How do you carry your itinerary with you around the parks?

[momof2halls]

I use MDE for a quick refresher each day, also have changed my lock screen to the days plans so i dont have to physically open my phone and go into the app. But the most helpful think i have found is to plug everything into my iphone calendar, my calendar is linked to my apple watch so i get reminders 15min prior to each event I plugged into the calendar.

 

[LadyD]

"Itinerary"?
I mean really?
I can recall what 3 FP+ selections and times I have and an ADR time and place.
I can also refer to my phone if I need reassurance.
The rest of my day consists mostly of "at RD we're going to hit up these attractions", "After lunch we're going to this section", "We're going to the 1pm BATB show"....
Really nothing I need a minute by minute spread sheet for.
There is such a thing as over planning because if you get off track your whole day is off.
If you have a lose plan then its easy to adjust if someone is say getting too hot and needs a snack or if someone suddenly has tummy troubles.

It really depends on your personality. What is overplanning to some is insufficient planning to others. The level of planning I do allows me to change plans on the fly if needed because I’ve researched things so thoroughly I know what the best next move is that will allow us to continue having a good time. If there is a possibility that the people I’m traveling with will end up saying they’re too hot and need a snack or are prone to bathroom troubles, I build that into the itinerary before we even go. I don’t build an ideal plan. I build a realistic one for the individuals in the party and the time of year we’re going. We don’t waste time going “well what now?” ever.

A structured itinerary also allows me to remember what we have done so we don’t miss anything that we want to do or see. If you’ve done enough planning, you never get off track because you can implement back up plan after back up plan. But again, that is how my family enjoys vacationing and what works for us and I know it’s not for everyone. For us, vacations are a time to take a break from the zillions of decisions made in every day life because so many decisions have been pre-planned for us from what we’re doing to what we’re going to eat to what we’re going to wear in advance. We just follow a piece of paper and enjoy eachother’s company in the moment since we’re not glued to our technology.

 

[SaintsManiac]

"Itinerary"?
I mean really?
I can recall what 3 FP+ selections and times I have and an ADR time and place.
I can also refer to my phone if I need reassurance.
The rest of my day consists mostly of "at RD we're going to hit up these attractions", "After lunch we're going to this section", "We're going to the 1pm BATB show"....
Really nothing I need a minute by minute spread sheet for.
There is such a thing as over planning because if you get off track your whole day is off.
If you have a lose plan then its easy to adjust if someone is say getting too hot and needs a snack or if someone suddenly has tummy troubles.

Everyone is different. Mine consists of ADRs and FP and what snacks I’m hunting for and what time to catch Voices of Liberty. Itinerary can mean many different levels of planning.

 

[Monykalyn]

I just use the MDE App on my phone but I take screen shots of ADR confirmation numbers and FP times as a back up in case the App isn't working. Anything else I might need I would keep in my Notes on my phone.

yep me too. Also I subscribe to Touring Plans on years we go to Disney as their wait times tend to be more accurate-plus the kids now get a kick out of me timing the wait and seeing how long we actually waited vs the posted time.
But-at this point we have been so often the past year that we don't do a whole lot of planning any more.

I think I may need some sort of emotional help once our time at WDW is over this year haha

Felt that way after 2014 trip, so promptly booked (longer) 2015 trip, then oldest got accepted into DCP...After august we are taking a long break but I fear I may go into withdrawal after a few months

 

[Chris Connelly]

Everyone is different. Mine consists of ADRs and FP and what snacks I’m hunting for and what time to catch Voices of Liberty. Itinerary can mean many different levels of planning.

we didn't do that much planning last year and we were absolutely fine in the parks. we had a couple of "where now" moments because we were fresh to WDW as my family never had the money to get over to the U.S. never mind get WDW tickets. this year is different because we took our girls last year and we have a better understanding of what it means to be at WDW and how to navigate the parks, rides FP+, etc.

