Is the Touring Plans MK plan really the best way to tour the park?

[maxiv]

I haven’t been to WDW in 10 years, but have been to Tokyo and Paris within the past 3 years.
So while I like headliners such as BTMRR or Splash, I’d really love to finally get so see 7 dwarfs.

I selected multiple attractions that I’d like to do in the Lines app - and was very surprised, when the plan tells me to do Space Mountain, TTA and CoP first thing in the morning and then doing 7 Dwarfs much later in the day.

Wouldn’t it make more sense to knock 7 Dwarfs out first thing in the morning?

Not sure if I should really just blindly trust the Touring Plans plan?

Hope someone can help me Thanks!

 

[Gehrig1B]

This will depend on whether you are staying at a Disney resort... if not you can forget early morning for SDMT as early entry guests will populate the standby line immediately.

If at a Disney resort you can rope drop but get there early and make a quick walk directly to SDMT.

Best bet is to purchase an Individual Lightning Lane.

As far as Touring Plans, we trust them, especially for their app with the most accurate wait times, but don't use their individualized plans.

 

[gharter]

I haven't found their plans to work well pre-covid. With the current crowds, I would not expect them to be very helpful.

 

[maxiv]

Phew, I also just read about the two different strategies with G+ - knocking out MK attractions ASAP vs. LL stacking….looks like I need to do some more research and familiarize myself with the MDE app.
I guess when choosing the former strategy for MK, that’ll determine the order of how we tour the park anyways…

 

[disneydentist]

Doing Space Mountain early, if you're at or need the front of the rope crowd works. I would not follow with CoP and TTA.

SDMT also works IF you're at the front of the pack. This will mean using early entry and still getting there well ahead of rope drop. Then standing around in a crowd for a good while. Then trying to keep and and not get trampled when it's time to move.

Again, this is only if you're onsite with early entry. Otherwise rope drop Frontierland or Adventureland.

 

[g-dad66]

You want to save TTA and CoP for afternoons when wait times for most things are unbearable. You don't want to do them in the first hour of the day.

 

[bama_ed]

I found TP's plans very helpful for my MK plan back in Jan 2022. I paid the low annual fee to be able to go on-line at the TP website and customize my plan, move around the order and selection of rides to see the impact on time available. We stayed at Fort Wilderness so we had the benefit of Early Rope Drop but the benefit of being able to "what-if" the plan was interesting.

Regardless of on/off site, you should pick a destination attraction at rope drop, one for just before closing time (when wait times are typically over-stated by Disney), and then manage what's left. If you have/want an ADR, you can add that and the time that it will take you out of your schedule (I used 60 minutes which was about right for an unremarkable lunch at The Plaza).

Of course, the best plan EVER (mine) was broken in pieces when, while waiting in Early Rope drop line, the CM's roping the front said that 7DMT was NOT going to be available at Early Rope Drop. (We were close enough to the front to see the 7DMT going thru their warm-up runs in the distance but I guess something wasn't right). So we had to adjust on the fly and headed for Peter Pan at Early Drop.

Then CoP was broken for a long time during the day and People Mover also while we were in line (two required rides for us) that required a change of plans on the fly.

For the low cost of an annual subscription to TP (and to be able to what-if, optimize, save, and print/DL the plan with the rides/attractions that you want to include), it's worth it IMO. We are types that don't have to ride every ride, see every show, or do-it-all. Some attractions are people-eaters/low demanders that can accommodate you almost any time of day with minimal wait (<30 min): People Mover, Carousel of Progress, Country Bears, Tiki Room, Hall of Presidents). You can also slot a wait for a parade or Cavalcade if someone in your group MUST see it (my DD).

You can fly blind or pay a little to at least get a feel for how your day might go. It was worth it for us.

In closing, we did get to see/do everything we wanted to in our day at MK.

Bama Ed

PS - DD added her calvacade, I added my Dapper Dans appearance, DW added lunch at The Plaza, and we were all happy.

