Using a "Touring Plans" plan in MK

[Surgie2]

I have used TP plans with great success for past WDW trips. But for next year, we will have 4 preschoolers on the trip. I know I can "check the box" that the trip has preschoolers and build in breaks.

For those of you who've used TP, do you ever plan just one "land" of MK at a time? For example, plan Fantasyland in the morning, break for lunch and go to Adventureland in the afternoon? I'm trying to avoid criss-crossing and wearing everyone out.

We will have hopper passes for the 8 days of our visit so can visit MK multiple times giving us flexibility in our planning. I just didn't know if "one land at a time" is strategy we should go for or not.

 

[mamaofsix]

For sure.

We went last year with our 6 kids (between the ages of 2 and 11) and did the same as we always do: one land at a time. We rope drop, hit New Fantasyland first, have lunch and spend the most crowded part of the day in Frontierland, followed by Adventureland. We take a rest / have a picnic Supper on Tom Sawyer Island. Then we hit Tomorrowland in the evening. And we alternate rides with longer shows where they can sit down. It's the least amount of walking = least amount of whining.

Our kids could never handle consecutive days in a row at the parks, so we just do 3 or 4 full days in the parks, with days off in between (ie: Sunday - rest and settle in, Monday - Epcot, Tuesday-Rest, Wednesday-Magic Kingdom, Thursday - go to the beach, Friday - HS or AK). For us, it's too much work and stressful for the kids to keep going in and out of the parks everyday.

But, whatever works for you! Have fun

 

[IrishNYC]

Last trip DD was 5 and we had 3 solid MK visits planned, with one hop in to do whatever struck us. One day we focused on Fantasyland and Liberty Square, the next we did Adventureland and Frontierland, then on the third day we did Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. We hopped in once more for a stroll around anywhere DD wanted to go.

For our next trip DD will be 8, and we will only have 1 full MK day, and one night of MNSSHP, so we're doing a morning of Fantasyland/Tomorrowland, evening of Liberty Square and Frontierland, and then doing Adventureland on party night, with a few other rides scattered in.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I'm going to focus on lands this year. We are only doing RD once for MK and that will be Fantasyland/Tomorrowland day. The other day we may not get there in time for RD, so we'll focus on Main St, AL and Frontier Land. It's probably a party day and we won't have tickets, so I know we don't have time to do "everything" that day.

Our 3rd day will be repeats of favorites, catching things we missed.

 

[ErinInCT]

We did the exact same thing as IrishNYC. It's an absolute must to break it down into lands with little ones. I've found Touringplans sometimes has me backtracking so I try to lay it all out in order and then have them Evaluate instead of Optimize!

 

[lentesta]

I have used TP plans with great success for past WDW trips. But for next year, we will have 4 preschoolers on the trip. I know I can "check the box" that the trip has preschoolers and build in breaks.

For those of you who've used TP, do you ever plan just one "land" of MK at a time? For example, plan Fantasyland in the morning, break for lunch and go to Adventureland in the afternoon? I'm trying to avoid criss-crossing and wearing everyone out.

We will have hopper passes for the 8 days of our visit so can visit MK multiple times giving us flexibility in our planning. I just didn't know if "one land at a time" is strategy we should go for or not.

I'd suggest moving the touring plans' walking speed to "very relaxed", and setting the "walk vs waiting" slider to minimize walking. That generally results in land-by-land touring (or something really close).

In the MK for a full day, I think it would take a great deal of time savings for a plan with those settings to suggest crossing the park and coming back. If you see that kind of suggestion, it might be worth considering.

ETA: Shows, especially those with few performances, may contribute to lots of walking in the plan, especially in DHS.

 

[Roxyfire]

For those of you who've used TP, do you ever plan just one "land" of MK at a time? For example, plan Fantasyland in the morning, break for lunch and go to Adventureland in the afternoon? I'm trying to avoid criss-crossing and wearing everyone out.

Absolutely, that's the only way I like to go. We focus on one area of Magic Kingdom at a time. While we might feel up to going around the whole loop in one day, there's usually a focus just so we don't have to backtrack and criss-cross all over the place.

 

[Ambehnke]

Yes I think that's a great plan.

 

[dreiwhit]

We do this, and we split our plan up into two MK days. Day 1 is Adventureland and after lunch, Frontierland. Day 2 is Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. We also do this to try to keep from having to criss cross the park multiple times a day.

 

[bnhonest]

I just made my fast passes for my May trip, pretty much following Josh's advice (easywdw). His touring strategies make sense and if you follow his blogs, you see he's tried it several different ways.

But when I keyed in my fastpass, dinner ressies and all that in to touring plans for them to optimize a plan for me, their plans are all kind of goofy.

Example:

On May 7, we will be in Animal Kingdom. I know we want to do Everest more than once. I know we want to the Safari, and I know because it will be a hot day, we will want to Kali right before our mid-day break. I also have Tusker ADR's for 11:20.

