Touring Plans

[mickey+minnie91]

I signed up for Touring Plans and I am wondering how accurate it is at planning? Are the plans worthwhile and are the wait times accurate? Any tips on how to optimize the use of their service?

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

I signed up for Touring Plans and I am wondering how accurate it is at planning? Are the plans worthwhile and are the wait times accurate? Any tips on how to optimize the use of their service?

The plans work very well and every time that I have used them, we have ended up ahead of the plans, which suggests that the estimated waiting times are ‘generous’. Personalise the plans to meet your needs, take out what you don’t want to do etc and optimise and evaluate to your hearts content. The ‘on the day’ waiting times are only as good as the users who enter times.

 

[Nabas]

I have no affiliation with them, but have no hesitation in saying that Touring Plans is simply the best for planning WDW and Universal park tours.

 

[DebLovesPooh]

I have used them for years. I enjoy being able to optimize plans while I’m in the park. I use the lines app all the time.

 

[Ghost Host 998]

We have used their in-park touring plans many times pre-covid. I have found them to be accurate. If anything, they tend to show slightly longer than actual waits, so we almost always end up ahead of schedule. We did not use them during our post-covid trip, so I cannot comment as to their current usefulness.

 

[DisneyDoesMyHair]

I have used them for every trip to Disney, and they have always been beneficial (pre and post Covid). I really like that I can adjust the settings to leisurely walking pace, which is how we prefer to tour. I always finish ahead of the schedule, so I’ve learned that setting the pace to leisurely allows me to sneak in breaks and spur of the moment things (calvacades, snacks, shopping), without destroying my plan altogether. Using the plans on my first trip to Disney with my entire family allowed us to ride all the rides and meet all of the characters on our wish list. I highly recommend!

 

[WDWRookie2009]

Yes! Touring Plans is amazing! I use them for Disneyland too. My family used it.. my sisters family did not. We were done with all of Fantasy Land.. walking out and saw my sisters family in line for Peter Pan and it was only their second ride. She became a believer after that and that night made her own touring plans for the rest of the trip!

 

[BayGirl22]

Yes! Touring Plans is amazing! I use them for Disneyland too. My family used it.. my sisters family did not. We were done with all of Fantasy Land.. walking out and saw my sisters family in line for Peter Pan and it was only their second ride. She became a believer after that and that night made her own touring plans for the rest of the trip!

That should be a testimonial on their site!

I've been using them for DL and WDW for years and my experience is the same as those above. My family doesn't make fun of my overplanning anymore because it always feels like we're ahead of the crowd.

 

[Chami]

I made a customized plan for our trip pre-covid. We were first timers, and our days were super smooth. My husband now thinks I'm sort of super planning genius. I loved how I could play with lots of different scenarios until I got the plans that were just right for us.

 

[g3pak]

I signed up for TP last night. Forgot that I had used them before. Started on a HS plan but not confident in it. I think it is due to me, not TP. I entered all of the rides we want to do that day and the order it gave was very different than I expected. I think we should go down Sunset to do ToT and RnR at RD, but it had us going to Smuggler's Run instead. I also had the plan start 30 minutes before opening. Then I tried another plan by deleting those two rides and starting at opening. The order was still far different than I expected.

Can anyone see what I am doing wrong? I can't tell how to modify a plan without it going from a "this is what TP thinks you should do" approach to a "you listed your rides in order so we are telling you what to expect for wait times."

 

[g3pak]

FWIW I just tried another HS plan. started at opening time, not before. All of the major rides. It has us starting at Star Tours and then going to ToT, then almost an hour of free time before lunch at 11:30. I think I could plan a better start to our day then that. What am I doing wrong?

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

I can't tell how to modify a plan without it going from a "this is what TP thinks you should do" approach to a "you listed your rides in order so we are telling you what to expect for wait times."

To keep your order press evaluate rather than optimise. Also, when you have ‘your’ perfect plan, save and copy it and then if you accidentally optimise, rather than evaluate you won’t lose your plan.
The TP plans don’t accommodate rope drop, so I sometimes decide which ride to RD, leave that off the plan and then follow the plans from normal opening.

 

[lentesta]

FWIW I just tried another HS plan. started at opening time, not before. All of the major rides. It has us starting at Star Tours and then going to ToT, then almost an hour of free time before lunch at 11:30. I think I could plan a better start to our day then that. What am I doing wrong?

Here's what I suggest: Make a copy of that plan. On the copy, move the attractions into the order in which you think they should appear. Then click 'Evaluate' to see what the software thinks your wait, walk, and free time should be.

One of the things the software does is penalize plans that cut it too close to things like meal, break, and show arrival times. So while it's possible to build your own plan that has you diving through the doors at Frozen just as the show starts, which would get you a zero-minute wait, the software's going to try really hard not to do that. We don't show those penalties on the plan, but they're there.

 

[friendoffigment]

TP has crowd levels at a 10 everyday from Jan 2-8. What is going on that the level would be so high after new years. thought that was a low time of year

 

[Tom_E_D]

Here's what I suggest: Make a copy of that plan. On the copy, move the attractions into the order in which you think they should appear. Then click 'Evaluate' to see what the software thinks your wait, walk, and free time should be.

One of the things the software does is penalize plans that cut it too close to things like meal, break, and show arrival times. So while it's possible to build your own plan that has you diving through the doors at Frozen just as the show starts, which would get you a zero-minute wait, the software's going to try really hard not to do that. We don't show those penalties on the plan, but they're there.

Very insightful. You're giving away trade secrets!

 

[mom2rtk]

Crowds generally stay pretty high until school is back in session. That first weekend is also impacted by Marathon weekend (if it happens?). Not sure if it's a 10, but it's pretty high still.

 

[g3pak]

Here's what I suggest: Make a copy of that plan. On the copy, move the attractions into the order in which you think they should appear. Then click 'Evaluate' to see what the software thinks your wait, walk, and free time should be.

One of the things the software does is penalize plans that cut it too close to things like meal, break, and show arrival times. So while it's possible to build your own plan that has you diving through the doors at Frozen just as the show starts, which would get you a zero-minute wait, the software's going to try really hard not to do that. We don't show those penalties on the plan, but they're there.

Wow! Thank you!

 

[kjs1976]

We've used them on several pre-COVID trips. Sometimes there are some plans that go against what is always done or expected....but they are always spot on and set up that way for a reason. We like that we can customize, even when at the parks. Highly recommend!

 

[BayGirl22]

Here's what I suggest: Make a copy of that plan. On the copy, move the attractions into the order in which you think they should appear. Then click 'Evaluate' to see what the software thinks your wait, walk, and free time should be.

One of the things the software does is penalize plans that cut it too close to things like meal, break, and show arrival times. So while it's possible to build your own plan that has you diving through the doors at Frozen just as the show starts, which would get you a zero-minute wait, the software's going to try really hard not to do that. We don't show those penalties on the plan, but they're there.

Am I the only TP Geek feeling very validated that Len endorses the "Evaluate" method of planning?

I always try to start with a suggested plan and optimize it, but inevitabley end up going with my own ideas and hitting evaluate several times to see how different changes impact wait times. I did not know that about wait times either, but I tend not to add shows to my plans.

 

[tigertides]

I’m wondering why TP has 7DMT later in the day and not first thing?
It suggests hitting Pirates and Jungle at 8am. I don’t understand this, as 7 Dwarfs line can only
Get longer after RD....