Touring Plans for DL

[Pooh2]

Does anyone have experience with using Touring Plans to make their schedule for DL?
We are plannning our first trip and wondered how the website works. Do they have a list of all the rides, you plug in what you would like to see and they come up with a schedule?
I did buy the Unofficial Guide. Am I better off to just clip out those plans and try to adjust them to our needs? (Cannot do coasters or spinning rides).
Thanks!

 

[jcarwash]

I tried Touring Plans two years ago for Disneyland, and I did not care for it.

Yes, they have a program where you can enter different factors -- attractions, how many breaks, etc. -- and it will (allegedly) calculate a plan for you. I felt like the output never really made sense and I spent too much time on it.

In my opinion, for Disneyland the best touring plan is to arrive as early as you can before the gates open, so you can take advantage of the parks before it gets busy later. (This is basically my favorite plan for any Disney park )

I do like Touring Plans' daily coverage of Disneyland on Twitter -- their local reporter does a great job keeping up with what's going on all the time.

 

[Pooh2]

Thanks!!

 

[Angrose]

Hi, I actually enjoy using Touring Plans. I have only ever used it for DLR and I know their wait times are not super accurate, but I still like it. I am a very visual person, so it helps me have a visual plan for organizing our days. I input all the attractions/shows we want to do, then I'll optimize to see what they come up with. Usually their plan has us criss-crossing the park several time which I hate doing. Instead, I just move the attractions into the order that makes sense to me and then hit "evaluate' then they calculate the estimated wait times. I also like to play around with different scenarios, like what if we do EMH or take an afternoon break.

 

[soniam]

I have used it for both WDW and DL. I really like it at DL. We ended up doing everything we wanted and had time to redo things or swim at the hotel.

If you pay for the personalized plans, which I recommend, then you choose the day, the park, arrival/leaving time, rides, breaks, and meals, then it will order them in the most efficient manner, give you a schedule with wait, ride, and walk times. It allows you to bias towards less walking or less waiting. It will even suggest for what you should get FP. You can even move stuff around manually and have it update the times with that order.

 

[Pooh2]

I did not realize that touringplans was so cheap! Just found a code and got it for $6.36. Figured for that price, I would give it a try! Maybe it will save my feet!

 

[sunflare]

As a note, I used TP this last race weekend and they worked fabulously. However, I did personalize my plan, and noticed that until mid to late afternoon the wait times reported were off (I think most of the regular users weren't up yet or were de-stressing from the races!) We got everything we wanted done and more...

 

[cmpeter]

I have read on disboards that Touring Plans isn't that great for DL. I have used them successfully at WDW. For both WDW and DLR, I have used Ridemax...I prefer their interface.

 

[lizabu]

I've use TP for WDW too. It's great because it gives you an idea of what to do. We have a habit of starting out on the plan and then ending up just doing whatever we want. I'm planning to try Ridemax for DL. I read somewhere that they are supposed to be more accurate for DL.

 

[mikana876]

I signed up for both and so far I really like touring plans better. I like how it lets you put attractions in a certain order decided by you and I like that it lets you schedule shows also. Ridemax won't let me put things in the order that I want and doesn't factor in shows. Unless I'm just doing it wrong?

 

[Kilale]

I also signed up for both and touring plans has more options than Ridemax but Ridemax seems to make more sense with logical wait times. For some reason TP keeps putting RSR as my third or fourth ride with me waiting in line for 50+ minutes, even with EMH, instead of just right at the start or a FP option later in the day.

This really made me judge the rest of it..

 

[soniam]

I also signed up for both and touring plans has more options than Ridemax but Ridemax seems to make more sense with logical wait times. For some reason TP keeps putting RSR as my third or fourth ride with me waiting in line for 50+ minutes, even with EMH, instead of just right at the start or a FP option later in the day. This really made me judge the rest of it..

Are you setting the use FP option? Can't remember if DL TP has an FP option. This is after optimizing, right? I wonder if RSR is open during AM EMH. Not all rides are.

If you're still having issues/questions, contact TP. They are really helpful. I have seen Len I here before. He may respond, especially if you started a new thread with your problem.

 

[mikana876]

I also signed up for both and touring plans has more options than Ridemax but Ridemax seems to make more sense with logical wait times. For some reason TP keeps putting RSR as my third or fourth ride with me waiting in line for 50+ minutes, even with EMH, instead of just right at the start or a FP option later in the day.

This really made me judge the rest of it..

This is why I like touring plans better... Because when their system does something like that, you can just drag RSR up to the top of the plan and then hit "evaluate" instead of "optimize" and it will fit things in the order that you put them in and give you the approximate wait times. With Ridemax when it does something funny, I can't edit it in any way.

 

[Crispity]

I've used the personalized plans twice for WDW, and have really enjoyed them. However, for DL, I have had a lot of trouble with them, particularly the "optimize" feature. For example, when I tried to optimize one plan, it told me that the best order for my attractions would be Pirates of the Caribbean at rope drop (9:00), no attractions at all for an hour and a half of prime touring time until our 10:40 ADR at Plaza Inn, and then on to the Fantasyland attractions at 11:30 am. That is a pretty terrible use of time! This wasn't a fluke, either, as many of the "optimized" plans that I tried had similar glaring problems. Oh well.

 

[Suvadoo]

I love touring plans and use it for DLR and WDW. Usually, my family does not stick to the plan, but I refer my plan so that I don't miss my "must do's"