Unofficial guide vs Tourguide Mike

[mmffur]

If I only want to invest in one planning guide (basically to know which park to do on which day) which one should I choose?

 

[hohoz]

Personally I bought both but if I had to choose one it would be Tour Guide Mike hands down. His info is updated all the time and when you buy a book how can they update beside buying another book. I have used TGM since 03 and never once questioned my purchase. Plus if you can't find it on his site go to the forums and most of the TGM's are more than willing to help. Hope this helps you.

 

[mmffur]

I guess I should have been clearer. There is a web-site (I believe associated with the Unofficial Guide) called ************. It's $7.95 a year, and apparently is updated regularly. That is what I was considering.

 

[HydroGuy]

If I only want to invest in one planning guide (basically to know which park to do on which day) which one should I choose?

If all you want to know is which park on which day, I would choose...both. And I do. TGM gives an explanation of why he chooses which park - with a green, yellow or red rating. UOG does not get that specific but does have their own philosophy they follow for park selection and assigns number each day for park crowds. They also are more thorough on which theme parks and water parks are busiest on which days.

I had to choose only one resource it would be TGM. But the cost for TGM (about $20) and the cost for the UOG website (less than $10) added together costs far less than a typical WDW visit. It is really peanuts in comparison and if you care about such things I say you should get both resources.

 

[Dawn68PA]

I joined both websites and say TGM is the better of the two hands down. I haven't even been to the UG site in a while, I'm not fond of the layout and most of what they had I found TGM covered better. I guess it was worth the $7.95 to check it out but I won't do it again.

 

[Jill in Chicago]

TGM is perfect for which park on which day.

The Unofficial Guidebook is packed with information about each attraction. If it's been awhile since you've been to Disney this book is fantastic. You really need to know about every single attraction so that you hit your family's favorites and steer clean of what you will know in advance what would not be interesting to your family.

I did not find TGM that good at explaining what each attraction was. His day picks were right on perfect choices.

Unofficial guidebook also gives touring guides which we used along with TGM advice.

 

[sbell111]

I would go with Passporter, then Unofficial Guide. I've tried TGM and did not like it.

 

[DISNEY FIX]

I would go with Passporter, then Unofficial Guide. I've tried TGM and did not like it.

What did you not like about it? We are interested in possibly doing TGM as well.
Thanks

 

[ransom]

I've tried both UG and TGM.

I found the UG website's crowd calendar and touring plans gave me what I needed, while the TGM site seemed more like it was spoon feeding me.

So if I had been starting at zero, I might have found TGM to be worth the money. But since I'd already read UG and Passporter, and had already signed up for the UG website, TGM became superfluous.

 

[Tam1067]

TGM is rarely updated and includes lots of old information. The UG website is MUCH more updated. I disliked TGM and received a refund, after sending three different emails requesting a refund because I was not satisfied. I know lots of people are happy with his site, but the UG site is more up-to-date, and the touring plans there are very good.

 

[goodferry]

If you are looking for a which park which day at what time, TGM hands down would be my pick. Some of his info about rides and restaurants is a little outdated, but 95% of it is right on track and very helpful. My husband won't go without his best days advice, and we have been 7 times, we aren't newbies

 

[sassyat30]

UOG all the way.

 

[haleofafamily]

I have a couple of UG's and joined their website. I like both. I joined TGM because so many people on here recommend it. I prefer UG hands down. I don't have the time to sift through TGM's site to figure everything out.

 

[Jalva22]

I've tried and liked both. Both have solid info. You can learn a ton from TGM's site. If all you need is best days, though, I'd say to save the extra cash and just do the UG site.

 

[fakereadhed]

I've tried both.

TGM gives you the reasoning behind the plan, while UG doesn't.

Never have renewed UG, I'm on my third renewal with TGM.

 

[scheddj]

TGM for the best days - no contest. I'll pay the $20 every trip just for his red/yellow/green days advice. For everything else I prefer UG.

 

[Poohbear Fan]

I use both. But I am a die-hard UG fan. I buy the new version almost every year. Note that if you buy the book, you do not need to pay extra to join the web site. You have access to it with the book. They will ask you 2 specific questions that you can only answer if you have the book and that will log you in to access all the member info.

I only recently joined TGM, mostly to see how it compared to UG. I have to say that I do find his best days for parks info very helpful in planning my schedule. I start out using the crowd calendar and info on the UG site, then doublecheck my schedule against TGM's recommendations.

I love all the info in the UG book and sometimes it's nice to have that info at your fingertips instead of having to get on the computer to look it up.

I can't say that I've used much else on TGM's site other than the best parks, best days, so I don't know how updated the hotel, restaurant, and attraction info is. He does seem to keep it well-updated in terms of park hours, etc.

So, I guess I would say...BOTH! I will still continue to buy the UG books and check the web site...and I suspect I will continue to pay the $20 to join the TGM site for each upcoming trip.

Hope this helps you decide!

Poohbear

 

[mamacate]

I'm another who says both. Last year I used the book and the website for UG--it's confusing but while you can get the crowd calendar if you own the book, you can't use the UG planning tools, which are actually quite helpful, if not very high tech.

For this year's trip, I signed up for TGM, and was initially quite disappointed. I found it very disorganized and confusing, it logs you out and makes you start back at the home page to log back in, it has no planning tools, and I have encountered some really egregiously out-of-date information (Tusker House review without even an indication of a change, much less an actual new review, Tomorrowland CS dining, particularly the latter being outdated to the tune of "no re-opening date as of summer 2006"). There really isn't anywhere on the site to manage your ADRs and write out your plan, which the UG does have (for $8 whether you have the book or not).

Given all this, I was a little upset at the TGM cost at first, but then I re-upped on the UG site and I saw where the value of TGM was. First of all, the two sites' crowd calendars are really different (actually contradictory during our time frame, April 18-28). I respect UG's methodology, but despite being a data analyst myself (or perhaps because of it), I like the discussion of the judgment calls TGM makes in deciding which days to recommend. It helped me decide whether the recommendations made sense for me. I also like TGM's discussions of touring strategies and tips that are more general, and therefore more flexible, than the UG's plans. On the other hand, the UG book itself has much the same sort of tips, and they tend to be more honestly critical. I found TGM's reviews (of dining particularly) to be a bit too colored by mouse-shaped rose-colored glasses.

So as another poster said, get 'em all: the UG book, TGM, and the crowd calendar. It's a drop in the bucket, in the end, moneywise, and all that planning makes a huge difference--my partner keeps telling me that all the planning I did made our trip great last year.

Cate

 

[nutty4wdw]

to be honest you will get many different opinions about both. i think they complement each other so i use both and just combine the info. for instance TGM will tell you how to utilize fastpass in order to see more attractions whereby UG just describes the fastpass system. UG has more technical info which is interesting such as how rides work and load thereby giving you a heads up on what to expect.

i find TGM's system of days and crowds a spot better then UG's. TGM uses a color code for each day of the month and he explains why. he also uses a blue people code for the month. TGM's touring plans are guides rather then actual step by step plans that UG has. also TGM does not include all the attractions in his plans while UG does. in addition UG has a lot more plans on there site.

i do find TGM outdated on certain topics. but i like his site.

so you will get different opinions. my advice has already been given in another reply--for the price try both the first time then decide for yourself.

 

[cdrn1]

I currently subscribe to both. I have used TGM for my last 4 trips, and to me the price is worth it for the least crowded parks info alone. Every time I have followed his advice, I have experienced minimal crowds and the few times I have gone against it, I have had crowds and waits.
The other site is easier to negotiate, though.
For the price I will continue to subscribe to both.