Touring Plans....Optimize or Evaluate

[js]

Hi.

Today I entered all my information into TPs. I have a paid subscription. I plan on going to the parks for RD during December 26-January 1 and leaving around lunch.

I will head back to Epcot in evening on NYE as well as possibly going back to MK in evenkng on Wednesday, December 28, although the MK is only open until 10 pm and has an EMH in the morning. Do you think that may change?

I plan on doing ghe rides during the day that we can before crowds get insane and possibly use FP before we leave at lunch or in the evening.

That all said, do I optimize or Evaluate. We are a family of four Disney veterans with kids 18 and 22.

Thank you.

 

[agavegirl1]

Do both and save the plans as "A" and "B" or some other designation. Then compare.

 

[ConnecticutNonna]

I always "evaluate", as "optomize" seems to send me all over the park and I like to do Disney land by land, area by area and not backtrack.
I have also found that I cannot put in parade in MK, as they bring me back to Main Street USA. Instead I put in Pecos Bill for close to an hour, so that I can then move on to my next attraction.
I would love it if there was a way to put in just where we were watching the parade/fireworks from. But I'm sure with time, that kink will be ironed out.
Love TP though!

 

[cdnjason]

Evaluate! Optimize typically recommends a plan that would have you zig-zagging around the park. No one, in their right mind, will do that.

 

[js]

Thank you both very much! Ill play with this at work tomorrow lol

Ill let you know how I make out.

 

[cdnjason]

Thank you both very much! Ill play with this at work tomorrow lol

Ill let you know how I make out.

IMO, revising your plan and evaluating it, until you come up with one you like, is part of the fun in planning a trip to WDW.

 

[NeverTooOldForWDW]

Set walking speed to relaxed and set it to minimize walking, then optimize. You can then tweak the order then evaluate. So, I optimize and evaluate the same visit.

 

[js]

Set walking speed to relaxed and set it to minimize walking, then optimize. You can then tweak the order then evaluate. So, I optimize and evaluate the same visit.

Thank you. I was going to set walking to faster rather than slower but Ill do as you said. What you suggest seems to make it the most efficient when the compile the touring plans. Im sure Ill have questions and Ill be back on tomorrow to ask. Thanks!

 

[JimmyV]

Whenever I want to do an attraction more than once in a day, "Optimize" almost always has me doing the ride twice in succession. That might in fact be the most efficient in terms of time, but it is rarely the way I like to tour. So I always reconfigure and Evaluate.

 

[js]

Whenever I want to do an attraction more than once in a day, "Optimize" almost always has me doing the ride twice in succession. That might in fact be the most efficient in terms of time, but it is rarely the way I like to tour. So I always reconfigure and Evaluate.

Thank you. Reconfigure is when I am putting the attractions in order of how I want?

Like CTNona, I prefer to do Land by Land. Will this still work?

 

[js]

Do both and save the plans as "A" and "B" or some other designation. Then compare.

Thank you. Ill do this in the morning.

Evaluate! Optimize typically recommends a plan that would have you zig-zagging around the park. No one, in their right mind, will do that.

Thank you. For a Park that is a 10, I cannot see how zig zagging will be the most efficient use of my time. Will it explain why they would have me zig zagging like TGM use to do?

 

[JimmyV]

Thank you. Reconfigure is when I am putting the attractions in order of how I want?

Exactly.

 

[cdnjason]

Thank you. For a Park that is a 10, I cannot see how zig zagging will be the most efficient use of my time. Will it explain why they would have me zig zagging like TGM use to do?

No detailed explanation. Program is designed to avoid waiting in long lines for attractions.

 

[coasternut22]

I second the evaluate. I generally arrange attractions in order by land. I know Space Mt will be a rope drop ride, then buzz or speedway, etc. Then move on to adventureland with jungle, carpets, and pirates. Then hit evaluate, which will give me my wait times. Then I determine which fast passes I want to plug in. Through a lot of trial and error, I planned out almost every attraction in Tomorrowland and adventureland with lunch by 2pm and hardly any walking (CL6). CL 10s like yours will pose their own challenges. Good Luck.

 

[fairy8i8]

Set walking speed to relaxed and set it to minimize walking, then optimize. You can then tweak the order then evaluate. So, I optimize and evaluate the same visit.

