Show me your "schedule" please

[jm106]

So far this is what I have but plan to put more info into spread sheet. I dont do hoppers
Sunday- arrive 10:35 am. Magical Express to CBR
Magic Kingdom- lunch to?? (pm X magic Hrs)
CS meals X2 (lunch/ dinner)
Electric Light parade 9pm

Monday Epcot- 9 am-9 pm
CS lunch
Mid Day Break/pool
5:30 San Angel ADR Confirmation #
Illuminations 9 pm

Tuesday Day Off
Pool/resort
CS lunch @ CBR
Monorail ride
Ohana 5:20 pm conf#
Down Town Disney

Wednesday DHS 8 am (emh)- 7 pm
Hollywood and Vine 9:50 am buffet
Pizza Planet late lunch/early dinner
3 pm Pixar Pals Parade
Return to resort-pool, nap
DTD?

Thursday AK- 9 am- 6pm
Breakfast 8:20 am Tusker House conf #
3:45 Jammin Jungle parade
Leave AK 5:30
Dinner AKL- Boma 6:50 pm conf#
Swim

Friday Magic Kingdom 9 am-10 pm
midday break
Dinner Whispering Canyon Café 5 pm (boat ride)
Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert part 9pm ADR
Wishes 10 pm

 

[LittleKittyMarie]

I also like to make a very basic timetable in excel for our trips. Here's the plan for our upcoming trip:

Friday:
Arrive, MK, 1900 Park Fare (Dinner)

Saturday:
DHS, Backlot Express (Lunch)
Boardwalk, Kouzzina (Dinner)

Sunday:
EPCOT, San Angel (Lunch)
Biergarten (Dinner)

Monday:
AK, Flame Tree BBQ (Lunch)
Jiko (Dinner), DTD

Tuesday:
EPCOT, CS Lunch TBD
Marrakesh (Dinner)

Wednesday:
Harry Potter World

Thursday:
MK/Keys to the Kingdom tour
Crystal Palace (Dinner)

Friday:
CS Breakfast TBD, Leave

 

[avassar]

My schedule is in an excel spreadsheet also (which I have in Google Docs but can't post because I don't have a high enough post count yet, better get on that! ). It's pretty intense, but I like having the parade times, park hours, and crowd levels as well as ADR's and a basic game plan for the day. This is only my second time at WDW, first time planning the trip, so I'm perhaps going a little overboard, but it's nice to see I'm not alone.

 

[PixieMama]

I've never made a spreadsheet for our WDW trips, but I do make meticulous notes and keep it all in a small notebook.

I'm a planner (or an OVER-planner, depending on which family member you ask!)... I personally don't see how anyone can vacation (and I use that term loosely) at WDW just flying by the seat of their pants!

The way I look at it is, if I'm going to have any sit-down meals then I will need to make an ADR. Which means I need to figure out what park I need to be at for said ADR (especially if you don't have the park hopper option). And I think there needs to be some sort of plan in mind for touring the parks, otherwise I just don't see how one would get everything done (or at least the "must see" items)

Here's how I've tackled planning for our trips:

First, decide what TS places we'd like to eat
Decide on whether to park hop or not
Look at crowd calendars to determine what parks are best to visit each day
Place the meals accordingly

As for touring the parks, I get everyone's "must see" attractions and figure out the best way to see/do everything. Example, for DHS: I know the 1st thing we'll do is head to TSM... ride, then get FPs for later. Then it'll be off to ToT and RnRC. Voyage of the Little Mermaid if there's a show time... possibly The Great Movie Ride before lunch. ADR for lunch at Sci-Fi Dine-In. After lunch we'll have our FPs for TSM to use, and then it'll be whatever we want to do for the rest of the day, as our "must see" items will (hopefully) be done!

My family thinks I'm nuts to plan like this... but I live for details! I HAVE to know the who/what/when/why/where, LOL! And that's not to say that my plan is written in stone... I do understand things come up. It may be that while we're heading to a ride, we see a character and decide to stop for pics/autographs. If we miss something on our "plan", we just try to work it in as best we can!

 

[Alesia]

Mine is a little more detailed than most - you can see it here. I'm not a big fan of spreadsheets, so I turned mine into a little book (the same size as those little two year planners you can keep in your purse.) I also added tips for each park, confirmation numbers, important phone numbers, etc.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

We pick our park days and then set our ADRs to that. If for some reason we can't get the ADR that we want, or have to switch things up, we'll swap days. For example, last September we were going to go MK, EP, AK, rest/MK, EP, MK. Park hours changed and indicated that we needed to swap our first two days (thanks to an additional MNSSHP being added on our arrival day).

