touringplans.com worth the $?

[familyfirsttimer]

Just to add one bit, make sure you understand where things are on the Lines app before you go. I made a big mistake while there and kept clicking on Reported Wait Times and found it so clunky and information so convoluted and disorganized that is was useless. Once I got back and reported that, I was told I was using the wrong thing. I guess I should have studied a bit more LOL

That being said, using the reservation finder got me BOG lunch on my birthday so it was worth the $13.

 

[tlmadden73]

I guess it depends on what you want to get out of your Disney vacation.

If "efficiency" and doing as much as you can is your goal .. probably.

Personally .. I like knowing and doing the planning myself and don't see the point in paying for a subscription with so many online (free) tools and advice available.

I'd think it would just be easier to hire a travel agent to do a lot of things for your and then you don't have the stress of planning it all yourself.

 

[Surgie2]

I guess it depends on what you want to get out of your Disney vacation.

If "efficiency" and doing as much as you can is your goal .. probably.

If reducing wait times in line with four kids under the age of 6 is your goal, then definitely worth it! It's less than $12 with allears discount so seriously is just a micro-fraction of what our WDW vacation will cost. I wonder if you are not familiar with how TP works? You still have the ability to do all the planning yourself using the website or app. If you choose you can click "optimize my plan" to have it "looked at" and receive suggestions for tweaking it. Or...go totally on your own using the website or app and don't ask to have your plan optimized (not sure why anyone would go this route but it's an option). You still get the advantage of your self-created plan appearing in the app which has some benefits.

I'd think it would just be easier to hire a travel agent to do a lot of things for your and then you don't have the stress of planning it all yourself.

I would never hire a travel agent to plan which parks I'm visiting on which days and which order I'd do rides in if that were even an option. Using the TP app actually takes the stress out of planning for me but to each his own

 

[ArielSRL]

I should have read this before posting my answer. I could have just said ditto

Great minds....

 

[ArielSRL]

This will be my 4th trip and I wouldn't go without it. Considering the price you pay for everything else, this is peanuts. The dinner reservation finder is a blessing. I am an overplanner so I love the touring plans. The lines app is always dead on. I also use the room reservation fax. Love it.

Love the room reservation fax! And all the room views!

 

[ArielSRL]

If reducing wait times in line with four kids under the age of 6 is your goal, then definitely worth it! It's less than $12 with allears discount so seriously is just a micro-fraction of what our WDW vacation will cost. I wonder if you are not familiar with how TP works? You still have the ability to do all the planning yourself using the website or app. If you choose you can click "optimize my plan" to have it "looked at" and receive suggestions for tweaking it. Or...go totally on your own using the website or app and don't ask to have your plan optimized (not sure why anyone would go this route but it's an option). You still get the advantage of your self-created plan appearing in the app which has some benefits.



I would never hire a travel agent to plan which parks I'm visiting on which days and which order I'd do rides in if that were even an option. Using the TP app actually takes the stress out of planning for me but to each his own

Totally agree with this post!

 

[3BellesAndABeast]

Absolutely worth it! My husband thought I was crazy for trusting the app and making all these 'plans'. However, when we had a room within minutes of the hotel parking, lobby, AND bus stop and made it through incredible amounts of attractions in short amounts of time-he was totally onboard. Now he and the kids both ask what the wait time is for random rides-just for fun!

 

[chelynnah]

Absolutely worth it! My husband thought I was crazy for trusting the app and making all these 'plans'. However, when we had a room within minutes of the hotel parking, lobby, AND bus stop and made it through incredible amounts of attractions in short amounts of time-he was totally onboard. Now he and the kids both ask what the wait time is for random rides-just for fun!

Yeah, even when I haven't been planning a holiday I occasionally peek at the wait times out of curiosity. Now that our next trip is in 8 weeks I'm looking at it frequently.

 

[mindeola]

For me, I love to over plan just because it is fun. I rarely utilize the entire plan. I like how the site is set up and the visual of all my plans for the trip. The LINES app is far and above the MDE app. It is also easy to tweak your plan in the park. You can mark rides as done if you end up doing them out of order.

I think this is exactly right. Touring Plans or something like EasyWDW (a free website) are very helpful if you are relatively new to Disney. We have been a number of times so I have a general sense of what times/rides work for us, but still consult EasyWDW. I've never used Touring Plans but it seems to generally get good reviews. I guess the only potential drawback is that your plan is likely to be fairly structured (i.e., less ability to "wing it") but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

It can be a very structured plan, but you don't have to follow it. Some short trips we do. Most we don't . I like to put in our must do's just so a I have a visual each day of what we want to happen. We tend to plan the morning and take a relaxed approach to the aftyernoon.

One other suggestion for using plans . . .. to avoid being OVER planned, and give yourself the chance to smell the roses, take in the details, and "wing it" a little, I find it is good to plan out my mornings, from rope drop until lunch time. I fit as much into this time as I can, and follow a plan to accomplish it. After lunch, there is generally no set plan, and we take our time through the afternoon, perhaps jumping on a ride with a short line, revisiting a favorite, playing sorcerers of the MK, or shopping, or what ever tickles our fancy. This gives us the best of both worlds. The planed out morning helps us to get the most from our day, and allows us to make sure that over the course of our trip, we do everything that we want to. The unplanned afternoons give us time for spontaneity, and taking in the details we might miss if we rushed from ride to ride all day.

This is our approach. You feel so accomplished before noon!

I guess it depends on what you want to get out of your Disney vacation.

