Tour Guide Mike

[leeserw]

Will using Tour Guide Mike save me more money than I'm already saving using the Unofficial Guide and Mousesavers?

 

[mommie3]

I don't think it will save any more money but it might save you some time...he tells you what rides to go to first and the best days to go to the parks to aviod the most lines

marissa

 

[leeserw]

Does he include eating in his itenerary? I have figured out everything we'll do and where to stay, what tickets to buy, etc. But I'm overwhelmed by the food choices. I don't know if I should play it by ear or really plan for each meal.

 

[Rileygirl]

Hmmmm
He does tell you alot about the restaraunts and what the prices are, but you can really get that information from wdwig.com for free. Where he does excel is how to make the most of your time, and how to chose where to spend your money, what is worth the cost and maybe what is not.
I just got back from disney, and let me tell you, his information is excellent. We were always ahead of the crowds, I think the longest wait was for "the land" which was fifteen minutes, mostly we just walked on everything, or had our fast passes and did that. I am telling you his itinerary stuff is so far above anything I have ever seen, it is worth the cost alone, if you plan to take the time to read it.
I know that crowds were down for spring break this year, but I noticed that after we did a ride,like winnie the pooh or peter pan we would walk past it 15 minutes later and observe a 30-45 minute wait.....One morning in the midst of spring break we did all of fantasyland, every ride, twice, except small world.and only once on dumbo (but honestly, we did winnie the pooh three times....and snow white only once....that one belongs to a second rate theme park...)
I think that mousesavers is excellent, and tourguide mike shows you how to optimise it to save the most,
I love passporters for its maps and hotel information, but Mike has information on hotels that I have not seen before, especially about the room view selection....and he is constantly adding more information
He is always current about his information, letting you know about park hour changes and other stuff that published books cant possibly compete with.
I found that even if you plan for every meal and stuff, things happen like a family melt down, or you change plans because of weather or crowds, you do need to be flexabile, but knowing what good choices, and what are not, that is what you need to know, and what is the price range of the restaruants....
by the way, we loved the columbia house at the Mk for a quick relatively inexpensive lunch.....two thumbs up for them
rileygirl

 

[leeserw]

I don't think I've heard or read about Columbia House. Where is it? I think I'm going to sign up for TGM because if I don't it's going to drive me crazy wondering what we missed or could have done better! Thanks for the great advice.

 

[Rileygirl]

I love tgm, I think it is the best resource out there if you take time to read it, but there are others who do not like it. If you look in this board you will find a few threads about it, and you will find a very negative thread about it on the stategies board. read all before you purchase.
The one thing about tgm though, as far as I know, anyone who has asked for a refund because they did not feel the product lived up to its reputation has recieved their money back... I sure wish the unofficial guide did that!
The columbia harbour house is located I think in liberty square, just across from the Liberty Bell landing and before you get to the haunted house....just sandwiches and chicken strips and clam chowder, my kids loved the chicken strips, and I have to admit, I got some too, they were really good. One portion would do two very small kids easily. the clam chowder was good too, but you only got one scoop in the bread bowl, and I found it to be a little too much bread, and I wished there was a little more soup... but very tasty... my husband enjoyed the fish fry.....
rileygirl

 

[bjakmom]

We always have at least one quick lunch at Harbor House (my kids love chicken fingers and I like the chowder) - check out the upstairs seating - it's dark, cool and has always been uncrowded when we've been there (well, almost always - nothing is uncrowded on NYE or the 4th!) - a good place to take a break and 'regroup'.
PS: I have made quite a few trips to WDW since it opened and even though I may not be learning a lot of 'new' information, I love Mike's format, advice, and articles - I'm finding it's easier for me to have everything on one site that gives me all the latest updates/changes as they happen.

 

[disneyjunkie]

Originally posted by leeserw
I don't think I've heard or read about Columbia House. Where is it? I think I'm going to sign up for TGM because if I don't it's going to drive me crazy wondering what we missed or could have done better! Thanks for the great advice.

Here's the menu for Columbia Harbour house

http://wdwig.com/menu/men_chh.htm


You can get tons of menus, planning, touring.... info here free
www.wdwig.com

 

[lentesta]

The Columbia Harbor House is an often overlooked restaurant for lunch, and it's close to Fantasyland, too.

Regarding the efficiency of touring plans, those in the Unofficial Guide are as close to optimal as one is likely to get for the most popular attractions. I'd doubt seriously that any other guidebook or on-line service could approach the Guide's results for any non-trivial touring plan, given the complexity of the task. It's simply not something that can be done without a lot of data, analysis and some sophisticated computer software.

I helped write the touring plan software the Guide uses, and I'd be happy to answer any questions regarding the touring plans.

Sincerely,

Len

 

[leeserw]

Len,
I do have a question about the touring plan. We are using the adults with young children plan but would like to go to the Hall of Presidents. How do I incorporate an attraction into the plan without messing up the flow? Thank you so much.

 

[Melrosgirl]

I purchased TGM back in November, once it was announced. The articles are not all written yet. I'm still confused why the site is available for a fee, yet it's not completed.

With that said, I think it's a nice site. Someone mentioned back in January that the articles would be finished soon. (I was looking for a particular article to be finished.) Well, it's now 8 weeks later and the article is still not up and running. Disappointing, but I'll live.

