So who's tried a personalized touring plan?

[ekatiel]

I'm curious to where people are seeing a free personalized touring plan? When I go to touringplans.com it says I must be a subscriber to do a personalized touring plan?

You just need to sign up for the free account. Then you'll have access.

I tried one of these (Ridemax) about 15 years ago. My wife freaked out when I actually tried to follow it to the tee when we arrived. I ended up only using it as a very general guide to determine the order that we would ride attractions. Even that was too regimented for her after a few days, so for us it was a waste.

I learned that my wife requires spontaneity in her vacations.

This is when you keep the plan hidden and subtly suggest that you do such and such right now . Works like a charm.

 

[cigar95]

I use the personalized plans all the time, but once Len has optimized my plan, I always tinker with it a bit and then re-evaluate. I can usually reduce the overall waiting times, and give something that just seems to fit better. (I also think the data tend to overestimate standby wait times at rope drop, at least for Test Track and Soarin'.)

One weakness of the plans are parades, where the starting time depends on where you watch from. Plus, the software is sometimes willing to have you arriving a few minutes late for scheduled shows.

One thing the optimizer does is to assume the 15-minute grace period is available. I try to avoid those in my final plan.

And while the plans do require a subscription, it may be unclear that the site includes both paid and free subscriptions. The personalized plans are available with the latter.

 

[ekatiel]

I use the personalized plans all the time, but once Len has optimized my plan, I always tinker with it a bit and then re-evaluate. I can usually reduce the overall waiting times, and give something that just seems to fit better. (I also think the data tend to overestimate standby wait times at rope drop, at least for Test Track and Soarin'.)

One weakness of the plans are parades, where the starting time depends on where you watch from. Plus, the software is sometimes willing to have you arriving a few minutes late for scheduled shows.

One thing the optimizer does is to assume the 15-minute grace period is available. I try to avoid those in my final plan.

And while the plans do require a subscription, it may be unclear that the site includes both paid and free subscriptions. The personalized plans are available with the latter.

I find myself using the "evaluate" button a lot more than the "optimize" button-- I just don't like how their optimized plans turn out. I totally agree about the rope drop waits, too-- it's telling me I'll have a 29 minute wait for test track at RP. We are rope drop veterans, and that's just not going to happen. I am going to try and put in some extra suggestions on what to do when we get WAY ahead of our schedule because of the long wait times it's giving at rope drop...

 

[ruthies12]

I am so glad I saw this thread!! I did the free subscription and I've been playing with it and this is going to help a ton! I have been trying to figure out where I want to put my fastpass times and ADRs but that is really hard to do when you don't know how long some stuff takes. I was having a lot of difficulty with my Epcot day because we want to see the holiday storytellers and trying to get the times to line up has been a nightmare.

As usual the Dis is a huge help, thanks everyone!!

 

[lauradis]

I tried one of these (Ridemax) about 15 years ago. My wife freaked out when I actually tried to follow it to the tee when we arrived. I ended up only using it as a very general guide to determine the order that we would ride attractions. Even that was too regimented for her after a few days, so for us it was a waste.

I learned that my wife requires spontaneity in her vacations.

After 3 days of "battle plans" as my husband lovely calls them. opps I meant touring plans, I gave up the war and just went rouge with the rest of the "troops" opps family.

Now with my sisters its total touring plan, commando.

I will warn everyone, if you have a non commando style partner, this can and will ruin your vacations. Do not fall for the what every you want dear line, detailed plans need input.

 

[snayak]

One thing to consider is that for Parades & Fireworks it takes you to a specific location, so it may add a bunch of walking and extra time that you don't necessarily need to spend.

For WDW I like Touringplans vs Ridemax (I tried both with a paid subscription). We just used it as an outline, for a 2 family group of 7 people (from 2-yo to grandma/grandpa) we spent a LOT of time between rides just getting everybody together/bathroom/snack/stroller, etc. Probably averaged 1 attraction per hour (counting lines of course).