So our schedule ended up being:
Saturday - EP + Akershus and Coral Reef
Sunday - MK + Chef Mickey's
Monday - AK + Boma then DHS (for me only)
Tuesday - rest/MNSSHP + CS meals all day
Wednesday - EP + Le Cellier
Thursday - MK + Crystal Palace

We're trying to do a similar set up this time around. We've not made our ressies yet (for December) but here is our ideal set up:
Sunday - EP + San Angel
Monday - AK + CS
Tuesday - EP + Teppan Edo
Wednesday - MK + O'hana then DTD
Thursday - DHS + Sci-Fi
Friday - MK + The Wave
Saturday - EP + CS

We are staying at BWI this time, and it's just adults, but you can see where we are going with our days!

HTH!

 

[LoriABil]

I use a spreadsheet as well. I have one "weekly view" which shows which park, which days with hours, EMH, etc. Then I have one for a daily schedule where I have hourly(-ish) itinerary, reservation numbers, and so on. It is color coded, so it all looks very pretty when printed out.

 

[seadd67]

This Is my frist Draft,the ADR's are pretty much lock, the park schedule is still up in the air. Like everything we will change here and there and then get down there and throw it all out the window and wing it. Its fun to plan but, we never feel tie to it just go with what feels at the moment. So here is my frist,

Tues the 20th, "a MNSSHP night"
Start at HS and then over to epcot
Lunch: Rose and crown @ 12pm
back to the room to check in, pool time
and then back to HS and then to MK for MNSSHP
Dinner: Crystal Palace@ 6:05pm
Wenseday: the 21st
Start out at AK
Brea: Tusker house,Donalds Breakfast@ 8:35am
Lunch: yak and yeti@ 2pm
after lunch back to the room for pool time
over to HS untill 8:30 and then
Dinnier: Hoop-de-do@ 9;30pm
Thursday: the 22nd
Golf that morining,untill about 11:00/11:30
Head out to EPCOT and lunch at;
Lunch La cellar@ 1:05pm
at about 5pm head over to HS
Dinner Brown Derby@ 7pm
after Fantasmic Taxi to DTD for
late night apptizers at Planet hollywood(15.00 voucher)
back to the room for pool time.
(after Fantasmic show)
Friday: the 23rd, "a MNSSHP night"
Golf that morining,untill about 11:00/11:30am
over to Epcot for lunh at:
Lunch#1 Cafe de france@ 1pm
after lunch Taxi to Orlando
and then back to epcot for lunch#2
lunch#2 San Angel@ 3:30pm
after lunch head back to POR for pool time
then off to MK for MNSSHP and Dinner
Dinnier Cal grill@ 7:50pm
Saturday: the 24th, "Universal day," "Haunted horror night"!
Breakfast Chef Mickey's@ 7:15am
Then Taxi to US
Lunch Hard rock Cafe(oop)@ about 2pm
Dinnier Magarittaville (oop)@ about 10:00/11:00pm

Sunday the 25th
Start out at MK
Breakfast: CP@ 8:05am
at about 11 head over to Epcot
Lunch#1 9 Draggons@ 1:15pm
and then to AK after lunch
after the parade head over to HS untill
about 8 and the boat ride to,
Dinnier yachtsman steak house@ 8:45pm
after Dinner over to MK for late night at MK.
Monday the 26th
Golf that morining (2x rounds) done at about 2:30pm
head over to Epcot
lunch Coral reef@ 4:15pm
Dinnier ESPN, after Illumnation,so about 9pm
Tuesday the 27th "Check out day"
Open up at HS,early EMH
and then about 11 head out to
Epcot and lunch
Biergarten@ 12:30pm
2pm head back to realty

 

[Ela1972]

Another vote for the spread sheet.
I have as my headers:
Park we are planning to go to (with opening time)
Breakfast
Morning
Lunch
Afternoon
Dinner
Evening.

I then fill this in starting with park we want to go to we like am EMH's, then add the ADR's.

I take this A4 plan with me, but then do 4inch by 3inch index cards for each day, with the days details, including ADR confirmation numbers on one side and hours for all parks and show times for all parks on the other side in case we change our time.

Always plan down time in room for the afternoon, plus a swim. Often change things when we are there particularily if someone is tired/cranky or the weather not as expected.

I do love to plan though, it is part of my holiday. (I am on my 3rd draft and the hours only came out Friday )

Have a great trip

 

[soarinup]

If you don't make a schedule, how are you going to make reservations? Unless you don't plan on eating table service restaurants. If you do plan to eat table service, you MUST make reservations ASAP!

