Is it a pain to do laundry on vacation?

[DisneyWorld Delight]

I hate doing laundry on vaction. Alas, I have no choice. We don't have enough clothes to last 8 days, and I don't know if I would want to pack that much.

I love having clean laundry. Even did laundry on the Wonder. Someone had dried clothes with a pen, I didn't notice and out came my husbands dry clothes covered in ink. I just about died! The Disney Wonder Laundry service got it out and back to me that same day, no charge! (There's some Disney Magic for you) I learned a valuable lesson. Check the machines.

Observation:

Moderate resorts have gobs of laundry facilities.

Deluxe, not so much. 1 room for 1,000+ guests! I assume since people are willing to spend $300 per night for a room, they send their clothes out to the pros. Not me. The BC laundry was always empty. WL was a nightmare. Always busy and people jockeying for machines. I spent two nights well past midnight by myself doing laundry (while DH slept ) reading a scary book and then scared to death walking a-l-l t-h-e w-a-y back to my room knowing someone was going to open thier door and pull me in!

I literally am going to buy DVC just for the in room w/d.

 

[MrShiny]

Often do laundry. I suggest doing it late at night, when you can enjoy the quiet (if Pop's laundry by the pool, like All Star's?) and usually get a machine.

Get some Wisk tablets (easy to pack). Don't bring denim (takes forever to dry!).

Gives you some nice quiet time and means you have less to pack!

 

[Mandabella]

Of all the household chores, I don't see what the big deal is about laundry. You sort, put in washer, put in soap, and click a button. When the washer is done, put in dryer...fold/hang up. It's not like we're out beating our clothes against a rock anymore. Granted it's just DH and I right now, but I remember doing laundry as tween/teen for my family of 4...wasn't that a big of deal.

Anyhow, I will do laundry at WDW. DVC (1 bedroom and up) makes it really easy. Put a load in the washer in the morning, put 1st load in dryer and 2nd in load in washer in the afternoon, and at night fold 1st load and put 2nd load in dryer. If we have a studio, then I do laundry during nap/swim/downtime since I don't feel comfy leaving my clothes in a "public laundromat." It's sooo nice to come home with CLEAN clothes.

 

[Ziggie]

A question: Has anyone ever had trouble with leaving their laundry and going swimming? My apartment in the city (San Francisco) had a laundry unit on each floor and I couldn't leave anything in there unsupervised for even ten minutes and this was in a very nice building in one of the nicest parts of the city! So I guess I just worry alot about that.

I was also someone who said I do not do laundry on vacation. Previously I've always just packed enough. But I have no choice this trip. We'll be gone a total of 16 nights (one night SF airport hotel, 5 nights BC, 5 nights AKL, 4 night Disney Cruise, 1 night Poly). And we just don't have that many summer clothes 9especially because with the heat I'm sure we'll put on a new outfit after our afternoon swim to be "fresh" for dinner, etc. So I think we'll do laundry the mid part of our time at WDW, and once more before the cruise. Dh is actually much more likely to do it then me. And I'm guessing he'll also be paranoid about leaving the clothes in there, and will sit with them the whole time. But it would be nice if he could come out and join us in the pool.

I think it's a little different for us as we travel to Disney by car. With DD now married, it's just the 2 of us and I pack as if I'm going to be gone for months However, if I were going on the vacation you describe, I would most likely do laundry.

 

[MargaretF]

I've done laundry at CBR, PORFQ,WL,AKL and GF, never had a problem. Like other posters have said, if you look at it as me time and have a good book or a good drink (or both), it can be a really nice experience. Best laundry was at GF, no line and right next to the pool. Threw a load in, sat by the pool while the kids played, threw it in the dryer, back out to the pool with DH and then up to the room with dry clothes. I was gone so little time that the kids were like " so when did you do laundry Mom"

 

[robinb]

Doing laundry is a pain, at home or on vacation. We always do laundry on vacation. Just put your clothes in the washer and hang out at the pool, transfer to the dryer and hang out some more. Not a big deal. I usually do 3-4 loads. I pre-measure dry laundry detergent into small ziplock bags, one load per bag. I put all the small bags into a larger zip lock plus a dryer sheet per load. I will also collect quarters during my stay so I don't have to rely on the often broken dollar changers.

ETA: We also carry a collapsible laundry hamper. I think we got ours at Wal*Mart, but they are everywhere. All the dirty clothes go directly in the hamper in the closet and then it's all togther when it comes time to do laundry. Just toss the detergent & quarters in the pouch on the side and we're ready to go .

 

[bugsy]

I am trying to figure this out too. I thought about getting up at the butt crack of dawn and doing it, maybe it won't be as busy then.

butt crack of dawn!! that's funny!

 

[EthansMom]

Used to be able to get through about two weeks without having to do laundry, then I had kids. On our recent trip, I literally packed every piece of summer clothing we owned and had to do laundry about 7 days in. I used the laundry facilities at POFQ and found them spacious and clean -- not too busy during the mid-afternoon. It was $2 per load for wash and $2 per load for dryer (despite dryers being marked $0.75, they wouldn't run with less than $2). Took my own detergent and dryer sheets and packed quarters. Split my 1 load of jeans and shorts into 2 loads to dry faster.

Washer and dryer both ran 30 minutes for $2, so I staggered my loads. First load went into the dryer as the second load went into the washer. After I put the second load into the dryer, I folded the first load. The second load was just about drying by the time I was done folding the first load. I loaded the folded clothes on top of the stroller (had my baby girl with me) and grabbed a pina colada from the pool bar right around the corner!

We'll be staying at POFQ again in Dec. and I'll pack a bit lighter knowing I can always pop in to wash a load. Since we plan on flying, it'll be nice knowing I can pack more laundry tablets and worry less about packing clothes.

 

[themudd4]

We do laundry every time we go anywhere. I always try to take my own powder and fabric softener sheets to save a little money...the machines cost enough without having to pay for soap too.
We unpack our suitcases our first night there and then use them for our hamper...when it is full, we make plans to do laundry. Then the night before we leave I do it again. Even laundry isn't so bad to do when your on vacation, especially when you get to hang out at the pool while it is doing it's thing!

 

[chyam]

I always do laundry when I'm at WDW because I don't want to cart around 10 days worth of clothing. For a 10 day trip, I take 5 days worth of clothing, then mid-trip, while we take a swim break or the kids take a nap, I do laundry.

I don't sit in the laundry room waiting for the clothes. I put my loads in and either go swimming, soak in the hot tub or just relax and read a book by the swimming pool while waiting.

I feel the same way, most of the laundrys at WDW are in the pool area, and I don't think there are many thiefs around. I always do laundry on most of my vacations no matter where I go, it is alot easier than hauling all that stuff and then hauling all the dirty stuff home to. But then again I don't really think of laundry as that big of a deal.........I either use the pool or I sit down and read my book and just relax it's kinda "me" time