Touring plans?? YES OR NO??

[disneyfamilyfive]

Okay, so starting to panic a little regarding standing in long lines, in the heat and/or rain on our first June trip (12th-21st) to WDW. I am traveling with 4 kids (11,9,7 and 2). We have always traveled in October, but no longer able to do so.

Soooo.... how many of you have paid for/used traveling plans to plan your time at each park? Are they worth it...or really more importantly...did they work!!

Anyone use them once and not use them another time (at the same time of year) and be able to tell a difference?

What touring plans did you use?

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide for me!

 

[distherapy]

Great ones here for free - http://www.easywdw.com/category/cheat-sheets/

 

[prudence64]

Agree. No need to pay for them when there's good free ones available.

 

[ellie05]

Yes they work we have used them every trip and now with the app they work even better you can optimize you plan at the parks.

 

[Praying Colonel]

Been a Touring Plans member since 2006 and continue to find both the personalized plans and Lines app very helpful. If you find it doesn't work for you, they have a 45-day money-back guarantee.

 

[kay1864]

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).

 

[disneyfamilyfive]

Does easywdw offer touring plans such as what attraction to go to 1st, 2nd... ? Maybe I am just missing it. Never heard of ridemax. Has anyone else used it?

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

I have used touringplans.com since 2008. I love being able to create customized pland and I love using their app in the park too. It's definitely work the small amount I pay for it. ($10)

 

[MrInfinity]

Don't pay for anything... plan your own fun! Everyone out here is a fanatic and would give you tons of great advice!!

 

[summermac]

Best touring plan ever:
Rope drop

 

[DividedSky]

Great ones here for free - http://www.easywdw.com/category/cheat-sheets/

not even close to the same. That is certainly a great free site for info, but it simply isn't going to provide what you get for a pay service.

touring plans takes actual wait times into account. If a ride breaks down, or waits are longer then what is traditionally expected for whatever reason, you can re-optimize in the park, and the recommendations change based on real data. Meanwhile, that pdf download will say the same thing it said 6 weeks ago.

 

[sethschroeder]

Sorry its just too cheap not to use.

If you set it up while walking through the park keep refreshing it takes the live wait times throughout the day into account. I wouldn't leave home without it.

 

[ssleblanc]

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.)

 

[chocovrdmicears]

Sorry its just too cheap not to use.

If you set it up while walking through the park keep refreshing it takes the live wait times throughout the day into account. I wouldn't leave home without it.

touring plans?

We have never used one before - but we are in the same boat as you OP - going late June for the first time ever. I am concerned about the summer crowds as well as all the new FP+ stuff - I'm thinking it may be worth it to invest in something.

 

[StayAwake]

I love the info at easywdw.com, but for me, the price for Touring Plans is worth it for access to the Lines app while I'm in the park. As PPs have said, the ability to optimize in the park and to see estimates based on actual waits instead of just what's on Disney's signs is well worth the small amount of money for the annual fee.

I also love that I can see wait times while I'm at the resort, or on the bus on my way to the park, something that MDE was useless at. Especially when park hopping, it really saved time to have my game plan ready to go when I arrived, instead of having to wait until I got to the park to figure out what the wait times were.

I also find that Lines doesn't drain my battery life like MDE does. The only day I had to use my battery charger was the day I hopped to all 4 parks and was out from 8 am to 2am the next day. That was including taking photos with my phone, posting to Facebook, and using Lines, and occasionally MDE.

 

[maddiebee]

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

 

[Trinity88]

I used EasyWDW and touring plans to plan my trip. But in the parks, I love the Lines app. Used it yesterday and today and it's been great. I have my plans stored and up to the minute and accurate wait times. Definitely worth the cost for us!

 

[BubblyTrip]

I like that I can re-optimize my plan in the park part way through the day if we've gone off our plan. Or if we changed our mind about what to do.

 

[agavegirl1]

I use both. I buy the Unofficial Guide before my trip, subscribe to the app for a discount and use Josh's site for his crowd calendars and suggested touring plans. Because I need a lot of customization (two adults ... no kids in tow) I make my own plan based on every speck of information I can find. I commit most of it to memory and use the "Lines" app and my DBF actually thinks we are "playing it by ear"...perfect.

 

[kathy884]

I'm a huge fan of touringplans.com. Any year that I am spending even one day in a Disney park I subscribe. I've been using the plans since the early 90s. Just used them again this past October. I love their new customization and optimization features too. As well as the step by step plans saving you hours of time standing in line, the line app for wait times is great, and I love the descriptions and rating of all attractions by age group (helps decide what you might want to do at the parks. The authors give their rating too. // There are also great tips for where to go for viewing night time shows.

I personally think it's well worth the under $20 investment. And sure there is great info on this site and the easywdw site, but to me these don't compare to the very detailed and specific strategy you get with touringplans.com.

I have always done rope drop, but OMG my busy season touring without touringplans and with touring plans (crowd calendar 9 days) were so different. Without the plans I was frustrated with how little I was able to do except for the first two hours of the day. With the plans, I am able to maximize those first two hours and sort of strategically stay ahead of the crowd. // Touring plans has changed me into someone who doesn't mind going to Disney busy season. I highly recommend subscribing.