WDW trip planning - tour plans and Halloween parties

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Time has flown by since the last time! 

I am now about two weeks away from WDW and I can’t even tell you how much I’m looking forward to it all. I’ve been busily completing the last-minute admin but also keeping up with all the latest news, closures, menus and other fun things. 

One thing that I have found incredibly useful at this point of the planning is the Touring Plans app which, full disclosure, was a gift from Len Testa. However, they haven’t asked me to promote it at all and all opinions are my own. Having used both the app and the website for a few weeks now I will say that so far it is worth the money! I haven’t used it in the parks, which I guess is the true test, but so far it has been an invaluable planning tool.




Touring plans in general have never really been my thing, as I’ve mentioned before. I just can’t face all the planning and lack of spontaneity that these things entail so I’ve never really been down this road before. This time though I feel so pressured for time (I only have a week!) and yet so free (I’m on my own!) that maybe a touring plan is a good idea. But where to start?

At the time I was pondering all of this, I also noticed that on one of my Magic Kingdom days, the park was shutting early, at 6 PM. I realized that this is because on that day the park is hosting Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween party. This is a separate ticketed event that goes on into the small hours at the Magic Kingdom, with special parades, treats and other things. I’d never considered attending this sort of thing but paying for the extra ticket did mean more hours in the park that day. I wasn’t sure though as I don’t know much about the value that this party offered, so I reached out to Len Testa and he kindly answered my question on The Disney Dish podcast. 

To make a long story short - the answer was YES it was worth it. 


I had my answer so I booked a ticket for the party and now that I’ve done it, I’m actually pretty glad. The event does look really good and although I am not planning to dress up or anything, I am looking forward to the additional park hours as well as all the candy one supposedly gets! 



As I was getting in touch with Len anyway, while I asked him about the party I also asked about touring plans and this is where I was gifted a subscription. So that gave me a place to start the research on these things… and boy, I was blown away by the level of detail! I had no idea just how powerful this tool was and how flexible, so once I entered all the required info I pretty much stood back and watched while it did its thing.

The personalized plans generated look pretty solid but as I’ve mentioned before, the real test will be when I’m in the park. However, even at this stage, it’s a great way to think about what attractions I want to prioritize, which ones I can skip and even how to plan my day. This is especially important on the day I will be attending MNSSHP because it will be a LONG day: I plan to get there as early as I can (jetlag working in my favor) and if I can survive the entire day, we are talking about a 16-hour day, so a nap will have to be considered, especially as my hotel is realistically too far for me to pop back during the day. 

Using the Touring Plan tools has forced me to make a few decisions which don’t feel like they will kill all spontaneity but will help me make the most of my time. I shall report back and see how it goes!

Other than that, I’ve been preparing for RetroMagic: they helpfully sent out a list of resources (podcast episodes, videos, even books) and being the completist that I am, I’ve already started working my way through that list. I feel like I am studying for a very exciting test in a subject I love! It has been fantastic to listen again to those old podcast episodes and even buy a few new books for my collection. Some of these are written by people that will be at RetroMagic so there is a chance to even get them signed! This poses another thing to think about: how many books can I carry within my limited baggage allowance? I may have to think creatively about a solution...

Not long to go now!


Location: Milton Keynes, UK

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