touring plans?

kitkat4622

DIS Veteran
Joined
Mar 13, 2014
I am trying to set up my park days on touring plans and when I put in my choices and hit "optimize" it seems to be a lot of crisscrossing the parks to get to my choices. has anyone used the plans optimized in touring plans and if so how did that work out for you? thanks
 
There are times I'm not in complete agreement with their plan. Its still a balance of my knowledge in tandem with their expertise. I didn't agree with arriving for RD at a very early EMH & start with Tea Cups or Winnie the Pooh or a 7am EMH at AK that I showed up by 6:30 for & it asked me to go straight to ITTBAB. I just go to something more valuable & check it off as 'done' & optimize again. Eventually we catch up to each other & I can go along with their suggestions.
 
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There are settings you can use to customize such as teh "minimize walking".
As mentioned, not sure I always agree with the plan they come up with. sometimes it has been correct.
As with many things, it can be a guide, but not set in stone.
 
I usually compare by putting the attractions in the order I feel is best so as not to criss-cross and walk so much , then just hit evaluate. I also use the same rides/attractions and set minimize walking and hit optimize. I sometimes reorder my plan, but sometimes like my plan I made without having touring plans optimize it. Everyone agrees you do need a plan when you tackle touring The World.
 
TP software is supposed to minimize your waits using calculations for walking time and historical wait time data. It's not perfect all the time, but I love it as a starting point for a plan. As others have stated, look at the other settings it offers for minimizing walking, and once you get to a point to where the tp needs a few tweaks here and there, move the attractions manually to a better order, and don't re-optimize it, use the Evaluate option.

Also, I use this forum too, but TP has a forum just like this for questions exactly like yours. Both forums are great.
 
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Even with minimize walking, I felt like it had me backtracking more than I wanted. I would optimize and then adjust as I felt appropriate.

It's also really bad for RD. In HS, for instance, they start walking people back at 8:45, so you can be on and off saucers ready to head to TSMM before 9am. In the plans, it assumes I'm only going to start walking to saucers from the front of the park right at opening time and backs up all of the waits accordingly. I either left my RD off of the plan or told it I had FP so that it would better estimate the actual wait I would encounter that early in the day.
 
Even with minimize walking, I felt like it had me backtracking more than I wanted. I would optimize and then adjust as I felt appropriate.

It's also really bad for RD. In HS, for instance, they start walking people back at 8:45, so you can be on and off saucers ready to head to TSMM before 9am. In the plans, it assumes I'm only going to start walking to saucers from the front of the park right at opening time and backs up all of the waits accordingly. I either left my RD off of the plan or told it I had FP so that it would better estimate the actual wait I would encounter that early in the day.

I don't think it's "bad" for that, it just assumes you're not at the front of the pack for RD like a serious WDW vet might try to be. I think you can try working around that by stating you have a meal at a nearby location, so it knows where you are at a certain time. I don't think it's "bad," but I do agree that perhaps an additional option of allowing some early entry/front of pack would be nice - that would work at AK as well, with FOP. Last time I went to AK for EMH, I got there half an hour early for EMH, and the tapstyles were wide open for entry. Nobody was in line because they were letting ppl through already.
 
I don't think it's "bad" for that, it just assumes you're not at the front of the pack for RD like a serious WDW vet might try to be. I think you can try working around that by stating you have a meal at a nearby location, so it knows where you are at a certain time. I don't think it's "bad," but I do agree that perhaps an additional option of allowing some early entry/front of pack would be nice - that would work at AK as well, with FOP. Last time I went to AK for EMH, I got there half an hour early for EMH, and the tapstyles were wide open for entry. Nobody was in line because they were letting ppl through already.

Well, I think when 3/4 of the parks let you get in past the main entrance ahead of opening time, there should be an option to account for that. If you're RDing anywhere other than EP, your initial walk in and time to first ride is going to be wrong. Even if they let you specify a start time before park hours or let you start at a location of your choice, it would help.
 
@lentesta
Perhaps something for you to ponder here?
I'd imagine you'd get complaints from people who enter that they'll be at the front of the pack, but wind up getting there 20 minutes late, and wondering why their entire tp is out of whack. But I'd also imagine that hardcore rope droppers, that know the whole "early bird gets the worm" deal, would like a feature like this. Even if just for testing it out, if possible.
 
Well, I think when 3/4 of the parks let you get in past the main entrance ahead of opening time, there should be an option to account for that. If you're RDing anywhere other than EP, your initial walk in and time to first ride is going to be wrong. Even if they let you specify a start time before park hours or let you start at a location of your choice, it would help.
EPCOT lets you in just before space ship earth

AK let’s you in up to the tree of life

HS lets you in up to where you turn to walk down to TOT RNR

MK lets you in up to the castle

Not sure what park you think dose not let you in early
 
EPCOT lets you in just before space ship earth

AK let’s you in up to the tree of life

HS lets you in up to where you turn to walk down to TOT RNR

MK lets you in up to the castle

Not sure what park you think dose not let you in early

You're right, I wasn't thinking of Epcot because even from SE it's a long walk to your typical RD priorities. And, there's the complication of the IG, too.

I think it matters the most at HS and AK where the park is actually operating well before opening time most days.
 
I usually compare by putting the attractions in the order I feel is best so as not to criss-cross and walk so much , then just hit evaluate. I also use the same rides/attractions and set minimize walking and hit optimize. I sometimes reorder my plan, but sometimes like my plan I made without having touring plans optimize it. Everyone agrees you do need a plan when you tackle touring The World.
I did the same thing. When I used their optimized plan vs my own plan, the total wait time was pretty close.
 
Honestly is TP that precise though? I mean its good and I am using it but a 10-15 min swing at the start of the day isn't going to drastically adjust things. If I know I will get through Pandora at rope drop I would just leave it off my plan and optimize after I am done when in the park.
 
I optimise it, then look at the map and drag them into better order, it often makes little difference to wait times. I don’t bother with it now as no matter which days I go, I end up with a very similar plan.
 
I saw in a video that they're working on having options to say when you're arriving at the turnstiles (7:30am vs 8:58am for a 9am opening) that would take into account how long the wait for your first ride might be based on how far back you are in line.

Not helpful at the moment, but sounds like they're aware and are working on it.
 
I optimise it, then look at the map and drag them into better order, it often makes little difference to wait times. I don’t bother with it now as no matter which days I go, I end up with a very similar plan.

This is exactly what I do too.
 
@lentesta from TP is a member here, and there is a forum on the TP site. Don't hesitate to ask questions over there, they are friendly and helpful:)
 
Another suggestion would be to make 2 plans for the same day. Create a cutoff time and choose specific areas of the park you want to put into the morning & other areas attractions into the evening plan.

Work with one plan until you switch to the other plan. This will help prioritize certain rides but still bound by certain physical boundaries, instead of trying to mesh rides from all over the park during the course of a day.
 

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