Touringplans.com work???

[McKelly]

I like it. The room reservation fax did not work at all for us. Received none of our requests. We did use the dining reservation finder with success and I like the line waits app. Other than that I don't use it much. I guess I just don't have time to sit and play around with it. I would like to use the Disneyland touring plans because we have never been there and are planning on going this summer.

 

[chris benton]

Best damn 12.00 I spent on our Disney trip. By FAR. What you get in return for the price is NUTS. For 1st timers, it's pretty damn incredible, imo. I was about to look at a park map with a spreadsheet open ready to fill in. After an internal debate about the price, and reading reviews, I plugged in my discount code, and literally laughed out loud when I created my first day's tp in about 10 minutes - with EVERYTHING - emh, meals, breaks, fastpasses.

After our first day at Epcot with our TP, I was hooked. Perfection, start to finish. Our whole 5 days were pretty much spot on, and we were routinely ahead of schedule. Ymmv, of course. I basically just led the charge, stopping to smell whatever roses time allowed for - (which was plenty.) The recalculate on the fly option WITH CURRENT WAIT TIMES is sensational. Scored a new fastpass? NO PROBLEM! Throw it in and recalculate.

There are limitations, and I came a cross a few minor glitches - I don't even recall what they were. I still snicker when I think about that day when I had my laptop open with a park map and a spreadsheet.

 

[dlavender]

Crowd calendar's/predictions can only be a best guestimate.

I do expense accruals/projections for a large organization.

We have years of data for all of our locations.

We analyze trends, do our best, and put out our budget and then expense accruals when necessary.

We are rarely correct, but its better than if we just pulled numbers out of a hat. There are so many variables that the statistics can't capture.

Weather is the #1 culprit. People who have degrees in the subject can't really tell us what is going happen past 10 days from now.

Looking at their data from yesterday, they were way off on their wait projections. In some cases by 45 minutes.

 

[IrishNYC]

However the room request did not work for us last time. We were given a handicap accessible room on the first floor, which was definitely not what we requested. We asked to change and the CM said they were sold out, but did end up moving us because we had checked in before someone else. It may depend on how full the resort is...

A request is just that - a request, not a guarantee. It has nothing to do with TP. you could have made the same request over the phone, or faxed it yourself and the same thing could have happened.

Aw, I kind of like talking to the CMs.

Do you get any kind of confirmation your request was received?

You get an email that your fax was sent.

 

[Dug720]

I'm sure you're right! It's just I'd be constantly imagining someone rolling up to the resort in a wheelchair the day after I check in. Because their flight was cancelled, their car broke down, they're stranded, I don't know!

I'm as speedy as possible whenever I'm stuck using the handicapped stall in the washroom, too.

Rooms are assigned beginning about 5 days out. So it would already be known if someone needed the room.

 

[Babs1975]

I hear you, I find their website so "messy" and hard to navigate as well.

Here is the link you need: https://touringplans.com/walt-disney-world/reservation-finder
It explains what to do Hope that helps!

Thank you for the info. I am still having trouble figuring out how to access that info without a paid subscription. There's a place to put in a credit card...how do you get around that? I guess I am just not seeing something!

 

[Tomh]

I have used both Touringplans, and RideMax, and had good luck with both. I think they are great for people who don't visit often. If you have several trips under your belt, then you probably have the experience you need to plan out your itinerary without this kind of help. I haven't used either in the past few years, but we have visited 10 times now, for 2 weeks each visit, so we have a good bit of experience in the parks.

 

[ArielSRL]

Love TP! Love the personalized plans, room request fax, room photos, ADR finder, etc. Love that Len is so responsive as well!

 

[kangamangus]

We love it! We use the lines app that comes with the subscription, and we also use the dining reservation finder ( although I believe that's free to anyone to use). It's really a low price and has some good advice, with neat little tidbits/articles that I enjoy.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

I bought the membership for our first trip last June and I don't feel as though I got my money out of it. While I DID make a schedule and all of that stuff, when we actually got there I didn't use it. We stayed offsite so I didn't use them for room reservations, but I LOVED their dining reservation finder. It found a lunch ADR for Be Our Guest like three days before we left! It's my understanding that the reservation finder is available without the subscription though and I can see the room views and make my own requests for free as well. So to me, it's not worth it. If you're a person who would stick with all of the scheduling then it might be for you.
Good luck!

