Touring Plans/Unofficial Guide 2017

I found that the WDW TouringPlans app and schedule is a lot more accurate than the DLR version. I still like the Unofficial Guide, but now - especially now that the Disneyland app has FP return times that are WAY more accurate than TP's estimates, I don't really use TP at all.

Seriously - on our August, 2015 trip, I had done my full customized plan - spent HOURS on it for our five days. One of our days (a Tuesday), TP estimated that the Space Mountain FP return time would be 2:10 if we got FPs right then (around 11:00). So we did. The return time was 6:00!
 
I used it (touringplans.com custom touring plans) last Wednesday and Thursday (Wed. for Disneyland and Thursday for CA Adventure). Our plans of must dos only went to about 4 p.m. in both parks. Wait times predicted were a little off as they had predicted crowd levels of 2 where the actual crowds when I looked back were level 4 for our Disneyland day and level 1 (lots of rain) for our CA Adventure day, but the rain closed down a bunch of rides making some open more crowded I'm guessing. With all the extra time we didn't have a plan for, that was no big deal. The plans worked like a charm for fastpass suggestions -- it told me to pick up an Indiana Jones fastpass and then go on Pooh and Splash Mountain, and then return to Indiana Jones to use my fastpass (unbelievably the timing was absolutely perfect.) The fastpass had a relatively short return time and after those two attractions it was 10 minutes over the return, so perfect -- 10 minutes into my hour window. // At CA Adventure too, I was super tempted to just go on Soarin first thing (no line at all), but the plan had me pick up a fastpass, then go on Toy Story Mania, California Screamin, and Ariel's Adventure at the back of the park (short lines), pick up my world of Color fastpass, and then go back to Soarin and use my fastpass (I followed the plan and again timing was perfect. By the time I got back to Soarin the line was 50 minutes long and we just walked on with our fastpass). I would have never done things that efficiently on my own for sure. // Later, though, it said to go standby for Radiator Springs Racers (25 minute wait predicted). The line by that time, however, was 50 minutes, so we picked up a fastpass instead with a pretty far off return time (over 2 hours) (We were already near the end of our touring plan and didn't have any other fastpasses recommended to pull). We then ate lunch, looked in gift shops, did Bugs Life, did California Screamin and Ariel again (both lines were short - California Screamin just because it had been down and restarted when we walked by.) Then we did the Racers, took an afternoon break, and came back for a few hours in the evening. At Disneyland we stayed all day and did little kid rides in Fantasyland and character meet and greets after our must dos on our plan were done, as well as have dinner in the park. We also watched the Dapper Dans.

Overall, I'd give the plans a letter grade of a B and say that they were worth it for me to have (Do note that I hadn't been to Disneyland since 1964 when I was four and that I had never been to California Adventure, so a little guidance really went a long way for us). Usually at WDW the wait time predictions for me have been more accurate than they were for me at the Disneyland parks FYI. Even at WDW, although touringplans.com often nails it, there are times when they can be way off there too.

Side note: I've been using tourinplans at WDW since 1989 and have been to WDW over 20 times and am a really big fan of them for WDW.
 
Last edited:
Tacking on a follow-up question...

I recently subscribed to Touringplans- both for WDW and DLR. I am an experienced WDW visitor, but have no experience at DLR.

I have a one-day MK visit coming up during a very crowded week in April. And then, likely a one-day visit to DL on a slow Monday in late September.

My question is: for those who have used Touringplans at both places, is it any more/less accurate at one or the other? I guess if DL has a crowd level of 2, I don't have a lot to worry about. But still, it's an unfamiliar place for me and I'm hoping to rely on a personalized touring plan.

TP is MUCH more accurate at WDW. It's DLR predictions have been problematic in the past, and in my view just seem to be getting worse. They routinely don't take holiday weekends or special events into account when making their crowd predictions. For example-- we visited in mid-November, which ended up being a race weekend, a 3-day Veteran's Day weekend, and also the first weekend of Holiday Time. They predicted 2s and 3s all weekend, and it ended up being 8s and 9s.
 


I fully admit I'm a HUGE Touring Plans fan - I've used them at both parks for the last decade and I've found them to be quite accurate most of the time. We followed the DL plans in August 2016 and they were pretty much bang on with wait times and their fastpass estimates. I used to print them off but now I just save them and use the lines app to recalculate after most rides. I also added some wait times in to keep me busy while hubby was annoying me by constantly playing Pokemon Go lol. I think their subscriptions are super useful and really cheap but if you're not happy they also have a money back guarantee I believe.
 
I purchased the Kindle book for touring plans and am quite enjoying the book. U take advice in stride.

One question about Lines app. Can you set it up before you go and then follow it as a general plan? We won't have wifi so the real-time updates won't work for us. Although I'm a planner I'm not sure I want to follow step by step anyways as that's alittler too rigid and connected.
 
I purchased the Kindle book for touring plans and am quite enjoying the book. U take advice in stride.

One question about Lines app. Can you set it up before you go and then follow it as a general plan? We won't have wifi so the real-time updates won't work for us. Although I'm a planner I'm not sure I want to follow step by step anyways as that's alittler too rigid and connected.
I do not believe you have to be connected if your plan is loaded before you try to use it, but I've never attempted it. I will say it is a LOT easier to set up a plan from the website on an actual computer than from a phone.
 


Set up the plan and save it under the appropriate date in your profile and it will be on the lines app. You can then pull it up and follow it as is during the day.
 
I'm another one voting for Ridemax. I did buy the touring plans book before we went our first time with kids. This was about 10 years ago and it was a rough trip. I didn't follow a plan exactly though so I can't blame the book. I have used Ridemax on ever trip since. I love to play with it to get a feel for how wait times for rides change over the course of the day. Once you know that you can pretty much make your own plan or make last minute changes. For us, having a plan eliminates so much stress in the parks.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!











facebook twitter
Top