If "efficiency" and doing as much as you can is your goal .. probably.

Personally .. I like knowing and doing the planning myself and don't see the point in paying for a subscription with so many online (free) tools and advice available.

I'd think it would just be easier to hire a travel agent to do a lot of things for your and then you don't have the stress of planning it all yourself.

Even as a seasoned park goer, I love this service. I do custom plans, so I am still doing all the work myself. I love the efficieny of the plan for part of our day and going with the flow the other part of the day. Works for us!

 

[WaltDisneyGirl84]

I agree with TomH. It depends on how much you are willing to research about your vacation. I've lived in FL for over 20+ years and I know that by going to the parks so often I can give some great advice about visiting. I understand not having the time to do the research, but these trips nowadays are a few thousand dollars, especially for people coming from out of state. If you have the $$ for someone else to do the research for you, by all means, it's a great idea. I just don't really see the big deal in researching what you are investing your money in,

I'm happy to help people anytime they come here.

 

[AA.Appeldoorn]

We found that our touringplans.com subscription was a great resource for our trip 3.5 years ago - we did not stick to any one particular plan (for any park) but the resources (esp the crowd calendars) really helped us to make the most of our trip and get great value for our family's needs (at that time with a 4 and a 6 yr old). My husband thought the amount of research and planning I did before that trip was over the top but changed his tune when he realized what a benefit it was to us. Disney can be so overwhelming.

This time, I subscribed last August and just booked our next trip for 4/27-5/06 based on the crowd calendar. I used the subscription to make the decision as to exactly which week to go, so feel like we have already gotten our money's worth. This time around, with a little bit of experience under our belts, I am anticipating that we will be using the touringplans resources more strategically to make the most of our time there.

Our kids are only young for a short time and let's face it - Disney vacations can be expensive ... by accessing resources like disboards, touringplans and all the other great resources out there we hope to avoid some of the common mistakes and squeeze in more memorable moments.

 

[DrummerBoy523]

Is a subscription to touring plans worth the money? Does it actually save time? I am planing a family trip for July. Thanks for your help.

You're spending thousands to go to Disney and you are wondering about a $13 or less subscription. ha ha. GO FOR IT. We love TP and the lines app!

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

.

This time, I subscribed last August and just booked our next trip for 4/27-5/06 based on the crowd calendar. I used the subscription to make the decision as to exactly which week to go, so feel like we have already gotten our money's worth. This time around, with a little bit of experience under our belts, I am anticipating that we will be using the touringplans resources more strategically to make the most of our time there.

Our kids are only young for a short time and let's face it - Disney vacations can be expensive ... by accessing resources like disboards, touringplans and all the other great resources out there we hope to avoid some of the common mistakes and squeeze in more memorable moments.

We're going the same week. Having gone that week last year I think TP might be underestimating crowds a little but it's a good time to go.

 

[AA.Appeldoorn]

We're going the same week. Having gone that week last year I think TP might be underestimating crowds a little but it's a good time to go.

Thanks so much for posting - I have been wondering about that! I would appreciate any other tips from the same week last year. Also - did you happen to go to the water parks last year?

 

[soniam]

Absolutely! I have used it for every WDW, DLR, and Universal trip since 2012. The app and website info are great too. I actually just renewed and did it for 3 years, so that I don't have to bother doing it again soon. Their book, Unofficial Guide, is great too.

 

[SuperTink]

I don't even use the touring plans. I find the Lines App, Room locater, FPP finder, ADR finder, crowd calendars, and general info all worth the (discounted) price.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

Thanks so much for posting - I have been wondering about that! I would appreciate any other tips from the same week last year. Also - did you happen to go to the water parks last year?

One thing that surprised me last year was FP availability. FPs seemed to go faster than I expected being a slower time of year. I don't know if this was because of lower capacity and shorter hours during that time so fewer fast passes available or what. But if you want the in demand rides like 7DMT still plan to be on when your window opens.

We did not go to water parks. The weather started out in the 90s and the locals said it was hotter than usual. Our last 2 days it was in the 80s and might have been a little chilly for water parks in the morning.

EDIT: I know last year TP had the week at 4s - 6s and this year it's 3s - 5s. Maybe they're factoring in Pandora and are assuming some people will delay May trips to be there after Pandora opens.

 

[AA.Appeldoorn]

One thing that surprised me last year was FP availability. FPs seemed to go faster than I expected being a slower time of year. I don't know if this was because of lower capacity during that time so fewer fast passes available or what. But if you want the in demand rides like 7DMT still plan to be on when your window opens.

We did not go to water parks. The weather started out in the 90s and the locals said it was hotter than usual. Our last 2 days it was in the 80s and might have been a little chilly for water parks in the morning.

Thanks! I am surprised to learn about your FP experience - I just assumed it would easier during a slower week. We will definitely work our FP accordingly. Thanks again.

 

[Dug720]

We're going the same week. Having gone that week last year I think TP might be underestimating crowds a little but it's a good time to go.

One thing to keep in mind is that for a good portion of that time frame last year, NYC public schools were on Spring Break as our SB always coincides with Passover, which was super late last year. That could be why the crowds were off - or at least part of it.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

One thing to keep in mind is that for a good portion of that time frame last year, NYC public schools were on Spring Break as our SB always coincides with Passover, which was super late last year. That could be why the crowds were off - or at least part of it.

Wow. First week of May? That's really late.

I wouldn't say crowds were off last year, just that I'm surprised they'd be predicted to be lower this year. But this would make sense. Thanks for the info.