Here's My Number One Tip

[tracys2cents]

This worked really well for us.

I did a lot of research and my boys knew what they wanted to see, what parks they wanted to frequent etc. But I realized that once we got there we'd be lost in all the excitement. We were on the free dining plan and had to be sure and make our ADRs, and it was our first trip to DW so were a bit overwhelmed.

I did a word document and listed what we were planning for each day. Not real set-in-stone stuff but a basic plan of attack. Then I cut them up into basically 3x5 index cards and took one card for each day. When the day was over I could just toss that day's plan and move on to the next. Each night we read the schedule for the next day so that we could prepare, each morning on the bus we reviewed the upcoming day's plan. The kids didn't really fight over what we were going to do because they became pretty focused on "sticking to the plan". (They had helped me devise the plan to begin with...so it was "their plan" and we were stickin' to it!) On the 5th day we had an open schedule all afternoon and it was son number one's choice. HE decided what we'd do and we all had to follow. Son number two got the next afternoon at his discretion. They both looked forward to the afternoon that they would be in charge.

Anyway, a typical day's index card went something like this, and we would add notes on the back if we wanted to remember to do or see something:

__________________________________________________ ____
TUESDAY

MAGIC KINGDOM OPENS EARLY TODAY! WAKE UP AT 6:45!

Lunch - Cosmic Rays Tomorrowland or Harbor House near Haunted Mansion.

Afternoon maybe a pool break? Remember to call Grandma before 6pm

EVENING AT EPCOT
Dinner is TEPPANYAKI at 7:30pm. Conf#4037126 (Can watch Illuminations afterwards from the Japan terrace.)
__________________________________________________ ______

[TiggerificTigger]

That's a great tip! :thumbsup2 DH and I always write down what rides/attraction we want to do that day, along with ADR numbers, and parade and firework times. It also gives a a place to write down where we parked - just in case.

I have also used the 4x6 index cards with Disney font and logos to put into a photo album. I am not a scrapbooker, but the 4x6 cards fit into the normal albums. This way I know which day was which - for example Animal Kingdom, April 4, with a AK logo. The first card always says WDW and the dates of our trip. :teeth:

[Mickeefan]

I love this tip. I'm going to work on putting my itinerary on 3x5 cards tonight. I like to have a general idea of our day and it's always a good idea to have your confirmation number handy for any ADR's you have made. Thanks for the great tip!

[ssleblanc]

I did something similar (I think I read the tip that I did here on Dis). I made a spreadsheet of ADR's, things I HAVE to do (I'm there for a conference for work and have to stick to that schedule at CSR for 2 of my days, but have 1/2 a day free each day). I made a list of things that I'd really like to try (so I don't forget in the excitement of just being there!!! :Pinkbounc :banana: :Pinkbounc :banana: :Pinkbounc ).

I also printed on it my hotel's phone number/info just in case I need it for some emergency (don't know why - but I read someone else do it and I thought it would be a good idea).

The day before our flight out, I'm going to use my cell phone web browser to check-in for our flight, so on that's day's "schedule", I listed our flight information that I will need for the online check in - the information will be with me at MK.

I hate sticking to an absolute schedule, but having this little outline will help me remember things I wanted to not miss, it has show times/etc listed, and my ADR times and conf#'s. I printed the spreadsheet and cut it into strips (each day has it's own "column") and then laminated it.

[tracys2cents]

Glad you liked my tip. We were first timers so I had some little additional info on there for us such as "Dinner at Ohana in the Polynesian Hotel. Can get there by monorail or boat......etc etc". Little things that I'd read online like where to get the best view of the fireworks that night etc. I was glad I had these handy hints because once there, you get caught up in the day's excitement and can forget where everything's at, etc. So I guess my tip is more for first-timers, the old pros already know where everything's at.

[disneymac]

Great tip! Thanks!! :thumbsup2

[rosiejo]

Great tip! And I like the idea of putting the index cards into the photo album :)

[ellyn2000]

I, too, appreciate your tip. I'm going to do something similar because my family likes to hit all of our favorites first and then we can be more flexible with the rest of our day. I also wanted our ADR's on a card in case we decided to split up at any point. Have a great trip everyone! :dance3:

[Grumpy's Wife]

Thanks for passing it along. I think I'll use this method in November. :)

[danalee]

YES YES YES!!!! :Pinkbounc :Pinkbounc :Pinkbounc

I did this last year, there were 10 of us, 8 adults and 2 kiddos. 4 had never been before, so I made up an Itinery. :yay:

I went all out, I was the planner cause they all did the "whatever you plan for us is fine" well ok then I did.
I did a "pre-trip" report and then planned it all out all the while stating it wasnt set in stone but it was a helpful guide! :goodvibes

Let me tell ya, they all made fun of me and snickered when I gave them out but you know what, we really did follow them almost to a T! None of the, "where do you want to go. I dont care where do you want to go" kinda thing cause that always ends in someone getting upset, or a 15 minute discussion about where, when, for how long........we didnt have any of that which was great! :love:
Oh and by the way for this year trip there is six of us and they all ask, "when do we get are trip Itinery I have been waiting to read it and see what we are doing" popcorn::

HA I knew I would sway them all to the disney side! :rolleyes1

[MissMichelle]

I made up index cards also for my trip...I am going to put them in my passporter....and take out the one I need for that day....my first and last day have even added flight info. I will make notes on the backs as needed (and also jot down meal total etc) to help with my TR for when I return.

