Firstly, if you have your vacation listed in your dashboard, and have a subscription, you will get an email about any park opening times or crowd level changes.
At that point, someone will usually post it, I know I do. I have several fake vacations set up in my dashboard for various reasons! Usually new FPs will be added to the system around 12-24 hours after the hours are extended.
Secondly, there are so many liners who use the “Refresh” trick to getting FPs, that if there is a fresh drop of FPs at a different than expected time, again someone will post.
I had a co-worker go to WDW with his family (this was back when I thought Disney people were crazy, haha) and he shared that they went with no plan and by middle of the first day it was MISERABLE. They went back to the resort for mid-day break and he frantically searched online for something that could help. Found TPs and made a plan right then for the rest of the day. They went back to the park and had a blast that evening and every day after.
When we decided to go I asked him what that thing he found was and he sent me the website link. Our first trip I just used the customized TPs, and the descriptions of the attractions, resorts and restaurants. We had the best time! Didn’t think it could be better and promptly started planning our next trip honestly worried that it could never live up to the first. One day while planning I noticed a little thing on the right that said discussion forums and clicked on it. The wealth of information that has been coming my way ever since has been amazing. Our next trip was blessed by tips, ideas, extras, etc, from so many of you. My DH and MIL kept saying “How did you even know that was there? or to try that? or to ask for that?” the whole trip. After having been very hesitant and doubtful about the TPs etc. before the last trip, when I asked my MIL if she had any requests for our next trip she said “No, just do whatever they suggest. I trust you completely. They will know what we should do” Thank you!
Oh, you have found the forum. Have you found touring plans chat? If Disney ever starts extending hours again, within 24-72!hours they drop extra FPs. Chat announces it in seconds!
WDW is the only place my family does everything I tel them to without complaining.
And I’m a case in point that just utilizing what you learn in the book (when you don’t even know about these features) is positively correlated with amazing visits. Now, I have a rich history on Disney message boards and have learned a hack or two (cough-cough). I can only imagine how much better the next trip will be now that I’m here!
I’m wondering if that refresh trick can help a party of 10 much…
I have not.
I’ve seen it on the app as I’ve used it for wait times.
Normally if I’ve had a question that needed a rapid response I’d post it to a message board and get a few hits. Chat sounds great!
My vacationing strategy has always been: buy the guidebook in advance, figure out what the A list attractions of the destination are, make sure I tick them all off when I get there.
When I decided to visit Orlando I went book shopping on Amazon. I liked the typography of the Ultimate Guide and it had good reviews so I ordered it.
I was instantly hooked. It made reference to this website so I joined. And I’ve never looked back.
After our 2016 trip (throwaway campsite, two sets of bands, PPO-breakfasts, met rare characters, etc.) where we commando-ed through the parks leaving standby-stranded-saps in our wake I overheard my then 16 yo son tell an adult friend, “I think if you gave my mom enough time she’d take over the world.”
Maybe the best day of my life.
Thanks for the encouragement and advice, folks. I enjoyed the vast majority of the comments. Like I mentioned earlier: I’m sure the trip will be great. A bad day at Disney beats a good day almost anywhere else.
Bear in mind that not everyone is going to have the same emotional attachment to this site/community. Not everyone is going to have the same level of tolerance and/or abrasiveness. And, not everyone is going to be here for the same reason. Several of you mentioned the value that you get from the site. They are all totally legit. But, I signed up for the crowd calendar because I wanted quantitive data. (I get the non-quantitive stuff from DFBGuide, disboards, etc.) Am I missing the point? Not in my view.
And, it is very true that predicting collective human behavior is an incredibly difficult thing to do. I get it. There are a ton of variables. With that in mind, why does TP provide hourly predictions for each park going out for a year? That lures morons like me into a false sense of confidence.
But, in the spirit of being constructive, I do have a suggestion. I live on the Gulf Coast. So, I’ve seen more than my share of hurricane forecasts. When the weather person shows the predicted path for the upcoming week or so, do they show a line? No. They show a cone. The cone is a way to demonstrate uncertainty. TP needs a way to communicate uncertainty in their predictions. If they are going to provide a quantitative value for CL then they should provide a quantitative value for CL uncertainty. What exactly does that look like? I’m not sure. But, I probably would have made different plans if I had known what I know now.
Anyway, thanks again for the input. If you are going anytime soon, say “hey” to the mouse for me!
I always thought it was called Touring Plans because with that tool, crowd levels really don’t matter? Are there other companies that create a touringbplan that can be optimized the parks?
I am sorry but are there norms of behavior where you work or in your home? I suspect there are. We have expectations here as well. I think some of us have found that if we are explicit from the beginning many will continue and see the value. Or they will lurk, read, and PM questions ( that works too). We love it when new people join our community. If you do not want to fine. Please do not sh** on our floor.
I keep hearing this said. But it isn’t true. What is true is that, given any actual CL, with a Touring Plan, you get the most out of your day. But I have been to Disney when a Touring Plan would have been pointless since everything was practically a walk on. Why? Because the crowd level was so low.
Crowl levels matter. Touring Plans just makes things better.
We’ve seen three unicorns, then! But we have always gone during low CL weeks.
I know things are starting to change with crowd leveling tactics. And our next trip will be second week in May. I know crowds won’t be as low as we are used to, so the Touring Plan will be extremely important.
Thank you!
