How I Plan...

Some WDW vacationers fly by the seat of their pants. They make no real reservations, have no idea where they are going on what day, and certainly have no touring plans set. These people are the complete opposite of me. I'm not saying i'm a planning Nazi. I don't have every day planned out perfectly. I don't like to do that! I like SOME spontaneity.

What I normally do is figure out first what park I plan to START the day at. Not saying we will stay there the whole day because normally we don't stay at one park the whole day. I use Touringplans.com for crowd calendars and tips on what parks to avoid each day. The people that do the statistics for the website also write The Unofficial Guide. Without a doubt, that is the best WDW guidebook and I use that in my planning as well.

I then decide what restaurants my family and I would like to eat at. I always pick two back-ups just in case something is totally booked up when I make my Advanced Dining Reservations. I then take a look at what park i'm going to on each day and match up the ADRs by location as best as I can. Finally, I call the ADR number and set up all of my dining. Sometimes I have to adjust my daily schedule if I have to book a dining reservation on a different day than I had planned. No biggie. It all evens out in the end.

It's time to whip out the planning binder now! I LOVE my binder. I organize it the same way each and every time I go. That thing never leaves my side until we get to WDW. Then it stays safely in the room and I only take one page with me to the parks which is in a plastic page protector. Yes, nerdy... I KNOW! But, it works! The page I take with me has our starting park for each day and the times and confirmation numbers to each ADR. This is what that page looks like...

After that I then make my own "park guides" with the dates, opening times, and any special happenings like parades and fireworks going on. I sometimes also make note of what parks to avoid each day. This stays in my binder so I can easily look at it before heading out to the parks. I know you can retrieve time and event guides at the parks but this is idiot proof to me.

I wish I had a picture of my binder all finished to show you but.. I don't. These photos were actually from our honeymoon when I did a trip report for Intercot. Doing this sort of this is truly where I shine. I'm good at this. I love the research end of it all. FUN FUN!