Is anyone else crazy and love it?

Klayfish said:
For those of you who do this level of planning, curiosity question because we do nearly no planning whatsoever. If you've got a spreadsheet that maps out that level of detail and what ride you're supposed to be on and when, what do you do when things go sideways? It rains, a ride breaks, the line at ride X is twice as long as you had anticipated, you get stuck on IASM and listen to the music for 45 minutes? I'm not asking it in a negative tone, just curious to know how you roll with the punches when unforeseen things happen.
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My sheet isn't like that. It's park or parks of the day, FP times and ADRs (if any). I fill in the slots between with the rides in the land that we want to do. I also put times of fireworks when I get them. It's mainly a guide for around where we want to be that day and what we want to get done.
 
I do exactly the same thing, only by hand, with graph paper, and very specific set of super fine-tip colored markers. I love it! I don't think you're crazy at all!
 
Oh, absolutely.

We go every year for Christmas. Every year, the same thing happens - like a vicious cycle.

About 3 months beforehand we start saying "well, let's enjoy it, because we may take next year off..." or "we'll go this year - but with all the construction, we'll probably take next year off."

We always say that we love going so often, because if we miss something, we can just go back next year... or we've already seen and done everything, so if we skip Small World, it's no biggie. Then it's suddenly our second-to-last night and we're scrambling to jump on Small World because "who knows the next time we'll be back!"

Before we know it, it's our last day and we start planning next year's trip. It usually starts with a discussion about the restaurants. My mom will usually slips and says something like "I liked it, but I wouldn't go back next year." Next year? yep... here we goooo..

The funny thing is.. we stayed BC this past year. We said "okay, we wanna return, so let's save up this year." .... We're going back for Easter and bought APs
 


Klayfish said:
For those of you who do this level of planning, curiosity question because we do nearly no planning whatsoever. If you've got a spreadsheet that maps out that level of detail and what ride you're supposed to be on and when, what do you do when things go sideways? It rains, a ride breaks, the line at ride X is twice as long as you had anticipated, you get stuck on IASM and listen to the music for 45 minutes? I'm not asking it in a negative tone, just curious to know how you roll with the punches when unforeseen things happen.
Click to expand...

If people go to WDW with little to no planning then people often leave disappointed that they didn't get to do much on their trip. I have seen threads of those people upset because they had a horrible trip. It pays to plan at WDW. If you go often then it isn't much of an issue but for those who only go once every 5 years you want to make the most of your time there. Unfortunatly a WDW vacation is unlike any other vacation.

Now you can not plan out every second of every day. those who do will be very disappointed when things don't go as planned. I am sure there are plenty of OCD people who go nuts with this. My planning usually consists of having a map of each park, selecting our ADR - and planning a flow throughout the park -- so that we can hit the rides we want, using the app to watch wait times to direct us to rides we can fit in, selecting the FP for must do rides.

We have encountered issues - rockin roller coaster was down when we had a FP, we were able to use the FP for something else and we just returned another evening to ride it when it was open. Planning has to have the right balance of being organized but not being too strict.
 
nat8199 said:
I thought this was a safe place to express excitement... but I guess not...
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Don't fret nat, this is exactly the place to express excitement and yes I spreadsheet our plans every single year. I don't schedule all rides, but I do have a column specifically for our FP+ choices. I usually start my spreadsheet about six months out when I can first access the TA calendar and see where the EMH's will be on a given day. The planning is what it's builds my excitement as the trip grows nearer. Once I get everything set up in MDE, I tend to just take a printout of that before we leave. Plus it's always accessible of the mobile app. Crazy? Why yes I am...crazy about WDW!!
:wave:
 
I've been planning since May of last year. I just got up at 4:00am two days ago to get our ADR, and today woke up smiling because in only 178 days I'll be back in my happy place.

I should also mention that we made a last minute trip down in Jan this year because my parents had a place for the winter. We couldn't afford passes but we went to different resorts to shop, meet characters and take a drawing class.

Yes, we're all a little mad here!!

P.S. I'm a pencil and paper girl myself, but I like where your heads at with your spreadsheet.
 


