What do you do to prepare for a Disney trip?

I have a checklist in my Blackberry that I've used for travel for nearly ten years. (Used to have it on Excel in my Pocket PC and before that on my desktop)

It has everything on it including clothing, toiletries, electronic equipment and chargers, documentation, whether I need to make certain reservations or not, etc.

I usually just follow the list, and over the years it has been a great help, and it probably took 10 minutes to put together initially. I cannot imagine preparing to travel now without that checklist.

I usually have one carry on that will contain my laptop, digital camera, reading materials, tickets, etc. I probably spend WAY too much time putting things in and taking them out of that bag in the days before a trip.

I keep detailed notes and to-do lists, and have several Excel spreadsheets for overall trip itinerary, park itineraries, ADRs/dining choices, etc. If I had a Blackberry or iPhone, I'd probably keep all this info on my phone, but I have a very basic, cheap little cell phone, so...paper it is. Like MouseTraveler, I reuse my packing lists and trip planners (and update them as needs be); no point reinventing the wheel.

I check the boards daily for new info, tips, etc. Right before my trip, I'll check show times.

I look through my packing list and if there's anything that needs buying or replacing, I do that. For instance, I've had to buy new shorts and capris, headbands, a new suitcase and TSA lock for this trip. My busiest planning period was back in February. At this point, there isn't much left to do until the week before my trip.

We get ourselves completely hyped up and excited until we can barely sleep for the month before we go.

DW's been collecting Polynesian and Caribbean Beach Resort info like mad for the past few weeks. We look at menus, plan and re-plan our days, and figure out which attractions are not-to-miss this time around.

We read a lot of trip reports, too--especially for the resorts we're staying in.

And, finally, we put a dry-erase board count-down on the fridge. It's critical.

It does sound critical! Countdowns are one of my favorite things to do.

Our other pre-trip activities really depend on how much time we have before the trip. Usually I have a to-do list a mile long that I make sure I can access from work and from home. I'm one of those people who has to write things down or I'll forget them!

Sounds like a lot of you have "preparatory to-do lists," maybe I should get one of those.

We usually have where we will be on what day planed months in advance (good for making reservations for restaurants and tours)

besides that we make lists of all attractions, places we want to see and fit them into the preliminary schedule as best as we can.

As a reader I buy all the up to date guide books (Birnenbaum & passporter are musts) along with any new books on the parks I am going to.

I've found that buying too many guide books just gets you a lot of duplicate information so I stick to the main 2. Birnenbaum is the straight official line on what everything is, The Passporter is a very opinionated view and really tells me what people are thinking of something so I see these as the yen and yang of guide books (They work best together).

If I had to pick I would say Passporter because they include a lot more relevent info like resort maps, large Park Maps and I can get a better feel of what I actually will enjoy from that book.

Love the resort maps, makes requesting a room much easier.

You're pretty much an expert, does Birnenbaum actually help you plan or do you just use it to get psyched?

My first copy (Before my first trip in 2000) was a GREAT planning tool. It had tons of info, tips on when to go, busy times, weather information and all the info on the rides I have never been on. I have a copy now from every year I go and I kind of have it memorized. Now when I read one I can pick out the changes and new pictures from last year (But I still get them and it dose get me going a bit)

What really gets me reved up to go is the behind the scenes books. The Imagineering field guides, Biographys, or basically one more book that I can suck a new piece of information or trivia out of. I really do want to be a disney know it all. (Im already at the point that noone will play Disney triva with me.)

I love the "to the point" writing of the Unofficial Guide. I always check it out in the bookstore to see if there's new information. And I agree that the passporter can turn into a great keepsake if you're good about keeping brochures, tickets, and other memorabilia!

We use the "Brit's guide to orlando and Walt Disney World" by Simon Vaness (I am a Brit after all), lots of practical stuff in there about the whole area.

I've never read that one. Tony, what would you say is the bit of info that's most important to know when you're going to WDW from the UK?

I think what most first timers never appreciate before getting there is the size of the place and how spread out things are. Local to attractions in the UK would mean within about 5 miles, over there it could be 20 miles or more.

The amount of things that there is to do catches people out too, and the amount of planning required to be able to do all you want to. It took me nearly a month to convince a work colleague that he need to plan his time in Orlando before getting there. It wasn't until he started to list everything he wanted to do that he believed me.

These two thing (IMO) can never be overstated.