Touring plans?

[Lindymom]

I'm a WDW vet planning my first trip to DLR and I want to fit as much as possible into my three-day trip since I'm not sure when I'll be back. I don't think Ridemax is for me though since I've been reading the rants below and I don't like the idea of not being able to do some non-time-optimizing stuff like ride a certain ride during the day and then again at night. What I want is something like the TGM touring plans for WDW that give recommendations about order for visiting attractions but also explain the logic behind the recommendations so that you can decide whether it's best for you. I'm also willing to be a long-distance fastpass runner for our three-some, so I want tips on how to work that system.

Any recommendations? Is there anything like TGM for DLR? Do I just need to figure it out on my own through this board and others?

Thanks!

 

[JennyW]

I don't know of anything like TGM for Disneyland. We went to WDW last summer and I used TGM. I'm a HUGE fan of TGM. My husband was so impressed at all of my planning skills. =) But for Disneyland, RideMax is about the best there is, plus gleaning all the information from message boards. You can play around with RideMax enough to figure out how the lines for certain rides build. It's just a different approach to it than TGM. Have a great trip!

 

[HydroGuy]

I think my RideMax comments might have been misconstrued. Like TGM, RideMax does not prevent you from doing anything. Rather it gives advice like TGM. It would be somewhat similar to how TGM might say to go to Epcot and get a Soarin FASTPASS first thing. Maybe you do not want to ride Soarin. That does not makes TGM's advice of no value.

It is not my intent here to say one is better than the other. But there are differences in how they do things that makes one better for certain things. The Soarin example above is a good one. If you do not want to ride Soarin, with RideMax you just tell it that. You do not have this option with TGM. With TGM your only real option is to just skip Soarin and try to adjust the TGM plan or make your own plan for the early morning.

But RideMax can still give you a good plan without Soarin if you want. In other words, TGM assumes what rides you will want to do in its Sample Plans, and RideMax does not.

The limitation I gave about trying to schedule two rides is just as much an issue with TGM. If TGM gives its Sample Plan for one of the parks and schedules a ride once which you want to do twice, you are still in the boat of trying to figure out on your own how to fit the second ride in.

With RideMax you can schedule any ride as many times as you want. And it will schedule them for you in an optimal way. My complaint was that sometimes those schedules are not when I want to go. If you're basing your decision against RideMax on a feature that nothing else offers either (even TGM), that does seem like you are giving them a fair shake.

 

[auntyjenn]

The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland (guide book) isn't as in-depth as the WDW version, but it can still be helpful. It tells you the best times to see things and gives you a couple of sample plans that you can mess around with. Unfortunately their website is only WDW oriented too. I guess touring DL isn't as much work?