Making your own Planning/Itinarary book??

[MemoryMakers2669]

Anyone make a little book (of sorts), that has all their information in it, for their trips?

I have a half inch thick three ring binder and clear sheet protectors and thought I would make up something for our upcoming trip, with dining info, resort info, schedule, directions, emergancy numbers, etc. But, I don't know where to begin. We are driving down!

Anyone do something like this and what do you put in it?

 

[rie'smom]

Yes,I do. I take all of the info I need from TGM,+directions, emergency numbers,etc. save it to Word,print it in index card size.Then I laminate the sheets and clip them together with a ring binder. It fits easily into my purse!

 

[mickeysaver]

Everyone that I know outside of the boards laughs at me, but yes, I have created laminated itineraries for our last 3 trips to WDW. I keep Word documents with tips, hours, touring info and such all through the planning phase. I take clip-art from around the net and decorate specific pages. I always include dining ADR's and a helpful snack location guide. I keep a page for everyday too. I take the finished pages to Kinko's for lamination and also get them spiral bound. It works like a charm and neatly fits into my backpack that I take to the park everyday. Maggie

 

[Kimi313]

I have a small 3 ring notebook I received when I was a Disney Club member and every year I print out pages, one for each day. We drive down so the first page is when we leave, where we will stop to eat lunch, a list of cities that we go through so DD can mark them off as we go, and hotel ressie number and PS number and time. Then a page for each day with what park we will be at, any ps we have and the number, then a list of attractions, and DD marks off everything we did that day before she goes to bed. This year I printed some planning pages off the websit www.mouseforless.com and then cut them down so they will fit in my notebook. Now that DD is older we are fighting over who will fill them out. They also have some word puzzles she wants to print out so we can do them on the way down. Yea I know it is a little over the top!

 

[disnut8]

I don't do this anymore since we go so often (moving closer can be a bad thing!) but when we lived in Nebraska, I always did a three ring binder. I printed out the menus of the table service restaurants where we had reservations. I printed out the FAQs of the resort where we were staying. I had my husband and then teenage son rank their preferences for what they wanted to do and then combined those choices with mine to come up with a "To Do List" and more importantly a "We Don't Have to Bother With List". I had the flight and rental car agreements in there. Any helpful hints from the boards I put into a Word document and had that printed out. Heck, I even printed out a packing sheet.

For your emergency information, though, I would suggest you put that on something that will fit into a wallet. And make one for each person of your party. If you do this in Word, you can use the template for a business card. Then print out, laminate and give one to each person. For smaller children, we pinned this inside the shorts. Never needed it but it was great knowing it was there.

There's nothing like too much information at Disney World!

 

[dianemb]

I get a cheap 3 X 5 index card book and write down all the info in it. It's small enough to keep in a fanny pack.

 

[JRawkSteady]

I actually have a notebook that I've used for all of my trips in the last few years. I record down the pre-planning stages. My thoughts and musings on how the trip may turn out. My itinerary, ADRs, hotel info, etc etc etc. Then during the trip I write down any CMs that stood out so I could write a letter to the company about them. Little anecdotes about cute things we may have seen. Then after the trip is over, I kind of write a post-trip report. It's a cool hardcover notebook with Mickey Mouse comics on the cover. It was discontinued because the cover constantly comes loose. But that's fine with me.

It's really cool to look back on planning for previous vacations as well.

 

[MemoryMakers2669]

Thanks for all the tips, I am going to use a few of them! The binder I have is a full size one, but I like the small one idea as well, so we can take it along in the backpack to the park! I think I might print out the counter service menus to add to it, so when we are ready for those, we will know where to go (the park maps just don't show the whole picture of the place IMO).

Thanks again and keep the ideas coming!

Oh, I did print out the I-95 guide from VA to FL with the Richmond, Jacksonville and then I-4 add ons. Have them stapled together by state, then in their own pocket so we can pull each state while we are in it.

