Tips on organizing our room ???

[becca011906]

Ok i'm kinda starting to worry about this... usally ok always we have stayed in a Fairfield resort while going to disney, ya know full kitchen,2 full bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms,livingroom, ect.... nice right, well you lose all thoes disney benifits, so this trip we wanted to try out disney to get the 'full experiance' ya know.
We are staying at PO Riverside and i found pics of the rooms WOW thoes are tiny! I started thinking where am i really doing to put everything???? I'm talking 4 suit cases (at least), a double stroller, snacks/b'fast items, bathroom stuff...
So anyone have tips on ways to get and stay organized while in the small room with a family of 5!!!

 

[hddanis]

Pop-up hampers are a must!

I packed the kids clothes in ziplock bags (1 complete outfit per bag) and wrote their name on it. That way I could throw all the bags in one drawer and they could each pull one out in the morning. I used the bottom drawer to hold all our snacks/food.

I always unpack our suitcases and put them on the top shelf of the closet as soon as we get to the room. Out of the way up there.

Over the door shoe organizers are great for keeping all your toiletries/hair bows, small items contained and organized.

Envelopes or passpockets from a passporter to keep all your recipts, brochures, maps, etc,

Command 3m hooks to hang on the wall to hang up backpacks by the hotel door..get the largest ones you can find.

Use the window as a display for kids stuffed animals/souvenirs. A great place to store them and an easy way to find our room.

 

[becca011906]

Great tips thanks!!! I have a question about the ziploc bags for clothes though... do they come out all wrinkled up??? I don't want to have to iorn on vacation too! LOL

 

[Sorsha]

We (family of 5) did POR last September, and I will vouch for this... it *WAS* crowded. Those rooms are TINY. Luckily, we spent very little time in the room.

First thing when I got there, I unpacked the suitcases. Hung up all of DH's and oldest DD's and my clothes. I had most of the little kids' outfits in Ziploc bags, so just threw those in the drawers, along with everyone's undies and jammies and stuff. I didn't find that the clothes in the baggies ended up too wrinkled, although I didn't store anything that I felt would wrinkle badly in the bags. If the little kids had an outfit that was light crisp cotton, or something very easily wrinkled, I hung that up too. Hanging up most of our clothes freed up room in the drawers for toys, snacks, etc. Tip #1 BRING YOUR OWN HANGERS! I knew there wouldn't be enough provided, so I packed several from home.

We stacked our empty suitcases, one inside another, on the floor at the bottom of the closet area. We then used the empty suitcases as dirty laundry hampers. It worked!

I would DEFINITLY second the suggestion to BRING AN OVER-THE-DOOR ORGANIZER! There is VERY little room on that little shelf over the sinks, so that will come in handy to store bathroom stuff.

There is room around the TV in that little armoire. That's where we stacked our guidebooks and planning notebooks and such.

Really, we did end up with a lot of piles around the room. The kids' backpacks were piled behind the table, the suitcases were piled in the closet, the dirty clothes were piled in the suitcases. It was a REALLY crowded room, especially when the trundle bed was pulled out... barely any room to walk. BUT. POR is a gorgeous resort, we don't regret our stay, even with the crowded conditions. The grounds and the pool, and even the ambiance are just lovely. I *loved* listening to the Dixieland jazz that is piped through speakers hidden in the landscaping as I strolled on the darkened pathways....

One hint, which I am sure you already know. If your kids bring stuffed animals or dolls from home, or if they buy them in the parks; leave them out in the mornings before you leave for the parks. Leave them scattered around the room, in the beds and on the table. Mousekeeping will most likely arrange them in cute ways when they tidy up the room. We came home to find our stuffed friends arranged on the beds watching TV, waiting for us at the window, or reading our Disney guidebooks.

 

[becca011906]

that was also something i was sure about... so mousekeeping does come to mod resorts. Do they come in daily? Do we tip them??? these tips are going to help so much as i start on my packing list! Thanks so much guys! We will also have our van with us so i guess the stroller could stay in the van but i'm not sure how far we will have to walk from car to room and depending if the girls are sleeping or not will factor in on that as well.

