Touring Plan Questions

[sayakubik]

I have just borrowed the unofficial touring plan...my question is when touring the Animal Kingdom, you seem to be going from one side of the park to another. THis will be our 1st trip to AK so I am wonder..

Does the plan really work or shouldn't we do what is in each land/area before moving on to the next.

We are going with a preschooler and things seem (on the map) really spread out.

Any suggestions from veterans will be greatly appreciated.

Sooooo glad I found this website!

Thanks in advance!

 

[DownNeckBoy]

The plans really work. If you follow them to the tee, you will be amazed at how much you will be able to see. Of course, that also means that you have to be there early enough to take advantage of the entire plan.

Have fun!!!

 

[lentesta]

Hi sayakubik,

Thanks for reading the Unofficial Guide. I wrote the computer software the Guide uses for its touring plans.

There are practical reasons why we do not suggest seeing all of the attractions in a particular area at the same time. One reason is that certain attractions open later than others. Conservation Station, for example, opens at 9:30 am. On an Early Entry day, there are not 90 minutes of activities to do before Conservation Station in Africa to make staying there worthwhile.

And in general, the plan tries to make a tradeoff between walking and waiting in line. Staying in a particular area to finish all of the attractions, especially in the morning, would result in longer lines later in the day at some other area. Using Africa as an example, finishing all of Africa is probably a bad idea, as you'd encounter significantly longer waits at, say, Dinoland U.S.A when you got there later.

Even then, I don't think the amount of incremental walking is all that much. I'd be surprised if it was more than 15 or 20 minutes per day. But the time saved from standing in line is certainly much more than that.

I'd suggest a stroller and a nice, relaxing lunch to compensate for the incremental amount of walking you'll encounter. The Animal Kingdom is a lovely park.

Thanks again for reading the Unofficial Guide. If there's anything else we can help with for your trip, please let me know.

Sincerely,

Len Testa

 

[karemore]

It is soooo worth the extra walking.


I know it's tempting to do everything close together before moving to another section of the park.

But you will not be able to see all the best attractions that way.

What helped us was splitting up to get Fastpasses. One person would run ahead and get them, while the other person was able to rest a few minutes and save some steps.

Have a great trip!

Karen

 

[gctong]

So the plans do work?! Cool. Small question of clarification, if a lot of people are using the same touring plans as suggested by the unofficial guide, wouldn't THAT be crowded then?

 

[lentesta]

gctong, fewer than 1% of the guests in any park have been exposed to the plans. And even then, most folks don't arrive at park opening.

Sincerely,

Len Testa

 

[cruisnfamily]

Originally posted by lentesta
gctong, fewer than 1% of the guests in any park have been exposed to the plans. And even then, most folks don't arrive at park opening.

Sincerely,

Len Testa

That's pretty interesting Len. Do you really think it's only 1% or less? I'd think it would be a higher percentage.

 

[danny1649]

Have used UG touring plans do work well.That said if you encounter a bottleneck or huge que while following touring plan don't panic,be flexible and jump to next step of touring plan.We have had to do this a few times and just note what we missed and catch it later in day or trip.

 

[CanadaPT]

Originally posted by cruisnfamily
That's pretty interesting Len. Do you really think it's only 1% or less? I'd think it would be a higher percentage.

Remember that most people aren't Disney fanatics like us!! And, most importantly, most people even if they have the plans don't follow the most important rule: "Arrive EARLY!"

 

[lentesta]

While I'd love to say it's more like 10% (I could get that condo in the Virgin Islands paid off ), I think 1% is more realistic. That's something like 500 people in the Magic Kingdom on a busy day.

CanadaPT is right, though. Fewer than 25% of the folks who visit a theme park are there when it opens, according to our numbers.

Len

 

[jaysue]

The Touring Plans rock!

They really work especially when you can start at step #1 at park opening

They really save tons of waiting time especially later in the day and save a lot of hastle

When we used the MK for the first time on an EMH day to boot, DW was amazed how smoothly the touring went without a hitch especially when we swaped DS#1 and the other went off to get FP's etc.

We do not follow the plans every day but they are worth their weight in gold

thanks
jaysue