Powerup Plan for Super Mario World - 96 Exit

Castle 1 -- Hit midway-gate to become big mario, then get Flower in 2nd room.
DP1 -- You can get Feather and fly, but not getting Feather until DP2 is faster.
DP2 -- Get Feather here if you didn't get it in DP1.
(You should have Flower in reserve now, for Castle 2)
[DP4 -- Get Yoshi here if you plan to fly under VD1 and yoshi-clip in VD2]
Castle 2 -- Use Flower for the boss, then switch back to Feather.
(You don't need Flower in reserve any more)
VD1-normal-exit -- Get backup Feather by carrying blue shell to the goal. [Not if you have yoshi]
VD3 -- Get Yoshi.
Castle 3 -- (Optional) Get backup Feather just before boss if you don't have one.
CBA -- Take Yoshi Wings and then ditch Yoshi in the coin-heaven.
Star 3 -- Get backup Feather (if you don't have one) by carrying switch to goal.
Star 2 -- Get Yoshi near the goalpost by having mini-yoshi eat your reserve powerup.
Gnarly (Special 1) -- Get backup Feather as you fly upwards in the first room.
Mondo (Special 6) -- Ditch Yoshi as you pass the hammer bro at the start.
VD1-keyhole-exit -- Get Flower and then switch back to Feather.
(You should have Flower in reserve now, for Castles 4 and 5)
Castle 4 -- Use Flower for the boss, then switch back to Feather.
[FOI1 -- Get Yoshi here, if you plan to yoshi-clip in FOI2]
Castle 5 -- Use Flower for the boss, then switch back to Feather.
(You don't need Flower in reserve any more)
CI2-normal-exit -- Get backup Feather by getting 21 coins in the first room.
CI5 -- Get Yoshi.
VOB2 -- Take yoshi wings.
VOB2-keyhole-exit -- Ditch Yoshi at the beginning of the 2nd room.


NOTES:
* After Castle 2 it's a long time before you need Flower again, so people typically get a backup Feather for safety and then pick up Flower again later on (before doing Castle 4).  There are several good spots to reclaim the Flower.  VD1-keyhole-exit is the last decent spot before you hit Castle 4.  Getting the Flower in an earlier spot such as YI1 or Awesome (Special 4) is harder, but faster.  Other possible flower spots are Donut Secret House, VS2, and DS1.
* The fastest method of all is to just skip getting a backup Feather (until CI2).  Instead keep the Flower in your reserve all the way up through Castle 5 boss, and hope you don't get hit.
* The 2nd time you do Star 1 (keyhole exit), if you have a Feather in reserve you should grab the Mushroom at the beginning.  A Mushroom or Flower will fall faster than a Feather when you're dropping your reserve item to feed mini-yoshi at the end of Star 2.
* You can't get a backup Feather in VD1-normal-exit if you're doing the yoshi-clip method.  Instead get the backup Feather at the end of Castle 3 or the one in Star 3.
* If you don't have a backup Feather in Castle 3 you may want to grab the one right before the boss.  The boss of Castle 3 is random and you might have to take an intentional hit from a fireball to avoid missing a cycle (which is more costly than grabbing the backup feather).