Bruce in PA said:
Anyway, I was wondering if anyone has compared TGM with UG? Do they pretty much agree about the basics -- best day/best park, crowd-level predictions, etc?
My subscription to TGM has run out, so I can't go back to confirm the info...but I believe that there is some difference in what Mike and Len believe are the best days/parks. They agree on some things, disagree on others. A lot of it is probably due to philosophy...both were great sources of info for our family. I probably ended up following Mike's advice a bit more and we had a fantastic time and never waited in any line for more than 15 minutes...we saw everything that we wanted to see and we were able to be quite flexible in our touring...I changed things on the run and Mike's advice was the reason I was able to do so.
Bruce in PA said:
I know that Len Testa is here pretty frequently to answer questions and explain strategies; is there anyone from TGM that serves in a similar capacity on DIS?
Not on DIS. TGM has his own message boards and he does post there pretty frequently. He also answers email messages too.
Bruce in PA said:
And one more question -- once you pay for your TGM subscription, are you free to experiment with your itinerary? Or is it a one-shot deal, where you prioritize your days and attractions, get a schedule and you're done?
TGM's site is
all experimentation...you do
not get a step by step itinerary telling you where to go and when from moment to moment like you would if you hired Len to do a customized itinerary. Personally, I much prefer Mike's approach.
However, this is a point on which I agree with one of the criticisms of TGM's site...his use of the phrase "Automatic Vacation Planner" does leave the impression that you're going to walk away with something similar to Len's product. I know that if you actually read Mike's site and the pre-buy tour info it's clear that isn't what you'll get...but I think the phrase causes unnecessary confusion. The fact of the matter is that most people
don't read all the fine print (actually, it's pretty big print) before they sign up. Yes...they shouldn't be confused...but they
are confused on a regular basis. If your customers consistently prove to be unable to realize what they're signing up for...I think you need to start thinking about throwing in the towel on the whole "AVP" marketing approach. That's just me...it's Mike's site.
That being said...what Mike
does provide is an excellent product. He does provide sample itineraries...but his main goal is to educate his subscribers about
why you should go to certain rides at certain times. He wants his subscribers to understand how he takes his VIP guests around the park so that you can "be like Mike" (to cop a phrase from another area). Armed with his sample tours and the information he provides you are able to create your own personalized tour. You want to go "commando"? It's not something Mike recommends, but with his info you could plan out one heck of commando run. Want to take it easy? You can plan that too.
He explains how the crowds "behave" at different times of the day so you can stay a step ahead of them and make sure in the part of the park they are
not in. This worked amazingly well in Animal Kingdom...we followed his advice and had our area nearly to ourselves...while I saw hordes of people in other areas.
Additionally, because I was educated on how things work I was able to basically tear up the touring plan I had for one of our days in the MK and create a new one in the park...our son decided he really wanted to spend a lot of time at Donald's Boat getting drenched...it was the highlight of his day. It also shot our plan to heck. But...so what? We just rejiggered our schedule and it worked out beautifully.
Does Mike have info you won't find elsewhere? Yeah...I think so. Hundreds of tips you won't find elsewhere? Of course not. The big thing is that you get
one authoritative voice on various issues that are debated to death here on DIS. There are certain things that people legitimately disagree with here...how to do things...what works what doesn't...and it can be hard to know what the answer is. Mike provides an answer without having to read through 2,000 posts on any particular issue (EMH, FPs, Park Days, etc.). Is it "the" answer? Well...his answers worked quite well for us. I did not find a single thing that we relied on that proved to be incorrect. Several of those things are matters on which hordes of people here on DIS would swear up and down do
not work.
Anyway...this got a lot longer than I expected...but the bottom line is that TGM was well worth the $20 and the time I invested in reading his info.
