How do you bring your itinerary, maps?

[Sharpdisney]

Hi all - all my ressie's and FP+ are made. We are ready to go in 57 days! I am looking for some good ideas for how I can easily bring my itinerary and plans into the park with me each day. We will only be in one park a day, sometimes with or without an afternoon break.

I am thinking of a way to make a small map (like the one that prints with my touringplan.com plan, so that it has number 1, 2, etc. to help guide me in order). I also want a way to reference my FP+ and ADRs, and in general my whole touring plan.

I guess all of this can easily be found on my phone, but if I have that open all day, my battery might go caput. Plus I like a little paper in my hand, I guess I'm old fashioned.

What have others used that works well? Or is my phone the way to go? Thanks!

 

[LSUfan4444]

I do screen shots, then save the images in my smart phone:

 

[BrianL]

I print out a card and laminate (i.e. cover in clear packing tape) and keep it in my wallet. It can be bi-fold or tri-fold depending on length of trip.

I haven't needed maps in a long time.

 

[Sharpdisney]

Thanks these are nice ideas. I will likely need a cheat map since it is our first time there. I'm the band leader and do not want to be responsible for leading my group in circles!!!

 

[BrianL]

Thanks these are nice ideas. I will likely need a cheat map since it is our first time there. I'm the band leader and do not want to be responsible for leading my group in circles!!!

I think you can still get "customized" park maps from Disney that show points of interest that you specify. I would spend some time using Google maps too, looking at the areas, including your resort to get an idea of where bus stops are and such (they're pretty easy to spot).

 

[minnie mum]

While DH will bring his smart phone into the parks, I refuse to bring mine. I go the old fashioned route, with a small printed, laminated card for each day. Each has the park touring plan, fps, ADRs, and any other pertinent info on it. I just use the park maps that are available in the resorts or parks. Not for the attraction locations- for the nearest bathrooms.

ETA: regarding the customized maps. A few days ago there was a thread reporting that these had now been discontinued.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I have a spread sheet template I've used for years. I used to just print it, but now I also email it to myself. Mostly I now just use the email I send to myself. with the Disney app as back up.

I make a fuller spread sheet with park hours for all parks, emh, ADR's, confirmation #'s, etc. I also made a smaller cheat sheet version with just ADR's (and now FP+ tiems), and minimal info for the park we planned to visit each day. (MK, 9am-10pm, EMH to 1am, "Crytal Pal @7:15pm). I also use color coding: AM EMH is red, PM EM is BLUE, Fantasmic! time is green (Just F! @9pm), Wishes time is pink Mine looks a bit like LSUfan444's, but mine is a bit more condensed. Like for hours I have 9am-9pm, to11pm I know the blue =pm emh. then I have a block for 'plan" which says like MK or MK/HS for split days. ThenI have one block for listing FP+ and ADR. There too I abbreviate: P Pan, Splash. With a first tie group, you probably should spell it out a little more than I do, but color coding really helps my extended family.

Mostly, my family used the smaller cheat sheet as back up to keep track of ADR times (I'd now add FP plus to that list), so that's all we carry. The bigger one, we use in the hotel room. Each adult is responsible for reviewing it each am to memorize which park that day, and where/when of our dinner ADR. Mostly now I just use the email, with the paper as backup in my wallet. Other confirmation numbers I've rarely needed once we arrive. OH the BIG exception there is that you NEED your airline confirmation to get your return flight boarding passes!!!!! Remember too - if you keep the check luggage stickers on your bags- and your return conf #'s are the same, the number is on that tag. Otherwise we learned the hard way, it can be time consuming to look up your confirmation #'s on some airlines. Also keep a copy of your park ticket numbers (If not linked to WDW electronically) and you are using plastic cards.

Oh, I also find my phone amazingly useful for keeping track of all sorts of other details! Take a photo of all your ticket numbers. Also where you parked, what each child is wearing each morning (in case they get lost), and any other info sheets you might need. (In the event of a driving accident taking a photo of the person's ID is much faster than writing all their information.)

If you need maps, they are still available in glossy paper form all over WDW. You may want to make your own before you go, but they are easy to find if someone needs to replace.It would also be wise to sorta memorize the layout a bit before you go. Not 100%, but more the shape of each park. HS is especially confusing, but the rest are pretty easy.

I don't need the Disney app, and it can be slow, but that's another way to quickly navigate.

Driving around WDW, even as experienced as I am- we still use our in phone GPS.

I don't find the battery life to be too much of a problem. Make sure you have plenty of memory on your phone.

If your battery is not lasting long enough, it might be time to replace it. Over the life of my last phone, I replaced the battery three times! It made a huge difference! A new battery is $30 or less- and that's if you go through your carrier's store, less if you can find a discount phone battery store, or buy one online.

