How do you plan your vactions?

[SLEEPING BELLE]

'Kay, i'm wondering what you do when your sitting infront of the computer at mid-night so excited about disney you feel like you could do jumping jacks when all you want to do is sleep Okay, so i guess what i'm getting at is, when planning your vacation do you follow any of these patterns?

a. start off small, and build up then start decending in amount of stuff planed
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b. excitement and down time all the way through

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c. We don't plan we just go with the flow


d. we start out excitment, go down, then go back up!
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e.Other! (please show me)

There are so many ways at looking at disney vactions. I want to know what yours are!!!!

 

[sueh]

I am a D type person

Right now I am at a high point. Yesterday we went out for dinner and we were talking about the trip. Only 68 days to go. Everyone is getting very excited.
I already have my Itinerary planned and my trip is ALL paid for. Now just waiting for the paperwork stuff! oh yeah & counting down!

 

[pruesmom]

4 months, 4 days and counting! I'm paid in full already but usually by this time I have an itinerary. I'm having trouble getting the dining we usually enjoy and I don't have a thing planned. We are staying at AKL this time so I've been very excited to stay somewhere new but I just can't get in gear.

 

[ToddyLu]

I am sooo excited to see so many planners. I know I am not crazy now. We are going in Decemember, so I purchased my MVMCP tickets yesterday and booked dinner at Whispering Canyon. Never have eaten there.
So I guess you could say my excel spreadsheet already has EMH and a rough itinerary for ADRs. Everything paid for since April. Didn't know about this site until this past weekend and I am addicted. My DH just called and asked me if I had blogged anything yet. I am a task person and he is a free spirit, bless his heart. Love charting a plan.
I sort of create my little fantasy world where in my head I do the parks and rides.....I am beginning to drift off......wondering if we will get good nighttime pics at AK this year, that Wedneday night the park stays open to 9....

 

[ToddyLu]

When I am not thinking WDW I am usually at my other form of crack.....the Vera Bradley website and E bags with Vera Bradley.

 

[J&J'sMOM]

ONLY 63 Days!!! I have been ready for awhile, but now I'm second guessing all of our ADR's-- I need to just stop, relax and remember that this is part of the fun! (All the planning)

 

[thebigk]

134 days out
Trip was booked in Feb & airline tickets purchased
Itinerary pretty much done in April
All ADR's made in May
Changed resort res in June (From CSR to POR)
Now kinda making a souvenir list of what we want to look for.
So I guess we're D type people. All worked up & looking at every pic and menu & tip we can find everyday....but slowly winding down. Then when we get close to the trip we'll be fired up again!

 

[Melanie98]

Only 5 days left until we leave for our first trip to Disney!
I have planned and planned and planned. Then I replanned a few things after that! When we first booked the trip I planned pretty hard core for the first couple of months, then I had to put Disney on the back-burner for a month or so to plan our wedding. Now that the wedding is over I have been working on Disney stuff every day. I have just about packed everything and I'll be shipping two boxes of "gifts from Mickey" to the resort this afternoon. The kids are receiving their final package from Mickey at home today, so I am sure they will be even more excited when they really realize that we are leaving very soon. I have a few things left to plan for our cruise (which is right in the middle of our Disney stay), and I will take care of that today or tomorrow. Yes, I am getting a little high from all of this, but I will definitely be out of control when it is actually time to leave. We are going to spend 10 days spoiling our family!

 

[justplaingoofy]

When I am not thinking WDW I am usually at my other form of crack.....the Vera Bradley website and E bags with Vera Bradley.

oh my god..... this is me
Fedex & ups have been here all last week...
and coming 2 more times this week

Atleast this is keeping me away from Bath & bodyworks (which I have a closet full of) and Yankee Candle (which I have about 30, and a ton put aside for gifts )

 

[noahdove]

We have 58 days and I have one suitcase packed with the "surprise tee shirts, invitations, id bracelets" and my bag of needed things: glow sticks, ponchos and stuff like that..I just need to redo my binder and put things where they are needed. I have writtened down all the stuff that I had on sticky's but, now I just need to put them in order...I am soooo excited, maybe more so because the kids have no idea what I have planned for them

 

