Does anyone have a great way to organize your day @ Disney

[ndgqmiller]

This is our first trip to Disney World. DH, DS, 2DD and I. I am looking for any great ideas to stay organized, Reservations, #'s, park passes menus,maps etc. I have heard some people say they have made out schedules for each day, on their computer. Does anyone have any thing they can send me or can help me out. We would love help making this a smooth but magical trip! Thanks
Mom of 3

 

[mad hatter fan]

Hi. We took our first trip last Jan. and I was in the same boat as you trying to figure out how to plan everything! I need to see everything visually, so I took a few pieces of paper and taped them together to make a really big one. Then I made myself a big calendar with a large square for each day of our trip. Then I took post it notes and wrote all of our info on them such as which parks each day, early entry days and dinner ressies. Then I could move them around on my calendar as I tried out different combinations of how we should plan our trip.

I also used Tour Guide Mike which helped me make the best choices of which park which day and how to plan our time at each park.

Hope that helps a bit. Have fun planning!

 

[Karalynn]

We also used tourguide Mike, I thought it was definately worth the $$. Its a bit confusing at first so just be warned if you do purchase it. Just have patience and eventually it will click! (Tourguide Mike is an on line disney trip planning tool that has tons of planning info & secret tips)

I bought a 3 subject notebook with folders inbetween and made all my notes and kept all the info I had printed out in the folders. When I finally had a day by day schedule, I wrote them in and added all my little tips for each park. I had everything in one spot. Tickets, flight itineraries, dinner reservations, etc.

There are definately some really organized creative folks around here, I'm sure you will get lots of great tips!

Happy planning!!! (this is half the fun for me!!)

 

[maleficent esq.]

This is our first trip to Disney World. DH, DS, 2DD and I. I am looking for any great ideas to stay organized, Reservations, #'s, park passes menus,maps etc. I have heard some people say they have made out schedules for each day, on their computer. Does anyone have any thing they can send me or can help me out. We would love help making this a smooth but magical trip! Thanks
Mom of 3

Go to the bookstore and buy a passporter. It will have everything you need to stay orgainized and it is simple and informative. A great read, and no I do not work for them. Enjoy your trip

 

[U2_rocks!]

I am still playing around with how best to document everything. Right now I am storing info in an Excel spreadsheet, with a different worksheet for each aspect of the planning. But I won't want to lug a printout of that around during thr trip.

My ADR window will open at the ned of next month, and by then I will have the April hours and will know the best days to do various things. I will have a list of ADRs that will work for each day, in order of preference, and will use that list when I make the ADR call(s).

I will likely bring a folder full of things to WDW with me - it will be flat enough not to take up too much space. Each night we will review the plan for the next day. Some days will be all planned out (b/c of hard to get ADRs), others will be free days when there will be just a list of suggestions to choose from (including pool time).

In terms of carrying into each park, I hope to prepare some small index cards that will fit into a fanny pack or backpack front pocket. These will have key info for that day's activities - things that I don't want to risk committing to memory. By then I will have most of the basic park info in my head - the index cards will be just for critical things like ADR confirmation numbers, things I don't want to miss, special tips I get from the DIS, TGM etc. I may buy a small plastic folder to keep everything in - tickets, ADR confirms, index cards, park map and show times etc.

Yes I am a real planner! April is our big trip, and it will be the first time for the kids and my parents, and the second time for DH (he and I shared our first time in 1998, and I've since done solo trips and trips with girlfriends). Because of varied interests and the fact that my parents won't go again, am trying to put together the "perfect" trip! Luckily we have 2 weeks to do it all!

 

[Allison]

The Passporter is a very good tool to use for organization.

 

[maxtomsmom]

I'm an organized freak when it comes to things like this. I have a bigger binder I keep on hand to store WDW info. I have several major sections - Itinerary; Times/EMH; Tips; Character Meals/Dining; Downtown Disney; Resort Info, etc. I keep this binder in a convient location so I can access it to add or look up info. It's in our office all year long. Over the years, I update and change things around. It comes with us to WDW but stays in the hotel. Then I also purchased plain double-pocketed folders with the three ring binder built in - one for each park. So I have specific information for each park. This is what I bring to each park each time we visit. We collect the maps and any other info specific to that park. Lastly, I purchased 2 clear zipper pockets that can go into the black binder and the folders. (They are pencil holders you would find in the school supplies section.) This holds some info. like our cards or anything we're afraid may get easily lost. We also put pens, hand wipes and some zip lock bags. in the clear pocket.

For our schedule, I make a chart and have 4 columns titled: Date/Park & hours, Morning, Evening, Other/Parades/Shows Must See. I have a row for each day and pencil all the parks and activities. I also schedule all the ADR and their confirmation numbers. A week or two before, I type it into the computer and color code it. One color for each park. I know I'm nuts, I like things colorful. I would be happy to send you an example of the chart, but I'm sure you get the picture.

This has helped us. We need the organization. I would hate to wake up at WDW and say, "UH! What park do you want to do?" "I don't know, what do you want to do?" Mind you plans change and I leave ample spots open for down time and for what I like to call OPEN TIME. This is back-up park time just in case it rains.