I made my FPs for EE, 9:15, Safari 10:25, and Kali at 12:05. So my plan is RD, hit Everest, hit Everest again, then head to Dinosaur, Tricer Spin and the Primevel whirl to get all those by 10:00 or 10:30. Head over to Safari for the FP, then (maybe) do the Gorilla trails before my ADR. After we eat, hit Kali, and then head out of the park. All major rides are done!! Come back at 5:00 for dinner, hit a show or two, ride whatever has short lines, and watch ROL.

Touring plans says I wont need a FP for Kali. But I know around noon on a hot, May day, for a slow loading ride that I have sat in line for an hour for before, that I will need a FP. But everytime I optimize with touring plans, it takes the FP away, and then doesnt give me wait times for the rest of my day.

I wish touring plans had a "maybe" button on there for the attractions. I can say Id like to see flights of wonder, or Lion King or Nemo, but thats going to have to be game time decision depending on what else we are doing or have done.

 

[dreiwhit]

Touring plans says I wont need a FP for Kali. But in know around noon on a hot, May day, for a slow loading ride that I have sat in line for an hour for before, that I will need a FP. But everytime I optimize with touring plans, it takes the FP away, and then doesnt give me wait times for the rest of my day.

TP said the same thing for us when when we put on our FPs on our last trip. But, the FPs we got were for a mix of popular attractions and must do (for us) attractions. So, we just fit the FPs in and modified the plan without optimizing it.

 

[lentesta]

...
Touring plans says I wont need a FP for Kali. But I know around noon on a hot, May day, for a slow loading ride that I have sat in line for an hour for before, that I will need a FP. But everytime I optimize with touring plans, it takes the FP away, and then doesnt give me wait times for the rest of my day.
...

You can force the optimizer to use that Kali FP (or any other FP):

Right below where you enter your FPs is a section titled "Advanced Options." Click to open it.

There's a checkbox there titled "Force "Optimize" to use all of your FastPass+ reservations, even if that increases wait times." Make sure that's checked.​

There are situations where combinations of FP, meals, and shows make it impossible to use a FP without making some other situation much worse. But the software will do its best.

...
I wish touring plans had a "maybe" button on there for the attractions. I can say Id like to see flights of wonder, or Lion King or Nemo, but thats going to have to be game time decision depending on what else we are doing or have done.

There's a "do any one of the items in this list" option written in the software for both rides and restaurants. It's not exposed to the UI, so it's not usable. It's very complicated and not a lot of people ask about it. It's mentioned on p. 80 here, in case anyone wants to see how it's implemented.

 

[MoleculeDelta]

Buy it. Read it. Do it.

 

[coolbrook]

I agree. First trip with that book was when I was a nanny in my early 20's. The family used the book to plan their touring and it made a huge difference. I said if I was ever able to go back I would use "The Book." That was over 30 years ago and my husband will still ask what "The Book" says about things. We have gone enough times that we have sort of internalized the information, and can make our own personalized touring plans on the book authors website called Touringplans.com.

 

[siskaren]

Interesting first post.

 

[linmc1129]

It sounds like many of you use the paid subscription to Touring Plans. Do you feel it's worth it? I am considering purchasing for our Easter week trip with 9 people to optimize our time there.

 

[howlongtildisney]

If you look at the 2 day torquing plan for families with young children, it does exactly that. It's what I plan on doing in in June with my kids who will be almost 4 and almost 6 then.

 

[dreiwhit]

It sounds like many of you use the paid subscription to Touring Plans. Do you feel it's worth it? I am considering purchasing for our Easter week trip with 9 people to optimize our time there.

It was worth it for us. And, its pretty cheap.

The plans did help us on both our trips last year. There were times I would look at their plans and say "this doesn't make sense", but they did work out fine for us. As I mentioned in post #11, there are times that TP's plans ignore your FPs, but you can work around that.

We're partial to "The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World" by Bob Sehlinger and Len Testa, but only because my supervisor let us borrow his copy before our first trip as a family. We liked it, and have stuck with it.

 

[linmc1129]

It was worth it for us. And, its pretty cheap.

The plans did help us on both our trips last year. There were times I would look at their plans and say "this doesn't make sense", but they did work out fine for us. As I mentioned in post #11, there are times that TP's plans ignore your FPs, but you can work around that.

We're partial to "The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World" by Bob Sehlinger and Len Testa, but only because my supervisor let us borrow his copy before our first trip as a family. We liked it, and have stuck with it.

Thanks for the feedback. I have the basic subscription, but I may upgrade.

 

[ConnecticutNonna]

It sounds like many of you use the paid subscription to Touring Plans. Do you feel it's worth it? I am considering purchasing for our Easter week trip with 9 people to optimize our time there.

Absolutely worth it for us!