Over Planners Annonamous

[cruisecrasher]

I'm so loving this thread, but I am super OCD and the mis-spelling of the title drives me nuts.

 

[jahber]

I'm so loving this thread, but I am super OCD and the mis-spelling of the title drives me nuts.

Actually, I find that it helps me keep track of the thread...just in case another one opens up and I begin to wonder if I have posted on the new one yet! That might require a list...

 

[cruisecrasher]

Or at least a series of reminder post it notes.

 

[RatherBeWithMickey]

I'm so loving this thread, but I am super OCD and the mis-spelling of the title drives me nuts.

Are we twins that were separated at birth??? Of course, now having written that, I'm going to freak out every time I post something in case I goof up myself, lol.

 

[jahber]

Or at least a series of reminder post it notes.

Ok, let me see what colors I have, so I can have a different color for each thread. Just in case...

 

[cruisecrasher]

Ok, let me see what colors I have, so I can have a different color for each thread. Just in case...

I guess I'll have to go by Office Max...
Drat!

Love that store...and school supplies in general.

 

[Ajojo]

OMG! I cannot believe that I found this thread! I thought I was the only one who overplans. Earlier this year, I bought a last minute (2 weeks out) solo cruise in the Med on RCI. 4 days before I left, my house was burglarized and everything (except passport&Euros) was stolen - even clothes & shoes. I suffered major withdrawls on that trip just because I felt like I did not have time to plan and was unprepared!!

My family just booked the Western out of Galveston - so let the planning begin.

-I plan what outfits I will take with me and what tops go with bottoms so I can mix and match if I do not get to do laundry. I plan what I will wear on the shore excursions, inluding a back up outfit.
-I always (no matter what) have a plan B, C, or D for my days (morning and night) such as having a backup plan if it rains
-I always plan what snacks I will take with me on the plane both coming and going.
-I plan on what is going in my backpack on the plane, daypack on shore excursions, bag that I carry on the ship, money bag, and the bag for liquid to go through the plane security
-I keep a travel bag stocked with toiletries and dramamine for last minute trips and never touch these items when I am at home
-I keep a 2nd mini-travel bag ready for last minute trips that is a general travel bag (contains travel duct tape, 1st aid pack, flashlight)
-I read and research shore excursion reviews and disboards like crazy
-When I travel to Europe, I print out foreign language phrases that I may need and start to memorize these several weeks before I go
-I plan on what is on my iPod and Nook
-I plan where there may be bathroom stops when doing the ports on my own
-When on Disney Med, I did my own trip to the Chagall museum in Nice. I printed out the way to walk there from the train station using a common map program so I wouldnt get lost
-Best tip, when planning for a large group in Disney Alaska I bought small clear plastic folders for everyone with their travel documents. This was very helpful to hold your passport and papers when travelling.

Although I do plan like crazy, once I am on board the ship I do relax and go with the flow. Weird, huh?

 

[ngaire01]

What a relief to find this thread. Now I realise that making a 30 day laminated countdown calendar (featuring a disney character image for each day until departure for our next DCL/WDW trip) is not weird but just a way of using creative skills to measure time.

 

[jdemwe]

Finally a group that understands me! The guys at work think I am insane for the planning I do (not just for vacations but everything).

I, of course, compile spreadsheets for everything. I have moved from a printed binder into the 21st century with the most amazing device ever… the iPad. And best of all I can sync it with my phone, my wife’s phone, and my wife’s iPad so we both have copies (my kids are still way to little to be included in my craziness). As a side note for any technology weary planners; I also print out two sets and include on in my carry one and one in my checked bags.

I then carry the iPad as if it was a religious document with us everywhere. My wife refers to this as “the clipboard of fun” <------ please someone get this reference

I do a lot of the things you all have already mentioned, but one thing I did not see is maps. Whenever I go to a new city I always study a map beforehand so I know generally where I am and where I am going. I do the same thing with new cruise ships (or theme parks as well) that I am going on. I look over deck plans constantly so I know where will be and where things are. I do not understand people who get onto a ship and have no idea where anything is. It would drive me insane!

 

[cruisecrasher]

Finally a group that understands me! The guys at work think I am insane for the planning I do (not just for vacations but everything).

I, of course, compile spreadsheets for everything. I have moved from a printed binder into the 21st century with the most amazing device ever… the iPad. And best of all I can sync it with my phone, my wife’s phone, and my wife’s iPad so we both have copies (my kids are still way to little to be included in my craziness). As a side note for any technology weary planners; I also print out two sets and include on in my carry one and one in my checked bags.