Mine go something like this, keep in mind it is just me and DH:

9-26
MK before opening
Main attractions : Buzz, Space Mtn, Haunted Mansion, POC

Back to CSR for swim and relax

My birthday dinner @ Tony's 6pm confirm # XXXXXXXX

Stay for Wishes 8pm

[_chill_]

I started out with index cards, but graduated to a full blown booklet. :thumbsup2 I put it together in MS Publisher (quarter sheets) and print it out on thin double-sided photo paper. It's decorated with Disney clipart, and has everything I need to mount an 'attack' on the parks. :rotfl: (park hours, parade hours, confirmation numbers, ADR numbers, etc.)
I spend the weeks leading up to the trip putting together the book (finding new graphics, researching dates/times, scheduling, etc.) Great anticipation and an awesome souvenir, but admittedly a bit over the top. :surfweb:

[Touareg]

All great ideas but instead of the cards I have it all downloaded from my laptop to my phone. Once we get past Ariel's Grotto, check it off. Thanks for all the good info.

[MickeyMonstersMom]

I made up cards like that in 2002 and again for last week's trip - although the 2002 versions had pictures for then-4 y/o DS. I like the system for two reasons: each child knew their input went into the itineraries and knew their choices were coming up, even if not right away; and each day the printed itinerary forestalled any arguments over what we'd be doing next. In 2002 I planned out the entire day, as it was our first big WDW vacation, but this time around I just planned out each day until lunchtime, letting the kids choose what to do in the afternoons.

[novdisneydreams]

I spend the weeks leading up to the trip putting together the book (finding new graphics, researching dates/times, scheduling, etc.) Great anticipation and an awesome souvenir, but admittedly a bit over the top.

Over the top? Nonsense! Thats a great idea - I might try something similar sometime :)

[Folklore]

Thanks for all the great ideas. This is our first trip to DW and we are very overwhelmed with all the planning. :confused: We will definately being using this tip! :woohoo:

[Kevenswife2]

I also write all the parks hours, parade times and show times (Fantasmic, Wishes, etc) in case I decide to 'hop' to a different park.

I cut my index cards in half and put them in clear plastic business card holders. My room key and park passes will fit too. Kind of keeps them all dry.

[dbarker]

I used the index cards last trip. I had all the park hours, EMHs, Parade times, ADRs. We park hop. Then, I laminated the cards w/ clear Contact Paper, punched a hole in them and attached them all to a key ring. I used colored index cards and w/ a hole in them, they attached to a clip and hung outside the fanny pack.

DH loved it. It was so easy to see what was going on that day.

[PirateKitty]

I know this isn't really a trip for the parks, but its something my parents used to do for years up until they introduced Disney's Magical Express. When the family flew into Orlando, my mom, brothers and myself headed to baggage claim. My father heads straight for the rental car transport. He was sometimes the only one on the bus, and when he got to the rental car agency, there was hardly anyone in line. He picked up the car :drive: , and by the time we got the bags, used the restrooms and headed outside, he was there waiting. It worked like a charm for years. :thumbsup2

[tracys2cents]

In the past I've taken books, printouts etc with me but they always seem to just sit in the room as we run around and do our thing. On the plane ride, I like to read a guide book or go over lots of printed out tips etc from the message boards and travel sites.

But at Disney the one-index-card-per-day thing worked really well. Just the basics, easy to keep in purse, lots of info at my fingertips, nothing too stringent. My son has all his photos online and at the beginning of each day's set of photos he took one of the index card, it's kind of a title page to each day. :smickey:

[sandiegosusie]

I started out with index cards, but graduated to a full blown booklet. :thumbsup2 I put it together in MS Publisher (quarter sheets) and print it out on thin double-sided photo paper. It's decorated with Disney clipart, and has everything I need to mount an 'attack' on the parks. :rotfl: (park hours, parade hours, confirmation numbers, ADR numbers, etc.)
I spend the weeks leading up to the trip putting together the book (finding new graphics, researching dates/times, scheduling, etc.) Great anticipation and an awesome souvenir, but admittedly a bit over the top. :surfweb:

Love to see it...if it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing in my book!

