MDE or Subscription for wait times?

[NEMouse]

After several trips cancelled, we have decided to plan a trip this spring. I am quickly learning what we need to know before we go (restaurants that are open, park hours, virtual queue, etc.)

I read that the wait times on MDE are not as reliable as those that you can subscribe to. We have hopper passes so I plan on relying on wait times to determine where to 'hop' to in the afternoons or after a lunch break.

Any suggestions? What subscription service are recommended? As I have been waiting a while to visit, I am okay with spending a little extra to have better information. Thank you!!

 

[figmentfinesse]

I love my Touring Plans subscription. They do the wait times, but they also have views from the rooms and fax the request for you, which I love. They also estimate the wait times on your day in advance.

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

TPs relies upon members in the queue to correctly enter wait times, so it should provide dynamic wait times, but of course, if members do not enter wait times or enter data incorrectly, the information TP gives out will be inaccurate.
However, I recommend that you use TP touring plans (buy the book or subscribe. You get a discount if you buy the book), as, in my experience, they really do help you stay ahead of the crowd and ensure that you ride/see everything that you want to, without wasting time.
All the information in the TP books, can be found here, in the various threads, so ask questions and you will get lots of helpful advice. Enjoy your planning.

 

[tink2]

We have used Touring Plans Lines app every single trip- well worth it- it tells you the posted wait time and then expected wait time- which has always been pretty accurate for us.

 

[NEMouse]

Thank you for sharing! I will buy now to help with the planning, see if we should adjust our park reservations too with the new information

 

[Kimg88]

We have used Touring Plans Lines app every single trip- well worth it- it tells you the posted wait time and then expected wait time- which has always been pretty accurate for us.

Accurate even in these Covid times?
I have been doubting Touring plans lately only because when I run optimization for March, the order it gives me seems suspect...not what I would think from my past trips. Huge touring plans fan here, though for a normal trip in normal times. Helps tremendously. I am hoping it still helps me this time too, once we are there and can run optimization again. It can't look at anything prior to official park open, so that means I have to figure out the first few rides by myself...which I just head to headliners and then once things get more crowded...I figure re-optimize and then follow touring plans.

 

[MamaBelle4]

Okay, so I paid for a subscription and downloaded the touring plans app and made my plans for the week (coming up in just a few days!!).

According to TP, most days we hit all of our desired attractions several hours before the park closes. We are rope drop to close people, but it really throws me off that we could be done so soon. To be fair, though, we usually didn't really hit the parks with plans before, just our scheduled FP+ and ADRs, and went wherever the wind would take us in between.

So, in other words, if we follow the plan somewhat closely, how likely is it that the timing is accurate? Thank you!

 

[sethschroeder]

I have been doubting Touring plans lately only because when I run optimization for March

Thing is they show every day both Disney Posted, Their Info, and User Submitted so you can look yourself and make your own estimated guesses as well.

For how cheap it is it has lots of information you can leverage.

 

[gharter]

A big fan of Touring plans as long as there are plenty of people in the park using it and posting actual wait times.
Have never felt bad paying a little for it as much as we use it.

 

[_19disnA]

I have no idea how any 3rd party can accurately estimate ride times ahead of time. Even Disney has no idea how many locals with AP's will decide to show up on any given day and which park they will visit. To further estimate down to the ride level seems more like guesswork.

When we were at Disney in 2019, the ride wait times posted at the entrances to various rides were all over the map. Some listed long wait times where we walked right on while others showed a short wait that turned out to be much longer. I think it is safe to assume the most popular rides will tend to have longer wait times regardless of when you go.

 

[tink2]

Accurate even in these Covid times?
I have been doubting Touring plans lately only because when I run optimization for March, the order it gives me seems suspect...not what I would think from my past trips. Huge touring plans fan here, though for a normal trip in normal times. Helps tremendously. I am hoping it still helps me this time too, once we are there and can run optimization again. It can't look at anything prior to official park open, so that means I have to figure out the first few rides by myself...which I just head to headliners and then once things get more crowded...I figure re-optimize and then follow touring plans.

My daughter was in MK last week- only for one day so take it for what it is- but she said yes, the expected wait time was accurate all day- only exception was Space Mountain - which shut down right after they rode it with technical difficulties. They did not use it to plan their day before their trip- she already knew they wanted SDMT first and Fantasyland- but used it after they finished their initial plans to determine what section of the park to go to next- only used it for expected wait times- not like a plan for the day.

 

[MamaBelle4]

I don't mean for the wait times, I mean for their, well, touring plans?

I have mine for next week and most of the parks have us (a party of 8) finished with all the attractions by 2/3pm. If we follow the plans somewhat closely, how accurate do you think that will be?

Normally we just go in with our FP+ subscriptions and ADRs and pretty much go wherever we wish to in between so this is a whole new experience for us. Thank you for your help!!

 

[Akck]

I used touring plans just to make sure we could do everything we wanted and yes, it said we’d finish early in the afternoon. What happens though is that you don’t account for every break you take. For instance, you stop to look in that shop as you head to the next attraction. We rope dropped AK and I’d guess FOP was 20 minutes to walk-on at the time. Some members of our group were cold that day, so we stopped to buy clothing and a blanket (also window shopped). As I was waiting for them, I saw a solid wall of people crossing the bridge to Discovery Island and wait time jumped to around a hour. Even with that, we were able to do everything we wanted and leave the park before closing.