Scratching my head over Touring Plans

[ConnecticutNonna]

I've been a Touring Plans subscriber for years now & for the first time am using the personalized plans for my October trip. I love this feature & can't believe I haven't used it before! A friend of mine who is going in April even subscribed after hearing me talk about it so much.

Just a few of suggestions & some things she mentioned she wished it had being a first time visitor.

1) An option for park hopping so you didn't have to have 2 separate plans. Would love for it to include estimated travel time as well.

2) An option for meals outside of the park. Again with estimated travel times. Right now, as other have mentioned, we are just entering these as breaks.

3) An option to select single rider for those rides that this is available for.

4) An option to have split plans. An example of this would be that my DH is going to ride Expedition Everest while DS , DM & I are going to The Boneyard. This is throwing us into a later Finding Nemo because it has all of us doing both. Not a big deal, I'm just making a note that this is the case.

Thanks for being so active on this thread!

WOW! All great ideas!

 

[lentesta]

MDE's FP+ screens are supposed to get an update April 10. That'll make it easier to see all FP times available immediately (instead of having to grab something and change later). It should also allow you to make just 1 or 2 FPs, instead of requiring 3. We may be able to

Hi @lentesta!
Since you're granting magical requests, I would like to add one!
In doing my plan for MK for MVMCP, I put in that I'm going to the later parade. However, it automatically places me on Main Street. I really wish I could plot my actual spot in adventureland. I had hoped to watch the last parade and then zip to Jingle Cruise immediately. I also noticed that when I put in one of the musical singing attractions, the plot on the map puts me at the TTC, and not in Tomorrowland...
Should I just pretend the parade is meal, and put my times in at the closest CS?
The same question with the musical entertainment...
Thanks, it's so nice that you're here helping us out!

We might be able to provide a "Frontierland" option for the MK parades - would that be okay? It would take a lot of programming to do "exact spot" and we don't get many requests for it.

Which shows/attractions show up at the TTC? That's a simple fix. Thanks for bringing those up!

 

[ConnecticutNonna]

Hi @lentesta! Again!
When I put in "voice play", it takes my plans out of the park and onto the TTC. It did that last year with my plans as well, so I removed it.
I love the idea of having a choice for another spot for parade viewing. I'm sure not everyone watches from Main Street! THANK YOU! Frontierland would be great!
I tried to arrange it so you could view my plans, but I got fudged up trying. My smart android phone is new and I'm still learning how to use it, but I did make it so my plans could be shared.
My name on your site is NonnaT. If that helps.
Thanks!

 

[ConnecticutNonna]

And if you are unable to put in another parade spot, I will just put in a break at the closest CS at that time.
I'm getting more of the hang of it now.
But, so much easier that the old looseleaf notebook I used to carry to WDW, with 3x5 cards to the parks each day! Whew! THAT was work!

 

[ErinF]

We might be able to provide a "Frontierland" option for the MK parades - would that be okay? It would take a lot of programming to do "exact spot" and we don't get many requests for it.

I would love this feature as well. On our trip in June, we plan to watch the FoF parade from Frontierland. Love Touring Plans so much, thanks to all of you for your hard work!!!

 

[lentesta]

Hi @lentesta! Again!
When I put in "voice play", it takes my plans out of the park and onto the TTC. It did that last year with my plans as well, so I removed it.
I love the idea of having a choice for another spot for parade viewing. I'm sure not everyone watches from Main Street! THANK YOU! Frontierland would be great!
I tried to arrange it so you could view my plans, but I got fudged up trying. My smart android phone is new and I'm still learning how to use it, but I did make it so my plans could be shared.
My name on your site is NonnaT. If that helps.
Thanks!

Thanks! VoicePlay's location is fixed, and I checked your MVMCP plan to make sure it looked right. Let me know if you see anything else wonky. I appreciate the feedback.