 

[pepe of ohio]

If you don't make a schedule, how are you going to make reservations? Unless you don't plan on eating table service restaurants. If you do plan to eat table service, you MUST make reservations ASAP!

We gave that up many years ago....We check park hours and plan by that....first park is always MK and after that we pick the park with the longest hours and pare down from there. We attend EMH; both am and evening....gives us more time in the parks and we don't really care about crowds or crowd counters. We're on property long enough to do each park twice if we see fit but we usually skip AK, not a favorable park for us....

As to dining....no schedule here either, we don't do dining plans....hate them....doesn't save us anything and Disney's TS are long, boring, time consuming and medicore at best.....counter service suits us fine and we do pool lunches every day with groceries from the grocery stop. We have our favorite places we like to eat, whether a sandwich or some quick dish meal, we don't starve and hate having to watch a clock on when it's time to eat for some ADR we made months in advance. About the only ADR we do make is the Hoop Dee Do Revue......I mean, breakfast is at the resort food center or Trail's End buffet, lunch at the pool and dinner can be just about anywhere we're headed...say we're doing DTD...we head to the MK (usually stay at WL) bus to POFQ, grab a meatball sandwich and then boat to DTD...maybe see a movie, shop alittle then bus back to the WL....no big deal going without a huge, play by play, hour by hour spread sheet. We like to do what we want when we want to and if something comes up we're enjoying too much...so what...it's a vacation...been doing this for 44 trips and haven't any regrets...

 

[DaniB]

I use a similar excel spreadsheet as D1gitman, who I believe is the person who kindly sent me a copy. Only mine has the columns: vacation dates, today's park, breakfast, lunch, dinner, our day mapped out. I love it!

I like to decide which days we are visiting which park. Which days we are doing anything extra.

I put our vacation days on the far left column, and the far right column for the hours for each park plus anything extra we want to see/do (ie, wishes, illuminations, tours, MNSSHP, Fantasmic). It's not too difficult to figure out park days after having this all listed one 1 page to look at.

THEN I plan our dining! I wouldn't dream of planning dining first, beyond deciding which restaurants we want to eat at. It's easier to work the restaurants & times in around the parks dates we chose.

I look at crowd levels but don't necessarily plan my days around them as we go in low season.

I also look at EHM as I prefer to have ADRs at Crystal Palace & Tusker House on non-ehm days. But I prefer to go to DHS on EHM mornings for TSM. And we like evening EHM for Epcot.

Once it's complete, I have everything needed on 1 sheet for our trip. Trip dates, flight info, resort ressie, meal times & ADRs, special events/tours, even park hours for every park & date in case we need to switch things around.

 

[ftomasze]

I feel as though if you dont go with a schedule you wont see / eat what you want when your there! Heres mine...

Day One – 9/28 – Wednesday
Arrive & Check in
Unpack
Explore Resort

Dinner – Narcoossees – 1730 -- 410911649108
(2) (GF)

Main Street Electrical Parade – 2000
(MK)
Wishes – 2100
(MK)

Day Two – 9/29 – Thursday – Magic Kingdom
Breakfast – Crystal Palace – 0810 -- 410911668030
(1) (MK)

Lunch – Liberty Tree Tavern – 1320 -- 410911668031
(1) (MK)

A Dream Come True Parade – 1500

Dinner – Citricos – 2000 -- 410911678005
(2) (GF)

Day Three – 9/30 – Friday – Hollywood Studios
Breakfast – Maya Grill – 0745 -- 410911667043
(1) (CSR)
Lunch – Sci-Fi Drive-In – 1250 -- 410911681500
(1) (HS)

Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun! – 1500
(HS)

Dinner – Jiko – 2000 -- 410911677509
(2) (AKL)

Day Four – 10/1 – Saturday – Resort/Pool/DTD
Breakfast – Kona Café – 0855 -- 410911680012
(1) (Poly)

Lunch – No Ressies.

Dinner – California Grill – 2110 – 410911673002 (Get there early to watch fireworks)
(2) (Contemp)

Day Five – 10/2 – Sunday – Choose a park in AM/MK in PM
Breakfast – Boma – 0930 -- 410941832107
(1) (AKL)

Lunch – No Ressies.

