Carry-on only with 2 toddlers?

[quandrea]

Originally Posted by ilovemk76

How many days do you go for? We do laundry once on our trips, so we wear everything twice.

No matter the length of trip, I always pack the same things. If it's winter, we always wear pants down (that's the one additon). I have laundry in the villa, mind you, and wash everyday. I don't mind doing that at all, although I know many people who don't want to think about laundry on a holiday. We are going down next week for four nights and again in December for nine nights; the packing list will be the same. Hope that helps.

[quandrea]

Originally Posted by DisneyRegulars

I tried so hard to get everything into one check through this past trip and failed, I ended up with two, and that was only bringing three changes of clothes each, but I'm just the opposite of everyone here. We fly Southwest so no bag fees. I find it much more carefree to check everything but a backpack full of electronics and a diaper bag for my boy. There's no fight for bin space and nothing to lug through the airport but the beastly child. When he's old enough to carry his own stuff i may go back to carry-on only, but then again we bring an air mattress and a cpap machine so carryons may still be challenging one day.

Just to add--we use a Hammacher Schlemmer under the seat carry on which is FANTASTIC. We don't have to worry about fighting for bin space. It fits easily under one of the twins' seats. Very convenient. I think it cost about sixty dollars. It's on wheels as well.

[pumpkinmomma]

We check one bag for the four of us and then do the rest carry on. I think we had 4 backpacks (each kid had one, then dh and I each had one), one rolling bag, and our stroller to deal with at the airport.

Honestly, you could do all carry ons but it really just depends on how well you can manage all of your stuff through security, changing planes, getting everything stowed, and dealing with 2 small kids. For us, it was easier to check a bag than drag another bag through the airport. Given the ages of your kids I would lean toward checking a bag so you don't have to try to drag it all through the airport. Plus with one checked bag, we didn't have to worry so much about liquid allowances. Made getting through security much easier.

[LoveBugs]

Count me in as a bag checker! I'm traveling with 3 little ones next week and we'll be gone for 9 days. We fly Southwest and use Magical Express so honestly it would be a whole lot MORE work to carry on than to check (I can't stand the fights for bin space I see on other airlines).

Anyhow, I think checking one bag would be reasonable. That way you're only paying the fee once but it'll give you a little more breathing room in terms of what to bring for the overall trip and what's in your carry on.

[LilnStitchy]

Originally Posted by mjkacmom

Why in the world do you need 3 large suitcases and carry-ons for a family of 4 (and 2 have little tiny clothes). I could easily get our whole family into 2 suitcases, especially with a washer/dryer. Especially if you are having diapers/wipes delivered.

That estimate was based on 6 people, 4 adults and 2 children. But if my husband had his way that IS how we'd pack to go to Disney. He's balking at doing laundry in the condo, even though HE wouldn't be doing the washing. I am quite sure I can get both my children's clothes into a small carry on suitcase.

[LilnStitchy]

Originally Posted by *Seanaci*

She mentioned that a set of grandparents is also traveling with them and have 2 suitcases (I believe I read that right) between the two of them. So, if she packed one just for her family, it would be a 3rd large suitcase.



When we go to Disney World, we pack about 3 days worth of clothes and do laundry on the 3rd day. However, we also packed 2 large suitcases between 5 of us so that we'd have room to bring home any souvenirs. My son was 14 months when we went to the world, and I ended up packing a stack of diapers for the week (I knew we would have ended up bringing diapers home in the suitcase one way or the other).



Do you have 3 large suitcases right now that you could take out and try to fit into your car? I would start with dry runs there before deciding one way or the other.

Personally, I would pack 1 large suitcase for the 4 of your. And in a carry-on pack one day's worth of clothes in case your large suitcase were to become MIA (it happened to us, leaving us scrambling at 9:30pm on arrival day to taxi it to Walmart to buy clothes for the week; luckily about 5 minutes before we decided to go, they found our bag and all was well).

Also, you mentioned you are renting a mini-van once you're there, where are the carseats going on the plane...are you checking them, using them? Or are those staying in your car and you'll be renting carseats from the rental car place? While they won't count as your carry-on item for the plane, they will be more things you have to figure out how to juggle around/get from place to place along with the kids.

I know that when we take a plane trip, we always bring my parents along (let's face it, all our vacations are to Disneyland or World, lol, and my parents love it as much as we do). We, however, have only 1 child. But, we do sit down and jot down everything that has to go, from carry-on bags to personal items, stroller, carseat, etc. Then we assign each adult to each item. For example, our trip to World in 2008 when my son was 14 months old, we pretty much traveled as follows: Mimi was responsible for getting herself and my DS through secutiry; DH was responsible for the stroller and his personal belongings; my dad was responsible for the diaper bag and his belongings, and I was responsible for the food bag and my belongings. In a couple months when we go to Disneyland, we'll have the carseat with us...as well as the stroller. Not sure how we're dividing everything up yet, but we'll sit down and write everything down and figure it out.

Dry runs are ALWAYS a plus when traveling with kids. Hope my suggestions were helpful. And no matter what you decide to do, enjoy your trip!

Love your idea of the dry run. And I just happen to have 3 large suitcases

We are checking 2 car seats as well. They are light weight seats and we can rent a luggage cart at the airport if needed and still have enough hands to manage every thing else. We may even have DH drop us off at the curbside with our luggage and he'll drop off the car and meet back with us rather than us all trying to load into the shuttle for the ride to the airport (from the parking lot).