 

[golden1]

I am a Disney organization junkie. I am using Tour Guide Mike principles for the most part. I am storing my tickets and things in my Passporter right now. I tried to resist but I just bought Ridemax this weekend and I am playing around with that.

In the end, I will combine all the information and make a touring plan for each day on an index card which will include the major rides and shows I want to see and ADR numbers.

 

[CindyAnn]

We do the high level planning on an Excel spreadsheet. That lets us see the whole vacation at a glance. Once that level is done, I build everything into a WORD document. I start it with a page for each day (park, hours, Hotel info, ADR's, etc). in a chart format. After that I copy in any interesting info I find from the DIS, official website, or anywhere else. By the time we go on the trip I've moved all of that into one of the "day" pages, or I've set up new sections in the document to organize it all. I just can't imagine writing all of this stuff by hand!! At the moment, this document is 22 pages long. I'll take along two copies of it, but only one page comes to the park with my on any given day.

Cheers,

 

[Roxanne]

I put everything - park hours for the park we were going to each day, all ADR's, if WISHES was that day, if there was a MNSSHP that day - in my calendar in Outlook, then printed out a page for each day. I also had a separate sheet (in WORD) for each park with notes, like what rides we should do first, look for Dole Whips here, parade times and best places to view them, etc. I brought the sheets to the park in a plastic sleeve (so it wouldn't get wet) and kept it in my backpack. Each night we would review the plans for the next day to familiarize ourselves with the plan so we wouldn't be digging for it in the bag all day. Typing and reviewing the notes also helped to commit them to memory, so I only had to look at the hard copies a few times during the week. I also wanted to carry the ADR reservation numbers in case we walked up to the restaurant and were told they couldn't find our reservations. After spending hours on the phone at 8:00 am, I wanted to bring proof in case there was a problem!

 

[kirstiebird]

I am a Disney organization junkie. I am using Tour Guide Mike principles for the most part. I am storing my tickets and things in my Passporter right now. I tried to resist but I just bought Ridemax this weekend and I am playing around with that.

In the end, I will combine all the information and make a touring plan for each day on an index card which will include the major rides and shows I want to see and ADR numbers.

What's Ridemax? I'm always looking for another way to procrastinate and plan for WDW!

 

[left210]

I have an excel spreadsheet that I created that I can email to you that I used in March 2005. I would attach it but I dont know how. Send me your email address and I will send it to you.

 

[DestinationDisney]

left -

Will you send to me too? I'll PM you my email address. Thank you so much!!

 

[scrappinmom]

I print 4x6 index cards and color code the cards to park (MK, AK etc) then I laminate them and put them on a ring. I have all the park hours, parades, rides we MUST do, adr's etc all on one card, front & back ususally

Have a great trip!

 

[In Luv with Disney]

Passporter is Awesome!!! It stores all the information you need. When I don't want to take it to the parks, I have a small notebook that I take with me each day to the parks, with everything spelled out (ADRs, park hours, parade times, fireworks, etc).

 

[U2_rocks!]

Passporter is Awesome!!! It stores all the information you need. When I don't want to take it to the parks, I have a small notebook that I take with me each day to the parks, with everything spelled out (ADRs, park hours, parade times, fireworks, etc).

I've got last year's, which I may take too, so that my parents can browse through the night before each park and get familiar. My own notes won't be detailed enough for them, since so much is in my head!

Also, I might write notes in the Passporter journal section so we can remember what we did after we get back!

 

[MyZoeJane]

I have files that I got from someone else who took the trouble to put everything I need to know into a format that was easy to print onto blank 4x6 cards!

I've also got a neat little excel spreadsheet for ADR's.

I use TGM for touring plans!

 

[golden1]

Ridemax is a program that someone came up with that actually calculates for each day the best ride order based on the shortest waiting and walking times. I am not sure how useful it is but I had to try it!

www.ridemax.com

 

[kimnkel]

Holey moley, people! Excel spread sheets? Ridemax? A software program specific to Disney? Dang!!

I hope someday I morph into one of you guys; right now my idea of organizing a Disney vacay is (a) booking the room, and (b) setting my alarm so I don't miss my flight.

Impressive, truly. You have inspired me to...uh...make a list. About some stuff. Like...uh....

 

[Steve's Girl]

Holey moley, people! Excel spread sheets? Ridemax? A software program specific to Disney? Dang!!

I hope someday I morph into one of you guys; right now my idea of organizing a Disney vacay is (a) booking the room, and (b) setting my alarm so I don't miss my flight.

Impressive, truly. You have inspired me to...uh...make a list. About some stuff. Like...uh....

I love it! Those of us that tend to be slightly anal need people like you to help us remember to relax and live a little! Now, I'll be ready to relax as soon as my plan is complete and I have finished putting together all my contingencies in the event of a delayed flight, rain, etc. (I think it is a disease, an addiction, illness, psychological disorder or something. Maybe we can start selling a twelve step recovery program. I've spent tons of money on everything else to plan this trip - guidebooks, planning program, all the Dollar Store "must haves" for your resort room, etc.)