Dinner -- Cinderellas Royal Table – 1625 -- 410941831118
(2) (MK)

Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party -- 1900
(MK)

Day Six – 10/3 – Monday – Epcot
Breakfast – Askerhus Royal Banquet Hall – 0930 -- 410911680029
(1) (Epcot)

Lunch – Epcot F&W Festival
(Snack Cr)

Dinner – Epcot F&W Festival
(Snack Cr)

Illuminations -- 2100
(Epcot)

Day Seven – 10/4 – Tuesday – Animal Kingdom in AM/Choose a park in PM
Breakfast – Tusker House – 0830 -- 410941838107
(1) (AK)

Lunch – Yak and Yeti – 1400 – 410941838623
(1) (AK)

Jammin’ Jungle Parade – 1545
(AK)

Dinner – Artist’s Point – 2100 – 410941831142
(2)(WL)

Day Eight – 10/5 – Wednesday – Choose a park in AM / Leave in PM
Breakfast – 1900 Park Fare – 1000 -- 410911681016
(1)(Contemp)

 

[21hearts]

Do you do a schedule for where you are going and when? Or do you just wing it day by day? We usually pick what park we are going to on what day. Then we let the kids pick 1 ride/show/thing they really want to do at each park. Then while at the park we do our best to get in each of the kids #1 thing in.. We haven't had a problem with this at all.
Do you start at one park and end at another? No. My kids are really litlte & my husband and I just don't see the point in park hopping with them. We can easy spend all day at one park with no problem(s). We also go during a "low" season so the lines are pretty short and there arn't a ton of people.
Do you do Downtown Disney on a certain day? We usually go to DTD after AK or HS but it just depends on how long we spent in the park, how we're feeling and if the kids are up to it.

I did do a spreadsheet as well for our last trip to keep track of what ADRs we had at each park, when they were for and what time, ect. Plus I had all of my contact phone lines on there at the bottom. The day before we left I printed it out and had all of the information in one place.

 

[disneypryncess]

I am among kindred spirits of the Excel kind ... we seem to gravitate to the same threads

1. Wait for the operating calendar
2. Select Parks/Day
3. Make ADRs at 180 Day Window
4. Book Flight
5. Fine Tune with Park Crowd Forecasts
6. Pepper with additional Upgrades (dessert party, etc.)
7. Decide on Special Moments (Disney Florist)
8. Hold Review Session with Traveling Party (if more than family)
9. Tweak Again
10. Scour DIS boards and News for any new events
11. Rinse and Repeat

Yes, I need Help, My DW knows it
I have been sharing my original Excel doc with anyone who PMs me and share the magic

Kindred spirits is right!! I'll PM you for a copy of your spreadsheet, it looks awesome!!

 

[nicolepdonnelly]

I use word and make a table with my dining info for the day, ride max plans, park hours etc. Planning is key to getting the most out of a day in the park I think!

 

[JiminyGuyMaine]

Ahhhhhh...... I'm basking in the glow of my fellow "spreadsheet afficionados"!

While we don't get too militant about "the plan", I always feel it's best to have all the available info at hand. That way, we make our decisions, and we know that if we miss something, it's because we CHOSE to - not because we were unaware or forgot.

I only start our spreadsheet once we have our resort ressies, and our flights - That info goes in right away. My spreadsheet has an hourly breakdown down the side, and the days of the week across the top. Then:

1. Based on EM hours and showings of Parades/Evening Fireworks offerings, I make our initial daily park decisions. (Again, this can change as parks hours change, but those adjustments get a little more difficult after step 2!) I list EM hours and parade/show times in the appropriate time slots on the sheet. I'm also sure to also specifically put in any blocks of time we are purposefully planning any resort/pool/down time, as those are particularly important to my other half!

2. ADRs at 180 days out. Really I only concentrate on TS restaurants that are important to us, and that might be harder to get later on. All confirmations numbers go into the spreadsheet.

3. Add any events (Partys, fireworks cruises) as they become available and are booked.

4. I also have a separate budget tab as many other do - Just to keep me on track in the "saving" process until we leave for the World, and a tab with our packing lists (Don't want to forget anything!)

Other than which park we going to on which day, we don't follow any particular touring plans within each park. We have our ADRs, parades/shows we want to see, and an awareness of which attractions simply MUST be experienced early in the day, or not at all - we just work our days around those. If it makes more sense for an aspect of "the plan" to change on any given day once we get there, we have no problem "punting" and making it work....

"ALL HAIL THE SPREADSHEET!"

