Ok. So Dear Sister and I are planning a WDW trip for our families - there will be 10 of us in total going on the trip in November - 4 adults and 6 kids ranging in age from 14 years to 2 months.
Since DH and I are "Disney Pro's", I took a step back when we decided to all go together and I sort of let her start going crazy with the whole planning process... It is her family's first real WDW trip and our...? I lost count... and I knew that I could easily take over, go nuts and have all of our days, meals and events planned in no time. Because - as we all know the planning and anticipation is half the fun!!!
So, during one of our many WDW Chat phone calls, she mentions that she found a spreadsheet on line .... I know there are many, many on there. Everyone has their own way to plan and make spreadsheets, but when she showed up at house house my *MY* very own spreadsheet, I almost fell out of my chair!
No one in my family truly understand the infatuation that I have with Disney and how much I LOVE and GENUINELY enjoy planning these trips! Until....
I looked at my husband, completely enthralled and super excited with myself, because I had "been published!"
DS really didn't believe I was the original creator of the spreadsheet as she had pulled a version from someone else's website/blog (It shall remain nameless??) (and yet I got no credit for it
... a little "thanks to my friend on the Disboards for sharing this chart" would have been a nice little thing to do). So I opened up my computer and showed her the 4 versions I had and the original spreadsheet that matched the one on line to a "T" minus their tweaks and updates of course! I think it finally set in and resonated with my family just how crazy for Disney we really are. Although DS kept saying "well, the woman" when referring to the creator of the spreadsheet that we were both working on last night... too funny!
I am excited to think that others are able to use my spreadsheet and get as much help from it as it has our family since I created in in 2005!! I have different versions with different colors, fonts, pictures at the top as well and the different dates and resort info. Mind you, the last post before this one on this thread was in 2011. I strongly urge anyone who is planning their trip and may feel a bit overwhelmed to try one one. Be in mine (and I am happy to share) or another one that you like the layout of, and plot your vacation out. Its not so much that you are being uber-organized ( but kind of you/we are) but more of the idea that you should really think about your vacation, what parks you want to visit (possibly twice), nap schedules, ADR'S/
DDP reservation times and numbers, Extra Magic Hours, parade and firework schedules and such. Because, lets face it - these vacations cost a lot of money and we want to be sure we get the most bang for our buck!!
Enjoy and happy planning!
PS the link to the spreadsheet is located in my signature!