Tour Guide Mike

[jenmom24ks]

Logan's Dad - we also leave in 15 days. I think I have all of my info printed that I need, but I was hoping to confirm that with other TGM'ers as my next two weeks are crazy busy (I'll really be ready for our vacation ). I'll just have to look around more on the DIS now - I usually don't have enough time for both TGM and DIS. Now I guess I do.

 

[XxStaceFacexX]

I'm home sick today and it's storming outside! Today would be a great day to break out the planning notebook and do some planning! Please TGM!! Before I lose it from absolute boredum

 

[SueOKW]

OK, no more lurking for me.

15 days to go, trip and park tours already planned (but finalized? ) so I'm not in major panic mode.

But having said that, it does surprise me that TGMike didn't take to heart the lessons from the last (and fairly recent) crash.

Hopefully, they'll be back up and running before we go...

hey dude! i hear ya! This is a total bummer to me, and I just know the March folks are in the "why now?!" contingent...

I hope it's up soon too........ I can only imagine what TGM central is like right now....... I believe they did take heart from the last crash. "Lesson learned are like bridges burned." (Dan Fogleburg) I'm sure they will learn from this one as well.

All will be well, or will be made well. I know this.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

I'm huddled here in front of the computer because my furnace died last night. I'm waiting for the plumber so I feel Mike's pain.

I am going to join again once it is up and running. I've used his site for my last two trips and loved it.

 

[d4est]

Your furnace died, so you are waiting for the plumber...

 

[rhiannonwales]

Your furnace died, so you are waiting for the plumber...

She might have radiator heat which uses hot water, so its not unusual for a plumber to come.Also natural gas lines are handled by plumbers.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

She might have radiator heat which uses hot water, so its not unusual for a plumber to come.Also natural gas lines are handled by plumbers.

Bingo!

We have a baseboard hot water gas furnace. He's been to our house WAY too many times, he recognizes my voice on his cell phone.

 

[AshleyMWC]

OK, I am going to jump in this TGM thread and change the topic a bit...sorry guys, please forgive me I just joined TGM about a month ago, btu my trip is not until October...haven't totally nailed down the dates yet (either teh first or last week in October). Anyhoo, I have been to WDW a lot of times, never with TGM, so I am clueless as to what a big difference people say it makes. Does it really make as huge a difference as I imagine? I am approaching my dining 180 day window and I was going to plan my meals based on what park TGM says to visit each day? Is it really worth planning meals this way? I am all about avoiding crowds when at all possible!! I am taking my mom on this trip (she's a young mid 50's gal) as a celebration for a TOUGH 3 years we have had and I want it to be great as possible. Ok, thanks for your help and I hope TGM is up again soon

 

[punky'smom]

I was going to join yesterday. We're leaving April 6th. I hope TGM comes up soon. I also remember I have a Barnes & Nobles gift card so I'm going to get the UG today after it stops pouring out.

 

[dashulak]

Oops!

 

[rie'smom]

OK, I am going to jump in this TGM thread and change the topic a bit...sorry guys, please forgive me I just joined TGM about a month ago, btu my trip is not until October...haven't totally nailed down the dates yet (either teh first or last week in October). Anyhoo, I have been to WDW a lot of times, never with TGM, so I am clueless as to what a big difference people say it makes. Does it really make as huge a difference as I imagine? I am approaching my dining 180 day window and I was going to plan my meals based on what park TGM says to visit each day? Is it really worth planning meals this way? I am all about avoiding crowds when at all possible!! I am taking my mom on this trip (she's a young mid 50's gal) as a celebration for a TOUGH 3 years we have had and I want it to be great as possible. Ok, thanks for your help and I hope TGM is up again soon

Yes,Ashley,Mike makes a BIG difference at least in our trips. I always use his least crowded days chart to plan our ADRs. This May will mark our 4th trip using TGM. My husband says he will never go to WDW again w/out Mike's touring advice. In fact, he was not ever planning to go to WDW again until the trip that I found and followed the advice from the TGM website. We had used UG and the crowd advice on which park for each day was just not accurate. However,we've never had that problem with Mike. This past Thanksgiving,WDW was pretty crowded,yet we toured like pros with little to no wait times. Most people spend from a few to several thousand dollars per trip-what's another 20 dollars or so to insure a wonderful time. Have fun and as I said, you're safe using his least crowded days chart to plan your ADRs.

 

[FatElvis]

Well, that'll teach me to wait to print off my stuff. I leave for the airport in an HOUR and I don't have my info printed. CRAP!! I looked a couple of days ago and it was down, and I just assumed it would be up soon. I know they are working on it, but holy moly I don't remember the plans.