I then carry the iPad as if it was a religious document with us everywhere. My wife refers to this as “the clipboard of fun” <------ please someone get this reference

I do a lot of the things you all have already mentioned, but one thing I did not see is maps. Whenever I go to a new city I always study a map beforehand so I know generally where I am and where I am going. I do the same thing with new cruise ships (or theme parks as well) that I am going on. I look over deck plans constantly so I know where will be and where things are. I do not understand people who get onto a ship and have no idea where anything is. It would drive me insane!

I do the map thing as well, and first thing once I got onboard the first time, I walked the whole ship until I knew where everything was.
THEN I could sit down and relax.

 

[Venita Jones]

“the clipboard of fun”

Full House????

 

[jdemwe]

“the clipboard of fun”

Full House????

Yes. I am glad someone else knew this; we use the reference a lot and I am suprised more people do not know it.

 

[kventventx]

I have food allergies and it drives my DH crazy when I can't find a place to eat at right away when we travel so this has led to my over planning compulsion. I know at every port of call where we can eat, what's to see and the best way to get there. If we are eating all meals on the ship that's great but we are going to the Med for 12 nights and it will be a port driven cruise so I have to plan and explore. Learning new languages is also a challenge. Because it could be fatal if I can't relay what I need. We are going to travel around London for a week prior to the cruise so I get to plan, and plan some more. Glad I'm in good company.

 

[rubberbootbunny]

Hi.
I have already strated my packing list for the next cruise!

 

[ravensilverlight]

Finally! A thread for me!

Hello, fellow overplanners.

I can't express (at the moment, but give me time to plan how and I'm sure I can do it) how nice it is to see that I am NOT the "only person in the world", as my family SWEARS, who likes to plan for MONTHS so I can relax for days.

I am taking my mother on her first ever cruise this December. DH and I leave in 44 days for our Disneyland stay before it; mom and her DBF leave in 46. Daily I think of another detail to discuss with them, and I have the MASTER LIST of information (general information, day by day reservation/confirmation numbers, addresses and phone numbers of where we will be and how we can be reached while there, key sights and schedules of activities or events that are available that day) started but not finished. I am SO frustrated that I can't finish it because my (much more easygoing) mom hasn't made her hotel reservation for the night before the cruise yet! (HOW can one be going on a trip in 6 weeks and NOT have made a hotel reservation? I don't CARE that there are hundreds of hotels. You just can't DO that!!!)

We took my sister and BIL on a land and sea combo. I not only sent them the MASTER LIST three months early, but for the six months prior to our departure, they each got (with their approval) a DAILY text message countdown accompanied by a Disney fact of the day (ex., 75 days - The average visitor to Walt Disney World walks 7 miles a day!).

For me, "over" planning (because, really, it's NOT overboard, and I DON'T have a problem, I swear) serves two purposes:
1) The anticipation is part of the fun, and knowing exactly what I'll be seeing and doing builds the anticipation and
2) I know I can relax when we actually leave on the trip because I have EVERYTHING I need, it's been checked and double checked, and the only "job" I have now is to have fun!!!

 

[perfectmatch300]

I am definitely in the right place here! I am adding to my list to show this thread to DH so he will see that I'm actually an amateur compared to some of you!
I think I may need to learn to do powerpoint presentations!
I do not understand how some people can just turn all their planning over to a TA. Sorry to any TAs out there, but to me that would spoil all my fun!
I love the fact that we never end up looking at each other and saying "What do you want to do now?" or hearing the reply "I don't know. What do you want to do?" Which is exactly what seems to happen when I don't do all my usual overplanning.

 

[Ajojo]

Hmmmm....I hadnt thought about sending a daily Disney text out to my travel companions.

 

[candygirl83]

I'm for sure an over planner. I always plan a year out. I already have trips planned for next year and 2014. My kids have their own bags and packing list. And I do TONS of research on every event there is to offer.

 

[ravensilverlight]

Hmmmm....I hadnt thought about sending a daily Disney text out to my travel companions.

I asked first!!!

I thought it might get hard to think of Disney trivia, but...nope. I found SO many sources...I think they both wanted to kill me by the time the trip rolled around!!!

 

[chemnerd09]

Why haven't I found this thread before? I thought I was the only one to plan/research everything to death. My father says its because I'm a scientist, but I'm blaming my mom since she always has a WDW trip planned. We start planning the next one before we even leave WDW. I have started a master sheet for our land/sea vacation that isn't happening until Jan 2015. It has tentative dates, prices from other cruises occurring in the same month different year, which staterooms to shoot for, as well as activities to do on the ship and at Castaway Cay. I'm driving my parents nuts with all the information I'm putting together and asking what they want to do. These boards have really helped me fill in some of the gaps since we have never done a cruise before. I too make sure the house is clean before leaving, especially the towels and sheets. I love coming home to a clean bed.