Touring plans itineraries

[MonicaD1030]

Good morning!
Has anyone used Touring plans personalized itineraries? How "good" are they at planning a day in terms of walking and waiting. My curiosity got the better of me and purchased a subscription yesterday. I do like a lot. I would like to hear about others experiences with it.
In the past I’ve made my own crazy color coded excel schedules that worked out well. Although we dont always follow them to the letter it’s nice to lay things out to make sure we have time to get to our favorites, and dont waste time walking back and forth.
Thanks!

 

[RafikiTiki21]

They are fantastic! We made our own for each half day (because we did a mid-day break, sometimes changing parks), and it was easy to manage the data this way for us. I chose to organize the plans by area-- one day it was Fantasyland and Tomorrowland, another was Adventureland and Frontier, then one plan each for the other parks. It helped us plan in advance, then add FP once we had them, and ADRs, and get a sense of the day.

Once in Disney, we could add/change things on the fly and make smarter decisions. We could also hit "optimize" if we took a longer break or distraction, and get back on track. We hit so many attractions really efficiently, and with a 3 year old this was key to our happiness! No stress, minimal lines, no running around, and the way we organized our plans we didn't zig-zag all over the parks. You can set up the attractions list any way you like though.

Before arriving, it also helped us understand how long things should/could take in order to plan meals and FP better. Definitely worth the small cost!

 

[cincystamper]

Agreed. I first used TP to help get an idea of how long things should/could take in order to plan better as well. Now I use it to plan out the order of the day. I don't follow it to the letter.....if the plan has us getting to something at 8:09 and we don't get there until 8:20, I don't panic or anything like that. I use it more as a step 1, step 2, step 3, etc kind of thing. I also adjust the options to the slowest possible walking speed and minimize walking. That works best for my family and adds in a bit of a time buffer in case we want to stop in a shop or see a character or just sit for a minute. I helped another family plan recently and used the average walking speed and minimize waiting times options because I knew that was what was most important for them. It's nice to have those changeable variables. I also like how it suggest FP+ times. I'm not able to book mine yet for our next trip, but I already know what I'm hoping for (and the times).

Plus, it's just fun to play around with the possibilities!

 

[ghtx]

They are great, as long as you understand that they won't be perfect. Some days you won't get to everything on your plan; some days you might have more free time than expected.

BTW the personalized plans are FREE - you only need to pay a membership fee to get the pre-made touring plans and the crowd calendars and wait times app.

 

[ksinniger]

One thing I've noticed is that they tend to over-estimate the time needed to do things right at rope drop. This can leave you in a lurch if you end up way ahead of your schedule before, for example, a FP+ or ADR time. So I always make sure to have a second plan with "extras" added in, based on where we'll be in the park. For example, at AK, I might plan for a second (and third) EE ride at rope drop, that's not included in the touring plan, because they call for a 20 minute wait when it's really a walk on.

 

[MonicaD1030]

Good to hear. Thank you everyone, Im excited sure is easier manage than my excel workbook.

BTW the personalized plans are FREE - you only need to pay a membership fee to get the pre-made touring plans and the crowd calendars and wait times app.

Am I crazy?? but the only way I got to make peronalized plans was if I paid?

 

[cigar95]

Am I crazy?? but the only way I got to make peronalized plans was if I paid?

TP has both free accounts and paid accounts. Signing up for the former will allow you to make plans.
One thing I have noticed with the personalized plans is that once you've "optimized", you can often make the plans more workable by making small changes and then doing an "evaluate". Sometimes you can actually make an overall faster plan, in addition to a more logical one, since their algorithms may not always converge to the truly best solution of the mathematical problem.

 

[Ava]

I haven't put Touring Plans into practice yet, but I'm making personalized plans for our trip in August. The only thing I don't like about it is that it doesn't list character meets that are not FP+ enabled. The only way to plan time for these is to enter it as a "break" but then it doesn't set the location so the travel times don't calculate. Other than that I love the software and am having a lot of fun making my plans.

 

[ghtx]

I haven't put Touring Plans into practice yet, but I'm making personalized plans for our trip in August. The only thing I don't like about it is that it doesn't list character meets that are not FP+ enabled. The only way to plan time for these is to enter it as a "break" but then it doesn't set the location so the travel times don't calculate. Other than that I love the software and am having a lot of fun making my plans.

I agree. TP should do more with M&Gs.

 

[HCinKC]

I just used the free version, but I found it very helpful. While we didn't always follow it, it gave me some focus and direction. I didn't pay attention to exact times, but we were always able to do what we had planned in the allotted amount of time (or less in a couple of cases). I would definitely use it again. I am not sure I would pay though. I don't know what I am missing, so maybe ignorance is bliss.

I did see lots of people in lines using their Lines app. They would check on wait times and plan where they were heading next. I do not have a smart phone, and we like to unplug on vacation so used DH's minimally. I can see how that is handy though.

 

[soniam]

We love the personalized plans and have used them 3 times at WDW (twice with FP+), once at DLR, and once at Universal. We will use them again on our next trip to WDW and Universal. They are great, and I always use optimize. Worth every penny. We typically find that we finish what's on the plan ahead of schedule.

