Touring Plans

[robl45]

You can be 15 minutes late for a FP. After that they will probably give you an issue.

Its actually 20 minutes or was. But we did it before with jedi training and they les us use the passes. The last time though we needed them to let us on a little earlier. What I might do is go up to the ride and explain that we have to be at jedi training and can we come back later because currently if we do it at the time I plan, its going to be close going from toy story to the jedi training area. Also sucks that I need to slam in the great movie ride that day as well because otherwise its going to be closed.

 

[lsenquiz]

Its actually 20 minutes or was. But we did it before with jedi training and they les us use the passes. The last time though we needed them to let us on a little earlier. What I might do is go up to the ride and explain that we have to be at jedi training and can we come back later because currently if we do it at the time I plan, its going to be close going from toy story to the jedi training area. Also sucks that I need to slam in the great movie ride that day as well because otherwise its going to be closed.

We were 16 minutes late for a fastpass last May and although they let us in they made it very clear that you can be 5 minutes early or 15 minutes late. However, if you talk to them before hand it probably won't be an issue.

 

[robl45]

I've definately been 20 and they never said a word. 40 minutes late wouldn't work though. That was my wifes fault. But I haven't tested the 20 minutes in awhile now.

 

[ghtx]

I have used them for years. I use them more to get a rough idea of what time I need to make my fastpasses and to have a plan for the day. I do not take the times too literally. Although we do not arrive at every attraction at the exact time it says our FPs have always worked out since they have an hour range. I also leave a 30 minute break before any dining reservation just to be safe. I tried taking our May trip without making a personalized plans and it did not go as well as all our previous trips So, I am back to making plans for our upcoming September stay.

I agree with this. I agree also with a PP who said that the touring plans seem to be a bit on the optimistic side. I don't expect to be able to do everything that is listed in the time allowed, and instead I think of it as an upper limit on what I could get done.

BTW you do not have to pay to use the personalized plans - those are free. You just need to pay to view the pre-made plans or the wait times.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

We love TP. The first time I used them years ago I was skeptical but they do know what they are doing. I will make a personalized plan for each park even if it is just an AM, Afternoon, or PM. They were the first group, years ago, to tell me to avoid the park with morning EMH (it was only mornings years ago). I thought it was heresy but I did it and they were right! We got an extra hour of sleep AND a less crowded park.

My DH likes to check off each step on the app, then optimize, then refresh. They will change stuff on the fly. The wait times are amazingly accurate. We had an hour before our RR FP+ and TSMM was saying 75 minutes but the app said the actual wait time was 41 minutes so we did it and it was EXACTLY 41 minutes.

I always set my parameters for minimize waiting but that will have you crisscrossing the park. I've had to slow down my walking speed some over the years.

 

[robl45]

So when someone says the touring plan tells them to pick this ride over that one, is that from optimizing on the lines app?

 

[lsenquiz]

So when someone says the touring plan tells them to pick this ride over that one, is that from optimizing on the lines app?

I do not think it is the lines app. When making a customize touring plan I never use optimize but I do use evaluate. If I have added more attractions than it thinks I can get to in a given day, it will give me a message that says something like "you may not get to everything you have scheduled, consider ..." Then it offers suggestions for what it thinks you should do.

 

[robl45]

I"m trying to figure this out, where is it recalculated? I assume in the lines app? And how does it tell you to go somewhere else instead?

"Anyway, what I like about TP is that recalculating on the fly only takes a few seconds. When we used it, it was spot on for just about everything, and it also did some things far better than conventional wisdom. When we had spare time because the software guided us to almost 30 minutes ahead of schedule, it told us to go to IASW instead of Tea Cups even tho the Tea Cup posted wait was less than IASW. A few seconds after we walked into the IASW line, the posted wait dropped in half. Our jaws dropped. TP for the WIN!"

 

[MaryKatesMom]

What cracks me up is a WDW vacation is thousands of dollars and people balk at paying $11 for a touring plan that makes for a great vacation. It has been like that for the past 20 years since the boards began. "Is this $12 book worth it?" shows up as a thread every once in awhile.