I have a spreadsheet. It has colours. One of the pages is a calendar from the date we finalized our flights and accommodations. It tracks our 180 day mark, FP window and every 10 days closer to D(eparture) Day, as well as the 50 day marks. Those are our own little party dates, when we get together, try some new Disney recipe, and gloat/rejoice that we are that much closer.

C'mon, even you sceptics. How often do you ever get to work on a spreadsheet where you have total control of the inputs, fill it only with things you love, and work only it only because you want to???? These aren't obsessions, they are recreation, no different than scrapbooking or stamp collecting. I plan because I can and I like it.
 
LuvMyEAR said:
I have a spreadsheet. It has colours. One of the pages is a calendar from the date we finalized our flights and accommodations. It tracks our 180 day mark, FP window and every 10 days closer to D(eparture) Day, as well as the 50 day marks. Those are our own little party dates, when we get together, try some new Disney recipe, and gloat/rejoice that we are that much closer.

C'mon, even you sceptics. How often do you ever get to work on a spreadsheet where you have total control of the inputs, fill it only with things you love, and work only it only because you want to???? These aren't obsessions, they are recreation, no different than scrapbooking or stamp collecting. I plan because I can and I like it.
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I love this!:thumbsup2
 
I adore spreadsheets and planning! However, our last trip in 2015 was a turning point and we said we had had enough for a while – the new fast pass system, crowds, prices, etc.…
We said we'd wait a few years and go on a few trips to some different places and see how we felt about coming back to Disney at some point.
Cut to 2 weeks ago when we decided on a last minute trip at the end of April.
I promised myself I wasn't going to go into planning mode. With so little time, I knew we wouldn't get the dining reservations we wanted and forget about the good fast passes. Last time, I booked at 180 days for dining and the 60 day mark for fast passes, and I hardly got anything we wanted.
This trip was going to be a "let's take it easy, get what we get and just enjoy being there."
To my utter shock, at 48 days out, I got all of the dining we wanted and fast passes at great times for every ride – including FEA!
All of my sensible, take it easy thoughts for this trip went out the window and I pulled out that spreadsheet faster than I could blink! :rotfl2:
We are surprising the kids with the trip on Easter, and I don't know how I can hold it in until then! This planning frenzy and spreadsheets or whatever ritual we all do is all part of the whole Disney experience! Enjoy all aspects of your trip no matter what your style is! Color-coded tabs and all! :goodvibes
 
I am proud to be a crazy spreadsheet lady! Worksheets for crowd projections, overall itinerary, budget, resort info, dining, fast passes, and individual pages for each day! Love it! Planning is part of the fun and makes the trip smoother.
 
Yes, I'm a crazy colored spreadsheet planner. I'm pretty sure I started my planning a year out. I do enjoy it. I do plan out a touring plan and my spreadsheet is in 1/2 hour increments. Using TouringPlans helps me manage expectations on time. Instead of just thinking "We can get all of Fantasyland done before lunch" - I can see if it is a REASONABLE expectation or not - then I can abuild in buffer time for Rabbit trails.

I use different colors for TS meals, QS meals, Shows, Resort Time, character meets, activities like Widerness Explorers or Agent P, and FP. Colors allow me to see a balance of activities across the days.

By Fiddling with the plan and adjusting, etc I get to know it so well and what/where our options are that I can quickly adjust on the fly if need be b/c rides are down, waits longer or family just needs to do something different. Having such a detailed plan helps me not to panic if something goes awry. But I can see how it may have the opposite effect on some.

I give my boys & myself 5 "must dos" each (DH doesn't care & DD too little). I will do my absolute best to make sure these happen, everything else is negotiable. The plan gives us the ability to make informed decisions. "You want to ride again?, sure but we will be unable to to do x. You decide."

I also trace our plans on the MDE map. (Is that too much crazy? ) Not only does it allow me to daydream but with three young ones, I try to be efficient with our walking. I familiarize myself with each area. Where are the bathrooms?, Quiet spots?, Shops the kids might be interested in? Back up activities?

When we get to the parks, I don't "carry" the spreadsheet around, it's in the bag if I need it. It really seems pretty spontaneous to the kids and DH. You do have to have the ability to rule the plan and not let it rule you. The ability to let it go Is key.
 
