Touring Plans custom plans - how accurate?

[thisismyusername]

This is our first time trying to create a touring plan in an effort to tour more effectively so we have a little more time to relax. I subscribed to Touring Plans, but none of their plans really fit what we had hoped to do, so we are in the process of creating a custom touring plan on the site. We are seriously impressed so far with everything, but I am definitely curious as to how accurate the plan is? Has anyone created one? What was your experience when using it for the parks?

TIA for any insight!

 

[Disneytwinsmom]

I am subscribing to this because I would love to hear someones answer!

 

[girlb4amirror]

I used Relaxed walking for all of my plans because I knew we would need extra time to retrieve our stroller and bathroom breaks.

For our MK day, I found it extremely accurate for the first 90 minutes and then we took an unscheduled snack break. After that, wait times were close, but we were technically behind schedule.

For our DHS and AK day, wait times were accurate although we went off schedule some again.

For our Epcot day, Epcot was busier than expected. Both TP and EasyWDW had it as most recommended park, but I think rain that week had shifted people's touring plans because the park waits were definitely longer than my plan said. It was supposed to be a crowd level 2 day, but it felt so crowded.

Overall, I was impressed! A lot of it depends on your family and speed of touring. We found we stopped more often than I put in the plan, but I loved having the plans to keep is on a general path. I will always use then from now on!

 

[thisismyusername]

Thanks so much for your feedback--I really appreciate it! I'd love to hear other people's experiences as well to make sure we're not wasting our time. Thanks!

 

[allmydisneydreams]

We were in WDW the week after Easter (which is the 3rd most crowded week of the year, I think) and we really never waited in line, thanks to Touring Plans which I customized for us in conjunction with RideMax. I was a bit obsessive with my plans and spent a lot of time tweaking, but it was sooooooooooo worth it. I genuinely felt bad for families that I saw waiting in line as we walked by. We did Rope Drop with our custom plan each day and it was a huge success. One day we were walking by Magic Carpets, which we had ridden three times with no wait at 8 am, and there was a line out to a CM holding a 60 minute sign and then another half a line beyond that. I'm pretty sure people were waiting an hour and a half for that three minute ride. We saw tons of families waiting in the sun - Those poor little ones!!! You will love Touring Plans - It ROCKS!

 

[ajcrusher]

We subscribed last year and I had made customized touring plans but honestly, never could get them to work. I'm sure it was operator error on my part but each plan had us starting our plan at hours before the parks even opened and my plans weren't jam packed. I'm sure I just didn't do it right. So we didn't use the plans but we did use the app to check wait times and they seemed to be pretty accurate from what I remember. I'm glad it's worked better for others.

 

[cel_disney]

I used a custom plan 2 weeks ago and it was great!

I first created a plan with how I wanted to do things and had TP evaluate it for me...then I put all the same activities in another plan and let TP optimize it for me....They came up with a plan that did everything I wanted in 3 less hours (an therefore would make it to dinner on time!).

We ended up somewhere in the middle of the 2 plans because there were certain things I wanted to do when my kids were at their best - but overall I loved it.

I kept the app on my phone and as we completed steps in the plan I would mark them and tell them where I was and it would re-optimize every step. It also allowed us to enter our FP times so that it would replay around them as needed!

 

[cigar95]

One thing to keep in mind is that for the plans published in the books, the TP team tests them and tweaks them here and there before publishing anything. The computer-generated plans don't go through that process.

When TP gives me a customized plan, I immediately give it a "sanity check", and move things around here and there. When I apply the "analyze" button to my revised plan, the numbers almost always get a bit better.

What I end up with usually looks mostly like what the system gave me, but with a few rearrangements here and there.

I also find that it makes sense to always set the settings to "slow walking", because things always take longer than we think - bathroom breaks, stopping to watch a character interact with a kid, and so on. I think very few guests can be as ruthlessly efficient as the touring plans scheduler.