 

[blakrose9999]

First I get the hours for the parks. Since DH and I will park hop but no more than 2 parks in a day I will make a sheet for which parks we want to be at in am and night for each day (I try to use as many EMH as possible). Then I will take our list of must do resteraunts and work them in based on where we plan to be each day (this may be rearranged a little based on our availabilty to get ressies). I try to only do one ressie a day so I don't feel like we are always running. We'll make ressies for the more popular hard to get ones and our must dos and the less popular, not essential we will try and walk in or make same day ressies while down there. As for a touring plan we kind will go day by day trying to hit the more popular attractions when we are there for RD.

 

[Wendy31]

I also make a spreadsheet!! Yay for spreadsheets!

We first decide when we're going - we don't usually decide the exact arrival & departure days until we've looked at the park calendars. And, then sometimes our arrival and/or departure days will change.

I then take into consideration EMHs, parades, shows, recommended days, etc.

Once I kinda got all that in my head, then I decide what park we're going to on what day. For our upcoming trip, we decided not to do parkhoppers. Since we've always had parkhoppers, I paid a bit more attention to the hours, EMHs, parades, shows, etc. than I normally do.

Once I know what parks we're going to on what days, then I decide what ADRs I'm going to make. Normally, I already have an idea in my head of what restaurants at which we want to eat - it's just a matter of fitting them into my park schedule.

For our upcoming trip, our schedule looks like this - (NOTE: We've always gone in the summer months. Additionally, we've always driven to St. Augustine for a couple of days before & then driven to WDW - we've never driven straight to WDW before This is both our 1st fall trip & the 1st time we've driven straight to WDW, so this schedule is kinda new to me...)

Saturday, 9/10 - Arrival Day - Check-In to CBR

Dinner - CBR counter-service
Evening Plans - swim

Sunday, 9/11 - Check-Out of CBR, Check-In to WL/MK Day

Breakfast - CBR counter-service
Lunch - MK counter-service
Dinner - CRT
Evening Plans - Wishes & MK EMH

Monday, 9/12 - EPCOT, Future World

Breakfast - WL counter-service
Lunch - Le Cellier
Dinner - Garden Grill
Evening Plans - swim

Tuesday, 9/13 - DHS

Breakfast - WL counter-service
Lunch - Sci-Fi
Dinner - Cape May
Evening Plans - Boardwalk

Wednesday, 9/14 - MK

Breakfast - GF Cafe
Lunch - Tony's
Dinner - Kona
Evening Plans - MSEP & MK

Thursday, 9/15 - AK

Breakfast - WL counter-service
Lunch - Yak & Yeti
Dinner - Boma
Evening Plans - story-telling at the AKL & swim at our resort

Friday, 9/16 - Resort Day (or either AK or DHS)/MNSSHP

Breakfast - WL counterservice
Lunch - Whispering Canyon Cafe
Dinner - Plaza
Evening Plans - MNSSHP

Saturday, 9/17 - EPCOT, World Showcase

Breakfast - Chef Mickey's
Lunch - WS counter-service
Dinner - Tutto Italia
Evening Plans - IllumiNations

Sunday, 9/18 - EPCOT, Future World, & DTD

Breakfast - WL counter-service
Lunch - Coral Reef
Dinner - T-Rex
Evening Plans - DTD

Monday, 9/19 - MK

Breakfast - Crystal Palace
Lunch - MK counter-service
Dinner - 'Ohana
Evening Plans - MK & Wishes

Tuesday, 9/20 - MK & Departure

Breakfast - WL counter-service
Lunch - LTT
Drive Home

NOTES: We always have to start our trips in the MK & end our trips in the MK. We see Wishes on our 1st & last nights - it's tradition. We decided, this trip, NOT to see Fantasmic! due to the increased crowds at DHS on Fantasmic! days.

I normally fit all the above information into my spreadsheet w/ our ADR times & confirmation numbers, the parade times, the show times, etc. On our DHS day, I'll put it in the times of the shows we want to see.

I also plan our clothes & what we're wearing on each day, so that info goes on my spreadsheet as well. LOL!

Have fun planning!!

 

[tmaxx]

I am among kindred spirits of the Excel kind ... we seem to gravitate to the same threads

1. Wait for the operating calendar
2. Select Parks/Day
3. Make ADRs at 180 Day Window
4. Book Flight
5. Fine Tune with Park Crowd Forecasts
6. Pepper with additional Upgrades (dessert party, etc.)
7. Decide on Special Moments (Disney Florist)
8. Hold Review Session with Traveling Party (if more than family)
9. Tweak Again
10. Scour DIS boards and News for any new events
11. Rinse and Repeat

Yes, I need Help, My DW knows it
I have been sharing my original doc with anyone who PMs me and share the magic

Could I get this spreadsheet? I tried PMing you but it isn't working. thanks