Who uses the personalized touring plans on Touring Plans?

[rob and ang]

I'm so pleased this thread has popped up. Our trip starts in 5 days and I literally discovered this feature with TP 2 days ago so am frantically learning how it works and planning on using it

What is the difference with optimise vs evaluate? I think this the biggest thing I don't understand! Reading through this thread I get the impression that most of you write you're own plan and use the evaluate function. Slightly concerned if that's what everyone advises as no idea how to write my own plan (hence why using someone else's!)

I think how I'm considering using it is by seeing what time we all end up in a park (hubby is not easy to get out of bed), how long we think we'll stay for, put in what attractions we'd like to do in that time, and let it tell me therefore what order to do them in

In this circumstance would I use optimise or evaluate?

Thanks

we started with a list of rides/attractions we wanted to do that day, added them all to touring plans, added one or 2 small breaks for toilet stops etc, then Optimized, this gave us an indication if we wanted to do too much or too little in our day, we then added or removed rides, and optimized again, once we were happy with start time and end times etc we then had a good look at the plan and tweaked it adding past passes we expected to get and also altered things to stay in certain areas, then we "Evaluated", best to keep a copy of the steps incase you want to go back as there is no back button which is a shame i think. like earlier posts we added some character meets by using rests and changing notes to suit. we now feel we have a full action packed 8 days to look forward too, We just hope touring plans are as accurate as we are expecting! beware though the planning has consumed our lives lately and tweaks were required when the wanted fast passes were not available.

 

[sunflowerblooms]

I haven't read the entire thread so sorry if this has come up already.
I use them every trip. And here's my story why I love them so much:
On our big extended family trip with my non-disney family (I had pretty much talked everyone into coming with us) my daughter was sick and I (the main planner) was away from my non-disney family for over 2 ½ days. I was able to hand off the touring plans to my family and they went about their park visits and had a terrific amazing time. So much fun that my Dad, and honestly if you knew him you would be shocked, can't wait to go back again.
So having touring plans and the touring plan app in addition to FPs and ADRs pretty much saved the family trip.

 

[LucyBC80]

do you think Tour plans or Kenny is the way to go if you had to pay for one?

I pay for both but I only use Kenny for character's schedules and party info.

If your main interest is helping with your park planning, TP is the way to go.

 

[kathy884]

As for not knowing what to do / what you want to do, that's where a touring plan subscription is really helpful. You can start with one of their plans and then add or subtract to it. You can also see the author's rating and description of every attraction and rating by age group of each attraction to help decide if it's something you want to do or not.

As for breaks and touring plan not knowing where you want to take your break, you can make up a very short meal where your break will be.

 

[DisneyDeb83]

So, I'm a little confused here, nothing new since I am technologically challenged! I have been to DW many times over the past 30 years so I'm definitely not a newbie. I decided to purchase touring plans because I feel that as time passes we do less and less every year. DH and I are getting old and lazy! Not that I want to be running through the parks this trip, but I really want to get more done. I thought touring plans would be a good thing to try.

My problem is figuring out how to use the plans when I already have my fast pass times chosen. Will I be able to make a plan that will have these times blocked out? I always thought it was best to schedule them back to back to back, but looking at the tutorial on YouTube it seems the fast passes are spread out.

For this upcoming trip we will be upgrading to an annual pass, four days with the free dining and fast passes picked, and the other four days that I will have to plan out after I upgrade on day one. I am going to set up a plan for those days now, but does it make sense to leave off mine train? I'm guessing the plan will suggest a fast pass, but doubtful that we can get one at this late date.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[rob and ang]

So, I'm a little confused here, nothing new since I am technologically challenged! I have been to DW many times over the past 30 years so I'm definitely not a newbie. I decided to purchase touring plans because I feel that as time passes we do less and less every year. DH and I are getting old and lazy! Not that I want to be running through the parks this trip, but I really want to get more done. I thought touring plans would be a good thing to try.

My problem is figuring out how to use the plans when I already have my fast pass times chosen. Will I be able to make a plan that will have these times blocked out? I always thought it was best to schedule them back to back to back, but looking at the tutorial on YouTube it seems the fast passes are spread out.

For this upcoming trip we will be upgrading to an annual pass, four days with the free dining and fast passes picked, and the other four days that I will have to plan out after I upgrade on day one. I am going to set up a plan for those days now, but does it make sense to leave off mine train? I'm guessing the plan will suggest a fast pass, but doubtful that we can get one at this late date.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

There is a place near the top of your plan to put in your fast passes, whether these are booked or hope to get, then put in your ride and attractions from the list, then if you optimize it should make your plan to use your fast passes in the time slots you selected, bear in mind that if it thinks your fp is a waste it may not use it and take you to the ride at a low wait time, hope this helps.

 

[DisneyDeb83]

Thanks, that YouTube tutorial really helped as well, and I'm starting to figure it all out. What frustrates me is that moving of my fast passes when I try to optimize. For example, I have a pass for fop later in the day. I optimize, it takes away one of my others, and recommends a fast pass for navi. Why would it do that if that's not even possible?

 

[lentesta]

Thanks, that YouTube tutorial really helped as well, and I'm starting to figure it all out. What frustrates me is that moving of my fast passes when I try to optimize. For example, I have a pass for fop later in the day. I optimize, it takes away one of my others, and recommends a fast pass for navi. Why would it do that if that's not even possible?

