First trip with kids in two weeks (have been before but not with kids and in the good ol’ fast pass days). Pres. Day week Tues-Sat–MK1, HW, E, AK, MK2. Have read the book, have made draft plans, but the more I dig on here on the more overwhelmed I get–there’s so many rabbit holes to go down, delving into thrill data, BG1, optimizing, ah! I was hoping this site would help be simplify, not make it more complicated. Are there any videos that show me what navigating TP and MDE look like once in the park or in the 12 hours leading up? Planning to do Genie+ but the times that show up for LL in the plans when I optimize seem odd to me. Additionally, concerned that some of our priorities keep getting placed at the end of the day which makes me nervous. Kids are big star wars fans, and optimized plan put all but star tours after Fantasmic. We obviously want to avoid lines, but it seems illogical to put the priorities at the end. What am I missing? Is there a way to do this and actually sleep and interact with my family?
Honestly, I would just focus on BG1. It will help you identify priorities and make a great lab.
Touring plans will give you the shortest waits - but it doesn’t always understand your priorities! If SWGE is important to you, than prioritize it 
Have you tried putting it in your order and then hitting evaluate? Step-By-Step Guide: Make and Use a Touring Plan On the Web (Including Lightning Lane) | TouringPlans.com Blog
I found that worked best when on a desktop.
It is super overwhelming - but the fact that you know about some tricks to avoiding lines and have a vague idea of a plan puts you ahead of many. I found myself wanting to have the most optimized day, but it wasn’t always feasible with my group! You know what is best for your group!
We were able to do ST, Ogas, ROTR, MFSR, Star Wars Launch Bay, Droid Depot annd Fantasmic all within a day at HS (plus SDD, TSM, ASS, and a break).
(Side note - in case no one told you, you can build plastic light sabers in the gift shop outside of Star Tours in case you want a more affordable SW souvenir for your fam)
To add, I also put plans in without G+/ILL because I found it overwhelming and inaccurate. I was able to gauge around what time I wanted to get my G+ selection for or if I was going to churn and burn - that worked for me.
My lineup started here
I wanted an earlier Rise time but it moved fast so I took what I could get. It went down when some of my fam was in line (we were doing RS), so I was glad to have it early enough where we could come back in the evening and ride it for real.
By 11:00, I had this going for me
I keep seeing references to a video that shows you how to use BG1, but can’t find it anywhere. Thoughts? I have it downloaded, just need a visual for real time use.
You can sort the forum by “categories”. You are in the Walt Disney category. If you go to the LaCava category, there is a couple of Pinned posts on BG1. You just need to read post #1 for videos and details.
I was trying not to link to LaCava.
Hmmmm I was thinking about that but then figured that you couldn’t see La Cava if you didn’t have the privileges - so the link would be broken then, right?
I’ll unlink it. @megjoy1880 - if you can’t find it, send me a PM!
You might consider making two plans for one day at HS. Set the first plan to be the first half of the day, ending at, say, 2 pm. Then just add you Star Wars and related activities. Then when you optimize, it will keep it to that part of the day. Then add the remainder of attractions to the second plan, starting when the first one ends.
Thank you! I found those and had already completed those steps. Was looking for something more around how to use it in the park each day, what time you get started, what apps/tabs you have open and ready, etc.
I’ll delete my previous comments too.
There are some very helpful YouTubers (non-TP) that I think give great overviews of MDE and G+ in case the Lines app feels too intimidating for day-of. (I personally use it to help plan the day beforehand, but then leave space to wing it when I’m the parks, especially if using G+, so don’t actively look at my plans in the parks.) Mammoth Club and Ear Scouts are my faves on YouTube, and both do tour videos so you can see what they can accomplish during a day with and without G+.
I was coming here to suggest watching Ear Scouts videos on YouTube. But @WildernessLodger beat me to it 
. Ear Scouts really simplifies things but targets knowledgeable visitors in my opinion. But he works within MDE only.
When you make a TP don’t put that you are using G+. Just know the priority of which LLs sell out fastest or the ones you want to make sure you get, and follow that order to obtain them. Add the LL times the day of and optimize on the app in real time.
