Over Planners Annonamous

[Purdue Mouse]

Hi, my name is __________
It's been 2 years since my last cruise. On my honor, or I may be forced to go on a last minute trip! (borrowed from Nemo

I do extensive research when I go to a city or any vacation spot. I'm going to Seattle in 10 days for our Alaskan cruise. I researched all public transportation. I've already planned our routes down to the times, transfers and how to pay. I know what the admission costs are for all tourist spots.

I keep a spread sheet/time sheet with all reservation numbers, phone numbers, addresses and fees.

I scan all of our passports travel docs and put it on a jump drive and give it to a trusted friend or relative. I make sure I have all credit card phone numbers in our phones in case of theft so I can act quickly to stop a card.

Planning is a fun challenge for me. The Princess of Overplanning

[wendydarling78]

Originally Posted by Purdue Mouse

Hi, my name is __________
It's been 2 years since my last cruise. On my honor, or I may be forced to go on a last minute trip! (borrowed from Nemo

I do extensive research when I go to a city or any vacation spot. I'm going to Seattle in 10 days for our Alaskan cruise. I researched all public transportation. I've already planned our routes down to the times, transfers and how to pay. I know what the admission costs are for all tourist spots.

I keep a spread sheet/time sheet with all reservation numbers, phone numbers, addresses and fees.

I scan all of our passports travel docs and put it on a jump drive and give it to a trusted friend or relative. I make sure I have all credit card phone numbers in our phones in case of theft so I can act quickly to stop a card.

Planning is a fun challenge for me. The Princess of Overplanning

All good ideas! I especially like putting your credit card phone numbers in your cell in case of theft! I am totally stealing that idea! Thank you!

Wendy

[DisneyFanette]

Originally Posted by wendydarling78

All good ideas! I especially like putting your credit card phone numbers in your cell in case of theft! I am totally stealing that idea! Thank you!

Wendy

Great idea with the cc numbers

[rubberbootbunny]

Originally Posted by Purdue Mouse

The Princess of Overplanning

Purdue Mouse, you were actually part of the inspiration for this thread

I just love the princess of over planning label and it got me thinking thanks

[dchris]

Originally Posted by krazy4crusing

For WDW I make a spreadsheet with the days of the week, the park to visit each day, park hours, extra magic hours, shows, parades, closed attractions, rides to go on and in what order, snacks, CS/TS meals and where to get them all listed in order by area of the park.

I do the same exact thing!
I have to because I am from the Netherlands and have to plan because our time is limited, read 10 days
We are also cruising on the Fantasy the week before, and I only plan the dinner's, palo and remy and request a dinner rotation, and book excursions..that's it

My spreadsheet for WDW also contains park hours, EMH, show times, parades en the most important ADR times, reservation numbers and credits for the DDP. And I also highlight in color which show we are going to see that night, and which park to go to each day........just thinking about it makes me want to plan another trip haha because I love to do it!
I am now suffering from planographobia (fear of nothing left to plan)

Many people think i'm nuts but I like to know what I am doing because I don't want to miss a thing because I want to see everything!

[KaryCam]

Originally Posted by FloridaNative8

Guilty! Our cruise isn't until March, but I've been planning/researching/making lists since we booked in December!

Me too!
You know we are on the same cruise and what bugs me is that our B itinerary navigators won't come out until those cruises start in November.
I can't wait to look at them, hear reports back from those cruisers on what the dining rotations are, etc.

I too color-code my family calendar. I do though know what I am cooking each evening because I make up my weekly menu a week before.

On my computer I have a DCL folder and have different documents in it labeled, dining, ports, menus, packing, FE, etc. As I find info on this site and copy it over to a document. I also prepare a planner to take with me so I don't forget things.

[Silverfox97]

Originally Posted by sue

I also do our laundry up the day before we come home, so everything is clean in the suitcases and this way, we can just put it all away when we arrive back at home

THANK YOU!!!

People think I'm bonkers for doing this, too. When I get home (albeit its just a 2-hr drive to Tampa from PC), I don't want to do laundry. None. It's so worth it to me to spend the money in the ship to do the laundry & just come home & put everything away. (No, it doesn't take long to do this at all & I've never ever felt like I'm spending minutes away from my vacation.)

