Touring plans?? YES OR NO??

[tanyaandallie]

I absolutely adore easywdw - I scour that site and read everything, and take the advice heavily.

But - I also love touringplans and keep my subscription up (hell, even when I'm not sure when my next trip will be - not sure why I do that, but I still browse/think/dream and plan for future). Considering the cost of a trip, the cost of a year of touringplans (or two) is pretty tiny. It brings a great deal of benefit, even if I don't create a full detailed plan for the entire day. (I like a mix of 'detailed plans' and 'fly by the seat of my pants based on knowledge of how things work' - so I plan, then deviate based on our moods, knowing what deviations will and won't work.)

I agree. Honestly, I cannot imagine going in June with no touring plan. Or a plan of some sort. I used TGM forever and I loved his touring strategy. Unfortunately, his info is not so useful anymore so we will use a combination of TP and Easywdw as well.

 

[supergoofy]

I use RideMax. Well worth the $17 IMHO, esp. when compared with the cost of Disney tickets. While others are waiting in their 75-minute lines, we've already been on all the headliners following my plan from RideMax.

And more accurate than TouringPlans or easyWDW (I've used all three).

I used Ride Max at Disneyland a couple years back over Christmas and it was absolutely fantastic.


I am using a similar plan when we do the World which is basically a 3 part day.


1) Rope drop to lunch will be planned

2) Lunch to dinner will be out of park/slow pace

3) Dinner to close will be in parks and hit what we want


Figure this was the family gets to set the pace and I get to plan out the headliners and get stuff done.

 

[mrsmorrow]

I used Ridemax last May when we went to Disnleyland and loved it!
We are going in June and have been twice before in June but we went earlier, around the 14th-28th but the crowds really increased those last few days. This year we go 21-29 and I am preparing for ride to ride people

 

[DividedSky]

How does the touring plans line app differ from the MDE or the one on easywdws site?

the MDE gives wait times, but doesn't have a touring plan.

EasyWDW has really great touring plans, but they are canned. Meaning, they don't fluctuate based on what is going on while you visit

with touring plans, you tell them what rides, parades, meals, snacks you want to do, and they optimize what order you should do them. As the day goes along, they use reported wait times to re-optimize your plans. You can even adjust it based on if you want to minimized walking, minimize waiting, or a combo between.

if things break, if you get ahead or behind schedule, it modifies the plan.

I do web development and hand held programming, and the people that run that website and app have impressed me.

MDE is a horrific app. bugs galore. EasyWDW isn't a well designed website at all, but the knowledge behind the creator is immense.

 

[StuckInKS]

OK after four trips with no plans whatsoever, the last one being 19 park days, I am really interested in using one of these...especially now that we have APs and will really get our money's worth lol.

I went to Touring Plans and Ride Max, and Ride Max is more than double the cost of Touring Plans for a 1-year subscription. While they are both relatively cheap, I see no reason to pay an additional $14 unless there is a reason to (I could roll that extra money into a two or three year subscription at TP).

So, can anyone tell me if Ride Max has any additional features or value for the extra $14 or are both products basically the same?

 

[ErinTwinmom]

I have been considering getting touringplans and here is a question for those of you who have it, does it have the ability to include das use into your touring plan? I will be traveling at the end of May, beginning of June. We start parks the Wednesday after memorial day and we do have seven days at the parks but in our party of eight we have one person in a power wheelchair with nerve damage that is bothered by heat, one person on scooter(70+ with replaced knees) and three year old twins with autism who will qualify for Das. We will need long after noon breaks and so I'm hoping to optimize our mornings and evenings.

 

[kay1864]

OK after four trips with no plans whatsoever, the last one being 19 park days, I am really interested in using one of these...especially now that we have APs and will really get our money's worth lol.

I went to Touring Plans and Ride Max, and Ride Max is more than double the cost of Touring Plans for a 1-year subscription. While they are both relatively cheap, I see no reason to pay an additional $14 unless there is a reason to (I could roll that extra money into a two or three year subscription at TP).

So, can anyone tell me if Ride Max has any additional features or value for the extra $14 or are both products basically the same?

I can only tell you that RideMax is spot-on with their return times. One time the plan said to get in line for Indiana Jones before 12:15 for the 12:30 show. I got to the line at 12:20...and the line had just closed. (I learned to follow my schedule ) Their data is the best out there, and they visit the parks often to update and refine it.

I do like that I can put in ADRs and RM will optimize around them. Don't know if TP has that feature. RM's money-back guarantee is also great.

Look at it this way: for a family of four on a 5-day ticket, an extra hour a day spent standing in line costs roughly $110 for that hour (during which they could be having fun on a ride). They're spending $110 for the experience of standing in line an extra hour with kids who need to use the bathroom etc, often while in the hot Florida sun.

On the other hand, 30 minutes a day spent NOT in line saves about $50. RideMax easily saves us 2 hours each day in line (compared to people who show up at MK at 11:30 am, who I later see in the 75 minute standby line for Peter Pan). Plus we experience more attractions in our day in a park than the average non-plan person.

So whether you go with RM or TP, $14 is nothing compared to the cost of tickets.