add the earliest time in, evaluate, add the next, evaluate, etc...if that makes sense. If I add them all at once, it gets all wonky on me. (And as an FYI, I just use the basic free version, so I am not sure how the paid one differs.)

When I finally learned to use "evaluate" rather than "optimize", it was like a whole new world LOL I paid for it 2 years ago and it wasn't making sense. When I paid for it again last month, I figured it out and it's SO helpful now. I still stand by my claim that their crowd estimations are off, but the customizable plans are great when you learn how to use them. I have 2 park days coming up, and I'm hoping it'll prove itself worth the investment this time.

 

[ghtx]

FYI you don't need to pay for the personalized, customizable touring plans. It is free to make those. You only need to pay if you want the pre-made touring plans (and you need to pay for the estimated wait times).