Last year I closed by:
Waiting for the water temp to get down to 60 deg F.
Removed the ladder.
Bring the FC to shock level.
Lowering the water level below the return.
Removed the eyeball and used a plug in the return.
No skimmer plate but I did put a "gizmo" in the skimmer.
Removed the inlet and return hoses.
Removed the pump, drained / dried it and stored it indoors.
Drained the sand filter.
Removed the pressure guage and stored it in the heatedpart of the house.
Removed the multiport valve and stored it indoors.
Covered the top of the sand filter where the multiport goes with a frisbee.
Covered the entire sand filter with a large garbage bag and put duct tape on the bag below the widest part of the filter to keep the bag on.
Blew out the underground lines and solar panels with a shopvac.
Covered the automatic valve for the solar with a garbage bag and duct taped to secure.
Removed, cleaned, and lubed each O ring and stored in a zip lock bag numbered to indicate it's proper location.(thanks CarlD)
Covered each open union with a platic grocery bag taped on the bag to secure and added an X of duct tape over the opening to keep the critters out.
Opened the breakers for the pool.
Put in a large pillow to keep the cover up (compensates for lowered water and make it easier to pump the water off the cover).
Covered the pool with a solid cover.

Throughout the winter, I inspected the pool regularly and pumped the water off the cover to 3/4" (so it doesn't blow around in the wind).

I opened to a clear pool.
Covering the pool is pretty much essential for me because the pool is surrounded by full-grown Pin Oaks that never seem to drop all thier leaves until January.
My method my seem like alot but I'm pretty A-retentive and generally prefer to err on the side of safety.