Hi.
The last two times I've gone down to WDW (10/02 & 8/05), DW and I have used the UG with (near-) perfect success. And, on our trip last year, we also made the decision to subscribe to TGM, based on the mostly rave reviews here on the DIS. And, gotta tell you, though TGM is
way overhyped on these boards (even before he was a sponsor), I found his advice to be mostly on the mark, as well.
Now to the quibbles:
With UG--I regard this publication to be the industry standard, put simply. It is the very
definition of exhaustive (without, IMO, being exhaust
ing) and, as stated previously, it also has touring plans for the Universal parks and Sea World. But, having said all that, I did narrowly miss having the October '02 trip darn near ruined due to making lodging plans based on a good review of a Kissimmee Red Roof Inn in the UG. We were on a tight budget, and needed to stay off-property, and so we booked in advance at said Red Roof Inn based on the very good review of the property in the UG and the low price, and were promptly floored, and not at
all in a good way, with the location and condition of the property. Long story short, we were able to get a room for literally only a few dollars more at the Quality Inn International off of I-Drive on Sand Lake Road with far superior (and safer) rooms.
With TGM--Firstly, I must say that I found two things more or less worth the price of subscription: Mike's advice on most effectively utilizing Fastpass, and his touring plans (or, more accurately,
philosophy) for Animal Kingdom (although things at that park have certainly changed now, with the addition of Expedition Everest, and I'm danged curious to see how TGM's plans have changed). But I have to be honest. I was a little underwhelmed when I first subscribed and started poking around the site. I mean, I was expecting personalized touring plans (I dunno, must of had something to do with reading phrases like "customized itineraries" on his site before I subscribed), and that you do not get. Oh, sure, the stuff is personalized in the same way that a sweepstakes mailing from Publisher's Clearinghouse is personalized (e.g., it plugs your name into several places of various web pages resembling form letters). And there was one particular bit of touring advice given regarding doing Soarin' at park opening that actually got me talked to quite sternly from a Land CM. Thanks for that li'l nugget o' Disney magic, Mike!
But, seriously, going with one or the other (and supplementing your info with getting questions answered right here on the good ol' DIS
) will be fine. You could even do both, and you really wouldn't be wasting your money. But would you really need to do what DW and I did and get the UG, TGM, Birnbaum, and PassPorter? IMO, no. I mean, no, you don't
need to, but it does sure stoke those fires of anticipation in a fun way.
Bottom line, if you're going to use touring plans (
any touring plans), expect to do a lot of brisk walking and criss-crossing the parks. IMO, utilizing touring plans comes awfully close to going commando, and your peds
will suffer. But you will also get to see practically everything you want to, and with little or no wait.
Whatever you decide, I am certain that you will have an
AWESOME trip. After all, it
is WDW!!
. The ones that you can get from the UOG (Unoffical Guride to WDW) that are scientifically researched and have a smart computer program making them, or the ones that you can buy from Tour Guide Mike??
(and yes, to relieve my depression I am planning our next trip back 
). We used UG for our touring plans and it was awesome! We have 3 kids (9, 7, and 4) and saw everything everyone wanted to see. Didn't wait long for anything and were constantly amazed that we always seemed to be one step ahead of the crowds. We also used Passporter for the maps (they are better than the park maps or UG maps) and it was a great way to stay organized. Never used TGM's so can't comment but I will use UG again when we go back. Hope this helps!