The only thing first times should avoid is personalized touring plans. Pick a general one that fits your family and follow that.

 

[lsenquiz]

What cracks me up is a WDW vacation is thousands of dollars and people balk at paying $11 for a touring plan that makes for a great vacation.

I was just thinking this the other day!

 

[shanew21]

Only issue I notice is that it doesn't really accurately track rope drop times. We usually end up way ahead of schedule in the morning because it says, for example, Big Thunder Mountain is 15 minutes at rope drop when if you arrive on time it's literally a walk on. It is, however, more accurate throughout the day.

 

[basicprincess24]

I"m trying to figure this out, where is it recalculated? I assume in the lines app? And how does it tell you to go somewhere else instead?

Yes, this is referring to using the Lines app to optimize while you are in the park. It will take current wait times into account to adjust your touring plan, if you choose.

 

[chris benton]

I"m trying to figure this out, where is it recalculated? I assume in the lines app? And how does it tell you to go somewhere else instead?

"Anyway, what I like about TP is that recalculating on the fly only takes a few seconds. When we used it, it was spot on for just about everything, and it also did some things far better than conventional wisdom. When we had spare time because the software guided us to almost 30 minutes ahead of schedule, it told us to go to IASW instead of Tea Cups even tho the Tea Cup posted wait was less than IASW. A few seconds after we walked into the IASW line, the posted wait dropped in half. Our jaws dropped. TP for the WIN!"

basicprincess got to it first.

Yes, it's the Lines app. You can adjust your personalized plans on the fly in just a few seconds. Re-optimize, add/remove attractions or breaks etc. This is why the Jedi times can be plugged in after you choose, if your "ideal time" is not available. You can just enter the timeslot you choose, and re-optimize, or enter it where you'd like and re-evaluate.

As for letting tp choose attractions, in the scenario I mentioned, since TP had us 30 minutes ahead of schedule, I was looking to fit in the best attraction before a fastpass window opened. I wanted to do either IASW or Tea Cups. MDE had both wait times at 30 minutes. TP told me the wait time for tea cups was 30 minutes, but IASW was 15. I refreshed several times over. Mde kept showing iasw as 30 minutes, tp said it should be 15. We walked to IASW, got into the queue, and the sign at the front said 30 minutes. A minute or two later, the line started moving very fast, we basically walked all the way in, and then the mde wait time dropped to 15 minutes.

 

[robl45]

when you say TP told you the wait time was 15 minutes, you mean it says expected wait 15 minutes vs posted wait of 30min?

 

[lentesta]

...I believe its listing 4 minutes for duration for test track. I know it takes quite a bit of time in test track to make the car, then wait in the next line even with fast pass.

The wait time for Test Track should include the preshow activities. The 4-minute duration here is exclusively for the time you're in the ride vehicle.

That's not necessarily true for other attractions with pre-shows, such as the Haunted Mansion's stretching room. In these cases, we try to ask whether a pre-show is part of the attraction experience, or something to pass the time in line. In this case, we thought the "make the car" activity was the latter.

And are you sure you don't have to be there 30 minutes before? We've done it twice before but honestly I don't remember. That would help if its true. TP is getting us there like 15 minutes before.

15 minutes is the default "get there in advance" value for Jedi. We don't currently differentiate between regular viewings of the show, and "My child is on stage for this show." I suppose we could ask that question, and increase the in-advance time to 30 minutes. Let me see how complicated that is to do.

 

[LoopyDoopy]

I used them on my trip last week. They were great as a guide, but reality will ALWAYS be different from your plans. I don't know why, but crowds at Epcot and AK were very light. I had to move up FPs from later in the day to earlier and got SDFP quite often.

 

[robl45]

For fast pass availability is there anyway to specify how many?

 

[lsenquiz]

For fast pass availability is there anyway to specify how many?

When you make your touring plans? If so, you have to add them at the top by clicking at FP+. Then you pick the attraction and the time.

 

[robl45]

No in the lines app when it shows next fast pass for rides