App Review: Undercover Tourist

Undercover Tourist is an iPhone electronic guide to the four major theme parks at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. I reviewed the free version.  The free version is add supported program, there is a paid for version that is add free.  I did not find the ads intrusive, so there is no problem using the free version.  I did contact the publisher and make sure that the only differences between the two versions are the price and ads.  Let me also say that I did not get to use the app in the parks, the trip I had planned had to be canceled.

The app is really designed for you to use in the parks.  Each attraction is listed with current wait times updated by other users in the parks.  The rides and shows are described in detail with tips and age recommendations.  Height requirements are also listed for rides where that could be a factor.  This is a great help so you can avoid disappointment of a child.

Another useful feature is the restaurant listings.  These listings include price guides and a star rating system.  I do like the fact that it includes a full description of each eatery with menu’s and dish descriptions.    Along with the restaurant sections, is the ability to input your Disney ADR’s (Advanced Dinning Reservations) and set reminders from 5 min to 2 hour’s out so you will not miss a reservation.

Undercover Tourist also uses your location information to give you distances from where you are to all of the attractions.  This will be useful in planning travel time.   For instance, if you are Liberty Square at 1:00pm and you have a FastPass for Buzz Lightyears Space Ranger Spin in Tomorrow Land for 2:00 to 2:20pm you can judge when you need to leave based on the speed your family or group can travel.

Also included is a system for tracking you tickets and planning your visit.  The planning feature of the app includes a crowd forecast for each park for each day.  It uses a simple green, yellow, red systems to show what the crowds are projected to be like on that day.  Green being light crowds red being very crowed.  The planner also lets you input your favorite attractions and restaurants and help you build a tour plan so you get the most out of you time in the parks.

Undercover Tourist does ask that as you go through the parks you submit wait time for the attractions to their database.  This crowed sourced data collecting helps make the crowed predictors and listed wait times more accurate and more useful for everyone.

All in all I think Undercover Tourist is on to something here.  I know of other services that offer paper touring plans and all to help you navigate the Disney Parks but as far as I know this is the only electronic solution.  I look forward to using it when I get to make my postponed trip to the World next summer.