My new friend in planning....index cards

[Bunchkin]

Our Christmas trip is now 19 days away!! Yippeeee!!

I've been planning for what seems like eons!!
And like most of us have come to the conclusion that I have collected a ton of info.
Not only info. from here but from various sites and guide books.

My goal was to collect all this info. and NOT forget it and sort it all out!!!

So this is what I came up with as a solution:

I took 5x8 lined index cards of varying colors. On the top of each card I listed the park name (example: Magic Kingdom). Then I broke down the park by 'lands' and listed all the attractions/rides in those areas we want to see or do.
Then for the attractions/rides that have Fast Pass I wrote a FP next to it and circled the FP.
Attractions/rides that my DD cannot go on due to age or height, I put her initial with the internation NO sign over it.
I also put where to meet characters and to remember to watch the parades and other cool things to look for.
On the back of each index card I listed the restaurants and counter service we would be interested in going to and even listed a few items on the menu so we can decide in advance. This was after going over all the menus at http://www.allearsnet.com, click on dining and then menus.

Then......I laminated them, front and back!!!!
I did this for each park, including DTD. And I have a index card that lists the early entry parks and their days along with operating hours for each park.
And poof, , my very own indistructable guide to WDW.

Now that I'm through I don't know what to do about my OCD for planning that still exists.

 

[shaws2003]

What a great idea. I was trying to come up with something to organize the tons of info I have found ( mainly on this site) and organize it for quick reference. Have a wonderful trip.

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

Sounds like a great plan! I LOVE index cards for trip planning! Anytime I find a good tip or note while I'm on the boards or whatever, I jot it down on an index card. I keep them all in a box, seperated by dividers for each park/resort/DCL/etc. Makes life much easier!

 

[CamColt]

I had to LOL at your post. I too make index cards, but I make them by each visit to each park. For example is we are going to MK on Thursday morning I make a card for that particular visit and everything I want to get done then. I will make another card for our Friday morning visit and another for our Monday evening visit. All this is taken from my original Must Do & Maybe lists. As we do the attractions I number them so I will remember exactly what we did(our video helps too) for our trip report.
But I will say I dont go so far as to laminate them...but you have me thinking now.

 

[pjlla]

I have not yet determined how I will make a "carry-around" guide for our trip. But I am determined that I will not forget all of the great tips, etc that I have read and learned that will help make our trip special. But index cards sound perfect. And I also will be making a special "guide" for each day in the park. If it was all one book I would have to carry the whole thing with us every day. But whatever I make has to be small and easy to carry. My DH already is rolling his eyes when I starting talking "Disney" and he thinks I am much to obsessive and "plan happy" about this trip. He's afraid I am going to stress everyone if things don't go according to "plan". I'm trying to make him understand that we will have a much better trip and be able to see more, if we at least have a loose plan for each day. I swear he would go with no plan, no itinerary, no PS for anything and just wing it!! (Come to think of it, that is what we did for our honeymoon!) But I can't stand stopping every twenty minutes to consult the map and decide what to do next... WHAT A WASTE OF TIME!

 

[pjlla]

I have not yet determined how I will make a "carry-around" guide for our trip. But I am determined that I will not forget all of the great tips, etc that I have read and learned that will help make our trip special. But index cards sound perfect. And I also will be making a special "guide" for each day in the park. If it was all one book I would have to carry the whole thing with us every day. But whatever I make has to be small and easy to carry. My DH already is rolling his eyes when I starting talking "Disney" and he thinks I am much too obsessive and "plan happy" about this trip. He's afraid I am going to stress everyone if things don't go according to "plan". I'm trying to make him understand that we will have a much better trip and be able to see more, if we at least have a loose plan for each day. I swear he would go with no plan, no itinerary, no PS for anything and just wing it!! (Come to think of it, that is what we did for our honeymoon!) But I can't stand stopping every twenty minutes to consult the map and decide what to do next... WHAT A WASTE OF TIME! SO we will have a loose plan, but will be open to a change in the "plan" if need be... Hope that will keep everyone happy!!

 

[mikemelita]

Boy, are you folks due to go out and buy a PDA. They are so cheap now, and the info you can store is amazing!
I have 50+ websites, ALL park info, times, events, maps, menus, phone numbers, all our reservations and confirmation #s, even a page that lists "stuff we haven't done". All in one machine that you can carry everywhere. My PDA is my 'Best Friend" at WDW now.

 

[pjlla]

as I am a rather "low-tech" person.... but maybe I should ask for one for Christmas!!....P

 

[Julia M]

What I loved best about my PDA at WDW was keeping all the menus on it. When we were ready for lunch, we'd look at the map, find a couple of close places and I'd tell about what was at each place. Sometimes, I'd run to one place, and dh the other (we had 8 people in our group) and we'd meet at the location with the best seating. Worked great for us!