Part of the magic right now is planning what rides are a must, what attractions and shows are a must and what dining experiences are a must (got BOG and Cinderella's Royal Table thank God).

We are not that family that are marching with purpose because "if we don't get to Splash Mountain 5 minutes before our FP then the entire holiday/vacation is a complete bust and what is the point of even living anymore" we are the "look how much effort our goofball Dad has put into these plans, lets just ignore them because we feel like a dole whip right now" kind of family and I am ok with that for the simple reason that if we don't enjoy the time we have there in that moment, then what was the point of bringing ourselves to near bankruptcy to be at WDW in the first place.

WDW is a place where people should be as happy as they possibly can be at that moment in their lives and if that means planning every minute with metronomic precision or just flying by the seat of your pants, then I see no problem with either as long as everyone is happy.

 

[JETSDAD]

I just use my phone. A printed itinerary wouldn't do me much good because I start playing around with FP's as soon as I've used my first one. For the most part we just wing it, knowing that there are certain things we want to hit at some point during the day.

 

[eeyorepixie]

Color coded spread sheet with all park hours, Color coded Kenny the pirate & wdwprep school best park recommendations(prefer easy wdw but, I don't have yet and have to make fp choices soon), fp's, then add any special notes of consideration...then take a photo of each day. Lock screen each day. I love planning so this is a labor of love. Did I say I love planning? I will adjust, adjust some more and then some more. By the time our trip comes I will have a strong plan a, b or c

 

[saraheliz]

It's all in my head, with a general plan I review the night before. We have certain must-dos and area of park timeframes but wing it within that, to some extent.

On our trip in April I encountered a grandmother there was a large family, she was handing out index cards on the bus. I looked at her and smiled and she just said "this way I don't have to answer questions all day about where everyone is supposed to be!" I kind of loved her.

 

[ChimCher-ee]

I've been trying to go hands free (tried it last trip and loved it!), so I'm limiting myself to what fits in my YesBelt--phone, ID and insurance card, and ADR list. I like to have a printout of ADR reservations because I worry that my phone will be on 1% battery just as Disney's system goes down, just as I approach the podium to Akershus. I like having the number on hand and while I can memorize three FPs, I can't memorize ADR reservation #s!

 

[BaymaxForever]

I scale down our itinerary for each day so I can take a screenshot of it on my phone. I then make that picture my lock screen for the day. Change the lock screen each day with that days itinerary.

 

[georgina]

I don't carry around a detailed itinerary. I make 3 FP, and occasional ADR, and that's the extent of the plan. I don't need a piece of paper to tell me what I've already done for the day as a PP mentioned, I can remember that! But I guess somebody has to keep touring plans afloat.

 

[JerseyJanice]

My IPhone.

Sometimes I go with the MDE app. Other times, I prepare my own spreadsheet, convert it to a PDF, then Email it to myself. I color code it, and it opens into a nice view right on my phone screen. The only problem is that I can’t change it.

 

[Lovetherodent]

Memory. And my personalized touring plans on the Lines app.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

It really depends on your personality. What is overplanning to some is insufficient planning to others. The level of planning I do allows me to change plans on the fly if needed because I’ve researched things so thoroughly I know what the best next move is that will allow us to continue having a good time. If there is a possibility that the people I’m traveling with will end up saying they’re too hot and need a snack or are prone to bathroom troubles, I build that into the itinerary before we even go. I don’t build an ideal plan. I build a realistic one for the individuals in the party and the time of year we’re going. We don’t waste time going “well what now?” ever.

A structured itinerary also allows me to remember what we have done so we don’t miss anything that we want to do or see. If you’ve done enough planning, you never get off track because you can implement back up plan after back up plan. But again, that is how my family enjoys vacationing and what works for us and I know it’s not for everyone. For us, vacations are a time to take a break from the zillions of decisions made in every day life because so many decisions have been pre-planned for us from what we’re doing to what we’re going to eat to what we’re going to wear in advance. We just follow a piece of paper and enjoy eachother’s company in the moment since we’re not glued to our technology.