I recommend this. Sometimes you save a significant amount of time by doing some zigzagging in the park, so it will help you know when you really need to switch lands and only do it when it will save you a bunch of time, especially at a peak time. Have you been during Christmas before? Body to body people everywhere! I didn't mind as a teenager because people watching was half the fun, especially when you are waiting so long in lines. Optimizing really helps you harness the power of the program, but then go ahead and tweak it to your liking, and then compare. If you don't ever optimize, then you will never know if doing it a different way could save you an hour or two of standing around.

I experimented with plans over Christmas, just to compare touring times to my last May trip. Turns out, if you stay onsite and get there 30 minutes before rope drop for morning EMH in the Magic Kingdom (every day over Christmas has a MK morning EMH), you can do just as much from 7-11 over Christmas as you can 9-1 on a level 4 day in May... and I was running multiple optimizations and evaluations to see just how many rides I could pack in to the day with an afternoon break.

Also, they say 10pm close, but they will often extend park hours much later. Times can change up to day of, depending on crowds and Disney's attendance forecasts.

 

[GaryDis]

Evaluate! Optimize typically recommends a plan that would have you zig-zagging around the park. No one, in their right mind, will do that.

In my younger days, that's exactly what I did. If I can backpack 15-20 miles/day on the Appalachian Trail, I can darn well zig-zag across MK.

Of course, that was by myself, no one else to slow me down.

 

[js]

I am going to start playing around with the plans now.

I second the evaluate. I generally arrange attractions in order by land. I know Space Mt will be a rope drop ride, then buzz or speedway, etc. Then move on to adventureland with jungle, carpets, and pirates. Then hit evaluate, which will give me my wait times. Then I determine which fast passes I want to plug in. Through a lot of trial and error, I planned out almost every attraction in Tomorrowland and adventureland with lunch by 2pm and hardly any walking (CL6). CL 10s like yours will pose their own challenges. Good Luck.

So, I can hit "evaluate" at a certain point? I thought the whole day, beginning with the first attraction had to evaluate. Like you, I know what I want to do
at RD, so then after I do that, I should determine my FPs seeing what they put for me at the end of day?

I recommend this. Sometimes you save a significant amount of time by doing some zigzagging in the park, so it will help you know when you really need to switch lands and only do it when it will save you a bunch of time, especially at a peak time. Have you been during Christmas before? Body to body people everywhere! I didn't mind as a teenager because people watching was half the fun, especially when you are waiting so long in lines. Optimizing really helps you harness the power of the program, but then go ahead and tweak it to your liking, and then compare. If you don't ever optimize, then you will never know if doing it a different way could save you an hour or two of standing around.

I experimented with plans over Christmas, just to compare touring times to my last May trip. Turns out, if you stay onsite and get there 30 minutes before rope drop for morning EMH in the Magic Kingdom (every day over Christmas has a MK morning EMH), you can do just as much from 7-11 over Christmas as you can 9-1 on a level 4 day in May... and I was running multiple optimizations and evaluations to see just how many rides I could pack in to the day with an afternoon break.

Also, they say 10pm close, but they will often extend park hours much later. Times can change up to day of, depending on crowds and Disney's attendance forecasts.

I use to zig zag since I was also the FP runner in my family. I miss those days of all my FPs. OK, sorry, back on track.
Do you suggest when I am going Christmas-New Years, with the parks being a 10, we should zig zag?
I plan on being at RD about 45 minutes before RD.

So, is what I do the following:

Reconfigure (by land if that is what I wanted)
Set walk to relaxed (even though we can walk at a good rate)
Minimize walking
Evaluate

Same as above and Optimize?

Thanks all SO much!

 

[js]

I always "evaluate", as "optomize" seems to send me all over the park and I like to do Disney land by land, area by area and not backtrack.
I have also found that I cannot put in parade in MK, as they bring me back to Main Street USA. Instead I put in Pecos Bill for close to an hour, so that I can then move on to my next attraction.
I would love it if there was a way to put in just where we were watching the parade/fireworks from. But I'm sure with time, that kink will be ironed out.
Love TP though!

Thank you.
We don't plan on parades unless we are done and it will be going on as we are leaving.
I like to do Disney by land too but we never go between Christmas and New Years. We were in MK two years ago on December 27, pre cruise,
walked from BLT and was at RD about 45 minutes early. We did everything, some twice, by noon.

I don't want to zig zag unless it is really what I should be doing on December 27. I want to be very efficient with our time and if I stay by land
or zig zag I don't care as long as I get done what I want to get done. What do you/all suggest?
Thank you so much for all your help!