 

[DisDancerina]

We (family of 5) did POR last September, and I will vouch for this... it *WAS* crowded. Those rooms are TINY. Luckily, we spent very little time in the room.

First thing when I got there, I unpacked the suitcases. Hung up all of DH's and oldest DD's and my clothes. I had most of the little kids' outfits in Ziploc bags, so just threw those in the drawers, along with everyone's undies and jammies and stuff. I didn't find that the clothes in the baggies ended up too wrinkled, although I didn't store anything that I felt would wrinkle badly in the bags. If the little kids had an outfit that was light crisp cotton, or something very easily wrinkled, I hung that up too. Hanging up most of our clothes freed up room in the drawers for toys, snacks, etc. Tip #1 BRING YOUR OWN HANGERS! I knew there wouldn't be enough provided, so I packed several from home.

We stacked our empty suitcases, one inside another, on the floor at the bottom of the closet area. We then used the empty suitcases as dirty laundry hampers. It worked!

I would DEFINITLY second the suggestion to BRING AN OVER-THE-DOOR ORGANIZER! There is VERY little room on that little shelf over the sinks, so that will come in handy to store bathroom stuff.

There is room around the TV in that little armoire. That's where we stacked our guidebooks and planning notebooks and such.

Really, we did end up with a lot of piles around the room. The kids' backpacks were piled behind the table, the suitcases were piled in the closet, the dirty clothes were piled in the suitcases. It was a REALLY crowded room, especially when the trundle bed was pulled out... barely any room to walk. BUT. POR is a gorgeous resort, we don't regret our stay, even with the crowded conditions. The grounds and the pool, and even the ambiance are just lovely. I *loved* listening to the Dixieland jazz that is piped through speakers hidden in the landscaping as I strolled on the darkened pathways....

One hint, which I am sure you already know. If your kids bring stuffed animals or dolls from home, or if they buy them in the parks; leave them out in the mornings before you leave for the parks. Leave them scattered around the room, in the beds and on the table. Mousekeeping will most likely arrange them in cute ways when they tidy up the room. We came home to find our stuffed friends arranged on the beds watching TV, waiting for us at the window, or reading our Disney guidebooks.

Pop-up hampers are a must!

I packed the kids clothes in ziplock bags (1 complete outfit per bag) and wrote their name on it. That way I could throw all the bags in one drawer and they could each pull one out in the morning. I used the bottom drawer to hold all our snacks/food.

I always unpack our suitcases and put them on the top shelf of the closet as soon as we get to the room. Out of the way up there.

Over the door shoe organizers are great for keeping all your toiletries/hair bows, small items contained and organized.

Envelopes or passpockets from a passporter to keep all your recipts, brochures, maps, etc,

Command 3m hooks to hang on the wall to hang up backpacks by the hotel door..get the largest ones you can find.

Use the window as a display for kids stuffed animals/souvenirs. A great place to store them and an easy way to find our room.

I'd go by these two.

 

[Sorsha]

that was also something i was sure about... so mousekeeping does come to mod resorts. Do they come in daily? Do we tip them??? these tips are going to help so much as i start on my packing list! Thanks so much guys! We will also have our van with us so i guess the stroller could stay in the van but i'm not sure how far we will have to walk from car to room and depending if the girls are sleeping or not will factor in on that as well.

Yup, mousekeeping comes every day. Most people do tip, going rate is about $1 per person in the room, per night.

Here's what we did. We went to themouseforless.com and found these REALLY cute little mousekeeping tip envelopes. Every payday I printed out one envelope, let the kids cut it out and fold it up, stuck a $5 bill inside it, and put it into one of the PassPockets in my Passporter. By the time we left on our trip, all of our tip envelopes were ready to go, and I never had to worry about tipping! Each morning, before we left for the parks, I would just grap an envelope out of the Passporter and leave it on the table.