 

[maalca23]

I'm on the fence with touring plans. Rejoined last Spring prior to a May 2017 trip. So it was still active for our trip in 28 days. I used it to help adjust ADRs. We had an 8:05pm at BOMA. Hate eating that late. Touring plans found us a 6:45pm after a few tries. Perfect!

 

[Dan Murphy]

I am still having trouble figuring out how to access that info without a paid subscription. There's a place to put in a credit card...how do you get around that? I guess I am just not seeing something!

Trust me, your time is worth more than $12 an hour while doing your thorough search in trying to 'get around that'. The Lines app alone is well worth more than the $12 for a subscription.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Love that Len is so responsive as well!

He is. Any time I have had a question he has been right there with an explanation. Good guy.

 

[jeff_h]

We love it! We use the lines app that comes with the subscription, and we also use the dining reservation finder ( although I believe that's free to anyone to use). It's really a low price and has some good advice, with neat little tidbits/articles that I enjoy.

Same here - I signed up last year and it was coming up on time to renew, so I just renewed for 3 more years for $32.95 which I think is pretty good for 3 years of having subscriber access to the web site and the lines app.

 

[1nonly]

Awesome thread! Thank you for this invaluable information.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Don't forget the MS 20% discount.

https://www.mousesavers.com/discount-disney-shopping-mall/#touringplans

 

[SaintsManiac]

I love TP's room request. We used it on our last 2 trips and got so close both times to our original request, which was just fine with us. I love the ADR finder.

TP was very helpful for our Universal days and we bought the book for that, as well.

I really didn't use it for park plans too much, but I am going to this September. I've always sung the praises of Character Locator and I still do, but I had an issue with the way something was handled in the chat room which annoyed me recently.

I'll still pay for and use both, but I want to give TP a whirl on our park plans. I think I was too impatient to sit down and work on it last time.

 

[JoJoGirl]

I have subscribed to Touring Plans for three years now and find it VERY helpful and well worth the subscription.

For the room request fax, we have gotten the exact room we requested 2 out of 3 times. The third time was for Poly CL, so we were guaranteed the Hawaii building anyway, and we did get the outdoor patio we requested so all was great!

I used the ADR finder for our last trip to secure a Saturday night at 7:15 table at the California Grill. Worked for me!

We also use the park touring tool to work out a useful plan of attack for the theme parks. Before I make fastpasses, I use the crowd calendar to help select which park to visit on which day. Then once I have entered the fastpasses, the TP algorithm helps give a good idea of which minor attractions we can visit in between. Selecting the “minimize walking” option has worked well for us to eliminate the plan criss-crossing the park so much.

Note that we have never actually tried to follow the Touring Plan to the letter in the parks. We use it as a general strategy, and always adapt on the fly based upon actual crowd levels and wait times, availability of 4th and 5th fastpasses, and of course the mood of the people in our party. What the Touring Plan does is provide an informed and reasonable expectation of what we can accomplish, and a better idea of how to go about it.

Last December 8-12, crowd levels were a good bit higher than TP expected, possibly because of trips that were rescheduled due to Hurricane Irma. We had to adapt our plan by skipping a few minor attractions, but nothing major. Given the crowded conditions, we were VERY glad we had a good plan to begin with!

 

[AFwifelife]

I only recently started using TPs. Now I can't do a trip without it. With little kids, I need to maximize park time as much as possible so it's nice seeing how we can get everything done with minimal stress. Haven't used it yet this year but it has gotten us through all crowd levels in the past year, including the 4th of July. And the ADR finder is just awesome. I wasn't even aware of it until after I got the subscription but it's so affordable, it was a non-issue paying for full access.

 

[Babs1975]

Trust me, your time is worth more than $12 an hour while doing your thorough search in trying to 'get around that'. The Lines app alone is well worth more than the $12 for a subscription.

No, I am not in need of the Lines app or any of the rest of it! I am not looking for a subscription. It was said prior that the reservation finder was available without a subscription so I was just trying to check that out. I didn't see how to get there on the site without a subscription, so was just asking for more direction on how to do that. Not trying to get around anything.