[ddgckg]

These are some great ideas! Can't wait to use them!

[sbpuckett]

subbing

[JennyandMike03]

These are really great ideas! I'm gonna have to do this for our upcoming Weddingmoon at WDW! :thumbsup2

[Shanley312]

Hi all,
I am surprising DH with a 10 year anniversary trip to WDW during the CUBS special days 12/8-12/12.
It will be be a first for both of us. I can BARELY keep it to myself until our anniversary in Oct when I'll spring it on him.

Anyway, I have NO idea how to go about this whole WDW thing and wonder if anyone would be interested in sharing their daily cards I am reading about here. I don't know where to go, what to do, what to see, what not to see, etc. HELP! If you want to share them with me I'd really appreciate it.

THANKS A BUNCH from this WDW newbie but REALLY EXCITED TO GO!
Shanley

[HappyCamperToo]

None of the, "where do you want to go. I dont care where do you want to go" kinda thing cause that always ends in someone getting upset, or a 15 minute discussion about where, when, for how long.


Oh boy, I almost forgot about this! I've been a detailed planner for so many previous trips that we were going to take a break on this trip and do WHATEVER. But yeesh, I can see the negative possibilities....I think I'm going to do up a plan as "plan B," start out freewheeling it, and tell them that if we get any of those long indecision periods or upset feelings, then boom, straight back to the plan. :goodvibes And I love the idea of having them plan the plan, so that it's their plan your following! :thumbsup2

[justplaingoofy]

This worked really well for us.

I did a lot of research and my boys knew what they wanted to see, what parks they wanted to frequent etc. But I realized that once we got there we'd be lost in all the excitement. We were on the free dining plan and had to be sure and make our ADRs, and it was our first trip to DW so were a bit overwhelmed.

I did a word document and listed what we were planning for each day. Not real set-in-stone stuff but a basic plan of attack. Then I cut them up into basically 3x5 index cards and took one card for each day. When the day was over I could just toss that day's plan and move on to the next. Each night we read the schedule for the next day so that we could prepare, each morning on the bus we reviewed the upcoming day's plan. The kids didn't really fight over what we were going to do because they became pretty focused on "sticking to the plan". (They had helped me devise the plan to begin with...so it was "their plan" and we were stickin' to it!) On the 5th day we had an open schedule all afternoon and it was son number one's choice. HE decided what we'd do and we all had to follow. Son number two got the next afternoon at his discretion. They both looked forward to the afternoon that they would be in charge.

Anyway, a typical day's index card went something like this, and we would add notes on the back if we wanted to remember to do or see something:

__________________________________________________ ____
TUESDAY

MAGIC KINGDOM OPENS EARLY TODAY! WAKE UP AT 6:45!

Lunch - Cosmic Rays Tomorrowland or Harbor House near Haunted Mansion.

Afternoon maybe a pool break? Remember to call Grandma before 6pm

EVENING AT EPCOT
Dinner is TEPPANYAKI at 7:30pm. Conf#4037126 (Can watch Illuminations afterwards from the Japan terrace.)
__________________________________________________ ______
I do that too! On the back I list the hours to all parks that day including what time parades, fireworks are. Incase we decide we want to leave its easy enough to check. Also, I list which park has EMH incase we want to partake/avoid that park :teeth:
Thanks for sharing!

[house_of_princesses]

Hi all,
I am surprising DH with a 10 year anniversary trip to WDW during the CUBS special days 12/8-12/12.
It will be be a first for both of us. I can BARELY keep it to myself until our anniversary in Oct when I'll spring it on him.

Anyway, I have NO idea how to go about this whole WDW thing and wonder if anyone would be interested in sharing their daily cards I am reading about here. I don't know where to go, what to do, what to see, what not to see, etc. HELP! If you want to share them with me I'd really appreciate it.

THANKS A BUNCH from this WDW newbie but REALLY EXCITED TO GO!
Shanley

First, Welcome to the DIS, Shanley! :welcome: :disrocks: If I may suggest... just start by reading posts that sound interesting. If you find something that intrigues you, copy it into a file. Come November, I'd start sorting it and putting it all together. That's when you want to put it all on the 3x5's.

Ask questions... you'll have a few! Someone here always has an answer.

Welcome again, and Ejoy! :banana:

[raammartin]

Great tip!

[kmccain]

I am glad to hear I am not a planning freak!


I took my Passporter and marked all the attractions I wanted to see in the Charting the Attractions. Then I highlighted points in the description like, best view to the left.

Then I highlighted the ones I wanted to see in the list Attractions At-A-Glance.

Then I went to the Favorite Touring Plans section and marked them in the Attractions At-A-Glance in that order. I just numbered them.