As for the double stroller, if it folds up pretty compactly, you should be able to find a corner of the room to stuff it into. What comes to mind is in the closet area (with the suitcases LOL), behind the table against the wall, or between the bed and the wall (kind of under the picture on the wall - ours was of the Blue Bayou in Disneyland ).

 

[Passions71203]

Pop-up hampers are a must!

I packed the kids clothes in ziplock bags (1 complete outfit per bag) and wrote their name on it. That way I could throw all the bags in one drawer and they could each pull one out in the morning. I used the bottom drawer to hold all our snacks/food.

I always unpack our suitcases and put them on the top shelf of the closet as soon as we get to the room. Out of the way up there.

Over the door shoe organizers are great for keeping all your toiletries/hair bows, small items contained and organized.

Envelopes or passpockets from a passporter to keep all your recipts, brochures, maps, etc,

Command 3m hooks to hang on the wall to hang up backpacks by the hotel door..get the largest ones you can find.

Use the window as a display for kids stuffed animals/souvenirs. A great place to store them and an easy way to find our room.

great ideas!

 

[ZoZo]

I second the motion on the following:

Pop-up hampers from Dollar Tree.
Over the door organizer.
Extra hangers, if you can fit them in your suitcase.
Ziploc bags in all different sizes. You can use them to organize tons of stuff.

 

[llmurphy17]

I second the motion on the following:

Pop-up hampers from Dollar Tree.
Over the door organizer.
Extra hangers, if you can fit them in your suitcase.
Ziploc bags in all different sizes. You can use them to organize tons of stuff.

I also agree

the popup hampers were great. Just for the kids to put there toys, the door organizer saves on space, ziploc bags were very useful.

We were able to get more hangers from the hotel.

 

[duffy]

I read somewhere to get a cheap shower curtain and more of the 3M hooks to rig up a privacy screen for the area where the sinks are. That way, someone can be in the bathroom, and if someone wants to get dressed, they can dress there without being on view to everyone in the room.

I bought one of those sweater storage organizers for extra clothes. You know, one of those things that holds one or two sweaters in each compartment, only about a foot wide, has like 6 compartments? It's canvas and sturdy cardboard, collapses quickly and just wraps around the closet pole. It should be good for keeping things organized in case we run out of drawer and shelf space.

 

[Disneylush]

we were just at pop (which is smaller) for 10 days with 2 toddlers in diapers... one in a pack and play...one in a blow up bed anyways it was tight! We left our double stroller open in our room and put our backpacks and park stuff in it every night. Don't forget to use the space under the sink... we put an open suitcase here for dirty clothes. The over the door thing was awesome.

 

[pha1226]

I bought one of those sweater storage organizers for extra clothes. You know, one of those things that holds one or two sweaters in each compartment, only about a foot wide, has like 6 compartments? It's canvas and sturdy cardboard, collapses quickly and just wraps around the closet pole. It should be good for keeping things organized in case we run out of drawer and shelf space.

This is an awesome suggestion!!

Has anyone ever tried to rig up some kind of clothesline (maybe using the 3M hooks)? I never seem to have enough room to hang our wet stuff in the bathroom.

 

[duffy]

This is an awesome suggestion!!

Has anyone ever tried to rig up some kind of clothesline (maybe using the 3M hooks)? I never seem to have enough room to hang our wet stuff in the bathroom.

Thanks.

I already have my 3M hooks, for the privacy screen. Maybe I'll get some more, a clothesline for wet clothes seems like a great idea.

 

[WhenUwishUponAstar]

We (family of 5) did POR last September, and I will vouch for this... it *WAS* crowded. Those rooms are TINY. Luckily, we spent very little time in the room.

First thing when I got there, I unpacked the suitcases. Hung up all of DH's and oldest DD's and my clothes. I had most of the little kids' outfits in Ziploc bags, so just threw those in the drawers, along with everyone's undies and jammies and stuff. I didn't find that the clothes in the baggies ended up too wrinkled, although I didn't store anything that I felt would wrinkle badly in the bags. If the little kids had an outfit that was light crisp cotton, or something very easily wrinkled, I hung that up too. Hanging up most of our clothes freed up room in the drawers for toys, snacks, etc. Tip #1 BRING YOUR OWN HANGERS! I knew there wouldn't be enough provided, so I packed several from home.

