This is The Lines App for the Android Phone review by my reader Amanda.
My family and I are in the process of planning a Walt Disney World vacation and I am actively seeking every sort of guide and tool out there to help me with the daunting task!
The Touring Plans website is a huge site that is for another review altogether, so I am going to be focusing on just the Lines app that accompanies the website. I have a Droid smartphone, and I’ve been using this app for four months.
The Touring Plans Lines app is included with your yearly subscription, and it is a favorite of mine. The app gives you up-to-the-minute information on the wait times for each Disney World park. The creators of the app have developed a highly sophisticated formula for calculating the wait times based on historical data and user-submitted information. Since we have not visited Disney World with the app, I am not personally sure of the accuracy, but based on other users’ experiences, the wait times are very close to the actual posted wait times at the attractions, and often, the Lines wait times are less (and more accurate!) than the posted wait times. FASTPASS return times and Single Rider wait times are available for some rides, as well. There are also projections for attraction wait times for the remainder of that day based on historical and user-submitted data.
The Lines app contains more than just wait times. There is also an opportunity for users to view the projected best and worst parks for a specific day. Currently, you can view this information for up to ten days ahead of time. These projections are based on the Touring Plans Crowd Calendars, which have been highly regarded and used by many visitors for years.
If you’re the competitive-type, you also have an opportunity to earn various badges for submitting wait times. These badges range from posting just one wait time to posting a wait time for at least one attraction in all four major parks in one day. You can accumulate badges and attempt to become the top-submitted user for a particular attraction.
While wait times and crowd projections will be helpful for me when we visit in May, the most useful tool of the Lines app for me thus far has been the Chat feature. At any time during the day, you can go into the Chat section of the app and post a question or thought that is Disney-related. Within no time at all, you will get responses from other Disney fans. Many of the users frequent the Lines Chat, and they have been visiting Disney World for years. Their advice and information has been a valuable tool for me while planning my upcoming vacation. Sometimes it can be daunting to jump into chatting with strangers, but this forum-type chat allows you to post at your own pace and choose which threads to reply to. From my experience, all of the users are incredibly friendly and helpful. They love all things related to Disney World and are eager to give you advice on anything – from what type of room to request at a Disney hotel to the best desserts to be found in various parks.
I highly recommend you look into the Lines app if you are planning an upcoming trip to Disney World. The price for the Touring Plans subscription is a bargain, considering all of the useful tools that are included with the membership. I visit the Lines app on a daily basis to check on wait times and chat with fellow users. The guys at Touring Plans stand by their information and features so much that they offer a 45-day money back guarantee. To me, it’s a win-win situation that all Disney-lovers should check out!
Find more tools for planning your trip to Walt Disney World including apps, DVDs and more.
Another great planner is http://www.ridemax.com – I grew up 45 minutes away from DIsneyland in California, so I have been there many many times. Not quite 2 years ago we made the trip back home and took our girls, ages 3 and 5 at the time, to Disneyland. It was my first time using Ridemax, and I was sold! I will use it every time I go back to Disneyland. We were there 12 hours, and we rode 27 rides, saw 3 shows and 2 parades. On almost every ride, we walked up and got in and went. We waited 10 minutes or so for 2 rides, and 20 minutes for 2 other rides (new and newly remodeled). All the rides we chose for the day were ones that both my kids could go on, so none of the Space Mountain or such.
Ridemax covers Disneyland California, California Adventure and Walt Disney World Florida.
I’m not paid to review them or anything, I just thought it was a very cool resource when I used it.
Love this app and I love touringplans.com! My family swears by touring plans now and we don’t remember what we did when we didnt have them! I started listening to the WDW Today Podcast around episode 10 and it has given us PRICELESS information and not to mention the guys are hilarious!
Amanda has done a wonderful job writing about TouringPlans! It’s a great app and well worth the full price and if you get at a discount – even better. The people on the chat feature have great advice regarding Disney. Truly, a wealth of information and the best app on my droid!!
I finally signed up and paid for my year subscription a couple of weeks ago! I’m totally excited about using the Lines App on my Blackberry when we go at the end of May! :)
Great article! I use the TouringPlans tool and website as well and LOVE it! You are right, even if you don’t get a discount and pay full price, it is a goldmine of information and worth every cent.