How to Create a Trip Planning Spreadsheet

For many seasoned Disney travelers, an important part of trip planning for Walt Disney World includes "The Spreadsheet". Many of you have seen some of my past creations, and know this is one of my many Disney obsessions. The benefit of a spreadsheet is having everything I need or use - confirmation numbers, key dates, ADRs, park hours and Extra Magic Hours - all on one handy page. It helps me figure out which parks we want to hit on which days, which helps me with food planning. And we know how important that is!


How To Create A Trip Planning Spreadsheet


Finally, and perhaps most importantly - it's just darn fun and helps me pass the time until our actual trip.

If you are interested in creating a spreadsheet for your vacation - and not everyone is, which is perfectly fine - here are some handy tips and tricks that I use to get started.


Spreadsheet Help Organize Vacations in One Page


Begin With the Basics:

1. Lay out the days of your vacation, either horizontally or vertically. I use Microsoft Excel, but feel free to use whatever works for you. I started out with hand-written index cards in the early days!
2. Add in the park hours for each day, and any Extra Magic Hours.
3. Decide which parks you want to visit on each day. What's important to you? Does your first park have to be MK? Do you want to take advantage of Extra Magic Hours, or avoid them? Will you have a park hopper add-on?
4. Add in any Advance Dining Reservations, or any specific places you want to eat for breakfast, lunch and/or dinner.
5. Then decide if there are any night-time shows you wish to see and add them in.

The result is a basic plan that helps lay a decent foundation for your trip.

Include As Much or As Little Information As You'd Like

From here, you can continue to add as much detail as you like, or leave it as is. In past years I've incorporated color-coded crowd level ratings, new things to eat and pictures from previous trips as fun reminders. I'd also suggest checking the park hours and Extra Magic Hours at least once closer to your visit to see if anything has changed that might impact your plans.

And don't be afraid to change plans on a whim once you get there! After all, it's your magical vacation.

Jeff's spreadsheet pdf file is available over on our forms here http://www.wdwforgrownups.com/forum/do-you-use-spreadsheet Feel free to ask questions, make comments or share even your own spreadsheet tips!

A big shout out and thank you to JeffC for this fantastic post. Creating a vacation spreadsheet really helps to organize planning, and his are truly inspiring. You can find Jeff on our member forums sharing his passion for all things Disney.