If it was just my wife and me, we'd be able to follow the TP pretty close since we don't have nearly as much downtime between attractions (or any kids either!).

What I found particularly useful was Evaluating my TP and picking FP+ based on the attractions with the longest wait time. Since we didn't need to do A&E or 7DMT at MK, and planned PP at Rope Drop it wasn't intuitive where/when to schedule them. Same with the other parks.

 

[chiisai]

I adore Touring plans. We used them for DL and DCA last year the week before Easter. I like that we can adjust them with our fp+ times and my favorite part is adjusting in-park, because, well, life happens. I'll have printed ones for our trip to WDW but will use Lines for in-park changes.

 

[sunshine girl]

LOVE the personalized plans from Touring Plans!! I used them for the first time on a trip a few weeks ago in February when I was responsible for planning a trip with 7 family members, ages ranging from a kindergartener to a grandma, 4 of whom were first-time Disney visitors. Worked amazingly well! In fact, I started my personalized plans for my next trip, so I could plan out when to book my fastpass+ times according to the plan's suggestions.

Seriously, we saw everything we wanted to see (and more), we minimized backtracking/walking, and we finished a 5 day trip never waiting in a truly "long" line. (Granted, we got up and got there early, we used fastpass+ to our advantage, and we had realistic plans/expectations - we always took an afternoon break!).

It took me a little while to get the hang of how to make the plans, and the "optimize/evaluate" thing was a little slow for me, but those touring plans worked GREAT. And now that I can evaluate them post-trip, I can honestly say I would not have done things the way TP recommended had I been left to my own devices, and I would have certainly waited in longer lines as a result.

 

[ljca79]

Is it worth getting a touring plan if I already have my FP and ADR set up?

 

[coolbrook]

Is it worth getting a touring plan if I already have my FP and ADR set up?

\
Yes! I just enter myFP+ and ADRs into the plan and it helps me plan rides around those existing plans. If it tells me not to use one of my FP+ I just move it around manually on the Touring Plan and then hit the "evaluate" button until I have things where I want them.

We always use the personalized touring plans now. When I first started going to WDW we used the touring plans in the back of the unofficial Guide and it was a tremendous help. Now that we know our way around the parks and have tried most things we like to use the personalized plans, so we can include just the things we want to do. Its also great to be able to put in when our FP+ are. Another thing I find helpful in planning is that the program includes all the show times, and ride and show lengths so all the information I need is in one place. Invaluable in my opinion.

 

[GillianP1301]

I love making customized Touring Plans. It's what keeps me amused while I wait for my trip to come up. I don't follow them that much once I'm actually there though because I do let my DS take the lead on what he wants to do in the moment, but it's a great way to get an idea of what is a reasonable amount to try to accomplish on any given day and really helps to know how long certain attractions take, how long to get from one spot to another, etc... All that comes in handy when you're dealing with ADR and FP+ times.

 

[HCinKC]

You just need to sign up for the free account. Then you'll have access.
I must be blind. I cannot find this option. Everything I click on keeps wanting me to pay. Can you link the sign up for a free account? Thanks!

Nevermind. Googled it and it came up. Thanks!

 

[hpriamson]

My biggest issue with the touringplans Optimize button is it will always, always, put you on a water ride as late as possible. There's a reason the lines for Splash Mountain drop to nothing when the sun is down.

 

[lily2521]

I use the personalized plans all the time, but once Len has optimized my plan, I always tinker with it a bit and then re-evaluate. I can usually reduce the overall waiting times, and give something that just seems to fit better. (I also think the data tend to overestimate standby wait times at rope drop, at least for Test Track and Soarin'.)

This is good to know, I have a must-do ride at RD on most of our plan days, and I was surprised at the amount of time touring plans guessed during RD

LOVE the personalized plans from Touring Plans!! I used them for the first time on a trip a few weeks ago in February when I was responsible for planning a trip with 7 family members, ages ranging from a kindergartener to a grandma, 4 of whom were first-time Disney visitors. Worked amazingly well! In fact, I started my personalized plans for my next trip, so I could plan out when to book my fastpass+ times according to the plan's suggestions.

