A heads up that I’m testing a new version of the Optimizer in production for the next day or so.
The new version contains several important performance improvements. It’s also an internal test of the new FP+ suggestion strategies. You won’t be able to see those suggestions yet (by the start of summer vacation, promise), but the code will get exercised and we’ll see how it goes.
Let me know if anything unusual happens.
Ooooh… I’ll have to start playing later this week.
So we should play not expecting to really see anything different, I presume?
Hey, @len bet you would have nailed this job quickly & even more efficiently, thought of TP when I saw it:
I’ve got a few TP’s to work on. Will let you know if I see any weird glitches. Will this Optimizer give the option to lock certain items in place? 
OK, I’ll queue up a few odd TPs and see what happens 
I have some TP’s set up as well. I’ll keep you posted.
Just in time for me to plan my next trip, but if anything goes wrong you need to buy me a drink (and to be fair, if everything works I’ll buy one for you + might even consume said drink for you if you’re not there).
@len - can you ping us when the new version is released out into the wild? I’ve got a really nasty TP set up for it. 
Send me a link to the plan so I can see how it does on my local machine, please.
Right now about 1 in 6 plans are getting the new version of the Optimizer, but I can run one manually too.
They didn’t take traffic into account, did they? I totally could have done that part.
Try Disney World Touring Plans - this is one that I get much better results by setting it up in a logical order and Evaluating. The reference “evaluated” plan is Disney World Touring Plans
Wow, there have been well over 300K plans set up since I first made the reference plan last year!
I reevaluated my plan for DHS. Most of the times stayed around the same, but there were a few that changed quite significantly - and not for the better,
TSMM - wait time dropped from 37 to 28 min.
ToT - wait time increased from 27 to 48 min.
RnRC - wait time increased from 35 to 73 min.
ToT later that night - wait time increased from 16 to 30 min.
The original one had scheduled me for GMR at 9:35 pm after the park closed, but the new one puts “N/A” there instead, so that makes more sense.
Now I don’t know which plan to believe. I’m hoping for the original one.
Here are the links:
Original plan: Disney and Universal Touring Plans
New plan: Disney and Universal Touring Plans
Update: I also just tested a couple of my plans for EP and MK, and they turned out exactly the same.
I am wanting to know if the touring plans can add ADRs outside of the park you are in? For example if we leave MK in the evening to go to CM and go back how much time does that take for the meal itself plus the walking or monorail to and from.
Oddly enough, this is being discussed right now in another thread - Evaluate my Touring Plans please - 5 days worth. In summary, you make a “leaving the park” break in your plan, with the break start time allowing for the time it takes to get from the park’s Main Entrance to the restaurant in question. If you are returning to the park, also add the appropriate amount of time to the break duration (travel time out + dining time + travel time back).
The Disney Transportation Wizard http://www.ourlaughingplace.com/aspx/twiz.aspx can help out here with travel times.
The new version of the Optimizer isn’t changing data. If your wait times are different for the same time of day, then that’s probably due to a change in the forecast for that day. My sense is that these number changes are due to forecasts changing.
Bummer. 
I didn’t notice any changes in the Crowd Level, but I’m sure you must be right.
@RobertSch6 The changes in times using an “evaluate” do fluctuate, due to changing park conditions that TP takes into account (refurbs, closures, change in WDW park opening/closing schedules.) It’s always a good idea to “evaluate” a week before your trip, or even every couple of weeks if you plan early, then one more time just before you go. One time I had what I thought was the “perfect” plan… only to have it change when re-evaluating. 
But then I devised a new “perfect” plan. 
Tip for all: If you really like your plan, always copy it to another plan & play with the copy. Then you can always go back to your old one if need be. This is a great feature of TP.
@len , what should we looking for? 4th & 5th FPP recommendations?
Thanks for the reminder, @ejj . It is good timing since tomorrow is a week away from my trip.
Nothing unusual yet.
At first, I was surprised that no FPPs were recommended… until I remembered that one must fill in how many one is allotted in each tier before it will do that. As always, optimizations yield a great starting point, & tweaks/evaluates get me the rest of the way there. I enjoy looking at this page (for example): Magic Kingdom Wait Times - Saturday, June 6, 2015 to see why it thinks what it does. Always fun to do this.
I’ll say this:
This is the first time I’m doing a non-RD plan, and to be able to do a 2pm-2am EMH plan on arrival day with only a couple of 10+ minute waits is a nifty thing.
good stuff on this discussion. any chance there is going to be something that give the option to set a break/meal as at firm time that the optimizer cannot move (even if that creates free time before it)?
I think right now the breaks can slide 10-15 minutes either way, for efficiency. That’s a configurable parameter for the Optimizer - we’d have to enable it on the UI for the website though. Don’t get many requests for that, but I’ll keep it in mind.