how much luggage do you take family of 4?

[Misty89]

everyone always tells me i over pack....last time ( and first time we flew) we had so much stuff it was a PIMA to carry it all.....
so what do you bring for a family of 4?
it's a dad, mom and 2 DD's ages 13 &5.
heres what i was thinking... ( going for 5 days)

2 big suitcases for DH & I, 1 smaller case for each daughter ( or mabye sharing 1?), our stroller, and 4 carry ons...(med size travel bags that came with luggage set)

[fac]

In my case..DH, me and two girls ages 5 and 3, we had
2 suitcases, 1 duffle bag, 2 car seats, 2 strollers and 2 carry ons (1 for me and 1 for DD's toys on the plane) for 9 days.

We limited the carry-ons, because it allowed me to hold onto the girls while DH took care of the suitcases. My carry-on only has the girls' clothes and snacks. (the snacks turned out to be good because the plane did not take off for two hours at EWR). Normally we took 2 suitcases when we travelled. The duffle bag was mainly for "suprised" toys for the girls. Two years ago, we bought an extra bag at walmart to bring back the souvenirs, hence I thought the extra duffle bag was okay. I don't think there is much difference between my 9 days and your 5 days, as we did laundry after about 5 days. Given we stayed in BWV, probably we can bring less and combine everything in 2 suitcases, but I did not see an extra bag as burden, as we just checked in everything. I saw no reason to rent car-seats or strollers, hence I brought both.

We always rent a van or a SUV because DH prefer the space when he drives and the space for the kids.

I don't mind to take all the stuff as it is really from the car to the plane. My suggestion is to take whatever you feel comfortable.

[Amirah95]

We narrow it down to one suitcase and one carry on per person in the family. The worst thing for us to do is waiting for our lugguage to roll around once we get to our destination. :)

[R4racing]

On our last trip it was DH, me and DD (2 1/2) We had 1 larger suitcase, 1 med suitcase (or carry-on size as FIL calls it) and 2 backpacks. Along with carseat, stroller some snacks and a cooler. We drove down, 7 nights and did laundry once (it was so nice not having such a huge pile of dirty laundry when we got home) We took our beach towels last time, debating taking them or not on the next trip, since they take up so much luggage space. But it is nice not needing to get extra towels at the hotel.

[poohkinandpiglet]

From now on I'm taking only two large suitcases with all of our stuff packed together. Last trip I packed a suitcase for each kid and it was just too difficult to drag around 4 suitcases (even with the small kid ones).

I'm going to pack lighter and plan on doing a load of laundray midway thru the trip.

[mbb]

Originally posted by Misty89


As little as possible...

Last trip, we only had a "roll-on" carry on each for DH, 2 kids, age 5, and me.

I picked up a duffle at Walgreen for $7 to come home with....I hate packing to come home!

:sunny:

[PhillyPiglet]

Hubby and I are each bringing one rolling carry-on apiece. That's for eight nights!!! We will wash some stuff out as we go. I practiced what I can get into the bag today:


4 pairs of shorts
6 shirts
6 pair of undies
2 bras
1 bathing suit
4 pairs of socks
1 nightie
1 pair of sandals
1 pair of water shoes
1 cover-up for pool
1 large bag of toiletries/make-up
1 totebag for souvies

I should also mention I am"Pooh"sized and my stuff is in the size18-20 range.Hubby will have the cameras and snacks in his bag. We do this to avoid baggage claim when we get to Orlando. We can't wait to get to WDW!!!!!:Pinkbounc :bounce:

[Pea-n-Me]

PhullyPiglet: Impressive!! :wizard:

[Misty89]

thanks all!

i am wondering...as far as carry ons, DD5 has a little bag she bought that is a mini rolling suitcase " for florida" LOL princess:
that i planned on putting some toys in for her....
i wondering if we could get away with just 1 checked bag? that would be soo much easier...i know DD13 will need her bag also, Cd players etc....and i was going to carry the tickets and personal care in mine,
do any of you ever have a problem putting all the clothes in one bag? - like say, mine and the 2 girls stuff? - we also plan to do laundry, only because like i said before- it was such a pain at the airport-
DH will most likey use a duffle bag, so if we each had a carry on and then we checked 1 suitcase that would be so nice :)
thanks again.....


Tina

[donkeysleuth]

I have 1/2 the packing dilemma as everyone else, since it's myself and my DD 6. I have a suitcase & smallish duffel bath that can both be expanded-if I can pack the duffel bag unexpanded and the suitcase unexpanded, then hopefully I'll have enough room for souvenirs. I'm going to do laundry down there also-8 days/7 nights. 2 quick quetions:
-will Disney ship purchases to your home?
-DD is a petite 6, is is worth bringing the stroller (how do you get it on the plane?) or renting one down there?
Have a great time!!: :earsgirl:

[Pea-n-Me]

Donkeysleuth:

Yes, Disney ships merchandise home. If you're staying onsite they will also ship packages to your resort room for free.

You may consider bringing a lightweight umbrella stroller to have. You simply put a luggage tag on it and check it as luggage at the airport. If you know you're going to be doing a lot of walking in the heat and/or having a long day, bring the stroller. If DD wants to walk you can always use it to hold your bags, but eventually she'll like to sit. It's amazing how much walking you do.