Will you save money with it? No. You'll get some nice tips (some of which you may be able to find on the DisBoards, too.) I like the site. I just wish the articles and photo tours were up and running. I feel like I am not getting my money's worth at the time and my trip is just seven weeks away now.

 

[lentesta]

Hey leeserw, I've sent you a private message. Let me know if that's not what you're looking for.

Sincerely,

Len

 

[jcemom]

I signed up for TGM and am having quite a bit of fun with it. I do wish some of the unfinished things were finished...but, that said, there is a lot of info there...and all in one place. The site is very easy to navigate.

I have a long wait for my trip and so have way too much time on my hands to check and recheck all the info ! I'll try to remember to post a review of TGM after my trip to let everyone know how helpful it was to us. (I'm happy with it so far.)

 

[TreeOfLife]

Will you save money with it? No. You'll get some nice tips (some of which you may be able to find on the DisBoards, too.)

You could describe The Passporter's and other printed guidebooks likewise, it does not apply to TGM exclusively.

What is wrong with those who prefer the information online, updated where they print only what suits them rather than drag a bulky guide along? You can still get other info elsewhere, but I am happy with TGM, and find it very useful and thorough, avoiding the hassle of searching for updates through boards and having your itinerary mapped out in a fun and innovative way.

So if you'd prefer the tips from an experienced tour planner's site avoiding the bulk of printed information you may not necessarily need in your trip, and want a fun engine to customize it for you, try TGM...

 

[firecracker]

I was fast approaching my 60-day window for a bfast at CRT. The tgm article about Cindy's STILL wasn't published. So I emailed Mike and asked him for some tips if he wasn't going to get it published soon.

Not only did he write the article and publish it within 3 days, he sent me a personal email when it was done, wishing me luck, hoping with me that my dd's Victoria and Veronica would get their wish to eat with the Princesses! He also sent me some wallpaper for my pc for good luck.

I followed his instructions to the letter and got through the 1st day I called and got my preferred day and an excellent time (8:15). I didn't even have to hold when I called WDW Dining.

Re: doing Hall of Presidents and not "messing things up": tgm is TOTALLY customized. YOU pick which attractions you want to do. YOU delete all the attractions you don't want to do. You can change these AT ANY TIME as many times as you want! Then tgm tells you when it's best to do your selected attractions, there are reviews from him and other users, timing tips, viewing tips, factoids, etc. etc.

Meal planning is the same way. Great reviews from LOTS of people. Not all positive, either.

No, I'm not paid by tgm. But, I like the flexibility of his site and I'm glad I bought it. I also use the boards and WDWIG (great free site, but no specific, customizable touring plans).

Competition is the American way. If you compete with tgm, you probably aren't going to like his service very much. Oh well. I'm glad it's available to me and I don't have to read a static book that never changes.

 

[TreeOfLife]

I'm glad it's available to me and I don't have to read a static book that never changes.

Pretty much my point. Some like to buy printed material that need add-ons and/or make you scramble all over the Internet for updates, others like to have the convenience of selecting everything already updated online... For about the same price of the printed books and with the privilege of printing only what applies to your family and particular needs. Sounds like a heck of an economic deal to me!

And plus, written by a professional, experienced tour planner who also customizes your trip according to your selections.

 

[jcemom]

Originally posted by firecracker
I like the flexibility of his site and I'm glad I bought it.

My thoughts exactly! (And it's fun! )

 

[Rileygirl]

Ok here's another reason why I love tgm. In his itineraries, he just does not say go here then go there, then run here. He gives you information about about crowd patterns and characteristics, how rides load, he tells you why , not just the what. The result..... you can easily modify your own touring plan to suit what you want to see, and on the fly, its great. and it works. Our last day at disney I wanted to go back to the animal kingdom, but it was cooking hot and humid. The thing the kids really wanted to see (ok,ok, me too) was the parade at four pm. When we got up in the morning and I just knew the kids would not be able to do the whole day at ak (we had ressies at Jiko). Did I panic? did I call someone to modify a touring plan? heck no! I knew exactly what to do. The kids swam at the poly pool all morning, we had a leisurely lunch, jumped on the empty ak bus and got there at 1pm, (I am talking legend of lion king, meet 4 characters, bugs life kilo safaries, and the acrobat show and parade) had an absolute blast doing all our favorites with no waits (everybody who went in the morning got cooked and went home early, or were dragging unhappy children around) and then finished off the perfect day with dinner at jiko.
The whole time we were at disney, we were always walking against the crowds, I kept cracking up, it was almost funny.
About that cinderella article, after reading the huge concern about people not getting in to the princess breakfast, I am going to say some would pay the price alone for that one article. Nothing can guarentee you to get in, but honestly after reading that article, its like he gives you a gun to go hunting for that ressie. Bang, bang, bang, down to a difference in a single word, and I have never seen that information on this board.....
rileygirl

 

[house_of_princesses]

So, how does TGM work? You pay a fee to access his site and then have unlimited access for a specified amount of time? Thanks!

 

[jcemom]

Here's the link to the FAQ's page...
http://tourguidemike.com/tour/faq.asp

It's good until 14 days after your vacation ends, you specify the dates anytime between now and 2006, I think.