I started preparing a budget spreadsheet for every vacation two years ago and it has made it much, much easier to do all the things I want to do--no more coming home to unexpectedly high bills. If I don't have a clearly written budget, I just spend and spend and spend and then the next trip (and/or my day-to-day purchasing power) suffers for it. This year is the first time I've done a schedule tab on my spreadsheet--I used to scoff at the idea of doing that but it's making me happy this time around, so I'm rolling with it. Earlier on I'd added tabs to the spreadsheet where I listed restaurants (both QS and TS) that interest me, events that were likely to be offered during my trip, etc.--just things I wanted to have on my radar. Then things started firming up as I was able to book add-ons and ADRs, and I guess my finger just slipped? Suddenly there's a schedule tab. It's broken down into Early Morning, Midmorning, Lunchtime, Afternoon, Evening, and Night, and there's a space at the bottom where I recently listed my FP+ priorities for each day. I don't think I'll add the FP+ times to the schedule once I have them; I change FP+ around really freely and rapidly both ahead of time and during the trip, so just knowing the park and general time block when I plan to have them is plenty of info. Wherever I have a reservation I have the item and time in the relevant cell and it's a different color to help it pop out. In some spots I have a few options listed instead of a definite plan since I don't know what I'm going to feel like doing.
I don't plan to bring the spreadsheet with me. I always bring a printed budget tracker where I input my daily spending by hand each evening to see how much I've under- or overspent versus where I expected to be, and when I went to DLP last year I just included extremely brief notes in each day's header if I had a reservation or "goal" that day. I think that'll work again for this; the additional details are all in
MDE anyway. I'm thinking about creating a few Notes in my phone with lists of top choice QS and TS so if I'm ever at a loose end for a meal I can zero in on something I'm excited about instead of just settling on whatever QS is closest.
Fixed that for ya.
Just making a joke, but in all seriousness I do disagree with what you wrote. That's so very dependent on personality. I can and do experience as much as or more than anyone with a spreadsheet and don't have the confines that a spreadsheet creates.
It's funny; even though I did make a schedule tab in my spreadsheet this year, I am still staunchly opposed to using an actual touring plan on my trips. I'm going to see how I like the balance I'm currently setting up--I know which park I plan to be at each day and have roughly one thing per day scheduled, but within my park time I'm not going point to point checking things off a list. I've always just made everything up as I went in the past but this time I had a few specific things I wanted to do with this trip--we'll see if the planning sticks or if I rearrange everything once I'm actually there. I don't feel like it's creating confines since I'm able to change any and all of it (well, except for the non-refundable tour and AH ticket), but something my housemate said when she saw it struck a cord with me--I'm only doing this to myself. As a solo traveler I can lay out a plan exactly how I want it, and as a solo traveler I can change that plan at a moment's notice. When I take her with me in 2021 I'm going to do the absolute bare minimum of scheduling--just the marathon since I'll be running in it, an ADR of her choice to celebrate her birthday, and then a wide, wide open schedule the rest of the week. I think that'll be a lot more enjoyable for the two of us traveling together; if I applied my methodology for the solo trip to that trip I'm certain she would feel overscheduled.