 

[JennyW]

Where do you guys get things laminated? I want to do a bunch of cards and laminate them, but I don't know where to go for that.

thanks,
jenny

 

[Aisling]

I have done this for all our Disney trips, c/ping tons of info and tips into a Word document.
The problem is, I'm out of control! Between TGM, the Dis, the Disney website, and other sources, I have too much information to absorb. I don't carry by binder into the parks, so I continue to put it all together and hope to not be overwhelmed by it.
I have restaurant menus, show/parade/fireworks times, touring plans, hotel price calculations, tips for every resort (just in case we want to visit other resorts), the names of specific CMs that I want to meet, character greeting times and places, park maps, a 2 full pages of Photopass info, Disney Visa info/freebies, best spots for show viewing, downloaded photos and clip art, and OMG so much more.
I have it all chaptered, too: restaurants, hotels (and then get specific in subchapters with individual hotels), a chapter for each park, mousecellaneous, and I can't think of what else, but I have 65 pages so far.

I'm obsessed with collecting every drop of "important"info that I might need for my trip. One thing I don't have is a chapter on what to pack. I've actually never found anything on websites about packing that I didn't already know.

I'm planning on going through the pages and eliminating a lot of it. I hope! I have 2 months to go, and that's about 10 more pages worth. I'm a lost cause. If I weren't so obsessed with this, it would actually be a fun hobby.

 

[TigerCheer2009]

In ours we had:
-emergency numbers
-several copies of the itinerary (with park hours, meal times, ADR numbers, parade hours, and tips on it)
-park maps we had printed out
-lists of the attractions we wanted to see
-dining reservation #s
-and almost every single piece of paper the WDW Travel Co. sent us

 

[MDDisneyFan]

It's a wonderful book that gives all kinds of info. It also has blank pages for each day of your trip so that you can list all the pertinent info (ADR's,etc.).
It's a mid-size binder with an elastic strap that keeps it closed.

 

[kaelarad]

I also use the passporter. I also print out the trip planner from touring plans.com. It fits beautifully in the passporter. I also have a packing list that I have in word and print it for each trip.

 

[rie'smom]

Where do you guys get things laminated? I want to do a bunch of cards and laminate them, but I don't know where to go for that.

thanks,
jenny

Hi Jenny,
You can buy a laminating machine from Wal Mart for about 20.00 dollars or you can also buy packets of laminating sheets. Both of these require no heat. I found that it was cheaper to buy the machine. It comes with a roll of the laminating paper.

 

[MemoryMakers2669]

It's a wonderful book that gives all kinds of info. It also has blank pages for each day of your trip so that you can list all the pertinent info (ADR's,etc.).
It's a mid-size binder with an elastic strap that keeps it closed.

I have the passporter, just not my kind of planner really. I love reading it, but really have learned nothing at all from it that I didn't already know. Oh and my elastic strap broke on the second day, VERY upset over that!

 

[TikiGoddess]

I made the laminated itinerary last time and will do it again for my next trip, but will make it smaller. A couple of things I haven't seen listed that were helpful for us. I put the location of stroller rentals at each park as well as the location of first aid and lost persons. It eased my mind to know where to go. I also put which rides have FP and which cause motion sickness. Oh, and I like to put little reminders for where to look for stuff like Devine and the talking trashcans and things.

 

[jjarman]

When we went last year I found a site where you could fill in all your information for each day of your trip and print out the sheets in different sizes as you wanted. It had room on each sheet for what park for what part of the day, priority seatings, budgeting, etc. I hope someone can direct me to that site again.

 

[MemoryMakers2669]

jjarman: I think that is www.themouseforless.com. I just went there and copied the coolest pages just like that. Plus a matching journal page and a PS page. SO cute!

 

[mmeb144]

I used Excel to create a spreadsheet of park hours for all the parks. That way, if we wanted to hop, we'd know what was shakin' at the other locations. I created another spreadsheet with the ADRs and any special plans, like tours. So, 2 pieces of paper that folded neatly in fourths in my slingpack. I feel so inadequate next to everyone else's binder.

Marie

 

[MinnieM3]

Re: laminating the easiest way I have found (I teach and do this a lot) is to get clear contact paper. Works like a charm!