For my first trip time here definitely made things too complicated!
Here is my advice for how to use the different apps.
I start with a dedicated page on my homescreen so that I can easily get to anything I need throughout the day.
At the start of the day I have an MDE open and a BG1 tab open. If I want a VQ that day I have two BG1 tabs, one for VQ one for LL…
For a day that starts in the parks:
I always know what I want to rope drop and I usually leave that ride out of my touring plan, and start the plan a little later than RD. I always set the plan to “least walking” so it is more likely to group rides together.
At 7:00 I grab VQ, LL, then ILL, in that order.
Once we are on our way to our first park, I plug all of these times into my Touring Plan and then reoptimize. The same day reoptimizations are better.
I set my alarm (on my home screen) for the time I can make my next LL.
After I have ridden my first couple of rides, I mark these as complete in the plan. I also add any new LL to the plan, and then reoptimize. I do that every few hours and when I get a new LL. Never be afraid to veer from the plan TP gives you. Especially for something that seems to make common sense, that your family wants to do spontaneously, or fits your priorities.
Let me know if you want the flow for a late start!
Oh thank you, this is SOO helpful and just what I was getting at. I just needed to know how to structure my starting point for each day. I love the homescreen idea. I already created a folder on my iphone with the BG1 links, MDE, and TP, but homescreen seems better. And thank you for the tip about when to reoptimize and what to leave out of the plan at first. .A few follow up questions:
- For your 7am plan, are you able to do those three things quick enough yourself to get them all, or do you need a partner with the same apps open?
- We are staying off site for most of the trip, but will be able to do rope drop on two days-HW and Epcot. On our first MK day we’ll be arriving late morning, so that’s why we’re doing two MK days–day 1 at the beginning to get acclimated and see Fireworks, Day 2 at the end to hit some of the more intense rides if possible (SM, Tron). Long story short, would need some recommendations for some of those later arrival days. Both AK and MK Day 2 we’ll arrive at regular opening, but not RD. MK Day 1 we hope to be there by 9:30/10am.
Oh thank you @momfourmonkeys and @WildernessLodger
I had actually just watched a Mammoth Club video and will dig into both some more. Do they show you how you interact with all the apps throughout the day? For me it’s about seeing how and when you are fiddling with your phone.
Thank you! I’m glad you were able to do all of that in a day. And good note about leaving G+/ILL out of initial plan and adding once booked. The screenshots are so helpful. Our thought/hope is to do SWDE and the beginning and end of our day, with the other stuff in between. We have a late afternoon Ogas reservation. And thank you for the lightsaber suggestion. Def. not paying $250x2 for the fancy ones!
I have BG1 all set up now, and am starting to get it. Thanks for all of your help and @PrincipalTinker too. Just trying to figure out how I can ‘practice’ with it in advance.
If you are getting LL and ILL I am generally able to do that myself. If I am doing all 3, I prefer to have one person do VQ and one person do the first LL.
Note - the night before I sign into BG1 and MDE on all phones I will be using and from the location/wifi I will be in. It helps keep MDE from throwing you a 2 factor authentication. But always leave yourself time in the morning for this.
Late arrivals:
Late arrivals take off some of the pressure. For those days, just put in everything you are interested in doing, no need to leave anything off.
Book your first LL when eligible and then start stacking up LL for arrival (i.e. keep booking each time you are eligible). If your LL return times are too early you will have to modify them to later. Popular MK rides will move later quickly (like PP). For AK, KS and NRJ may advance quickly or very slowly depending on the day.
If you use standby skipper you can tell it to pick you later times. So that is one option.
I had essentially the same questions as OP, thanks to those who have responded (and to OP for posting the question). I too would love for someone to pose a video of exactly what you see on your phone screen and exactly what you have to do at 7:00 am, for example. But I guess (a) this takes a lot of effort for little reward (b) people seem like they want to keep BG1 a secret, and (c) maybe you just have to do it for yourself to get it.
I will say I am quite disappointed with TP’s plans program, which was the primary reason I subscribed. For a paid product, you shouldn’t need 75 different hacks to make it give you a realistic plan. Oh well. I have learned so much just browsing the forum that the subscription is already worth it.