Tourguide Mike.

[cinmell]

Have you signed up for Tourguide Mike? If so, what do you think of it? I looked thru the review last night and couldn't really tell if it would be useful. Does it provide information you can't find on sites like Deb's or Mousesavers? Thank you!

 

[Misti]

Moving to Theme Parks Board ?? I'm not sure what this is exactly.

 

[kimmie]

I am not sure myself. I just signed up yesterday and have been trying to go through the site. I am a bit confused on the details of an itinerary for my family. I guess I expected it to plan everything with touring plans like the guide books. Again I am not sure about it. Maybe someonecould explain it to us.

 

[sm4987]

I just signed up for it too last night. I am getting the hang of it although it might take me some time to totally get it. I have found some great information on it though. Things that I wish I would have known last year.

 

[lcborn2run]

I checked this site out out of curiousity. Do you think it's worth $25? Is there really more info than you can find from these boards and other free sites?

If it's worth it, I'd do it, but I'd like to know what $25 buys you.

Thanks...

Lisa

 

[TreeOfLife]

tourguidemike.com is a very informative, fun to use vacation planner. I signed up recently as well. In fact, I was debating whether I should buy the new Passporter or, for about the same price, sign up to this service.

If you go to Mousesavers.com, there is a coupon for $2 off the price but if you join tourguidemike.com's newsletter you may get one for $3 off.

The planning is personalized, you actually type in the characteristics of your party, travel dates, select your interests, and out comes a bunch of articles with suggestions, ideas and even secret tips on getting around the parks.

Mike is a professional vacation planner, he merely decided to create a site and share his ideas there, but I expect to hear more about him and his innovative way to plan a Disney vacation in the future.

The reason why I like it more than any other planning tool is that being online, the information is updated on the spot. Nothing is outdated. It reduces the time you'd have to spend searching all over for updates. You do not need to drag a guide along, just print what you need. And you still get personalized service!

To me, it was well worth investing in for our vacation...

 

[renessa]

My vacation isn't until 2004, and I am already planning with tourguidemike.com it has made me think about PS seating times, and park touring strategies (even during holiday periods) that will help on my next trip. There are lots of hints and tips that I have not seen on the boards. I like to read guide books, however. I own the unofficial, waiting for the new passporter, and now this. I really like the online and up to date aspects, and I consider it money well spent on my "planning and research". Right now it is entertainment! So if you've got some extra $$$ try it out....!!! Ren

 

[lcborn2run]

Thanks for the info. I thought I was up on all this, but what is the Passporter?

Thank you....

 

[TreeOfLife]

The Passporter is a very wonderful and fun to use vacation planner. I tried it when they sold old copies for $5 some time ago, and loved it.

Please do not take my words as a putdown because it is indeed a great guide. But I prefer Tourguidemike.com because all the information is online and current. And I do not drag guides along into the parks with my camera, drink bottles, and bags of knick knacks.

I also like the idea of selecting what I want, printing it and that is it. I do not want a whole book with extra information I may not need or use. I just feel I get more out of my money with up-to-date, online information. I don't have to search all over for updates. And it is a blast to plug in who we are and what we like and get a personalized plan.

Just my $0.02

 

[ByJiminy]

PassPorter is a wonderful guidebook for WDW that also functions as a trip organizer, with pockets to hold your confirmations, receipts, etc. Their website is www.passporter.com.

I am curious about tourguidemike, I love planning, LOL. I went to the site and as near as I can tell you only buy planning help for one trip. Is that true? We have a trip in August and one in December, and for $25 I'd like to have info for both of them. Anyone have any thoughts on this? The December trip is just a weekend, but we want to do MVMCP and other things that I could probably use some extra help/tips on. I guess I can understand it being limited, since otherwise people might just put in all their friends trips and so on to get the advice, but I don't want to pay another $25 to get info for a few day trip, especially when I already know where we're staying, etc. Can I join and look around and then decide which trip to use it for? Or do I have to put in dates right away?

Thanks for any advice.

Laura B.

 

[sm4987]

I am finding the PS guide extremely helpful. It is letting me know how many days I have left to a particular PS and I had the option to choose when it would be emailed to me as a reminder. I really am enjoying the site. I just wish I had started using it sooner as my vacation is in 120 and 15 days after that I can no longer use it.