[luvtovisitthemouse]

only 24 days for us!!!
well i guess id have to say that my mom is the expert disney vacation planner. this will be my 9th time there, and im only 16! my mom has always said planning for DW is almost as fun as being there. and this time i am really getting a chance to see what she means! weve been planning this trip sense about last september. it all starts with the buildup of when are we going? whos going to go with us? where are we going to stay? just imagining what your trip is going to be like makes you so excited that you can hardly tear yourself away from all of the disney websites! this year, the trip is going to be extra special! i get to bring my best friend along with me and its kind of like i am going for the first time. im going to be able to experience things in a whole new way! being able to walk around DW with just your best friend gives you a feeling of unbearable excitement. DW is just so safe and you never have a doubt in your mind that your going to run into trouble. anyways, what im trying to get at is that most people start of filled with excitement! than after a few months of planning, you kind of push it in the back of your mind. but the month before you leave is always the most exciting part for me! lol i mean, already have all my stuff pretty much ready to be packed! all i can say is have fun planning your trip, dont try to cram too much into one day. it can be exhausting and sometimes overwhelming. its a vacation! relax and enjoy!

 

[Kim1964]

60 days to go.

-Booked in September, 2007
-Airfare purchased in November, 2007
-Started binder in September, 2007
-Used TourGuideMike to plan itinerary
-Told kids about trip February 1 and got input on ADRs
-Booked ADRs 180 days out
-Booked more ADRs when DH decided he wanted a couple more
-Booked rental car sometime in March when Dollar had a pretty good deal out
-Did the "Double Digit Dance" at Day 99, and now DD#2 wants to do it every day

Now I'm just waiting. I have my packing lists saved as a Word document. I've started a shopping list for when we get to FL (and some stuff will be purchased on sale ahead of time by my baby sister, who lives down there). We're going to save on suitcase space and buy toiletries and breakfast foods for the room when we get there, in non-tourist stores so the prices won't be bad.

I started off in high excitement and secrecy since we didn't tell the kids for months. Then after ADRs were made I relaxed and now I'm pretty much on an even keel. Once we get into July and I can say we're going next month, I'm sure the excitement level will jump again. (Although I just got a thrill with the thought that 2 months from RIGHT NOW we'll be heading to WDW from my sister's house to check into POFQ...and it will be my birthday!).

 

[Kurby]

i'm e

we had our entire trip planned before we even made reservations at our home resort.

since we drive down we need to know where we are stopping. and we look for different places to heat - we can eat at Jack's here we don't need to find one on the road.

we also know we have to book adr's 190 days out so we start looking at what parks we want to do on what days and where we would like to eat - again we like to try things at least one day in each park we haven't done yet.

and as long as we're looking at what park on what day and what restaurant for dinner we might as well look at the menu's too

so we now - we are planning a 17 day stay.

we have booked our resort, and know what park on each day. we're just waiting for the 190 days to book our adr's and we're off.

oh and just because we "picked" out our dinner now doesn't mean we can't change our mind i was looking to see if the ddp or dddp was worth it so we wrote down what would would likely eat and the cost then i could work out the cost and if it was worth it.

so i'm E - obsessive planner - but for us - it's part of the fun and get's us excited about our trip.

 

[Lamandpercy]

I'm E too.

We have to book around DH's work schedule so that is the first thing we need to sort out.

1. Organise what dates we have available to go.
2. Book the DVC Home resort (SSR).
3. Sort out flights from UK and transfers if necessary.
4. Change DVC to other resorts day by day as 7 month windows open.
5. Make spreadsheet with resorts, wanted ADRs, EMH on.
6. Book ADRs. (See the list on my pre TR for August 2008).
7. Add ADRs to final spreadsheet, book ME.
8. Start to get excited.
9. Double digit dance
10. Drive friends and family mad with Disneybabble.
11. Watch daily videos of WDW on youtube.
12. Write a list of what we need to take.
13. Start buying stuff from list.
14. Go crazy when ME luggage tags arrive
15. Single digit dance.
16. DH puts all tickets, passports etc into his wallet folder.
17. Take cat to grandmas
18. Begin hourly countdown and sleepless nights.
19. Usually about 10 hours before we leave I am to be found washing and ironing necessary clothes. Pack suitcases.
20. Go to airport wearing Disney t shirt and ears.
21. Sit on plane terrified for 8 hours
22. Go crazy again when we see the ME lady.
23. Who's the first to spot any WDW landlark?
24. Arrive and soak up the magic.