And yet, for us, aside from our 3FP and a few ADRs, we love playing it by ear and saying “what now?” Our home life is so structured with being here and there and everywhere at specific times, we love flying by the seat of our pants for much of the day. And we are a party of 10 (sometimes 12!) ages 1.5 to 65. We do split up from time to time.

We always have a few priorities of things to do but don’t stress if we miss something. We really try to just live in the moment and don’t really mark off a list of rides and that is perfect for us.

I just look at MDE in the morning and take a screenshot of our plans and send it to everyone in our group each day. No spreadsheet or printed itinerary here.

Everyone is different and I love hearing everyone’s different methods!

 

[Disfan25]

I use the MDE app but for important stuff like dinner reservations I take screenshots. If I’m really paranoid I’ll email myself a copy of my plans

 

[Chris Connelly]

Felt that way after 2014 trip, so promptly booked (longer) 2015 trip, then oldest got accepted into DCP...After august we are taking a long break but I fear I may go into withdrawal after a few months

that is pretty much what we have done. we were over for 2 weeks last year and that was supposed to be our "once in a lifetime" trip. got back and we booked to go again in September/October this year for 3 weeks. probably won't be back until the 50th anniversary, which will be awesome.

 

[a1tinkfans]

I just use the MDE App on my phone but I take screen shots of ADR confirmation numbers and FP times as a back up in case the App isn't working. Anything else I might need I would keep in my Notes on my phone.

Exactly what I do.
There’s too many opportunities to make quick changes of rides, times etc to keep paper/hard copies.
( after clearing first 3) As soon as I clear the FP check ins, I’m booking the next fastpass while on line. Easy peasy and gets you lots of atttactions.

 

[Chris Connelly]

Exactly what I do.
There’s too many opportunities to make quick changes of rides, times etc to keep paper/hard copies.
( after clearing first 3) As soon as I clear the FP check ins, I’m booking the next fastpass while on line. Easy peasy and gets you lots of atttactions.

The app is a god send. as I've said, I have made paper plans, but these will just be kept in our hotel room for a quick reference in the morning, but in the parks we are constantly using the MDE app to check wait times on rides, keep track of our fast passes and reservations and even as a map to remind us exactly what route is best to take between where we are and where we need to be.

Also, last year we found that we had some time between fast passes and our girls wanted to go on POTC, but we were in Fantasyland so we checked the app and it came up with the red "Temporarily Closed" and it saved us walking all the way over there for something that had broken down so it can be really useful in that regard.

 

[BrookieM2001]

I take pictures of my Touring Plan for each day, and then i can check those anytime i need to. We only have those first 3 FPs, but we want to continue to get new ones as we go through the day. The Touring Plan is basically a list of attractions we think we will have time for during that day, and then we can make sure we dont miss anything. I would like to think we are familiar with WDW enough for that to not happen, but i like to have my bases covered. I also have the ubiquitous spreadsheet, color coded and made into a PDF. It has our ADRs and park hours, which CS places we would like to try, which magic shots we definitely hope for and where the are located, and places that have snacks that one of our party has expressed interest in. Then i can refer to it anytime someone wants a snack and can say, well ABC is right around the corner. But basically, it is all on my phone, I dont carry hard copies anymore. Last trip i did, printed out our boarding passes, all our TPs, the locations of pressed pennies (Oldest daughter is WAAAAAY into these) and park maps. Ended up leaving the whole thing in the room each day because everything was so handy on my phone and with the external battery charger, we never had to worry about power. I also enjoy a prettily designed itinerary, I just found that i never used it so we will stick to the phone from now on.

 

[gharter]

I use MDE for a lot of it.
However, I often will have an itinerary made from Touring Plans with the suggested order of attractions and that I will have as a printed sheet.