 

[lentesta]

I've been a Touring Plans subscriber for years now & for the first time am using the personalized plans for my October trip. I love this feature & can't believe I haven't used it before! A friend of mine who is going in April even subscribed after hearing me talk about it so much.

Just a few of suggestions & some things she mentioned she wished it had being a first time visitor.

1) An option for park hopping so you didn't have to have 2 separate plans. Would love for it to include estimated travel time as well.

2) An option for meals outside of the park. Again with estimated travel times. Right now, as other have mentioned, we are just entering these as breaks.

3) An option to select single rider for those rides that this is available for.

4) An option to have split plans. An example of this would be that my DH is going to ride Expedition Everest while DS , DM & I are going to The Boneyard. This is throwing us into a later Finding Nemo because it has all of us doing both. Not a big deal, I'm just making a note that this is the case.

Thanks for being so active on this thread!

Thanks very much @jeni16. I'll add these to our list.

The park-hop option is probably the most frequently asked-for thing that we haven't implemented. We're working on touring plans for Washington DC now, though, and there may be a way to address WDW using the ideas we've got for DC. It's probably a year away.

 

[ConnecticutNonna]

Thanks! VoicePlay's location is fixed, and I checked your MVMCP plan to make sure it looked right. Let me know if you see anything else wonky. I appreciate the feedback.

I soooo appreciate your help!
It's wonderful that someone with such a huge business takes time out to help their customers!
You are a lovely gentleman, I hope to be able to thank you in person some day!

 

[jeni16]

Thanks very much @jeni16. I'll add these to our list.

The park-hop option is probably the most frequently asked-for thing that we haven't implemented. We're working on touring plans for Washington DC now, though, and there may be a way to address WDW using the ideas we've got for DC. It's probably a year away.

Thanks for listening to all of us! It's a breath of fresh air to actually know that someone is listening.

 

[cdnjason]

@lentesta Last night, my window to book fastpasses opened. After securing the ones my family wanted, I inserted them into my plans and clicked "force optimize." It worked perfectly. Love this new addition and how it helps optimize our plans. Thanks again.

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

OK found an issue while helping my friend. I selected "optimize using fastpass even if longer wait" but when I use the evaluate button since I like the order, it doesn't force the plan to use the fastpass.

 

[lentesta]

OK found an issue while helping my friend. I selected "optimize using fastpass even if longer wait" but when I use the evaluate button since I like the order, it doesn't force the plan to use the fastpass.

Hey @MinnieSweetheart - I'll have to clarify the text on that "force" option. But send me a link to the plan in case something wonky is happening.

The "Optimize" button will force the FP use by re-arranging the steps in the plan. "Evaluate" doesn't move anything around - it tells you what would happen if you followed the plan exactly as shown. The "force" option doesn't apply in that case - you've got to fit the FPs in manually.

I'm open to suggestions on how to re-label those two buttons.

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

Yeah we have them in the order we want, but she wants to use her fastpass for lion king at 11, but is has her timed to be able to make the 10 o'clock show so it keeps putting the 10 o'clock lion king. The order is what she wants, she just wants longer breaks between attractions and wants to use the fastpass at 11.

It's also not taking her later fastpass time for Everest.

I was wondering if there is a way to also force it to use your fastpass when you Evaluate as well as when you optimize, even if it leaves longer lag time between attractions.

https://touringplans.com/plans/1878802

 

[lentesta]

Yeah we have them in the order we want, but she wants to use her fastpass for lion king at 11, but is has her timed to be able to make the 10 o'clock show so it keeps putting the 10 o'clock lion king. The order is what she wants, she just wants longer breaks between attractions and wants to use the fastpass at 11.

It's also not taking her later fastpass time for Everest.

I was wondering if there is a way to also force it to use your fastpass when you Evaluate as well as when you optimize, even if it leaves longer lag time between attractions.

https://touringplans.com/plans/1878802

This should be fixed now. I added an explicit 60-minute break right after the Safaris. The plan now uses both FPs and still gets to lunch on time.

