I’ve created several touring plans, months ahead of our trip, which I assume are based on historical analysis of wait times. I made multiple changes to add and remove rides and put in rest periods until I was sure I had included (and discluded) all of the stops we want to make each day. I hit submit and found a great plan.
Then I changed one thing, I moved one ride down at the tail end of our day, and the whole plan was completely undone - from morning til night. ACK! So… I tried to revert my changes to get back the plan I was happy with but it could not be done.
Figuring I was tired, I put it away for the day and came back the following day. I repeated my original steps and created a new plan (ie: I was not editing a plan from yesterday), and now got yet ANOTHER optimized plan returned to me which resembled neither of the ones from the day before.
I can understand how a plan optimization could drastically change if you are making plans for tomorrow, or next week, or some other close interval of time. But if you’re planning months in advance, and providing the same data, why on earth would the optimized plan keep changing? And how in the world can I get my original, well spaced, plan back?
Thanks!!!
Put it all in the order you want and evaluate.
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Thanks for the suggestion. Still wondering the value of the optimization if it doesn’t truly optimize a plan but instead changes from one minute to the next. (Based on what?) Thoughts?
The optimiser is trying to find the best order to minimise wait times. It uses algorithms to try and predict wait times etc. That isn’t an exact science, so other factors come into play. Crowd levels have changed recently, that could have a big impact.
It’s often recommended to Optimise several times until it settles. And once you have a plan you’re happy with, take a copy and name it XXXMaster or similar. Then you can always start again from there.
Personally I never Optimise. I just use Evaluate, as I know roughly how I want to order my park day. I still keep a master copy of each plan to revert to if necessary.
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Yeah. You know me, I’m not one for trying to max out on rides, which is why I don’t Optimise.
I found Evaluate to be amazing at managing expectations over Christmas time. I used it to find out what was doable, and get a reality check. So by telling my family what we could ealistically expect, they were really happy with what we managed to do each day, without rushing, which is what they thought it would be like after I’d spent all that time planning.
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Thanks, all, for your feedback. I still wish there was a “back” button to undo an optimized plan… Maybe it will end up in the next iteration of touring plans. 
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My understanding is that the algorithm does the best it can with the processing time the server gives it. According to some other users, optimizing the exact same thing multiple times in a row will result in slight changes until it finally gets “the best” plan.
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Thank you! That is finally making sense to me. I get the evaluate option and use it often because the optimize usually gives me a crazy plan. Now I get why it seems crazy. Next time I will try optimizing multiple times.
The data in the data base is constantly being updated. Every time you hit “optimize” it basically starts from scratch with the data the is current at that moment. If you adjust things by moving attractions around, and want to keep that order, use the Evaluate option; it maintains your order and updates wait times based on new data. I play around with TPs months in advance just to get an idea of what I might be able or not able to do, but I don’t even start to get serious until after the 60 day mark and I have my FPPs. I don’t consider things to be “semi-final” until about 2 weeks out. If you optimize while in the park and re-optimize after each attraction you complete, your entire remaining schedule may change every time. This will technically give you the shortest wait times for the day, but I personally find it very disorienting.
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I have started making a copy of all my plans, I use one to add to and move things around and evaluate and the other I optimize and play. That way I know I always have one that is in my order. Whether that is good or bad.
Even optimizing the morning of will change your times, etc based on new data.
Yes, lesson learned. I will make a copy of plans that look good before making even the slightest change!
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I accidentally optimized a plan in AK one day when I wasn’t ready to- thank goodness for the copy. I also am a geek and do a copy with a different walking style. I try to check off each plan as I go through my day and if i get off a little i jump to the more relaxed walking plan.
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Playing around with the touring plans myself and it would be so useful to have that back button. Agreed. Ive yelled edit undo! edit undo! Many times this past week.
I found that we were even slower than the slow walking speed available on TP, so I changed our order to avoid all extra walking (manually, since the TP one still suggested some backtracking). We will wait in longer lines, but with a 3 generation trip and a stroller, I am prioritizing limited walking.
Anyway, all of that is to say I optimize just to figure out preferred fp times. Then I ignore and do what I want and evaluate all changes.
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Oops didn’t realize this post was so old. Sorry.