If you have teens, they will probably be rather savvy with the new Disney App, or keeping track of stuff electronically. While you should stay in charge, no doubt, one of your teens would be happy to help out by being the rapid response person.

 

[POOHsie]

I created a small book with a publishing program, laminated it, and fastened it in the corner. There was a cover, back cover, and a page for each day of our trip. Each page had our current resort, theme park hours & EMH, FP+ info, and Disney dining. Below is the cover page and day 4 at Epcot.

 

[niffer5150]

my master spreadsheet stays in the planner in the room, i take a 3x5 index card premade with the days happenings on it with me to the park. i also have printed confirmations of all reservations just incase i need paperwork. i just grab maps at the gate. they end up later in our scrapbox.

 

[JZCubed]

my master spreadsheet stays in the planner in the room, i take a 3x5 index card premade with the days happenings on it with me to the park. i also have printed confirmations of all reservations just incase i need paperwork. i just grab maps at the gate. they end up later in our scrapbox.

Same here.

I bring along two copies of my customized spreadsheet and leave it in the hotel room.

I jot down my necessary info. for the day (i.e., FP+ times, various show times, etc.) on a plain old-fashioned index card.

I refuse to bring my smart phone since I would be looking at data all day long. My wife carries her phone with all ADR's confirmations should we need them.

Fortunately, we no longer require maps.

 

[ReluctantDisaholic]

We try to carry as little as possible.

I do my spreadsheet that has the park days, ADRs, FP+, etc - I make it fit on just over a half of a regular sheet of paper. I print a few copies and just carry one folded up in my pocket.

We don't use maps anymore.

 

[agavegirl1]

Fits on a half sheet of paper. I used to laminate them but my new water resistant bag made it unnecessary. The information is an abreviation of my touring plans customized plans which are accessible on my phone if I need more detail or to modify.

 

[conandrob240]

Too bad MDE didn't have a nice schedule feature built in so we could just have everything in one place.

 

[pigletgirl]

I make a note in MDE with a general idea of our plan for each day.

 

[ryckpen]

I purchased a pocket photo album from the dollar store that holds index cards. I have written in all our ressie #s, resort, adrs, and memory maker then printed out cheat sheet maps with all our fast past+ locations and times. I wrote out a card for all the attractions I don't want to miss and all the QS and Snack locations. Easier to check then digging out the cell phone and water proof.

 

[North of Mouse]

Fits on a half sheet of paper. I used to laminate them but my new water resistant bag made it unnecessary. The information is an abreviation of my touring plans customized plans which are accessible on my phone if I need more detail or to modify.

Now, this would drive me slap dab crazy!! We're on vacation, for goodness sakes! Everything is in my head except for a few jots on paper for FP and if I have a restaurant ressie time!

Anything else important needs to be checked, can take a quick look on our smart phones - don't need maps.

 

[ruthies12]

I print Josh's maps from easywdw.com On our last trip we had several different family members coming and I had FP+ for some individually and some for the group together. I printed several copies of each map and circled the location of each ADR and FP+ and wrote the time next to it so they could all find their way around easily. Everybody was able to just fold up the paper and stick it in their pocket, worked great.

Course then my sister took great pleasure in pretending she left her map in the room each day just to torture me..............

 

[mickeyluv'r]

The funny thing is, I make the sheet, but barely use it while we are on vacation.

Once a day in the room- I double check our ADR(if any), FP+ times, and closing time of the day's park. That's about it.

Ooh, one thing that I think is important- each morning check the weather report. If it is going to rain, it is helpful to know an approximate time, also how to dress for cold or high wind. I used to watch the Weather channel, but now it is much faster to use my phone.


I'm not sure I get why some DISers resist using their phone so much. I find it saves us a bunch of time, and make us much more efficient. Like being able to take a picture of our parking location, or getting a text when our room is ready. If we split up, having a phone makes it much easier to coordinate meeting up, or taking care of details. Like one time I went ahead to take care of check in, but forgot to grab the magicbands. Instead of making two trips, I called DH and reminded him to bring them after he parked.

 

[ibela]

I just use the phone calendar with our ADR times and reservation numbers and FP+ times. Set a reminder (like that's necessary ).

 

[Frozen2014]

I created a spreadsheet for each day that listed our touring plan with FP highlighted (times and attractions for each). That way...the FP would stand our and the others were easiwer to change but was a general guide.

As a spreadsheet, it was easy to print out in a compat way.

I also printed out the maps shown on Easy WDW as I liked the pictorial view. The ones handed out at the park were harder to follow as you had to match the number with the attraction in the legend.