 

[MataHari22]

OP, I am glad that you have asked this question, and I thank the people that posted their experiences. I just got a subscription this week for the first time and thought I'd try some of the personalized touring plans for my trip this November. I am trying to figure out how it works and so far have put together preliminary plans for AK and HS.

 

[BethanyLynnFit]

We love TP and also find we usually get everything done ahead of schedule which leaves us a little free time to repeat things, people watch, and do meet and greets. And a side note, the ONE time we didn't follow our TP...turned out to be our worst park day of our last trip. We had no direction, couldn't decide what to do and that resulted in cranky children...and parents. TP's are great for keeping you focused even if you deviate slightly.

 

[Parker Clan]

I second the "thank you" to OP for posting this & everyone's valuable opinions. And that's why I love the Dis Board! Honestly didn't know any of this stuff existed.. Just been doing our own spreadsheets etc for the last 4 years. Never looked at a crowd calendar before or any touring plans website. But this year, wanting to try out different strategies, I'm going to look into this now! Thanks!

 

[MatzoBelle]

Crowd calendar is better at EasyWDW.

 

[Ava]

I like reading easyWDW's cheat sheets, I use that information to help me make my personalized plans in TP. A lot of my plans are basically the cheat sheet plans with some modifications.

If you have kids who like to meet characters, Kenny the Pirate's Character Locator is really good too.

 

[alh2011]

They are great, as long as you understand that they won't be perfect. Some days you won't get to everything on your plan; some days you might have more free time than expected.

BTW the personalized plans are FREE - you only need to pay a membership fee to get the pre-made touring plans and the crowd calendars and wait times app.

Where do you go to create the free personalized plans?? Everything I saw on TP website said you had to be subscriber.

 

[MataHari22]

Where do you go to create the free personalized plans?? Everything I saw on TP website said you had to be subscriber.

I agree with you. From what I have seen, you must pay for the personalized. I think they must have it backwards, the way I read it, the personalized plans and complete crowd calendars are subscription only. Last week, I finally went on TP to check it out and to make a personalized plan and couldn't. Said that I needed a subscription, so I got one.

 

[Jennytoon]

I agree with you. From what I have seen, you must pay for the personalized. I think they must have it backwards, the way I read it, the personalized plans and complete crowd calendars are subscription only. Last week, I finally went on TP to check it out and to make a personalized plan and couldn't. Said that I needed a subscription, so I got one.

I admit I couldn't remember what you got and didn't get since I signed up for a subscription a while ago. However, the information that you can make the personalized plans for free is correct (I checked it by logging out).

You must be a subscriber, which simply means to have an account -- there are two levels, basic and premium. Basic is free.

If you think about it, it makes sense that you have to have an account, otherwise how would you ever get back to the plans you had made? They have to have a user tag to hang on the personalized plans.

To get to the personalized plans, start at the home page and mouse over Touring Plans at the top. Select Personalized Touring Plans from the dropdown.

If you don't have a subscription (or aren't signed in), when you arrive at this page you will see a big subscribe button on the right and a notice at the bottom that you need to be a subscriber. Click the subscribe button.

This will bring you to a page where you can sign up, but it will be filled in for the premium plan which costs money. If you look to the right you will see language that says something like "just need a basic subscription click here" -- follow that link and it will bring you the page where you can create a free account.

ETA: I will say though, I'm happy with the value I've gotten from my subscription. I really liked being able to access plans I had put together as a rough guide in the park from the Lines app.

 

[MataHari22]

I admit I couldn't remember what you got and didn't get since I signed up for a subscription a while ago. However, the information that you can make the personalized plans for free is correct (I checked it by logging out).

You must be a subscriber, which simply means to have an account -- there are two levels, basic and premium. Basic is free.

If you think about it, it makes sense that you have to have an account, otherwise how would you ever get back to the plans you had made? They have to have a user tag to hang on the personalized plans.

To get to the personalized plans, start at the home page and mouse over Touring Plans at the top. Select Personalized Touring Plans from the dropdown.

If you don't have a subscription (or aren't signed in), when you arrive at this page you will see a big subscribe button on the right and a notice at the bottom that you need to be a subscriber. Click the subscribe button.

This will bring you to a page where you can sign up, but it will be filled in for the premium plan which costs money. If you look to the right you will see language that says something like "just need a basic subscription click here" -- follow that link and it will bring you the page where you can create a free account.

ETA: I will say though, I'm happy with the value I've gotten from my subscription. I really liked being able to access plans I had put together as a rough guide in the park from the Lines app.

Ahh, you know what, I am thinking you're right. When they were saying sign up, I was thinking it had to be subscribe. But they mean like register for an account. Well, they got me there for not paying thorough attention. But that is ok, I am using their info and it takes lots of time to compile these things and maintain a site, so I think the money is going to a good cause. Now, I know. With the iPad, I have had to make the plans signed into safari, and then edit and move around the steps with the app. I am sure I will use the app in the parks when I'm there, too. I definitely don't mind supporting them with the subscription, it was cheap enough with a code I had for extra off. I also decided to get Character Locator last week. I have used KtP for two years in a row, and thought I should support him, as well. Thanks for posting that, Jenny.