Seriously, we saw everything we wanted to see (and more), we minimized backtracking/walking, and we finished a 5 day trip never waiting in a truly "long" line. (Granted, we got up and got there early, we used fastpass+ to our advantage, and we had realistic plans/expectations - we always took an afternoon break!).

It took me a little while to get the hang of how to make the plans, and the "optimize/evaluate" thing was a little slow for me, but those touring plans worked GREAT. And now that I can evaluate them post-trip, I can honestly say I would not have done things the way TP recommended had I been left to my own devices, and I would have certainly waited in longer lines as a result.

I'm happy to read this - I've been planning for a few weeks now, and I'm glad to know all of my planning time wont' be wasted! Especially as you said, minimizing walk time, etc. I too find the optimize/evaluate a bit slow, but it works eventually

 

[eXo]

I attempted to use optimized touring plans for our universal vacation this past october, and it worked fairly well. I deviated as I saw fit. I think the key is to see them as a guide and not an itinerary. They primarily helped in just gving me an idea as to where to go next.

I also made one for my day at Magic Kingdom. Never having been before I knew I would spend a lot of wasted time just wandering around, and since I only had one day there I really wanted to make the most of it. I followed that days plan pretty closely.

For the trip we are taking this December I have started rough drafts of plans for each day. Since my son will only be 2 and a half and my daughter 5, I am really only using it to plan out ADR's and rides before noon. With the exception of HS, where I am using it to map out the best order to do the shows.

I primarily find it useful to help me decide which parks to go to on which days which in turns informs my ADR decisions once they open up in June. Then, when my FP+ window opens up, I will consult them again in order to decide which fast passes to go for.

On the trip itself I'll use them as a general guide, but ultimately, apart from getting to our daily ADR and fast passes, I'll let the kids guide me. That way I know we will get "X" things done while still giving them the ability to explore and do "Y" things. I think it's important that they feel it is fun and not overly planned, and I want them to feel like they can explore and check things out at their own pace without worrying that we will miss something that I think is important.

 

[ellie05]

I always use touring plans. I love it and will never think of planning without it.

 

[abarriger]

I love touringplans-- well worth the 10$ fee or whatever it is. We take very short trips to WDW and pack in as much as we can. Using the touringplans app it's easy to do things out of order on the fly, but if you sit down with it for a few minutes beforehand, you can really minimize waiting and maximize time at attractions. We rode everything in MK we wanted (which was just about everything except for Space and BTMRR) on our plan in our August trip and I don't think for a second I would have been able to do it without the plan. If you want to slow down you always can. Without the plan, I would have wandered aimlessly a lot more.

 

[DisneySOS]

Newbie here, but I was playing around with Touringplans and as a basic/free subscriber you are able to create a personalized touring plan - I know it's only $12 but I was wondering what extra stuff you get that's worth it. Sorry if this has been discussed.

 

[soniam]

Newbie here, but I was playing around with Touringplans and as a basic/free subscriber you are able to create a personalized touring plan - I know it's only $12 but I was wondering what extra stuff you get that's worth it. Sorry if this has been discussed.

I think you get access to the premium plans and to the phone app. The phone app is great. It lets you view and change/re-optimize your planz on the fly in the park. It has 3 wait times: WDW posted, TP expected, and user reported. I like having all 3 to get a good feel for what the time really is. It also has a new feature, which I didn't see on our trip in July, that says when the next FP+ is available (assumes 1 person) and lists all of the remaining, available FP+. I also like the dining menus and ratings. Disney's app has the menus and locations on the map but no ratings.

 

[DisneySOS]

Thank you, I know the MDE app has the wait times but from what I'm reading they don't seem too reliable. I know we are going during a busy time (no other option for us) and I think this will really help me out.