 

[Delirium]

Any plan that has you do Carousel of Progress and TTA early in the morning is bogus. Those are two attractions that will have short (TTA) and no (COP) later in the day while other attractions have lines 45+ minutes long.

If starting in Tomorrowland (again depending on whether you are early entry), I would do Space followed by Buzz. If the Speedway is your thing, I would probably do it next. If no Speedway, I would consider cutting over to Adventureland after Buzz. I would avoid Fantasyland and do it the last 2-3 hours of the park, if possible. Get in line for Mine Train 10 minutes before the park closes. Not only will the line be shorter and go faster, the ride is better when it is dark.

 

[cjlong88]

We don't use any service like TP. Honestly, our touring style is crafting a general game plan that allows us to switch gears at a moment's notice based on past experiences combined with paying attention to how the park is operating that specific day. And we almost always have to pivot at some point during our day. Rides might be down first thing in the AM, which can ruin the best made plans if we don't have a back-up plan. On one visit to MK we noticed everyone was heading back to Splash and Big Thunder, which is where we always start our visit, so we changed it up and headed to Space instead (totally opposite of our traditional touring style). We follow the standard guidelines I think the vast majority of us follow during our trips. Hit most popular rides at RD and park close. Ride less popular attractions in the early afternoon when parks are the busiest (or take a resort break).

Even with these guidelines, though, we always have to read the room, so to speak. What works one day will not work the next for factors outside our control. At the end of the day, we just prioritize what we want to ride and make a plan (and a back-up plan). Finally, we don't make any attraction, restaurant, or experience a "make-or-break" moment for our trip.

Those who are too rigid in their plans will eventually experience disappointment. Those who can be flexible and adaptable will have fun regardless.

 

[rwdavis2]

I never found it that useful although I haven't been since 2016. FP+ made doing all the attractions you wanted if you had at least 5 days in the parks. I would be surprised if TP was able to incorporate all the FP+ replacements and be accurate this quickly.

 

[chris benton]

The TP software takes your input of attractions and parameters and spits out a plan according to that. It will also allow you to adjust that plan to suit your liking. When you do that, it will also allow you to check its estimated times after your adjustments, so you can compare what it thinks your times will be vs what it thinks your times will be if you used its projections. It might make sense for you to do 7dmt first. If you plan to be at the front of the pack, you can tinker to adjust your arrival time at 7dmt to buck the software's assumption that you will not be at the front of the pack, in which case 7dmt makes more sense to do first, if that's what you'd like to do. Or, you can even leave 7dmt off of your list, and tell the software your first attraction that makes sense to you AFTER 7dmt. You can also adjust in a few seconds on the fly, so you can go to 7dmt (or any attraction) at any point of the day, and then have the software recalculate the remaining attractions and plan of attack for you.

The software is just a tool that allows you to fully customize. Nothing is set in stone. A WDW vacation is far too expensive and has far too many variables for ppls' preferences to allow a piece of software to tell you what to do. What it does, it does fantastically, imo. You have to know how to use it, and what it's for.

If you hardcore KNOW you'll be at the front of the pack to get 7d done, of course it makes sense, if that's what you'd like to do. The software assumes you won't be at the head of the pack, probably because that's a much safer assumption.

 

[_19disnA]

Even if it's been 10 yrs since your last trip, all of the major rides are still in the same place. You can check a Disney property map to see what new things have been added since your last trip. The most popular rides will have the longest lines and there are probably some rides/shows you know you really don't want to do anyway. If you have never been to Disney, then you probably don't know what you want to see/do and having a plan from some 3rd party may not fit your needs. In either case, I don't see how someone else can plan your way around a park.

 

[hilkaryic]

I still like using the plans to give myself a general framework. SDMT is nearly always recommended to do late, late in the afternoons/evenings, but I would recommend getting an ILL for as early as possible and then you can always ride again in the evening. Did you have it optimized to minimize walking? Might explain the Tomorrowland low wait attractions.

My suggestion is to run it without CoP and HoP and alike, AND don't optimize for walking short distance.