Click the "Advanced Options" icon in the Fastpass section. Then click the checkbox that says 'Force "Optimize" to use all of your FastPass+ reservations, even if that increases wait times.' That should keep your existing FPs where they are.

 

[DisneyDeb83]

Thanks Len! I just hate changing the fast pass times. Sometimes it would suggest that I move a time to 3 hours earlier. Problem with that is I'm not 100% sure that we would actually arrive as early as I put in the plan.(that lazy thing kicking in!). But I do know I am good at never missing a scheduled fast pass time!

 

[Ouida]

So we are going before thanksgiving. Touring plans still shows low crowds for week days. But disney is saying everything is booked after releasing a few promotions. So question; how much trust should I give TP. I am using their personalized plans, but they are showing super low wait times at main attractions. Like big thunder mountain, but are they figuring in that splash mountain is closed. Or that disney gave free dining??? Thanks for any help.

 

[lentesta]

So we are going before thanksgiving. Touring plans still shows low crowds for week days. But disney is saying everything is booked after releasing a few promotions. So question; how much trust should I give TP. I am using their personalized plans, but they are showing super low wait times at main attractions. Like big thunder mountain, but are they figuring in that splash mountain is closed. Or that disney gave free dining??? Thanks for any help.

That's interesting news from Disney. For the weekdays in the week before Thanksgiving (11/13-11/17), Disney's website is showing availability at all value resorts except AoA, with more availability at CBR, AKL, GF and GFV, BLT, FW Cabins, and SSR. Are those your dates?

 

[Ouida]

That's interesting news from Disney. For the weekdays in the week before Thanksgiving (11/13-11/17), Disney's website is showing availability at all value resorts except AoA, with more availability at CBR, AKL, GF and GFV, BLT, FW Cabins, and SSR. Are those your dates?

Oh, I should have said we have to get a suite. So everything booked, I was referring to those. I asked about rooms next to each other and was advise not to, by CM. I never seen the suites get book up before. And not if there are low crowds. So back to my question, has anyone had the TP guide be really off? I hope it's not, as it looks great. But seems like a lot is booked. I still haven't gotten a few dining reservations we wanted either.

 

[Ouida]

That's interesting news from Disney. For the weekdays in the week before Thanksgiving (11/13-11/17), Disney's website is showing availability at all value resorts except AoA, with more availability at CBR, AKL, GF and GFV, BLT, FW Cabins, and SSR. Are those your dates?

Also when I booked I had to back my days up, they couldn't do Sunday12th-18th, but could do Saturday11th-18th. It took two calls just to book a date. But the cm did say, people book then change their mind, so there would be openings.

 

[lentesta]

Oh, I should have said we have to get a suite. So everything booked, I was referring to those. I asked about rooms next to each other and was advise not to, by CM. I never seen the suites get book up before. And not if there are low crowds. So back to my question, has anyone had the TP guide be really off? I hope it's not, as it looks great. But seems like a lot is booked. I still haven't gotten a few dining reservations we wanted either.

The calendar's history shows what was predicted and what actually happened for every day in the past. Here's a summary for 2017 so far:

For the Magic Kingdom, the crowd calendar has been exactly right or off by 1 about 69% of the 225 days this year. The last time it was off by 3 was May 3. It's only been off by 4 once in 2017, on January 4.
For Epcot, the calendar has been +/- 1 just over 74% of dates in 2017. Its last miss by 3 was in July (twice, both over-predictions). The most it's been off is 4, on 6 of the 225 days this year (mostly over-predictions).
For DHS, the calendar has been +/-1 just under 71% of dates in 2017. Its last miss by 3 was July (twice, both under-predictions). The most it's been off is 4 (last on June 10), on 4 of 225 days this year.
For AK, the calendar has been +/- 1 just over 63% of dates in 2017. Its last miss by 3 was June 25. The most it's been off is 5 (once, on January 5). It's been off by 4 on 6 of 225 days this year.

The staff cutbacks that began on July 23 seem to be affecting Magic Kingdom the most. The next calendar update (sometime next week) will begin to incorporate those changes into the models. The current models have already started to estimate the closures of GMR and Ellen.

 

[Ouida]

The calendar's history shows what was predicted and what actually happened for every day in the past. Here's a summary for 2017 so far:

For the Magic Kingdom, the crowd calendar has been exactly right or off by 1 about 69% of the 225 days this year. The last time it was off by 3 was May 3. It's only been off by 4 once in 2017, on January 4.
For Epcot, the calendar has been +/- 1 just over 74% of dates in 2017. Its last miss by 3 was in July (twice, both over-predictions). The most it's been off is 4, on 6 of the 225 days this year (mostly over-predictions).
For DHS, the calendar has been +/-1 just under 71% of dates in 2017. Its last miss by 3 was July (twice, both under-predictions). The most it's been off is 4 (last on June 10), on 4 of 225 days this year.
For AK, the calendar has been +/- 1 just over 63% of dates in 2017. Its last miss by 3 was June 25. The most it's been off is 5 (once, on January 5). It's been off by 4 on 6 of 225 days this year.

The staff cutbacks that began on July 23 seem to be affecting Magic Kingdom the most. The next calendar update (sometime next week) will begin to incorporate those changes into the models. The current models have already started to estimate the closures of GMR and Ellen.

Awesome amount of info. Thank you.