Tour Guide Mike YES or NO

[pixiemomamy]

pay for Tour Guide Mike ???

 

[emmababy]

Yes!! Our trips have turned out great and I give him a ton of credit for it!

 

[mandynee22]

Can more people answer this questions please??? I'm debating on this for my next trip as well
It looked really worth it at the beginning of the TGM thread but towards the end (the more recent posts) not so much

 

[emmababy]

This is the way I look at it. He charges $25 or so for his services. When you compare how much you have spent on your trip, this is just a drop in the bucket, but if it can save you time and headaches, then I find it more than worth it. Just my two cents.

 

[MeetingMickeyin2006]

I recently joined, and have found it very helpful. I'm going with the TGM touring plan instead of the UG, because I feel the TGM plans will work better for us. There is good advice, tips, pictures, message boards, all kinds of resources. The only thing I have found that I've had a problem with is that he doesn't include Toy Story Mania or Lights Motor Action in the DHS plans!

 

[pepperderr]

I am saying yes becuse our trip last year was our first and the few dollars we spent on TGM made all the difference (along with the free DISboards of course). I too, am not sure if I will get as much benifit from it if I join again for our next trip if it is not updated, but I plan to spend the money to join TGM closer to time anyway. Even if you don't find the automated stuff at TGM that great (It took me forever to figure it out), the fourm is worth the money. I had someone actually PM me and tell me which ride to go on at what time of day. I don't think our visit could have been much better and I KNOW that it would have been way worse if I would not have had TGM's plans printed out to go by! Dumbo was the ONLY ride we had to wait more than 10 or so minutes for and that was because we went the wrong way getting to Dumbo becuase we were new and didn't know our way around.

I too was disappointed to read that TGM hasn't been updated. I hope it is updated for 2010 .

PEPPERDERR

 

[emmababy]

I recently joined, and have found it very helpful. I'm going with the TGM touring plan instead of the UG, because I feel the TGM plans will work better for us. There is good advice, tips, pictures, message boards, all kinds of resources. The only thing I have found that I've had a problem with is that he doesn't include Toy Story Mania or Lights Motor Action in the DHS plans!

If you put in Toy Story Mania in the search, there will pop up a touring plan with it included.

 

[emmababy]

When you all say you want it to be updated, what do you mean? I wasn't aware that anything of his was outdated. Thanks!

 

[pepperderr]

I haven't been to TGM since our last trip was over so I am interested in what they mean by needs updated too. I do know that there were a few rides and parades on the list for 2008 that were not valid anymore but the people in the fourms were helpful enough to let me know that. I still think it is worth it to get TGM. I think his site is intimidating and hard to figure out as far as where to find what info, but as I said the people in the fourm are nice enough to tell you what you don't understand. After about a month of fussing with it all, I figured most of the site out.

PEPPERDERR

 

[wdwmom0f3]

I asked my BIL the same thing and he said no. He said that you can get just as much information from Dis & Magic.

 

[pepperderr]

I asked my BIL the same thing and he said no. He said that you can get just as much information from Dis & Magic.

From my experience, that is NOT true. If you read what TGM has you sign, he asks that you don't discuss what you learn on TMG with others...he wants them to pay for the info themselves. As much as I love this DISboards and everyone here made our last trip much better, that info I got at TGM is not available at DISboards...some of it or maybe even a lot of it is, but not all of it. TGM is worth the money. I have not used any other books or sites other than what DISboards point you to. Maybe some of the books tell you the same thing TGM does but I will stick with TGM. As a first time visitor, TGM was well worth it. I will probably use his info again but after the first visit, I don't think it is quite as valuable.

PEPPERDERR

 

[MickeyHereWeCome!]

I say that TGM is definitely worth it. Mike is at the parks all the time, and studies "traffic" flow and best spots and timing. He takes time to explain why his plan works. I get great advise here, too, but I love his advise. We've used TGM for our last two trips, and were able to do so much! For the cost of your trip, the $20 to join is well worth it.

I don't think we'd go without TGM again

 

[christa112]

I have never used TGM and feel like we got by just fine. I have definately learned alot on Disboards and think the info is great on here.

 

[roscoepc1]

If you book through The Magic For Less (.com) and your vacation is over $2K, you get Tour Guide Mike for free....not to mention they do all your ADR's etc for you.

I am SO pleased with their service, I just can't say enough about them! They got us a HUGE discount as a "consolation" b/c our vacation plans didn't fit the "buy 4 get 3" guidelines, just b/c they are an approved agency with Disney....in other words, Jo Blow would not have been given the discount we got...

 

[luvsJack]

Let me put it this way:

2006 Thanksgiving week, had a great time but spent a lot of time in lines. 90 minute wait for RnRc, 3 hour wait for Everest; for example. We didn't use TGM.

2008 same week, same number of days. We used TGM and it was remarkable all the time we were able to save. Used all his suggestions and tips; did not wait in any long lines and got to do things we just didn't have time for before. His suggestions and touring plans work great. We will definitely pay for his service for the next trip.

 

[kimmylaj]

love it spent no more than 15 minutes in any line in august

 

[GreyGooseCosmo]

Hmm. I've been going back and forth about TGM ... it seems that people really like it. I agree - as much as I've spent on this trip, what's another $25 to make sure we do it right?

 

[ilandrazdsw]

OMGoodness YES!
Even without the updates the suggested tour plans made it completely worth it! We didn't use recommended days because we had ADRs and it was Christmas/NY...where wasn't it crowded? Thanks to TGM and DIS we were able to do everything we wanted and waited in minimal to no lines!!!

 

[ilandrazdsw]

Going through Dis you get a discount! I think $3.

 

[TheLittleRoo]

I love the high volume on this board, and I learned a lot of things here. But there is NO WAY IN HELL I'd go back to WDW without TGM first. I couldn't even make an ADR unless I checked his park days first. Seriously. Would not waste my time going to Disney unless I checked his Best Parks days first.

And, like someone said, he gives some fantastic inside tips that no one is allowed (or wants ) to share with the public. That alone was worth hundreds of $$ to me to be able to make it work for my family.... I think you TGM'ers know what I'm referring to!

What's $25 compared to the balance of your trip?!?