When it comes to planning we have got it down. For us, planning is half the fun! And so we wanted to share some of the tools and tips we use to get ready for a magical trip.
There are a couple of tools that we use to start planning a trip; Trello is one. It’s like Pinterest for planning. Below is a screenshot of our most recent trip board. We detail everything from what we need to do (e.g., setting up fast passes, checklist items, making reservations, to do list, packing list) to what rides we want to do and a preliminary itinerary for each day of our trip. The kids love to also check out the trip board and since it’s mostly visually it does help for our littlest one to understand the plan.
Categories on our planning board include:
- Things To Do/We want to do. This is the bucket everything gets thrown into initially. Items can include specific dining reservations we want to check (e.g., Ohana), fast passes/rides (e.g., Mine Train), shows we want to check (e.g., River of Lights), etc.. Once we start to establish our loose itinerary we’ll move each item to their appropriate day
- To Do List. This is where we identify the special dates to make reservations, final payments, fast passes, stroller rental, etc.. We use the following links to identify those dates: http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/pscalc/dispscalc.html For Stroller rentals we use Kingdom Strollers: https://www.kingdomstrollers.com
- Packing List. Depending on the time of year we go, this can vary. We just went this past January and had to pack jackets and long pants–a first for us!
- Things to Buy. Some items have included kid ponchos, glow sticks, autograph book, cooling towel, sunscreen, bug spray, etc..
- Early Magic Hours. We make sure to include any additional information that may be used when reserving fast passes.
- Daily Itinerary. Once all the fast passes and dining reservations are set we align them to their corresponding days. We don’t plan out every hour, but we do just drop and drag the fast passes that align to that day. It helps us to also plan different scenarios before making any reservations.
To prepare and get excited about our trips be also:
- We create a countdown for the kids and allow them to mark off the days on the calendar
- Login to the My Disney Experience app to check wait times for the rides we plan to go on, just to get a sense of the average.
- I make goodie bags for each child and hand them to each one on travel day. Goodies include plane snacks, coloring books, candy, mini toys, glow sticks, etc.. Most of which I purchase from either Target OR the Dollar Store.
- For the latest on news and to provide a little magic each day, we listen to podcasts. The ones we enjoy the most are:
- Unlocking the Magic
- Mouse Chat
- WDW Prep to Go
- The Distracted Life
- PassPorter Moms
Well, I think that pretty much wraps up our planning and prepping process, so with that I hope you and your family have a magical day!