Bringing Index Cards to Parks?

[dobball23]

For those of you that write your itineraries on index cards and bring them to the parks with you, what information do you usually include? My wife and I would like to be that organized, but want to make sure we don't forget any pieces of information on our cards.

Thanks!

Todd

 

[karla63]

I have written each days itinerary on each card along with any dinner confirmation ####. I also have an index card with all the phone numbers of the different swaps that I am involved in(just in case something happens while I am there). I am taking a group of high school girl scouts, so I also have an index card of all important phone numbers. Not sure what else to put onto a card, but feel these are the important things.

 

[kdkbrebel]

Itinerary
Adr's
entertainment sched, parade times etc
best views/seating
character locations
any tips of things not to miss

 

[Stargazer]

I got the spiral-bound index cards that had neon yellow (Epcot), green (AK), pink (MK), and orange (MGM). That way I can just flip to whereever we are that day.

Then, I wrote down in this order for each park:
(1) ADRs and confirmation numbers OR if no ADR, recommended CS from boards
(2) Rides to hit early to avoid lines OR which rides to get FP for as early as possible
(3) Best viewing for any parades/fireworks and times each occurs
(4) Misc tips for each park (i.e. shortcuts to take, hidden Mickeys, things to see that you might not usually think of, etc)

 

[heidia]

I'm super obessive so I know I'm totally overdoing it.. but I got little photo albums to hold my index cards (which I'll use my comp/printer to make. my handwriting is horrendous). I plan on putting TONS of info in each album (I have one for each park and one for resort info).

things like places to eat, snack, character locations, parade/fireworks times, showtimes, ride height info, etc, etc, etc!

Yeah, um, I clearly have a problem! I just know my entire family is going to think I'm the WDW vacation drill sargeant or something!

 

[kelleigh1]

Where have I been? Never thought of using index cards. That makes so much sense. Since we'll be on the DP for the first time and will have more than 1 ADR, that's a great idea that I'll have to use.

 

[solferino]

I got the spiral-bound index cards that had neon yellow (Epcot), green (AK), pink (MK), and orange (MGM). That way I can just flip to whereever we are that day.

Then, I wrote down in this order for each park:
(1) ADRs and confirmation numbers OR if no ADR, recommended CS from boards
(2) Rides to hit early to avoid lines OR which rides to get FP for as early as possible
(3) Best viewing for any parades/fireworks and times each occurs
(4) Misc tips for each park (i.e. shortcuts to take, hidden Mickeys, things to see that you might not usually think of, etc)

LOL, I do something very similar- a small notebook and use different colored post-it markers coded for each park, and another for resort dining. I break it down by day and put the tabs in as needed.

 

[becky_AK]

Great idea! I never thought about index cards. Much better then my normal sized 8x11 Excel spreadsheet that I'd have to fold up to fit into my pockets.

 

[mill4023]

I'm super obessive so I know I'm totally overdoing it.. but I got little photo albums to hold my index cards (which I'll use my comp/printer to make. my handwriting is horrendous). I plan on putting TONS of info in each album (I have one for each park and one for resort info).

things like places to eat, snack, character locations, parade/fireworks times, showtimes, ride height info, etc, etc, etc!

Yeah, um, I clearly have a problem! I just know my entire family is going to think I'm the WDW vacation drill sargeant or something!

You're not the only one. I've used the photo albums for the last 2 trips. I used the flexible plastic 4x6 photo albums from Target or Walmart. I think they only cost a few dollars each and they are the perfect size to bring my printed 4x6 index cards without taking up too much space in our backpack. But you do have it worse than me because I only used one (holds something like 20 or 30 cards) for all the parks combined.

What I put in my album:
One card with our overall itinerary for the whole trip.
Then for each park, I have our touring plan, our ADR's, entertainment schedule, best times for each attraction, parade and show viewing tips, etc.

I bring a bunch more stuff with me to the hotel, like EMH schedules, best days charts, etc. But that's stuff I don't need in the park with me.

 

[poohtink]

FYI If you have a large group Staples now have index cards that can be put through the computer. Have a great trip

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

We carry index cards with ADR #'s, everyone's cell phone #'s and park hours. We also laminate ours cause there have been times my purse or wallet got soaked from rain or an attraction.

 

[DizzDoll]

Such a great idea, index cards. I'm the nut-job who prints out EVERYTHING from allears and glues it in notebooks to lug around!!! And yes, my back pack does get heavy So now I can get the spiral bound index cards and just jot down the most important information regarding the parks and each of the pavilions at Epcot. You should see what I have!!!! My daughter says there's no hope for me.

 

[Sandi]

I put the park hours, ADR info, and anything special we want to do. We know the attractions to hit and when by heart, so those don't go on the cards anymore.

Also, for traveling with a group, I prepared different colored cards for each day and gave each person or family a set. So, on Monday, for example, everyone took out their blue card; on Tuesday, it was the pink card; etc. They all laughed at me, but then found that it worked really well and no one was ever late for an ADR. I did these on the computer, ran the pages on card stock and then cut the cards to the size we needed.

We programmed everyone's cell phone number into each others phones, so we didn't fill up important card space with phone numbers.