[Jasminesmommy]

there were 4 of us mom, dad and a 4 and 6 year old. We had 3 large suitcases and 4 carryons.

[NotUrsula]

One 29" pullman and two 20" backpack carryons, plus a fanny-pack camera bag. Also the necessary carseats and a stroller when we used one; those were all gate-checked. That's for 2 weeks in Europe. For WDW we go lighter.

The large case can end up going overweight (50 or 70#, depending on your airline and your route), so I also put an empty duffel on top in the pullman. I pack using space bags, so if we go overweight, I just pop a couple of the bags into the duffel and check that, too (it already has a luggage tag, of course). When we arrive at the destination, I re-consolidate so that I don't have to drag bags and children.

We pack the same way for road trips as for flying. I once caught myself overloading the car for a road trip, and vowed that if we didn't need it flying, we didn't need it driving, either. (The only exception to that is pillows.)

Two good tricks I know for avoiding overpacking: never pack directly from the closet into the suitcases; lay it all out on a flat surface first, so that you can see just how much stuff there really is. Once you've done that; take a hard look and try to put half of the stuff back in the closet before you start loading the suitcases.
If you forget a piece of clothing, you can always buy. Bring a little woolite in case you need to wash undies in the sink.

Oh, one more tip. NEVER segregate clothes into separate cases for each person. Always mix it up. That way, if one bag is lost, that person will still have something to wear. Carry a spare shirt and a change of undies for each person in a carryon.

[donkeysleuth]

Pea-n-me-
thanks for the info-too bad I couldn't fit in the stroller and be pushed around! :wave:

[PhillyPiglet]

Thanks Pea-n-Me!!!I love the challange to see how much I can get into that suitcase!!:hyper:

[MOMO2DK]

We stay where we can wash our clothes, and I UPS a box down, so we have no checked baggage.

Otherwise when we did pack luggage, it was one large wheeled duffel for our family of 4.

[excitedmom]

for our family me, dh, ds 8yr and dd4yrs i have one big suitcase (7 outfits for me dh and ds 9 for dd 2 bathing suits each, pants and long shirt each)for clothes, one small for shoes and other (sandals runners and swim shoes for each and toiletries, cameras, pin lanyards) and each of the kids have a backpack with toys and snacks in. we are driving.

[DumboFan]

We literally just got home from WDW ~ our flight landed at 9:20am!

Every year, I tell my DH we are not going to over-pack, but it never happens!! For the three of us (DD is 6) we ended up with 6 checked bags! Four were larger pieces & 2 small suitcases. We were there for 2 weeks & we even did laundry twice! No matter what I do, I can't get DH to pack lighter! I guess I should have been clued in to his over-packing habits when he took 3 pairs of jeans & 5 pairs of pants to Hawaii for our honeymoon! :crazy:

[Shelby0007]

Hi Misty89,

If your flying, I would downsize some. Last year our family of 4 used 2 medium bags that we checked for the 4 of us for 7 nights. We each had a carry-on. 1 filled with snacks - used this for souveniers going home. Other carry-ons had a change of cloths & bathing suit for each of us (just in case luggage is lost), camera & film, and things to keep kids busy on the plane. I think I did 2 small loads of wash which was no problem.

This year I may try to fit it all into 1 large checked bag and 4 carry-ons. The kids (then 7 & 9) were not much help with the luggage in the airport terminal. Keep that in mind - especially for your 5 year old.

Have a great time!

Shelby0007:wave:

[dizkidz2]

For our family of 4 we usually pack 2 large, 2 med suitcases on wheels loosely and 1 carryon, dd16 & ds13 will have backpacks.
DH doesn't believe vacations are for doing laundry, so he has everyone pack everything they need for 10 days.
Everyone used to have their own suitcase, until the one vacation when the airlines lost DH suitcase. Thankfully it showed up late in the evening on our arrival day. He is a big guy and it would have been difficult to buy 10 days worth of clothing at disney.
So now the clothes are divided among all the suitcases.

[LYNSUE]

After many many trips to WDW, I have finally decided to stop putting the "LUG" in luggage. For our trip in November, DH and I decided to go with carry-ons only. (no checking bags and no waiting for the bags to arrive).

I was given some very good tips by a co-worker who travels this way all the time.

1. The less folds the better. Place all like items (shirts, pants, shorts) each in a stack laid flat. Then fold them in half only once if possible and lay them in the suit case. Shorts you may not need to fold at all. Tops one fold will work. Long pants may need two, but fold up on each end. Be sure the pants are light weight cotton. Denim is more difficult.

2. Use zip lock bags for socks and underwear. Do not leave socks rolled. Lay the socks and underwear flat. Place them in a zip lock. Press out as much air as possible by rolling the bag. Zip it and lay flat in the suitcase.

3. Extra shoes. Shoes take up a lot of space, however it is very necessary to have a 2nd pair at WDW. Wear your most bulky pair. The spare pair can be laid up against the corners of the suitcase and fill them with small toiletries (in plastic bags).