From TH Creative on June 17, 2009 at 12:33 PM
NEVER assume crowd's are going to be light. As an Orlando resident people regularly asl, "which day is the least crowded to go to Disney?" I always respond "none!" It costs a healthy chunk of change to go through those turnstiles. ALWAYS assume the crowds are going to be heavy. and plan accordingly!

From Joshua Counsil on June 18, 2009 at 10:02 AM
I disagree with the "work backwards through a park" tip. By that logic at, say, The Magic Kingdom, you would ride Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, and/or Space Mountain midday. Yeah, great tip.

I like TPI's "4-Hour Tours", but The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World tour book has the best tours, hands down. They actually designed a pretty complicated program that uses various algorithms, such as the loading capacity of an attraction, to find the best possible touring plan for each Orlando park. For their most efficient plan, they allot 2 days to The Magic Kingdom. On Day 1, Splash and Big Thunder Mountain are first on the list. On Day 2, Space Mountain is number one. If you do not get to the parks early and get on those attractions quickly, no "back-to-front" touring is going to save you.

From Robert Niles on June 18, 2009 at 4:11 PM
The 4-hour tours and the Unofficial tours take two different, and worthy approaches. With our 4-hour tours, you've got the option of a short trip... or if you wish to have a longer stay, you can get the must-do attractions out of the way first, so that you can relax and wander through the park, unscheduled, for the rest of the day.

But if you prefer to sked the whole trip, the Unofficial tours are great. That level of control isn't my style, but to each his own.

From Joshua Counsil on June 18, 2009 at 5:17 PM
Oh, I rarely follow their tours to a tee. I do a combo of TPI's and Unofficial Guide's touring plans. TPI's tours are just a little too short for my liking, but the Guide's tours include many marginal attractions. I usually just do as I feel, but when the crowds are heavy I tend to tour strategically.