The Stealth Touring Plan

@Sam2071 - I think some people are just very resistant to any sort of planning. I don’t get it either. :smile:

People have a vacation mentality - a vacation is for relaxing, and plans are for “real life”. This works fine if your vacation is two weeks sitting on the beach, but it does not work for any “activity” related vacation where you are competing with others for time/space. Consequently there are many people who have crappy vacations because they don’t bother to do even the most basic planning.

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@brklinck - I like it but I think I would only be able to get away with this for our first day. I know DH will get upset if he thinks I’m just chatting with friends rather than enjoying family time. Maybe I can pull it off by remembering a few steps in a row and only pulling my phone out to “check the time…” :innocent:

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Haven’t had this situation yet myself (tour with smaller number of family). But did see a Liner’s solution to this on Lines some months ago.

She said large group, with most of them saying they wanted to “wing” it at wdw. So she printed out PTPs with FPPs already arranged for all. Then when got to dis - not b4- she handed them out to the other folks, the wingers.

The wingers said- we are sleeping in each day. Ok, she said, here’s where “we’ll” be during day. Pleas come and join us if you can.

She said later that day, after other folks had winged it all day - otherwise known as standing in long hot lines, not knowing what the heck the attraction is you are waiting for- . They finally caught up with her and rest of fam, and said, where are you going tonight - and followed her plan rest of trip!

Loved that trip report, and her solution. Wish I could remember who it was. Maybe she’ll see this thread, and chime in.

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@Sam2071, I’m sorry for the resistance you are receiving but I’m glad I’m not alone! The only thing I can come up with is that they don’t want to feel as tho they are being herded like cattle. That being said I have a TP that has us FINISHED seeing everything that was on our ‘to do list’ at MK by 6pm (doing MSEP and Wishes another night), with minimal waits (of course…TY Touring Plans!) they will have 4 hours to roam free…I just don’t get it…

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@staza - Trial by Fire…I love that solution!

There’s always the Not-a-Touring-Plan method in The Unofficial Guide, too.

This is what I do every trip. I make the TP and include what they want telling no one. Then we get there and I make suggestions. If they want to go out of order, I try to do it unless it’s totally a bad idea. I check “wait times” on my phone a lot. I say stuff like “oh. You’re right! Stitch only has a 5 minute wait. We also wanted to go on space and I noticed it only has a 15 minute wait right now. Usually that line is really long. Let’s take advantage of our good luck!” Later in the day I point out the long wait times and keep telling everyone how lucky we have been. Some people catch on eventually but as long as they don’t feel rushed, they usually don’t say anything.

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You. Are. My. Hero.

Thanks! This is also my parenting strategy.

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What you need to do is GET INPUT from them on what they would like to do. I think part of the problem with people who don’t like a “plan” is that they feel they are being told what to do. Make them part of the planning process by taking their preferences into account: “Here’s a list of stuff to do. Do you want to: 1. See it once 2. No interest in that 3. Ride that as often as possible, etc.”

Then you make a plan that suits them & their interests.

If people have varied interests, then plan to split up for some parts.
“You guys are in the Tomorrowland group, you guys are in the Adventureland group.”

There are also ideas in this thread:

As for me & my family, a couple of no-wait trips, combined with lots of waiting in line when they did what they wanted to do convinced them to just tell me what they want to do & let me (and TP!) handle when we do it.

Go well. :slight_smile:

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Ditto @SallyEppcot

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I have a question in my head that I’m gonna try and make as clear as possible.

So I’ve made a few TP for my trip in two weeks. I picked the option that doesn’t re arrange it but follows my arrangement. What does checking it in the park on the day do different to your plan.

Thanks.

@Shelldub I don’t think that checking it will do anything. You would have to hit “optimize” to change it, and doing that will completely change it around. So if you want to keep it as is, don’t hit “optimize” and you should be fine.

@bethannke You are going to have to check your phone regularly to find out wait times, so I don’t think it’s hard to disguise that. I also love the @AliceInChicagoland tip. Just say “hey, this attraction is looking like a good option now.” And really, if no one wants to do that right then, you can just go somewhere else and pick up where you left off. We definitely chose to ignore the TP at times for a variety of reasons, and it was easy to just pick it back up later.

Thanks @Iheartepcot! Its good to know that it is easy to pick up where you left off when things (voluntarily or involuntarily) get off track!

Depending on who you are touring with, another idea might be to try one day without a touring plan, depending on how many days you are going. Make an agreement that if you go one day without one, the next day they must agree to use it during the next. On that second day they will realize how much more they get to do and hopefully will never complain again.

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I like that too except your sacrificing a day of efficient touring so that others can learn what you already know. :slight_smile:

I agree with @Sam2071, I dont want to lose a good day of touring, but I do like the idea of them “learning the hard way”! lol!

I remember another Liner a while ago - don’t know why I’m remembering those particular posts, except maybe thought I’d have similar problem with my fam (but really didn’t).

This Liner said she and DH agreed to “wing it” first day, to be able to prove a point, get rest of extended fam go along with PTP second day. Liner said was excruciating for the couple. I can imagine. They decided to look at it humorously. other fam members stood in middle of main st, puzzl;ing over the park map.

I am not that saintly. I think I would have bolted somehow somewhere along the way. haha.

They did say rest of fam quickly agreed to use plan rest of trip, without any carping.

Do this:

  1. Copy the original plan to another plan. (You’ll have to re-enter your fpps on the copy.)
  2. If you choose to optimize, do it to the copy. Keep the original just in case.

Works wonderfully.