Touring Plans in the slow season?

[fromscratchmom]

Hi, all! We are planning to be in WDW from Dec 12th thru Dec 19th. I'm just wondering if any of you who have used any of the touring plans from the Unofficial Guide have also used them at times when you'd expect light crowds? Or have you found that the crowds are light enough that you can just save your footsteps and go to some things as you get to them? I've been thinking of using them, but also using the cheat sheets from their "touring plans" web site and then modifying the plans for fewer steps. I'd love to hear opinions on this. Can I get creative with it and still see the maximum number of attractions or close to it?

 

[andijean]

I don't think the slow season is as slow as it used to be. We went beginning of December last year and it definitely had times that it was crowded. The only times we walked onto rides was first thing in the morning by following a touring plan. ie: at animal kingdom TGM said to go to Dinosaur Land first and we rode all the rides there multiple times...great advice and for Epcot he said exactly how to go to Soaring first and grab a FP and then go on, so we rode twice without a wait. I also would recommend trying to go to the parks during the week and not the weekends. It definitely has more people on the weekends. I still used the plans last year during value season and I really needed to b/c it definitely wasn't quiet there. Good luck!

 

[english rose 47]

This will be my first trip so am a little fuzzy on FP! If I grab a FP for Soarin' and then ride it first thing in a.m. Will my FP be for the immediate time frame or is it delayed by like 40 mins. If it's delayed then I'd have to wait right. HELP !!!

 

[susykt4]

We went Jan 5-13 this year. Our previous trip was during a busy spring break week in April and TourGuideMike saved that trip. His touring plans allowed us to do/see everything we really wanted. I subscribed to TGM again for our Jan trip and while it was still very useful, we only used the basics of the touring plans. The crowds were so low we didn't need a commando touring plan. The only real waits we encountered were for Soarin' at Epcot and we could easily get right on to that at park opening and with FP. We had two days at MK where lines for the headliners were nonexistant at 3pm. I think we waited maybe five minutes for Space Mtn! There were days fastpasses weren't even available for many rides because they were completely unnecessary.

I think as long as you have a good idea what you want to see and do and have an understanding which rides and attractions get busy early, you can avoid the whole rushing from a to b to c in a PARTICULAR ORDER touring plan.

 

[MSSANDRA]

I agree that December is no longer low crowds. We really like January for low crowds. All the special Christmas activites make things a lot more crowed BUT it's not anything like a holiday week or summer. We start early and avoid EE days or start there and then hop when the crowds grow. Be sure to make all your ADRs early as we found most resturants not talking walk ups. WE enjoyed the MVMCP but were really shocked a the crowds there.

 

[ajcolorado]

It can still be good to use the touring plans for hitting the headliners.

It really just depends on the familiarity level of the guest, I think. If this is a first trip, then I recommend a touring plan even if you are the only one in the park because too much time is lost in indecision.

But you're familiar with the park and you understand fast pass etc. So you'll be able to navigate one way or another.

We always try to pre-plan live entertainment like shows or the performers at Animal Kingdom or Epcot just because they're offered on a limited schedule. We use the Steve Soares site just before going.

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

Our first trip was in January 1998 and I made miniature "pocket sized" versions of the unofficial guide touring plans for each day of the trip.

Day one was MK. We finished the touring plan by 12:30pm - and I was perplexed b/c it was supposed to take all day to do the plan and didn't know what I was "supposed" to do next! After that, we kind of scrapped the touring plans, but followed a lot of the general advice and arrived for opening to hit the super headliners without much waiting time.

We have yet to tour during a busy season, so we pretty much hit the big rides as soon as we can in the mornings and get fast passes for the ones we know we will want to ride multiple times. We have yet to spend much time waiting in lines thanks to this strategy. I am sure we will utilize the touring plans a lot more when we choose to start going over school breaks!

 

[MrsJ Henry]

We use tourguidemike's tips whenever we go. During the slow season we just used them more loosely. It is still important to have somewhat of a plan since it will probably still be cowded. Just not as bad.