Also, for World Showcase touring, if you enter something like "Germany Pavillion", I think the scheduler usually gives you about ten minutes. We like to browse a lot more slowly than that so I may put each pavilion in two or three times. Same for Innoventions.

 

[girlb4amirror]

Also, for World Showcase touring, if you enter something like "Germany Pavillion", I think the scheduler usually gives you about ten minutes. We like to browse a lot more slowly than that so I may put each pavilion in two or three times. Same for Innoventions.

Great idea! I'll use that next time!

 

[Miss Monorail 1971]

I subscribed for our last trip in 09 and found that the crowd calendar was way off. Most of our days were at a 4 or 5 but we really experienced crowds at about 7 or 8. But I am giving it another try. I think it was just a fluke that trip. It was late October and the temp was in the 90 and it was very crowded. Now we are going in July so I'm still gonna give it a try with custom plans. I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

[thisismyusername]

I really appreciate the feedback, everyone. Thanks so much! The one thing that has been really helpful is that we're figuring out a lot of stuff in advance--where we're going to eat counter service for example--standing around and debating it in the park for 10 minutes before we decide can be a real time waster. Plus, I've been able to actually schedule free time for resort breaks or whatever because it has given me a much clearer plan of how long certain attractions are going to take. Honestly, I really hate being so scheduled, but I also hate being inefficient, so, hopefully we can maximize our time in the parks and stick to the schedule, and spend our down time doing whatever we want. I'm hoping it will be a nice balance.

Does anyone have a recommended idea of how much "free" time you should leave in each schedule? I've tried to eliminate as much as possible, but I can add it back in just by reducing our free time.

We leave soon--I will report back on how well it works.

 

[mom2mickeyfan]

I wonder if anyone has any idea if there is a way to fix it or even if it is something to fix.

I am working on a custom Epcot day plan for our trip next week. I put in a FP pick up for TT at 3:45 p.m. and it has a return time of 1:05 a.m. The park isn't open then. Why is it doing that?? Is it because we can't expect to get a FP then? And if so, why doesn't it just say that there would no more FP?

 

[joedplumber]

Touring plans is good on paper but amazing as an app!!!

If you use their app with your personal tour it is awesome! You just check off the things you do click optimize and it tells you were to go next based on your tour and lines. The best part is if you stop to do something no on your tour you can just pick up where you left off. We absolutely loved it and waited no more than 20 minutes a ride in July. My DW said she would never do WDW with out the app and personalized tours.

 

[cigar95]

I wonder if anyone has any idea if there is a way to fix it or even if it is something to fix.

I am working on a custom Epcot day plan for our trip next week. I put in a FP pick up for TT at 3:45 p.m. and it has a return time of 1:05 a.m. The park isn't open then. Why is it doing that?? Is it because we can't expect to get a FP then? And if so, why doesn't it just say that there would no more FP?

TP has really good customer service in this area - if you send them an email and describe what you're seeing, you'll get a reply within a day. Give them your account name and the date of your plan, and they'll actually go in and look under the hood of your particular plan and see what is causing the code to do that. Likely it will be Len himself who replies.

You're right that one area where the code has glitches is when a plan tries to get a FP and none is available. Sometimes at the Studios when it gets confused like this, it comes up with a wait of about 95 hours. (That glitch may be fixed by now - only the heartiest of us will wait in line for four days for ToT!)

 

[ssatterly]

What is Touring plans and how do I use them

 

[Cyrano]

What is Touring plans and how do I use them

You will find lots of info at www.touringplans.com

 

[Disneytwinsmom]

I am a huge fan of TP, helps a lot in my book.

 

[Aljo]

I am having fun with it and moving things around but have also come across a glitch. According to Disney's website in August there's a 6pm Nemo show. TP isn't recognizing it (they have the last show at 5pm) so it's telling me that my Kali wait (after the Nemo show) is 3369.