 

[ekball]

OK, I'm borderline embarassed to tell you about my cards, but hey...if you can't tell the DIS, then who can you tell?! (BTW - DH almost called the men in the little white coats when he first saw my cards...now he's just amused)

My cards are the large 4x6 cards, I printed the info from the computer so it's nice and neat, I then had them laminated (so I guess the girl at Staples knows about them too ), punched a hole, and used a key ring to hold them together. (Am I really writing this for the whole DIS to see??!! ) The cards, in order, are:
1. Week-at-a-glance: includes date, day, activity/park, dinner location & ADR time
2. ADR's - includes day, location, ADR time & ressie #
3. Touring plans for each park, includes ADR times & #'s, and park hours
4. Park hours for the week we are there (1 card/park)
***oh my....this is so embarrassing....
5. Locations where we can use our Disney rewards gift cards

I know, I know....crazy....one card shy of a full deck (pun intended). Hey, it's fun. Helps me pass the time until the trip! AND - I have all the info I need in a neat, laminated little bundle of pure Disney (whack-job) fun!!

BTW - nothing else in my life is this organized. This is it. All of my organizational energy goes into Disney (or any other vacation we may plan).

 

[kelleigh1]

The girl who sits next to me thought I was nuts when I just showed her my spreadsheet. She said "by the time your trip comes around you'll have color coded, laminated index cards on a key ring".

ekball: I just cut/paste part of your post into an email to send to her.

 

[ekball]

The girl who sits next to me thought I was nuts when I just showed her my spreadsheet. She said "by the time your trip comes around you'll have color coded, laminated index cards on a key ring".

ekball: I just cut/paste part of your post into an email to send to her.

Happy to make another DISer look like the "sane one"

I used to laugh at people like me too.

 

[theparsons]

For Disneyland I put it all in my PDA. For this trip my PDA is part of my cell phone so that's one less thing to carry even, yea!

Besides what's already been mentioned............ I also had the locations of all the penny press machines (and the 50th Anniversary ones were in bold and red so we were sure not to miss those).....I had hidden mickeys and the "don't miss seeing this" for each ride/line/show etc. I even copied and pasted the menus for most of the restaurants so that we could make our decisions on where to go without having to wander around and see which resturant had what, and how much. That's going to take a little more work since WDW has so many more restaurants!

For WDW, I'm worried I may need a bigger memory card, lol, because I also plan to put in the clues for scavenger hunts, trivia, etc. So much to see and do, we may not ride any rides, lol.

One other great thing is that it syncs to my laptop, so not only was it really easy to keep updating as I did my planning.

We also kept photos of the pins we already had (because they were too heavy to carry around, lol).

We also kept a running list of souveniors we saw that we felt we "had" to have.....then the night before our last day we went through the lists (this is where the sync to the laptop was great because we could see it all big.....) and decided which ones we really and truly wanted to buy. THis helped with the girls because they were spending their own money so they got a chance to shop and wish and dream without the regret of spending their wad on the first day before they saw the "one" that they had to have and not having money. While we "window shopped" we jotted down the item, price and store where we saw it...if we later saw the same thing somewhere else, we noted that too. Then that last night we made our final shopping list and knew what we wanted and everywhere that we could get it....this was really helpful because if the item was at several stores we could usually pick it up somewhere that only had something else....less stores to hit....it also came really in handy when we went back to a store that had several things we wanted, thinking we'd saved time, only to find them sold out of one of our list items....but we knew just where to go find it somewhere else. This might be a bit more running around shopping that last day since WDW is much more spread out......but if things are available in many parks we may be able to consolidate a bit too.

Oh yeah...the other thing I did before we went shopping....I went online and checked many places, including ebay to be sure that we couldn't get it for a substantial savings somewhere else. You'd be amazed how many things we found on ebay that even with shipping would be cheaper than in the park! I still haven't quite figured out how ebayers make a profit....unless they somehow buy this stuff wholesale, which I just can't see Disney allowing for some of their "park exclusives" and it was current stuff because it was the 50th anniversary. But we saved quite a bit by bidding/buy in now at Ebay and having it delivered to our house, then having to overspend and then lug it home to boot!

 

[sajilunni]

That's what I'm always telling my husband and BIL when they start eye-rolling.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! for your wonderful ideas! I had to get organized in a hurry when I had to do all the planning myself for my massively gargantuan 750 guest wedding, back in the pre-internet days (can you even imagine?). I relied on Word documents where I just typed out every piece of useful information and stapled it all together. I wish I was tech-savvy enough to figure out PDA's and spreadsheets. But I am definitely going to switch from stapled paper to color coded index cards in a floppy photo album. What a brilliant idea! It would be so easy to grab out of my diaper bag, and not have to worry about it ripping.

I was teased so much for having a 12 page itinerary for our 3 day trip to Disneyland 4 years ago. But I think Disney World would be absolutely impossible to navigate stress-free without some major pre-planning (and the DisBoards!).

 

[kimis]

For those of you that write your itineraries on index cards and bring them to the parks with you, what information do you usually include? My wife and I would like to be that organized, but want to make sure we don't forget any pieces of information on our cards.

Thanks!

Todd

I don't write our whole days itenery but I do write our PS reservation numbers and if there is some place we have to be at for a show or something. I do use different colored index cards because it is easy to tell one day from a nother. enjoy

 

[wannago2disney]

My husband plans on putting everything on his PDA. He also downloaded something off Allearsnet.com that includes menus/prices and lots of other little tidbits that he felt were important. It was inexpensive and you get free updates. My favorite idea from that is knowing what is on the menu without having be in the restaurant or trying to read the menu board through a crowd of people...Another tip for those travelling with young kids is to take along your mini photo printer and print off a pic of what each child is wearing that morning...(our printer does up to 4 sep. pics on 1 4X6 sheet)...slips easily into your passporter pocket! I like to carry around my passporter pockets with my itinerary. Keeps things together and organized....I LOVE THAT