I worked in Operations Research and appreciate Len Testa’s optimization. But we must understand the data to accommodate delays, ride closures, and Lightning Lanes.
I need a single table listing attractions in each area of the parks, ratings, wait times, and Lightning Lane eligibility. Currently, I make a spreadsheet and sort it myself. Suddenly, the touring plans make sense. We use Lightning Lane or rope-drop the longest lines (Peter Pan), clump nearby rides together (Fantasy Land separate from Adventure Land, then grab the short lines and wait for the longest lines to subside at the end. This is more helpful than a long optimized list from a black box.
Are you asking a question, or sharing something you’ve done with the material beyond the existing tools?
I love the TPs. I just tell them what I want to ride and see and ~voila~ I am told where to go and when to go. With so much on my shoulders, I love not having to sort through the data and make a plan myself. I can’t do anything about ride downtimes, of course, but the re-optimizing live in the park helps make the best of the detour.
This would be awesome. The folks I’m typically in the parks with are increasingly interested in fewer steps. Add the warmer weather and perfect recipe for less touring.
With the loss of the old heat maps and unsorted touring plans as you described, I’ve not even renewed my WDW subscription to TP tho I’ve no trip on the horizon either.
Your single table idea is inspired, imo. I’m a ride clumper from way back, tho not so much of late. Life changes and all that.
I’m Original Poster requesting/venting/sharing. Sorry, but Len’s Unofficial Guide’s terribly organized and 700+ pages too long! It has too many unmerged charts with disjoint data.
I currently sort attractions by pre-school rating and parse into a spreadsheet It is quicker to just copy lists from touring plans in the book and website. I manually enter the location, Lightning Lane, height restrictions, and wait times. We could crowd-source all this.
For planning, I delete scary rides with height restrictions, buy one Individual Lightning Lane, and rope-drop a popular ride. Then prioritize in each land. I skip long waits (Peter Pan, Toy Story) and substitute short lines for Small World, Carousel, Tea Cups, and Dumbo. I also book character meals and opportunistically meet characters in the parks.
I read strategies like “burner rides” to recycle your Lightning Lanes. But this information changes quickly. Merged data tables will be valuable for a long time.
We’re always interested in making the data more useful. If you can, post here a screencap of what your spreadsheet looks like. The most helpful feedback we get often contains examples of what to do.