 

[padisneylover]

Byjiminy
I would e-mail Tour Guide Mike which you can do form his site without a charge and ask about the two vacations. He is great about getting right back to you. I have to agree with everyone elses comments about the site. I feel it was worth the money and have been busy reading the articles and planning my vacation in Dec for about 3 months now. Even though I have been to WDW multiple times I have learned a lot from this site and agree that there is information on it that is not shared on the boards.

 

[mom2of2]

Thumbs up to both Passporter and Mike!!! I started with the Pasporter and then got Mike with the Mousesavers discount. Both are very helpful. The Passporter has detailed maps of the parks and 2 itenairies, one with children and one without, it has details on all the rides, shows etc. It also tells about Cirque, Disney Quest and Richard Petty Driving. The hotels are detailed and show you which is smoking and non as well as the best building to stay at. Restaurants are rated as well as sample pricing and some menu items. Mike on the other hand does give you that handy dandy PS planner as well as what are the good days to go to what park and what day not to. When your trip gets closer you get a detailed calendar that tells when parades, fireworks and ex magic hour are so you can plan what place and when. The site is still under construction and some vacation articles aren't published as of yet but Mike is always adding something new. The Passporter is also updated and you can go to their web site and print out pages to add to your book. I got the Deluxe edition and it's in a leather binder that holds all my info. All in all I really like them both and would recommend getting them both!!! So you blow about $50 for both but it's all the info you could possibly need about WDW. I'm so glad I found these sources, I have saved tons of money and I actually added extra days because I did save so much!!!!!!

 

[ByJiminy]

padisneylover and mom2of2,

Thanks to both of you for your replies. I think I will email him and see what he says; in the FAQ it does say that they are planning on doing some sort of "annual pass" for frequent visitors.

I hope it involves more than just calculating my PS dates (I'm happy with the PS calculator) and telling me to avoid the designated parks on their Extra Magic Hour days. I already know when the Extra Magic Hours are, and I can find info on park hours and scheduled entertainment, etc, online for free, so that doesn't do much for me either. It looked like there were quite a few articles that would be of interest to me that were "locked", I hope those are really there, not that they haven't been written yet!

Laura B.

 

[mom2of2]

It does include so much more then PS sheets or when the e nights are, it's just that I can't really tell you a whole lot more about it, kind of like Mousesavers, Mike asks that we not post his information. Sorry....give it a try and if it disappoints you maybe you will get a refund, I don't know. I've had to email Mike twice and both times I rec'd very quick responses.

 

[ByJiminy]

Thanks mom2of2,

I really appreciate the fact that people keep the information to themselves as he asks them to. And I also appreciate you taking the time to reassure me that there is more to it than the little bit I can find out before buying! Thanks, again!

Laura B.

 

[cinmell]

Thank you for your replys everyone! As someone pointed out, tourguide mike may be a bit better than a guidebook because it will be more current. We may give it a try.

 

[cinmell]

I went ahead and signed up for tourguidemike a few days ago. I have found that when I click on some article titles to read them, instead of the article, there is a title that says coming soon. Also, some of the photo tours for the resorts do not contain any photos. My husband emailed a question to tourguidemike 3 days ago and hasn't received a response. Anybody else come across any of these things?

 

[ByJiminy]

I sent an email on Monday morning to ask a couple things before I bought it and haven't heard anything. Part of my email was questioning whether or not the photo tours were really there (or if I just couldn't see them because I hadn't paid) and another question was if all the "locked" articles I could see the titles for were really there, or if they hadn't been written yet.

I wondered if he had been impacted by the internet troubles over the weekend, and if he was trying to deal with that maybe he hasn't had a chance to respond to his emails. Maybe the coupon code on Mousesavers has generated alot of business and email and he's behind? I am getting the impression that it pretty much is just "Mike" and if he is busy or sick, I don't know if there is anyone else there helping out??

If I hear anything I will post again!

Laura B.

 

[Rileygirl]

Hi all

Well, I have been fooling around on tgm site for a couple of months and I may? be able to help out a couple of questions here. No, the photo tours are not loaded yet, I think he has said somewhere on his site as soon as he finishes those articles, he is going to load them up.
If you are looking at his articles, and they do not have a date in bold beside it, they are yet "to be published". Anything with a date has been published.
I dont know what to say about him not answering emails.... I know when ever I ask him something, it is always "Michael" who replies, so it may be just him.
I have to say I totally love his guide, I think the info is great, I have learned so much stuff I have never seen before in books, and I have read many guidebooks cover to cover. Make sure that you dont just look at his articles either, go into the attractions information and scroll down past his general description, his hints and tips and trivia are great!
hope this helps
rileygirl