 

[vpack05]

I'm so sorry for all the new members who are unable to access their accounts, but please know from a current member (3 years, I think) that TGM is SOOOOOO completely worth it. It's a shame that this is your introduction to TGM but have patience. TGM offers details on EVERY ride, EVERY attraction, EVERY park, EVERY restaurant and EVERY hotel. I've found information there when I couldn't get specifics on other sites or from other sources. If some info is outdated, please remember that he's in the parks EACH day. I personally am thrilled to have his input without paying $200/hr for the service.

I'm a detail person and I've bought the UG, the passporter (which is terrific for just starting out planners), birnbaum's (kids & adult) in the past. TGM is the only service that I HAVE to HAVE in order to plan my trip.

Feel free to PM if you need more info.

waiting for the rebirth of TGM!!

 

[Servants of Evan]

But having said that, it does surprise me that TGMike didn't take to heart the lessons from the last (and fairly recent) crash.

Last crash? There was an outage as TGM switched hosting companies and everything needed to be rerouted to the new location. That's not at all unusual for any change when hosting is concerned. Once the new location is up and running, it takes a while for "the internet" to learn where the new site is located. Some ISP's had it remapped within a few hours, others (like AOL) took a few days. Again it's frustrating as all get-out, but it's not unusual or the end of the world as we know it!

While we all hope it's up and running soon, I'm hoping the tech staff gets a chance to catch some sleep...

 

[tomshortridge]

I guess the thing that makes this situation go from bad to worse is the we buy a LIMITED time membership that expires and most of us DONT buy our memberships 12 months ahead of time or anything. Since he is just getting the August/Sept stuff up, I assume the longest useful life of a TGM membership is 6 months MAX.

I agree that some COMMUNICATION on the subject would be helpful. That way we would know that Mike didn't just take our $20 and run off to the Bahamas to be at Anna Nicole's funeral.

 

[rhiannonwales]

I agree that some COMMUNICATION on the subject would be helpful. That way we would know that Mike didn't just take our $20 and run off to the Bahamas to be at Anna Nicole's funeral.

Thats really rude.

 

[Allison]

I guess the thing that makes this situation go from bad to worse is the we buy a LIMITED time membership that expires and most of us DONT buy our memberships 12 months ahead of time or anything. Since he is just getting the August/Sept stuff up, I assume the longest useful life of a TGM membership is 6 months MAX.

6 months-Not at all, I signed up again right after my June 2006 trip and won't be returning again until June 2008. The useful life for me goes way beyond getting the calendars up.

 

[Dicecatt]

Let me just dumb things down for a moment here......

All techie talk aside, this STINKS!!! Not the end of the world, but I sure wish TGM were up and running!!!! (not because my trip is anytime soon, only because I'm an addict and I need my fix) I sure hope that because of this little glitch TGM has plenty of time to sit down with the Sept. hours and come up with his best days picks asap - like, as soon as the site is back up maybe?!?

Ekball...I'm right there with you! Sick today ughhh. But able to log on, since my work computer blocks TGM, only to find no TGM! Wah. I got the Sept hours off the WDW site yesterday...looks like my preplanning will be right on target, but I am looking forward to the best days to confirm that I am right! Hi Ken...Kutchyone...Colemanares...JillL...anyone else I forgot!

 

[Logans_Dad]

Last crash? There was an outage as TGM switched hosting companies and everything needed to be rerouted to the new location. That's not at all unusual for any change when hosting is concerned. Once the new location is up and running, it takes a while for "the internet" to learn where the new site is located. Some ISP's had it remapped within a few hours, others (like AOL) took a few days.

No, I believe it was a crash and that, as a result, TGMike switched hosting companies. It was after that that some ISP's took a period of time to "locate" it.

 

[tracy51]

I guess the thing that makes this situation go from bad to worse is the we buy a LIMITED time membership that expires and most of us DONT buy our memberships 12 months ahead of time or anything. Since he is just getting the August/Sept stuff up, I assume the longest useful life of a TGM membership is 6 months MAX.

I would disagree. There is so much to do BEFORE you start making your ADR's and planning your park days which is the information that comes out 6 months ahead of your vacation. You need to decide where you are staying, what you want to do, where you want to eat, etc.

Everyone focuses on the his best day and touring information, but what TGM offers is more than that. There's some great descriptions/advice for planning your whole vacation from picking the right resort for you to where to eat to what park to go to what day. Yes, similar advice can be found on other Disney sites but MIke brings the same insights to that information that he does to the planning park day portions. If you are one of the advance planners than you start using that information well before that 180 day mark hits.

My family is in the pre-planning stages of a family reunion at WDW in 2008. Once it becomes "official" that we are going, I will be purchasing a membership to plan that trip. Trust me, much of my time planning will be well before the 180 day mark because I'll be trying to determine how to plan the best overall vacation for us. We're talking less than 10 people but we are different - some like to golf, some like the parks, some like the shows, some have never been before. So there's quite a bit of research and planning we'll need to before I even care about park hours and the advice that comes out with that.