At home, I love coming home to a spotless house (as spotless as it can be with our cats still being there), an empty dishwasher, an empty & CLEAN fridge.....the list goes on!!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

[mare141]

LISTs are my big thing, and for longer trips, I like to have all my hotels pre-booked out…no stopping in the middle of no-where in a roach motel (nothing wrong with that, but we did it the 1st few years of being married and now that we have a 5 year old, the standards moved up a wee bit…to holiday inn.) All transportation/flights and kennels pre-booked months in advance with insurance (in case he deploys). I normally (depending on length and driving miles) have a travel binder that has ALL trip information including hard copies of driving directions, important information, hotel info, geocaching stops (goal is one every hour, but we usually can’t find them anyway, but it’s the stop that’s important), and must see/stop info.

You should have seen us when we moved….the drive down from New Mexico to Washington DC in 2 cars one towing a boat, 3 humans, 2 dogs, 2 small birds, 1 ticked off cat and a cactus!!! (Oddly the cactus is the one that saved my life while driving…the blood hound decided she REALLY wanted to sit in my lap while I was in the middle of some stressful traffic while we were driving through one of the larger cities. The only thing that stopped the dog from ending up in the front and us in an accident was that cactus.) I had 4 months to plan that mil. move out and it was interesting!

Oh yeah and the house HAS TO BE CLEAN…I want to come back to a clean, stress free house.

[wishuponastarforever]

I clean the house before leaving but above all clean sheets. The stark reality is no one will be changing those sheets but me when we get home.

[jahber]

Originally Posted by wishuponastarforever

I clean the house before leaving but above all clean sheets. The stark reality is no one will be changing those sheets but me when we get home.

Wait, the room steward doesn't do that anymore when we get home? Major : (

I like to have clean clothes when we arrive home, too. It's one less thing to do!

[FloridaNative8]

Originally Posted by KaryCam

Me too!
You know we are on the same cruise and what bugs me is that our B itinerary navigators won't come out until those cruises start in November.
I can't wait to look at them, hear reports back from those cruisers on what the dining rotations are, etc.

I too color-code my family calendar. I do though know what I am cooking each evening because I make up my weekly menu a week before.

On my computer I have a DCL folder and have different documents in it labeled, dining, ports, menus, packing, FE, etc. As I find info on this site and copy it over to a document. I also prepare a planner to take with me so I don't forget things.

I know!! I am dying to see the Navigators! Also to hear about the San Juan excursions!

I also plan our menu the week before, so I can be a good girl and get exactly what I need at the grocery store.

This thread makes me feel a bit better about being "plan-crazy"!!

And I can't wait to hear other great planning tips on here - I'm already making another list!

[rubberbootbunny]

Originally Posted by wishuponastarforever

I clean the house before leaving but above all clean sheets. The stark reality is no one will be changing those sheets but me when we get home.

love this one! I'm going to do this now too!

[Delrea]

I call each resort where we are having a meal and ask for specific direction from the park we will be at that day and from our restortand the best way to get there, ferry, bus, etc. Then I type up the name, date, reservation # and directions. Then have them all turned into laminated luggage tags at the UPS store, each morning I put the new one for the day on the stroller that way if were running late we know exactly where to go and when.

[chateau]

Originally Posted by Delrea

I call each resort where we are having a meal and ask for specific direction from the park we will be at that day and from our restortand the best way to get there, ferry, bus, etc. Then I type up the name, date, reservation # and directions. Then have them all turned into laminated luggage tags at the UPS store, each morning I put the new one for the day on the stroller that way if were running late we know exactly where to go and when.

This link may help you with that, and save you the phone call; therefore allowing you more time to plan!!http: I don't think it's allowed to post the link but it's ourlaughingplace then look under transportation at the top of the page... this gives you all possible routes and the time it takes for every means of transportation.

[smmast]

I'm going to speak for all "over Planners" for a second and say that we are also under-appreciated, at least i am. Our vacations go off so smoothly, if i do say so myself, due to that planning, that no one else(in my travel group) seems to be aware of.
I use a travel planning app as well, not sure i am allowed to name it on the boards, but it's a must have for planners and i also use a sort "cloud" storage device where i have scanned our passports, park passes etc in case something should go awry.
Glad i'm not alone, gotta go plan now