Top Vacation Planning Tools

National Plan for Vacation Day

1. planDisney Recommends Their Top Planning Tools

   My Disney Experience App – “My favorite tool for planning and managing a Walt Disney World Resort vacation is the My Disney Experience website and mobile app. My Disney Experience enables me to easily handle most everything I want to coordinate – park tickets, park reservations, dining, and just getting around. I especially appreciate the Wait Times guide for attractions, Mobile Food Ordering for quick-service meals, and the Get Directions feature for interactive maps with step-by-step directions to easily find my way to what’s next.” ~ Jerry
   
   Spreadsheet – “When planning a Walt Disney World Resort vacation, I like to put everything into a spreadsheet. I include things like the number of people in our party, which days we will be visiting which park, and the park operating hours. My spreadsheet provides a quick reference when I am doing time-sensitive things, like making Advanced Dining Reservations 60-days out. ~ Sarah
   
   Spreadsheets can also come in handy when creating your budget!
   
   “When budgeting for dining, I too use a spreadsheet. Even though all our plans are in My Disney Experience, I can include other plans in the chart, including our flight information. With the spreadsheet, I work with the family to select all the restaurants we plan to visit during the trip. I then look at the menus and get an average cost for a meal/person, including any appetizers, drinks and desserts we might order. I then add taxes and gratuity and factor in any applicable discounts. On our most recent trip we came in about $14 less than my estimates!” ~Donyell
   
   Checklists – “Checklists are my jam! I first make a list for my to-do items like booking our Disney Resort hotel, purchasing theme park tickets, making dining reservations, booking additional experiences, etc. Then, I have a list for our top dining location choices. Next comes lists for things that need to be done before we travel, like a packing list that also includes to dos. It sounds like a lot of lists, but it helps keep me organized, and I love arriving prepared for a wonderful vacation!” ~ Tabitha
   
   And sometimes, there is nothing like a good old piece of paper and a reliable pen … make that a gel pen. Confused? Let Allyn explain …
   
   “I’ll let you in on a little secret... My classified tool to planning the perfect Walt Disney World Resort vacation... the planning aid you’ve been searching for... no, it’s not a spreadsheet or an app. It’s not a PDF or a slideshow. It’s a good old-fashioned pad of quality paper and a jumbo pack of multi-colored glitter gel pens…glitter is optional. I’m telling you, when I physically write down my plans for a Walt Disney World Resort vacation, I feel like I’m on top of the world! With my glitter gel pens gliding, and my Disney music jamming in the background, I go from Zero to Hero in a flash!  I dedicate one page to each day of my vacation and color code my schedule from there. 
   • Red=What theme park I’ll be visiting. 
   • Purple=Advanced Dining Reservations. 
   • Blue=My Enchanting Extras reservations. 
   • Green=Snacks I don’t want to miss! 
   I ask you, who is more prepared than a grownup Mouseketeer with a jumbo pack of glitter gel pens?” ~ Allyn
   
   And if you are more of a digital planner, check out Missy’s tip that serves two purposes in one amazing document!
   
   “I, personally, am a planner and find that thinking through the details of my trip is half the fun! I make a Word document for each of our vacations that functions as both a planning tool ahead of time and a keeper of our memories. Each day gets its own page with photos of what we'll be doing, a basic itinerary, and a spot where I write down our favorite memories from the day. Reading back through those trip books is one of my family's favorite things to do, and it keeps the memories alive for years to come!” ~Missy