Then I typed them in a spread sheet. I put the attraction on one column. The amount of time to allow for the attraction in another and a column for the tip. I went back to the charting section while they were in order and put in the tip and then I put in the number. Then I sorted them by the number. The last thing I did was to add up the times and put in my breaks.

It is not set in stone but I give me a good touring plan and I know I won't miss anything that I don't want to and I will get the most of every attraction. It really worked out good.

I am spending too much on those tickets to just meander around!


:tink:

[ZoZo]

Last year, I made several little laminated cards (credit card size) that fit into the slots in my wallet. That worked great!

* One had all of my ADRs and other reservation info (hotel reservation #, etc.)
* Another had our "plan of attack" (which parks on which days) including park hours. The other side had the parade schedules.
* One had all of the phone numbers I needed (resort phone number, town car service number, cell phone numbers of all travelers, etc.).

It was so handy to have this info in this format - the cards fit right into my wallet. The day we arrived, I was very glad to have the town car service phone number handy - we were trapped in the plane on the runway at MCO during a thunderstorm, and were delayed by about 45 minutes. They wouldn't let the ground crew out until the lightning ended, so we called the town car service to let them know (thank goodness for cell phones!) we would be late.

[jenr812]

Great tips on this thread :) Last year we started out bringing a passporter pocket into the parks each day, but the pockets got a bit destroyed and were a bit bulky in the July heat, so we scrapped that after two days :( The idea was good but not very practical. I like the index card idea, esp. saving them for the scrapbook :goodvibes And I am so excited to have something to use my Xyron laminating cartridge for LOL!

[Hope73]

I put our trip info on a spreadsheet along with park times parades and fireworks. We also had cell phones on it. dinner res numbers and hotel res number

[dreamergirl78]

These are awesome ideas. I too am making index cards. I found the coolest thing at Target on clearance. It is a double duty item. It has one one side spiral bound notebook paper. I will use this for my journal, etc. On the other side it has an expandable file system that is just big enough for index cards. The whole thing fits nicely into a small fanny pack. I will make up the cards, laminate them and then file them into my book. Lightweight, easily portable and accessable.
Thanks for sharing your idea!

[tracys2cents]

I've gotten a lot of messages this year saying how well this tip worked for people, so I am topping it!

[Wish2BinWDW]

Great idea! Thanks for the tip. :)

[kimis]

I do this with different colored 3X5 cards. I love it.

[johnandjo]

1. take a fanny pack
2. pack plenty of sunblock
3. take a pop up hamper
4. take the hooks that stick to the bathroom wall -great for hanging wet
swim suits
5. pack bug spray
6. Take light up bracelets and necklaces from the dollar store.
7. We bought a real small camera-Olympus 240 that fit into fanny pack
8. Individually packed wet wipes for fanny pack

Trading pins! We did not discover this until the last couple of days. You can buy a lanyard and 7 small pins (pins in box) for around $35.00. All Disney cast members that are wearing lanyards will trade pins with you as long as you are trading a Disney pin and they don't already have the pin you are trading. This was such a great souvenier.

We loved Ohanas and the Crystal Palace

[Julianna07]

I love the idea of using the index cards. I have a small "brag book" for photos that holds the 3x5 or 4x6 cards. I have 1 pocket for a calandar on the first page, then the 4 parks on the next pages that have hours, parades and Fireworks schedules, then the dates of my trip on individual cards with my days plans laid out. The book is thin (12 pages with 24 pockets) and is meant for 4x6 pics. I also have a few extra pockets in the back that I will add addresses for post cards and email addresses for sending the e-cards from Epcot, and leave some blank cards for notes and funny remarks to add to my scrapbook when I get home.

[portia9]

Wow what great ideas-you are my kind of people ;)

Yvette

[T. Lynn]

I have my itinerary typed on business cards (thru word program) and will laminate them before our trip. This way if they get wet, my information is all protected.

[poeticdiabetic]

We went twice in two years, and even though we didn't plan and use index cards, we did plan our day based upon the following criteria:

1. ADRs

2. Extra Magic Hours

For instance- when we booked our ADRs, we based those upon the Extra Magic Evening Hours. For instance, imagine if Epcot was open until 1AM. We would book a dinner later (around 6-6:30) at Le Cellier or Coral Reef.

Or,

If the Extra Evening Hours was at Animal Kingdom and it closes at 11PM- we'll eat earlier at somewhere like Boma's or Chef Mickey's.

Now...

We would basically go in a counter-clockwise direction when we enter any park, but we will try to Fastpass the attractions that we know we would need to Fastpass. And we normally go to two parks per day.

Speaking of Fastpasses...

I've learned that even during Extra Magic Hours, some attractions (like Soarin) will still have a long line. And you want to ride these attractions more than once. And it's a busy season.

What we do is immediately Fastpass the attraction. Then we get in line. By the time we finish riding the ride, our Fastpasses are valid and we just walk right back up and ride it again.