Touring plans personalized plans with "FP+...have you figured it out?

[Belle5]

It is really messing up on me. I really don't think I am doing anything wrong but maybe I am overlooking some step.

I have reworked my plans several times to no avail. I chose to be in the parks from 10:30 am to 10:30 pm. I asked for a 1:30 lunch at Columbia Harbor, a rest of 120 minutes out of the park beginning at 3:00 pm, Fast Pass + times of 6:40 pm, 7:40 pm, and 10:05 pm with at Be Our Guest dinner at 9:00 pm. I chose a relaxed speed with minimal walking. All the times would show up correctly when I would program them in but when I would select evaluate or optimize it would all fall apart. First, I was told that Pirates Fast Pass+ would cause more walk time and it was recommended to me that Monsters Laugh would be a recommended FP+.

So, I went to the Disney site and dropped Pirates for Monsters. Guess what? It now recommend Pirates for a FP+. Even though I said I wanted to be at the park in the morning at 10:30 am, it would never allow me to do that. It would just start me at lunch time or after the rest depending on if I selected evaluate or optimize. It never gave me more than one of my FP+ times and sometimes it would show none of them. Frustrating!

 

[bastos]

When you are 'optimizing' your plan - the system is programmed to move things around to get the most out of your plan.

You should instead - first OPTIMIZE - then tweak the plan to fit your own needs - and then EVALUATE the plan. Evaluate will leave your plan 'as is' and try to tell you how long everything will take.

With that said, I haven't re-optimized anything since the FP+ came around. I was waiting until closer to the 60 day window for us.

Good luck.

 

[2Tiggies]

When you are 'optimizing' your plan - the system is programmed to move things around to get the most out of your plan.

You should instead - first OPTIMIZE - then tweak the plan to fit your own needs - and then EVALUATE the plan. Evaluate will leave your plan 'as is' and try to tell you how long everything will take.

With that said, I haven't re-optimized anything since the FP+ came around. I was waiting until closer to the 60 day window for us.

Good luck.

I'm using the same approach as you. It took me a good many attempts to figure out the method you just described above though! It looks logical when I scan over the overview of what it turns out though so I am certainly going to give it a try. Sure, it's quite different to how we have toured the parks in the past, but then we are not visiting the same WDW we did 14 months ago so I accept that.

 

[karaintn]

I was having a lot of issues and then realized that the FP times (in Touring Plans) use military time. So I would enter a FP ride time of 3:00 and optimize, and it would tell me not to use that FP (or any others in the afternoon). I then realized it was reading my FP as 3am, so I changed the entry to 15:00, and it worked better.

I still have an issue with one of my plans, though. I have entered lunch for an hour, and it's giving me 2 hours of free time (that I don't want) after lunch. I haven't figured out why it's doing that.

Kara

 

[MaryKatesMom]

Ahhh Military Time.

I now have to spend another afternoon replugging my information in.

Who says the disboards aren't helpful?

 

[MaryKatesMom]

Actually, I was able to edit the plans and it makes more sense now.

The only thing that is bugging me is it is suggesting my second Soarin' with the 86 minute wait I should FP+. NO KIDDING! I already have one at 11:10

I'll never wait in that kind of line, ever, for anything even Soarin'.

So should I edit my plans to limit my self to once a day or leave as is and skip it?

I would hate to admit defeat before I go but it just seems so sad to me to know I am only going on my favorite ride once.

 

[2Tiggies]

I still have an issue with one of my plans, though. I have entered lunch for an hour, and it's giving me 2 hours of free time (that I don't want) after lunch. I haven't figured out why it's doing that.

Kara

It's possibly doing that because you have put in a pace for yourselves that allows you to do more in the time you have allotted to that park than what you need to achieve it all. I have experience the reverse when I accidentally somehow clicked RnR 3 times at DHS and we were only trying to schedule a part day there. I had meant to put it in once. So the plan ended about an hour after the time I had said I wanted to leave the park. It took me ages to spot it. If you added a few things in you might find that two hour break reduces accordingly. Or if you change your selected 'pace' it would make a difference.

 

[Belle5]

OP here. Well, misery loves company, so I am glad I am not alone in trying to get this program working! I had already figured out the military time thing, but I need for it to actually include my FP+ attractions and not have me starting my touring day at lunch time.

This is the reply I received from the webmaster at TP this morning:

Thanks for contacting us! Our software is complex and we appreciate you using it. We will be happy to help with any specific questions you may have. Please describe the problems and send us the link to the plan. Please do not change the plan after you email us. Then we can see what is going on with the plan.


Here is some generic information that may help you understand our software.


1. Our software does not recommend use of FastPass+ unless the wait for an attraction exceeds 15 minutes. You can still do it, of course--just get a FastPass+ reservation for the time we recommend you visit the attraction.
2. The Optimize and Evaluate features have very different functions. The Optimize button rearranges steps into an optimal order. Evaluate just lists predicted wait times for the order that you arranged on the screen.
3. Using FastPass+ for one attraction may affect your wait on other attractions, and the FastPass+ recommendation list will not include attractions for which you're already using FP+. So if you are using FP+ for Pirates, your wait is low, and a FP+ for Pirates will be listed in the recommendations. I apologize for any confusion there.
3. We do not provide any wait time estimates until after Optimize or Evaluate is clicked, so there should be no predictions before that happens.
4. You need to add an attraction step in order for the attraction to appear on the plan. Adding only a FastPass+ reservation is not sufficient. (For instance, you have a Monsters Inc. FP+ defined on plan http://touringplans.com/plans/000000, but it's not on the touring plan.)
5. Your http://touringplans.com/plans/000000 does not have many attractions on it, so there will probably be a lot of free time. If there is sufficient free time, it needs to go some where, and if our optimizer determines it's best for that free time to be at the beginning of the day, it'll put it there.


