Unofficial Tour Plans

[lfrobison]

Does anyone follow these plans for the parks? Do they really work as well as they claim? Trying to plan "day by day" for our trip starting on June 20th!

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

We find that their plans work pretty well. We arrive during am EMH and get most of the major things done by about noon. You can always skip something on the plan if your family does not want to do it.

You can also put together your own custom version based on their model.

Either way, simply having a plan in advance will save you lots of time and reduce stress.

You'll be checking in the day after we leave!

 

[Sam's_Mom]

We use the plans for MK and try to get the top 3 or 4 things from the other parks plans done first. It has always worked beautifully for us.

Stacy

 

[angelarainey]

i was wondering that too...im so worried about getting in everything for our 5 year old and was going to use a guide plan.

 

[magchavez]

We've used them on our last two trips and they work pretty well. We never waited more than 20 minutes for any ride (even in August). We just skip the rides/attractions that we are not interested in. This year we're going to try Ridemax.com. It sounds a little more personalized (enter your start time, break time, specific rides you want to go on). I've read good things about it on these boards.

 

[kpipkin]

This will be my 3rd time using the UG tour plans. They have worked very well for us in the past. However, this is the first time I'm using it in the summer. We previously visited the parks in Fall/Winter. I hope it works as well in summer crowds! Basically, it's based on arriving at the parks early so you're there for the rope drop. You hit the headliners early before crowds get thick in the park. It requires you to criss cross the park some, but that's what makes it successful. If you buy the book, you can also go on their website and access other versions of the touring plans for free. They offer plans for half days, different age groups, etc. The book recommends not going to EMH parks even if you have that benefit. Those parks tend to be even more crowded by mid-day. We have always avoided EMH parks and had success with it in the past. The book will tell you which parks are best to go to on which days.

 

[cwy_chu]

I bought the UG book and also went to the UG website with information of which day should go to which park and which park to avoid. The book said don't go to EMH park, but the website recommend that same park which happens to have EMH on the same day, this is kind of confusing to me, should I follow the book or should I follow the touring plan website. If we can't get to the park at rope drop, will the UG touring plan still works? We only got the base ticket, so it is very important for us to plan which day which park to go. Thanks for your help.

 

[karabeunso]

What is the UG? I've seen it in a number of places.

 

[butiflfeet]

UG stands for Unofficial Guide. It's a book that gives touring tips and plans to follow for the DW parks. You can also get info on their website http://www.touringplans.com

 

[Figaro8398]

I used the plans for Christmas 2007, modifying by taking out what I didn't want to do. Two weeks ago, I started off using the plan on a Wed., but after an hour or so realized that I didn't really need to...many of the attractions were not nearly as crowded as they had been. Most were walk on (I could see the ride vehicles from the end of the line). The UG does say for days of "lighter" attendance, the plans really aren't necessary. I still kind of follow them anyway, so I have a plan of attack.
For my Christmas trip, I did do a lot of EMH mornings, as I am an early riser. The parks opened as early as 7, and most people did not enter the parks until late morning. I was done by noon as they were walking in, looking at their maps, and deciding which line to stand in for an hour and a half.
This year, I did not do a lot of EMH mornings. I looked at the park recommendations on the website and went off of those to make my schedule. I also tried the strategy of going to the park that had the evening EMH hours the night before too. I can't really say for sure there was a huge difference. I would probably go back to doing EMH mornings again, just because I am up so early!
I do like the UG plans. They do work. Just adjust them to your situation.

 

[momsavealot]

I love how they organize rides but I don't agree with their general philosophy of avoiding parks with EMH's. I was very happy with EMH mornings on our last trip and plan to do that again. So, I don't use them for which parks to go to which days but their book is fantastic and their website is great for crowd level calculators and which rides to go to in which order. Good luck!

 

[burberryplaid]

We use them and love them! If crowds are lighter than you expect, don't feel like you must follow them to a tee. We are also firm believers in their Best Park Days from the website.

 

[rustyharleton]

Plans have always worked great for us. We almost always take advantage of the EMH. We are early risers. However the one time we went to a park for EMH and were 20 minutes late, we found our plans did not work as well. We had never had to wait in line more than 10-15 minutes. We still rode everything we wanted to by noon but did have to wait in longer lines. We generally head back to the room at lunch take a nap and hop to another park that afternoon. I think the key to the EMH is being at the park 15-20 minutes before the park opens. If you are not going to be at the park 15 minutes before opening, I would say avoid the EMH park. Waiting at the rope for rope drop for 15 minutes saves hours of waiting later.

 

[karabeunso]

We are heading to Disney for two days at the MK on 6/30 and 7/1. Is it worth spending the money to subscribe to the UG site for just a two-day trip? I just purchased the book after reading about it on this site.

 

[butiflfeet]

We are heading to Disney for two days at the MK on 6/30 and 7/1. Is it worth spending the money to subscribe to the UG site for just a two-day trip? I just purchased the book after reading about it on this site.

If I'm not mistaken, if you bought the book then you can subscribe to the site without having to pay anything extra.

 

[bzzybee13]

I would say a short trip would make it even more worthwhile. You have so much to fit in in such a short time, so having a plan to avoid lines will help you get more done in that time. Have fun!

We are heading to Disney for two days at the MK on 6/30 and 7/1. Is it worth spending the money to subscribe to the UG site for just a two-day trip? I just purchased the book after reading about it on this site.

 

[etoiles]

We just used the plans for our trip to Disney this month. The plans worked best for Epcot and Magic Kingdom. In Magic Kingdom I was amazed at how we zipped around with minimal waits on so many rides it was amazing.

We tried to follow the plan for Animal Kingdom but it just didn't work out well for us. The park was very large and the plans zipped across too much and DH became miserable running around in the heat. Also we missed rope drop at this park by five minutes so I think that didn't help either.

We also altered the plans for Hollywood Studios since it said to go to Toy Story Mania third after hearing about the crowds on the DIS we didn't think that would work so we did go and ride on that first.

I think the most important part of the plan is arriving early before the rope drops so you can get early fast passes and ride rides with minimal waits in the morning.

 

[karabeunso]

Ok, so I signed up for an acct. on the touringplans.com website (and I didn't have to pay since I have the 2009 issue of the guide - cool!). The plans are very detailed and I'm sure they are great for a lot of people; however, they don't encompass the rides/attractions we want to experience with my DD (age 5). There are a lot of things missing. Can someone suggest a site to use so we can choose our own rides and attractions that we want to visit and a plan can be created from there with the best order/time of day, etc.? Or is there such a thing?

Thanks so much!

 

[kstategrad]

Not to hijack the thread or anything, but can someone point me in the right direction to subscribe for free? I bought the 2009 book as well, but I don't see on the website where you can subscribe for free.

TIA!

 

[karabeunso]

It's kind of hard to figure out...it took me quite awhile of poking around on the site. You have to subscribe as a free basic subscriber, and then after you do that, go to the crowd calendar and enter the verification information for the two pages in your book.

Hope that helps!