That spreadsheet is so beautiful and comforting lol. Crazy organization is the best organization and the fact that it's even color-coded is magic in itself. I hope you and your family enjoy your trip!
 
kniquy said:
If people go to WDW with little to no planning then people often leave disappointed that they didn't get to do much on their trip. I have seen threads of those people upset because they had a horrible trip. It pays to plan at WDW. If you go often then it isn't much of an issue but for those who only go once every 5 years you want to make the most of your time there. Unfortunatly a WDW vacation is unlike any other vacation.
Click to expand...

You know...I was initially going to respond and say I totally disagree, but in thinking about it, I think I'm more in the middle. I sort of disagree, but certainly understand the point. I think a lot of it depends on personality, expectations, vacationing style, etc... We go more often now, simply because we live within an 8 hour drive. But until 2.5 years ago, we lived 900 miles away and had to fly down, so we only went every 2 or 3 years. Even then, we just weren't planners. Not our bag. We never left disappointed...well, except for the fact that we actually had to leave...and never felt we didn't get to do much. You can get plenty done without having a spreadsheet or spending 60 hours planning. But some level of knowledge and understanding is important. You have to at least look at maps so that you aren't criss crossing the parks all day. Have the right mindset, because no matter how well you plan, there's no way whatsoever of avoiding standing in some kind of a line (even if it's only 15 minutes, it's still "a line"). If you walk into WDW as a complete newbie, and have never looked at a map, expected to walk right onto the rides and sit right down at any table at any restaurant, then yeah it's a recipe for disaster. I agree with that.

But how much you want to do is more about how you like to vacation. I'm an active kind of guy, type A personality. I refuse to do a week long beach vacation, because I'd be bored to tears (unless there was tons to do outside of the beach itself). At the same time, I just have zero interest in doing any kind of planning for our WDW trips. The day I pull out a spreadsheet is the day I know I need to stop going. I also fully respect that there are people who would say that the day they put their spreadsheet away is the day they know they need to stop going.
 
PlutoTheDog89 said:
Oh, absolutely.

We go every year for Christmas. Every year, the same thing happens - like a vicious cycle.

About 3 months beforehand we start saying "well, let's enjoy it, because we may take next year off..." or "we'll go this year - but with all the construction, we'll probably take next year off."

We always say that we love going so often, because if we miss something, we can just go back next year... or we've already seen and done everything, so if we skip Small World, it's no biggie. Then it's suddenly our second-to-last night and we're scrambling to jump on Small World because "who knows the next time we'll be back!"

Before we know it, it's our last day and we start planning next year's trip. It usually starts with a discussion about the restaurants. My mom will usually slips and says something like "I liked it, but I wouldn't go back next year." Next year? yep... here we goooo..

The funny thing is.. we stayed BC this past year. We said "okay, we wanna return, so let's save up this year." .... We're going back for Easter and bought APs
Click to expand...

This sounds like us...we keep saying that we will take a break "next year", but then next year always comes and we are always planning our next trip for that year, LOL.

One of these days...
 
I am crazy and love your crazy too! I currently have 3 different sheets going, Snacks and where we will find them, the itinerary for the entire trip, and a packing list. Some people may say it's nuts, but my kids love that I have everything we want to do together and organized. We don't follow step by step (the itinerary) but mostly do and that way we don't miss or forget to do/go somewhere we wanted to. At the end of the Disney day, my mind is mush and I need all the help I can get! :crazy::crazy::love::love:
 
mickeyfanachey1999 said:
I like the idea of color coding. I may have to update. My spreadsheet also includes sunrise, sunset and historical high and low temperatures. When we get closer I will add in the weather forecast. The tabs at the bottom of mine are from the last 6 trips so I can compare what actually happened to what was planned.
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OMG I never thought of adding the forecasted temps! That's a fantastic idea! Stealing, thank you!
 
I love this thread! My family probably wants to kill me until we get there and then they appreciate my planning so much!!
 
I think that the planning is what keeps me from going crazy while I wait for my trip to get here. I don't do spreadsheets, but only because I prefer to have a planning notebook that I can write in. Something about writing down my plans with colored pencils, markers, and gel pens makes it more personal to me. I enjoy hearing all of the different ways people plan and I pick up some ideas along the way.
 
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