What do you use to plan in advance?

[RossK]

I'm interested in hearing how people 'draw out' their WDW plans? Do you just wing it and wait for ADRs to open, or do you have a spreadsheet template you use to plan where you'll be and when?

I currently use quite a complex Excel spreadsheet built up over many years... In years gone by, it even did Dining Plan calculations - although we've not had the dining plan for years, so the later revisions don't have it. What has always frustrated me is if I want to swap reservations around, its a lot of copy and pasting. It got me thinking about what other options are out there.

For me, part of the fun ahead of the vacation is planning it out, sort of living the experience a bit in advance - looking at menus, etc.

I'm very tempted to build something a bit more dedicated, but I'm curious to hear how you're all going about your planning?

 

[team bradfield]

I'm interested in hearing how people 'draw out' their WDW plans? Do you just wing it and wait for ADRs to open, or do you have a spreadsheet template you use to plan where you'll be and when?

I currently use quite a complex Excel spreadsheet built up over many years... In years gone by, it even did Dining Plan calculations - although we've not had the dining plan for years, so the later revisions don't have it. What has always frustrated me is if I want to swap reservations around, its a lot of copy and pasting. It got me thinking about what other options are out there.

For me, part of the fun ahead of the vacation is planning it out, sort of living the experience a bit in advance - looking at menus, etc.

I'm very tempted to build something a bit more dedicated, but I'm curious to hear how you're all going about your planning?

I also use a complex excel spreadsheet. Even add daily $ for souvenirs/ fuel, etc. Usually comes pretty close to actual cost

 

[slo]

Sadly, I'm boring and just a pen and paper - nothing fancy.
Right before our trip I type out our itinerary with our ADR confirmation numbers and show times in case the MDE isn't working, which will never happen, but I must be prepared - LOL!!

 

[hardcorestitch]

I'm interested in hearing how people 'draw out' their WDW plans? Do you just wing it and wait for ADRs to open, or do you have a spreadsheet template you use to plan where you'll be and when?

I currently use quite a complex Excel spreadsheet built up over many years... In years gone by, it even did Dining Plan calculations - although we've not had the dining plan for years, so the later revisions don't have it. What has always frustrated me is if I want to swap reservations around, its a lot of copy and pasting. It got me thinking about what other options are out there.

For me, part of the fun ahead of the vacation is planning it out, sort of living the experience a bit in advance - looking at menus, etc.

I'm very tempted to build something a bit more dedicated, but I'm curious to hear how you're all going about your planning?

I “script” the top 3 attractions in my Disney visit (note that I don’t park hop… it may be a different story for you). An example… I pick Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad as my 3 must dos for that day and just standby those 3. Any other attractions are what I consider a “magical bonus”, while any open nearby attraction is a fallback if any of my 3 attractions break down or become simply unavailable.

 

[Disneydawg74]

On paper, I sketch out for each day, park hours, parties/AH on any of my dates, plans for ADRs on each date, anticipated first park for each date (and second park, if planned), top candidates for LLMP, LLSP on each date, or any desired enchanting extras. Then, as I make plans, I note those. I do this on paper, not a spread sheet.

 

[Newsies]

For my family trips it's just a list on my Notes app to keep track of what days we're going to what park and where we want to eat. We don't do a ton of LLs anymore so there's not a whole lot to plan unless there's a hard ticket or some other enchanted extra we want to do.

Sometimes I'll use a Google sheet if I need to keep track of what I've paid/what my outstanding balance is, but I use Google sheets moreso for our cruises where I have to keep a closer eye on the balance, there are more dates to keep track of, etc.

 

[bluezy]

I figure out which parks we're planning to start the day in for each day of our trip. I make a list of LLMP/SP we hope to get for that day. From there, we wing it. We know what rides we want to hit and just keep an eye on standby times and LL availability. No need for any list. We stopped doing TS restaurants a few years ago (unless we book day of) and that has made planning much easier. We have so much more flexibility. We always get park hoppers but rarely plan which parks we'll hop to -- we just decide that day. Some days we don't hop. I do not miss the days of needing a spreadsheet to keep track of everything back when our kids were little and we were trying to do "everything" on each trip. Our semi "play-it-by-ear" trips are so much more enjoyable.

 

[HollowxBastion]

I used word and my notes app to write down anything that interested me and did my research from there forward. Then i compile and organize what i'm doing day by day for the trip

 

[RossK]

What I find interesting is that Disney haven't really built a proper vacation planning tool for WDW. I wonder why... The MDE app, ok it has its flaws, but its quite incredible what it can do in one single app. Seems odd they didn't make something to get people excited about their upcoming trip and help them make the most out of their time.

Our next trip isn't until next year now, so I'm going to try and build something that's web based, so I can access on my desktop but also phone. Our trips are usually for three weeks at a time, so its *a lot* of reservations and needs a lot of advanced planning - and nothing out there quite works. Thought I would ask here to see if anyone knew of anything that currently exists - but seems we're all using a combination of spreadsheets, notebooks etc! Oh well, I like a challenge

 

[wabbott]

I usually print out a monthly calendar from my outlook program and pencil in the daily activities. I'll also print out paper copies of ADRs and tickets.

 

[reddog21]

simple spreadsheet(google sheets or excel(online)), it's used mostly just for dining reservations, LL and a list of snacks/food that might be new we don't want to miss. That spreadsheet link gets shared with everyone that's going so we all know the plans.

 

[CoachBeard]

When I book 11 months out I keep a spreadsheet. The planning is part of the fun but in application it is a loose and fluid framework for me. I love booking ADRs, looking at menus, and using that to budget each day so I can save over the time between booking and trip.

I’ve started to color code a little for dining reservations versus enchanted extras reservations vs hotel reservations. The “thrill of the chase” is quite fun for me but since I travel solo and have a horrible stomach, my plans often change based on how I feel that day.

I’ve tried using some apps and other things but it’s too difficult for me.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Just use (and reuse) a spreadsheet for each trip. It often starts a year in advance, then DVC bookings at 11 months, airfare, and a general layout. Sometimes we need to finalize who will be joining us, since many don't plan as far out as we do! Once we're to 90 days or so, lay out plans for ADRs. Make park res, if necessary. Lately, check car rental pricing almost daily, hoping for the one day special that saves us money on the ridiculous cost! After we confirm ADRs, we lay out potential LL options. Rinse and repeat as often as possible! Needless to say, my spreadsheet has many, many sheets in there!! But I wouldn't need or use anything more complicated than that. We used to lay out costs for potentially using the DDP, but we have never found it to work to our benefit, so that's not even part of the planning anymore.