DebIreland
ಠvಠ
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2005
- Messages
- 3,601
I joined TGM a couple of weeks ago - I'm enjoying it so far (a couple of small things irritate me but nothing major). Overall, I like it a LOT. Although I also like the UG.
I did a retrospective analysis of the best days on TGM. What I mean by that is, we were in WDW from June 24th to July 6th last year and, to 'test' the effectiveness of TGM (for *me*, not for anyone else) I decided to make a list of which parks we went to on which days and then looked at the archived recommended and not recommended days for that time frame.
Well, TGM was so on the money.
Example - we went to MK on Tuesday 28th June early - it was terrific - walked on to lots of rides, then it got busier but was never too bad, left at 2ish. MK was TGM's most recommended park for that day.
On the other hand........ we went to MGM on Sunday 26th June (that was a last minute change to our schedule as Disney announced an extra Star Wars Day shortly beforehand). It was INSANITY. I hated, hated, hated it. Yes, I know I was in DisneyWorld so it's all relative - I was happy to be in DW but God, if I'm honest, we were friggin' miserable but of course, so painfully aware of how much our holiday was costing us per minute
we were all commenting on what a FANTASTIC time we were having, often through gritted teeth and clenched fingers. The crowds, oh god the crowds 
Star Wars? So what? We couldn't get any autographs because the queues were so long and it seemed we'd always be 'nearly' there in blistering unbearable heat when the characters would leave. Fastpasses? What are they? They were all gone before noon. I could go on and on.... suffice to say it was horrendous. And you guessed it TGM (in the archived 'best days') had said it was nothing short of insanity to even attempt MGM that day. 
We went to AK on July 4th and it was blissful.
TGM recommended it highly!
Basically, all the 'bad' days we had i.e. overcrowded park days TGM had warned against and all the great days we had, TGM had recommended.
So I'm trusting him this year. But I also hasten to add, I think the UG is a great guide book and I will always love a good book more than anything online as I love to sit and read *but* when it comes to Disney planning it is essential to be up to date because Disney change their policies so often. I wish the UG wouldn't bother publishing Best Days in the printed book though because it's unfair to readers who rely on those days and don't access their website closer to their trip. What they should do is devote some of that space to emphasising the importance of checking the best days online nearer to vacation time or even provide an email address that readers could subcribe to and be updated regularly through bulk email with 'best days' (as a pdf perhaps). (As an aside, I also feel very sorry for all those planners out there right now waiting for the '90 day' window to arrive to book CRT when, of course, us online planners know that it was changed to 180 days after the last UG was published).
I did a retrospective analysis of the best days on TGM. What I mean by that is, we were in WDW from June 24th to July 6th last year and, to 'test' the effectiveness of TGM (for *me*, not for anyone else) I decided to make a list of which parks we went to on which days and then looked at the archived recommended and not recommended days for that time frame.
Well, TGM was so on the money.
Example - we went to MK on Tuesday 28th June early - it was terrific - walked on to lots of rides, then it got busier but was never too bad, left at 2ish. MK was TGM's most recommended park for that day.
On the other hand........ we went to MGM on Sunday 26th June (that was a last minute change to our schedule as Disney announced an extra Star Wars Day shortly beforehand). It was INSANITY. I hated, hated, hated it. Yes, I know I was in DisneyWorld so it's all relative - I was happy to be in DW but God, if I'm honest, we were friggin' miserable but of course, so painfully aware of how much our holiday was costing us per minute
we were all commenting on what a FANTASTIC time we were having, often through gritted teeth and clenched fingers. The crowds, oh god the crowds Star Wars? So what? We couldn't get any autographs because the queues were so long and it seemed we'd always be 'nearly' there in blistering unbearable heat when the characters would leave. Fastpasses? What are they? They were all gone before noon. I could go on and on.... suffice to say it was horrendous. And you guessed it TGM (in the archived 'best days') had said it was nothing short of insanity to even attempt MGM that day. We went to AK on July 4th and it was blissful.
TGM recommended it highly!Basically, all the 'bad' days we had i.e. overcrowded park days TGM had warned against and all the great days we had, TGM had recommended.
So I'm trusting him this year. But I also hasten to add, I think the UG is a great guide book and I will always love a good book more than anything online as I love to sit and read *but* when it comes to Disney planning it is essential to be up to date because Disney change their policies so often. I wish the UG wouldn't bother publishing Best Days in the printed book though because it's unfair to readers who rely on those days and don't access their website closer to their trip. What they should do is devote some of that space to emphasising the importance of checking the best days online nearer to vacation time or even provide an email address that readers could subcribe to and be updated regularly through bulk email with 'best days' (as a pdf perhaps). (As an aside, I also feel very sorry for all those planners out there right now waiting for the '90 day' window to arrive to book CRT when, of course, us online planners know that it was changed to 180 days after the last UG was published).
