You spend time planning, but how do stay flexible during your vacation while staying productive?
Here are a few tips that I use during our trips to keep on top of the things that we want to accomplish while also being aware of things that come up, like a last minute reservation to Ohana.
FIRST OFF, LET’S GO OVER A FEW “WHO” “WHAT” AND “WHY”S THAT CAN COME UP
Why did you want to go down in the first place? Was it because you wanted to try a specific restaurant (like Steakhouse 71) or go to a specific event (like Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party)?
Will your timeframe impact your decisions? You may only get a few hours at Disney Springs or a brief opportunity to explore the Monorail Resorts.
Do you have something special that you want to introduce to your family/friends? During Jill’s first trip to Walt Disney World, I wanted to get her a set of Belle Mickey Ears and she was going to put them on at the resort before going to the Magic Kingdom. I convinced her to put them on in front of Cinderella’s Castle.
Why? Because it was going to be an AWESOME photo opportunity!
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PRINT OUT A TO-DO LIST OF ATTRACTIONS/EVENTS
Before you head down to Walt Disney World, you should put together a list of the things that you ACTUALLY want to do. Whether it’s your first trip or your 100th trip, everyone wants to do something unique on vacation. This is your chance to stay ahead of the game and know what you’d actually like to accomplish and not have to second guess anything.
This is also a great thing to have in the hotel room and check things off as you go. It’ll allow your party to explore without possibly forgetting something important…like getting a Dole Whip or Seeing Mickey’s Philharmagic.
Related Article – Top 20 Best Rides at Disney
PRINT OUT A DAILY SCHEDULE, INCLUDING YOUR DINING RESERVATIONS AND GENIE+ RESERVATIONS
Once you’ve made all your reservations, put all that information onto a basic one-pager and print it out. This will give you piece of mind throughout your vacation, as there are things that have specific times that you need to remember and Disney’s wifi isn’t the most reliable;)
The Daily Schedule is actually the most important thing to have with you, to be honest!
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PRINT OUT A CHARACTER MEET AND GREET LIST
Want to meet Mickey? Awesome!
What about Cinderella, Belle, Chip & Dale? Epic!
Character interactions are incredibly fun and an important part to any vacation. Even the most un-Disney member of your group will want to meet Mickey! The Character Meet & Greet List allows you to go through an article like “Where to Find Disney Characters at Disney World” and decide who you’d like to meet.
We like to do this when we’re collecting autographs, as we may meet Goofy in Magic Kingdom & Animal Kingdom, but we really only need his signature once in our autograph book.
KEEP A JOURNAL THAT YOU UPDATE BEFORE BED
We started doing this as a way to reflect on what we did and how it made us feel at the end of the day, and it was helpful! When you’re looking back on a vacation, usually it’s while going through photos or remembering the good and skipping over the bad.
This allows you the opportunity to discuss what worked and what didn’t work in real time, so when you’re planning a future trip…you know what to avoid and plan around.
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UPLOAD/DOWNLOAD PHOTOS DAILY
With any type of technology, things can go wrong. Can you imagine sitting in front of your computer and uploading your photos – only to discover that they are all unsalvageable and have no opportunity to re-take them?
I’ve had so many issues over the years when dealing with cameras. Photobombing, setting issues, weather (technology doesn’t like the Florida humidity) and everything else under the sun…it’s just become part of my daily routine during my trip to stay organized and upload every night to a laptop and then start fresh the next morning with a fresh empty memory card!
Hope this helps in your trip planning preparations! Remember to check out some of our other articles for more fun insights:)