Watermom, I did and that is what I intended to do! I wanted to get a pool guy out to show us the first time. When we called the local store, they thought we were nuts that we wanted to do 'all of that'. The guy went on to say that he doesn't do anything but close with chemicals and put on a cover. No skimmer protection, unhooking the hoses, etc..
So, yes, I'm confused to how much I really need to do.