UG Touring Plans

[amycakes]

Has anyone followed the UG touring plans (in the book) recently? How well did they work for you? It seems like you can get a lot done....is it wishful thinking? Amy

 

[mickeysaver]

I have used them for several trips and found that the advice is good. I have never felt like we missed anything with their plans. I am going to try TGM for our upcoming trip. Maggie

 

[MJMcBride]

Has anyone followed the UG touring plans (in the book) recently? How well did they work for you? It seems like you can get a lot done....is it wishful thinking? Amy

They are particularly useful if you are going during the "on" season. If you go offseason like me, they are helpful as a general principle but I don't necessarily follow them. If you're there in late December or early July you'll need them or something like them - such as Tour Guide Mike

 

[mickeysgirl17]

I take the advice from the book, but I don't follow the touring plans. If I were you, I'd use it as a guide, but I don't think there is any specific touring plan for a family. Every family is different and you should have your own plan. The UG plans don't have rest stops for parties with small kids or bathroom breaks. Also, if you like a specific attraction or show and want to do it twice, it may throw the plan off.

 

[JeanfromBNA]

We used them in 2005 in the low season, and they worked almost too well. I was focused on getting to the next attraction, and didn't enjoy enough along the way.

 

[Colleen27]

I'm curious about these too. I didn't discover UG until after our last trip, so I haven't tried any out. I doubt we'll follow everything to the letter since we are going in the off season (early Oct), so I was wondering how well they work as a more general guide if you don't want to follow the pan to the letter.

 

[Colleen27]

We used them in 2005 in the low season, and they worked almost too well. I was focused on getting to the next attraction, and didn't enjoy enough along the way.

That's what I'm worried about. I'm getting a new camera for this trip, and I want to take my time to see what kind of shots I can get. I like the idea of a touring plan, but I don't want to be in tunnel vision mode going from one attraction to the next.

 

[Luv4Disney]

When you follow the guide, do you bring the guide to the parks, because the UG seems awfully big and heavy.

 

[disnut1149]

When you follow the guide, do you bring the guide to the parks, because the UG seems awfully big and heavy.

Hi
I xerox the pages that I want to bring to the park for that day. I've followed the UG's plans in the past and they worked great. I couldn't believe how great they worked. Last year I had my DGD (4) with me and I followed them somewhat. It's harder with a small child, because they want to do stuff that's not built into the plan.

 

[amycakes]

I agree that I would use them as a guide. Someone here on the Dis said they broke up attractions.... best to visit mornings, evenings and anytime. They put a star by fastpass attractions. It seemed like a good idea. I thought UG seemed to have good info on this and I am happy to hear it worked for some. Some things we would have to skip as well (2 young kids from Canada in the Hall of Presidents screams meltdown to me ).....The touring plans probably would not work for us as we are travelling with small kids and grandparents.....as some of you indicated. They do look heavenly for a couple but not for our group.......can you say bathroom breaks Amy

 

[silverarrowknits]

How you use the UG tour plans depends on what you want to get out of your trip. Use it more as a guideline if you have several days and atmosphere is more important to you than rides. If you only have one day and want to hit everything the UG tour plans are the way to go.

When I go to WDW I use the book as a guide not as law, because I know WDW is only 2 hrs away and I can do things I missed at a later time point. On the other hand, I went to DL with my BF at the time and we follwed the UG to the letter because we only had a day and wanted to experience everything. Let me tell you, we saw everything and had time for snacks. Of course, wonderful Len Testa didn't write the tours for the DL UG (at least not to my knowledge), but the point is you can use the UG's advice any way you want. BTW, the other 5,000 pages in the book are pretty useful too! I use that information more than the touring plans to be perfectly honest.

 

[TONNIE]

I just wanted to say you can go to the touring plan website and print from there it gives you updated info including parade times and weather