Hope this helps! Let us know how you are doing!

 

[Belle5]

OP here again. I think I kind of have this thing figured out. First, you check off all the attractions you want to experience adding in any ADRs, rest breaks, etc. NOT including your FP+ times, but you do check off those rides letting TP know that you want to experience those things. Then you optimize it. That shows you the optimal times do all the things you wanted. Then, you have to go back into MDE and adjust your FP+ times to closely match up to the TP recommended (optimized) times (I had not realized you could do that...tweak the times for individual FP+s). Then you go back in to TP and add the Fast Past +s to the plan and optimize again. It did make additional adjustments (because now you won't be waiting in line so long with the FP+s) but all of plans are there now with ADRs and FP+s. Hooray!!

 

[jvattes]

OP here again. I think I kind of have this thing figured out. First, you check off all the attractions you want to experience adding in any ADRs, rest breaks, etc. NOT including your FP+ times, but you do check off those rides letting TP know that you want to experience those things. Then you optimize it. That shows you the optimal times do all the things you wanted. Then, you have to go back into MDE and adjust your FP+ times to closely match up to the TP recommended (optimized) times (I had not realized you could do that...tweak the times for individual FP+s). Then you go back in to TP and add the Fast Past +s to the plan and optimize again. It did make additional adjustments (because now you won't be waiting in line so long with the FP+s) but all of plans are there now with ADRs and FP+s. Hooray!!

Thanks for this. I have been playing around with it some, but having the same troubles you write about in this thread. This clarifies it quite a bit

 

[2Tiggies]

OP here again. I think I kind of have this thing figured out. First, you check off all the attractions you want to experience adding in any ADRs, rest breaks, etc. NOT including your FP+ times, but you do check off those rides letting TP know that you want to experience those things. Then you optimize it. That shows you the optimal times do all the things you wanted. Then, you have to go back into MDE and adjust your FP+ times to closely match up to the TP recommended (optimized) times (I had not realized you could do that...tweak the times for individual FP+s). Then you go back in to TP and add the Fast Past +s to the plan and optimize again. It did make additional adjustments (because now you won't be waiting in line so long with the FP+s) but all of plans are there now with ADRs and FP+s. Hooray!!

Oh wow, thanks for doing all the work for us! So you have to tweak your FP times on MDE to match the suggested ones? Does the optimizer not work if you are locked into FP times (say, no availability to change or something like that)?

 

[Belle5]

Oh wow, thanks for doing all the work for us! So you have to tweak your FP times on MDE to match the suggested ones? Does the optimizer not work if you are locked into FP times (say, no availability to change or something like that)?

I am guessing (based on my very minimal experience) that you are correct... that it really does not work unless your FP+s somewhat line up with TPs recommended plan using the optimizer. It seems that what they are saying is that you would be better off using their plan (without FP+s) just the way it is but then if you do get FP+s to line up with their plan for you then you will just be buying yourself extra time to shop or whatever. Maybe I'm misunderstanding but this is where I'm at with it.

 

[Winnowill]

I had a situation where my plan was so optimal that I didn't have any lines longer than 15 minutes, but I did have a) a lot of downtime at the busier parts of the day where TP hadn't scheduled anything and b) extra FP+ available. I scheduled them for popular rides during the scheduled downtime. My plan got a little snarky on me, and said I'd be walking or waiting more if I did that, but I left them where they were. BTW, if you just put in the number of FP+ that are available but don't choose what they are, TP will suggest attractions to use them on for you.

 

[Belle5]

BTW, if you just put in the number of FP+ that are available but don't choose what they are, TP will suggest attractions to use them on for you.

Good to know! I will try that right now with my EPCOT plans!

 

[MaryKatesMom]

I had a situation where my plan was so optimal that I didn't have any lines longer than 15 minutes, but I did have a) a lot of downtime at the busier parts of the day where TP hadn't scheduled anything and b) extra FP+ available. I scheduled them for popular rides during the scheduled downtime. My plan got a little snarky on me, and said I'd be walking or waiting more if I did that, but I left them where they were. BTW, if you just put in the number of FP+ that are available but don't choose what they are, TP will suggest attractions to use them on for you.

OK! This is wonderful. I wonder if they are over estimating the time TT will take because we would be doing the Single Rider line.

 

[g8torphan]

best thing I found was to schedule my FP+'s as 'In Park' Breaks, that way the time was set and it wouldn't move around, and I just edited the info to state my FP+ attraction.

 

[MermaidMommy]

I gave up on trying to "optimize" my plans. On a morning where I was doing all of Fantasyland and Tomorrowland, it kept telling me to do Mad Tea Party first, no matter how many times I re-entered my plan. I have used touringplans with success in the past, but I've had so many problems with it on this trip that it's essentially unusable.