TGM and UG-Do they pick the same days?

[Dazer22]

For those of you who have Unofficial Guide and TGM, how often do they choose the same days for best parks and parks to avoid. Do they seem to be insync?

I have the Unofficial Guide, have scheduled my days based on this, but wonder if Mike has conflicting info. or not.

Not asking for any secrets....just wondering.

We are travelling last week of April.

 

[dawnball]

We had TGM in 2005, and no - the best days weren't identical. They were similar however. I personally found the UG days to be updated more frequently as the situation changed. Things may have changed in the last 2 years though.

 

[mickeysaver]

Currently subscribe to both.....
No the days don't always match, in some cases they don't agree at all.

I have been a long standing fan of Touring Plans, but I am going to give TGM the upper hand during our upcoming trip. I just want to see for myself which one is the better planning tool. I am not thrilled that TGM offers such a sparse offering of touring plans and isn't updated yet to take into account that MI LFCC is now at MK and that WWTBAMPI is gone forever from MGM. I also find it annoying that on the F&W festival page, it still lists info that was outdated in 2006 that did apply in 2005. I am hoping that he fixes all of this stuff soon!

I hope this helps. Maggie

 

[mrstbalt]

Some days are the same and some are not. I am subscribed to both, I have made notes and compare them, then make a decision based on priority for us personally. We only have 4 days. Good luck and have fun.

 

[MaeDaisy]

..... MI LFCC is now at MK

Michigan Lefties For Coordinated Cutting?

..... WWTBAMPI is gone forever from MGM.

Nope, not even gonna try this one....

 

[suzybeezy]

so for those of us planning a trip end of April - what days are best or worst for each park?

 

[bradk]

Monsters Inc Laugh Floor Comedy Club (although I think (nvm: gets censored) suffices) - although it's not open until 4/2.

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire: Play It edition.

 

[CanadianGuy]

WWTBAMPI

Who Wants to Be A Millionaire Pleasure Island? No.. Play It.. yeah that's it.

MI LFCC -- I have no clue. (see bradk's post above)

Dazer: Your original question was great.. I had actually wondered that for a while.

Suzy: Subscribe to one or the other of the services and you'll see the days they recommend. When you're spending thousands on a vacation.. a few bucks on smart planning is only wise.

Knox

 

[OhMari]

so for those of us planning a trip end of April - what days are best or worst for each park?

Being a member of TGI-we pledge not to reveal. But I think if you do some searching, you could find some "tips" on the DIS.

 

[sdenis]

And the site is really quite difficult to navigate. I do wish he would spend some time on this. My guess is that he's off doing other things.

 

[dawnball]

And the site is really quite difficult to navigate. I do wish he would spend some time on this. My guess is that he's off doing other things.

Erm, no - he *likes* it that way and thinks that it should be fairly easy to navigate once you get used to it. Although he has said that he'd like to spend more time updating outdated information - Last time I was on TGM he said that the website didn't yet break even, so he couldn't justify spending more time updating the website instead of doing tours.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

Erm, no - he *likes* it that way and thinks that it should be fairly easy to navigate once you get used to it. Although he has said that he'd like to spend more time updating outdated information - Last time I was on TGM he said that the website didn't yet break even, so he couldn't justify spending more time updating the website instead of doing tours.

Kind of a catch-22, isn't it? Seems to me he won't be making more money until he updates his tours, etc on his site. I am a TGM subscriber because I like his "best days" advice. I also am the proud owner of the 2007 UOG. I tend to disagree with the touring strategy of UOG, but like it's overall wit and wisdom. I DO like TGM's touring philosophy and style, as well as teh best days reasoning. However it is like "nails on a chalkboard" irritating when I try to read some of his specific tours and see how dreadfully outdated they are. Guess that's just a personal thing with me. My solution is to avoid his specific tours since I find some to be unprofessionally outdated. Having said that, I still recommend ponying up the $20 for Mike's best days, and to get a look at an article or two he has about overall touring.

 

[ottawamom]

so for those of us planning a trip end of April - what days are best or worst for each park?

If you don't want to subscribe. The days become available approx. one month ahead of time on UG site. You should still have lots of time to plan which park which day with that info in hand.

 

[dawnball]

Kind of a catch-22, isn't it? Seems to me he won't be making more money until he updates his tours, etc on his site. ... However it is like "nails on a chalkboard" irritating when I try to read some of his specific tours and see how dreadfully outdated they are.

Yeah, my thoughts at the time were along the lines of "Cart, meet Horse. One of you is supposed to follow the other. I think you've got it backwards". You aren't the only one who had that problem with his tours.

I particularly had problems with his MNSSHP information, since that was our primary reason for subscribing. There was way too little information about the previous year's party for us to have any idea what to expect. Then he promised he would update it the day after the first party. Well, 10 days after the first party, after our party date was past - there still wasn't an update for that year. I'm pretty sure that we squandered our ticket money because we didn't understand what was happening.

I didn't ask for a refund because we did make use of other things from his website but I certainly was irritated enough about that and many other things that I won't subscribe again.

However, this is sort of OT, so I think I'll stop now. Sorry about the little vent.

 

[Helen1203]

I have to agree, I consider myself "computer literate" and TGM's website took some time to get used to. Initially, I didn't find it easy to navigate. I personally think that if an attraction hasn't been operating for a year or so then it should be out of the touring plans. I'm glad I've subscribed though if for nothing else the "best days advice".

 

[princess pooh]

I subscribed to TGM last summer and the least busy days were similar to the UG. This February I used the UG with great success

 

[88Keys]

In case of a tie, you should probably go with UG

 

[Dazer22]

So who do you go with......if they both pick different days?

 

[LoriMistress]

Personally, I've used TGM. TGM always updates, even to the last minute. So far, his service has been worth every single penny. As for UG or TP, I never used their service. Though, I have checked out UG, and it seems to be alright.

 

[DebIreland]

I agree with others who said TGM's site is hard to navigate - it's badly laid out and not user friendly. I also agree that he has some outdated info on there and the touring plans need some updating but I can honestly say his Least Crowded Parks information was incredibly accurate and his touring plans (although not entirely updated as I mentioned) are excellent.

If we go back to WDW I will definitely be paying the subscription fee again just for the Least Crowded Parks information alone.

Time and time again, on our trip last October/November we were in the shortest bus line of all 4 parks - for example, we would see the hordes of people queueing for AK or MGM or Epcot while we were with a handful of people in the MK bus queue. It got to the point where we could tell which bus stop we needed in the mornings from just looking at the emptiest line. Honestly - amazing!

Regarding the touring plans, well it's best to take his plans as a starting point, like a template (a really really good one!) and then add in or remove any attractions that a) he didn't include yet or b) you do/don't want. If there's an attraction he hasn't included yet in a touring plan, chances are, he will still have info on it in the Attractions part of the website so just cause it's not actually in the touring plan doesn't mean he hasn't offered advice on it on his website.

Sorry this got long-winded and just to complicate things more, I also love The Unofficial Guide - it's a terrific guide book and, in my opinion, an invaluable asset to anyone planning a trip to WDW - but nothing can beat TGM's Least Crowded Parks info - truly amazing.