That's an interesting suggestion to have "Evaluate" and "Force FP" work together. If you got to your FP attraction early, it could add free time. If you got late, it would just say you were too late to use it.

I'll have to think about that more, and it would be mildly complicated to code, but it doesn't seem impossible. It even sounds like a plausible default. Yeah, let me think about it. Thanks very much!

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

This should be fixed now. I added an explicit 60-minute break right after the Safaris. The plan now uses both FPs and still gets to lunch on time.

That's an interesting suggestion to have "Evaluate" and "Force FP" work together. If you got to your FP attraction early, it could add free time. If you got late, it would just say you were too late to use it.

I'll have to think about that more, and it would be mildly complicated to code, but it doesn't seem impossible. It even sounds like a plausible default. Yeah, let me think about it. Thanks very much!

Thanks for the help! I noticed while helping her that it definitely errs on the side of commando touring, which is why I love it. My friend, however, is definitely not a commando.

 

[missybpink]

the single rider times being an option would be a great addition

 

[ArielSRL]

I would love this feature as well. On our trip in June, we plan to watch the FoF parade from Frontierland. Love Touring Plans so much, thanks to all of you for your hard work!!!

We might be able to provide a "Frontierland" option for the MK parades - would that be okay? It would take a lot of programming to do "exact spot" and we don't get many requests for it

We plan to watch MSEP from Frontierland as well. Would love this feature!

 

[CandleontheWater]

I love the touring plans site, but I've never been able to make the personalized touring plans work for me. I'm assuming its user error, although now that I'm understanding the "evaluate" vs, "optimize" buttons a little better I am hoping to have more success.

I don't know if any of the experts on this thread can give me some help, but here is my "evaluate" morning touring plan for 6/7 https://touringplans.com/plans/1885414. Its not a EMH morning (I've triple checked), and I have Space Mt at my first attraction, and my evaluated plan has my wait time as 22 minutes. This seems off to me, every time I've done Space Mt right at rope drop it is a walk on, with no wait at all. I'm trying to get an idea of what my wait times would look like if I followed the plan of starting in Tomorrowland, and then moving to the right half of Fantasyland.

With my 1st wait at 22 mins, it just throws everything else off, any suggestions as how to make this right, or will I really be waiting in line for 22 mins right at 9 am?

 

[ArielSRL]

I love the touring plans site, but I've never been able to make the personalized touring plans work for me. I'm assuming its user error, although now that I'm understanding the "evaluate" vs, "optimize" buttons a little better I am hoping to have more success.

I don't know if any of the experts on this thread can give me some help, but here is my "evaluate" morning touring plan for 6/7 https://touringplans.com/plans/1885414. Its not a EMH morning (I've triple checked), and I have Space Mt at my first attraction, and my evaluated plan has my wait time as 22 minutes. This seems off to me, every time I've done Space Mt right at rope drop it is a walk on, with no wait at all. I'm trying to get an idea of what my wait times would look like if I followed the plan of starting in Tomorrowland, and then moving to the right half of Fantasyland.

With my 1st wait at 22 mins, it just throws everything else off, any suggestions as how to make this right, or will I really be waiting in line for 22 mins right at 9 am?

I tried to look but it says I have no access to the plan.

 

[lentesta]

I tried to look but it says I have no access to the plan.

Here's the shareable URL: http://touringplans.com/plans/print?id=1885414

The MK opened at 8 AM on the same Monday/Tuesday last year, so looking at Space's waits on the same date last year is kind of iffy. The wait was 10 minutes through 9 AM, then jumped. At 9:14 AM it was already 37 minutes, for example.

A wait of 22 minutes in early June doesn't sound wildly off, though. You're fast walkers, so that's going to help. My advice is that if you find yourself done sooner than expected, just click the Optimize button on the app and see what the software adjusts to.