We stacked our empty suitcases, one inside another, on the floor at the bottom of the closet area. We then used the empty suitcases as dirty laundry hampers. It worked!

I would DEFINITLY second the suggestion to BRING AN OVER-THE-DOOR ORGANIZER! There is VERY little room on that little shelf over the sinks, so that will come in handy to store bathroom stuff.

There is room around the TV in that little armoire. That's where we stacked our guidebooks and planning notebooks and such.

Really, we did end up with a lot of piles around the room. The kids' backpacks were piled behind the table, the suitcases were piled in the closet, the dirty clothes were piled in the suitcases. It was a REALLY crowded room, especially when the trundle bed was pulled out... barely any room to walk. BUT. POR is a gorgeous resort, we don't regret our stay, even with the crowded conditions. The grounds and the pool, and even the ambiance are just lovely. I *loved* listening to the Dixieland jazz that is piped through speakers hidden in the landscaping as I strolled on the darkened pathways....

One hint, which I am sure you already know. If your kids bring stuffed animals or dolls from home, or if they buy them in the parks; leave them out in the mornings before you leave for the parks. Leave them scattered around the room, in the beds and on the table. Mousekeeping will most likely arrange them in cute ways when they tidy up the room. We came home to find our stuffed friends arranged on the beds watching TV, waiting for us at the window, or reading our Disney guidebooks.

I agree with this a lil warning about beloved stuffed animals, my son slept with his as I'm sure most kids do. In our haste one morning we left him snuggled somewhere among the sheets, WL concierge changes the sheets daily. Well our tiny lil stuffed dog got mixed in and lost....lucky for us our trusty concierge hunted "blueberry" down and mailed him home to us very very clean I might add lol Moral of the story..hide them anywhere but in the bed

Also I dunno if any one else has experienced this I love doing the 2qt zip lock bag trick however it seems this was something security didn't like all the bags had diagonal slits in them when we got there??

 

[DMG378]

Thanks for the tips!! I never thought of using the ziplock bags for the baby's clothes! We are also staying at Pop and are bringing our own pack n play (we're driving). Does Mousekeeping come to Pop everyday?? I love how they "play" with the stuff animals. LOL One time they had them on one of the beds in a circle playing cards. LOL Also, they "make" animals too out of the wash clothes and towels. If you see your Mousekeeper, just ask! Ours was sooooo nice at POR in 2005. She gave us extra coffee fliters, and made about 5 washcloth animals.

 

[Diamondintheruff]

Yes, even the values get housekeeping everyday.

 

[llmurphy17]

I use zip lock bags, pop up hampers, and the shoe organizer for the bathroom door.

 

[sorul82?]

Yes, definitely the hanging shoe bags. We used both the pouch pocket type and the other kind that ummmm is more like little shelves. We stayed in the AB section and hung one pouch type on the doors for the tv cabinet, and two in the bathroom area. The other kind we hung in the bathroom area also. The pouch kind are great to have one per child for shoes, sunglasses, googles, candy, stuffed animals. TinkerBell would leave a treat in the pouch each night. POR already has the privacy curtain, so you won't need that. Oh, I forgot we had one more pouch (8 pockets) that we hung from the pegs above the fridge. I put snack bars and other snacks in that one. Did anyone mention suction cups for the mirrors to hold stuff?

 

[Pixeldust Fairy]

I would have to say putting our clothes in ziplock bags was the best tip I used. We have soft sided suitcases and as we traveled and arrived at WDW, we hit some rain. Every item I had in ziplock bags was nice and dry when we got our luggage. Everything I did not have in ziplock bags was soaked. Luckily for us. I had packed all the kids clothes in bags, all our socks and underwear and I even packed some of our tshirts in bags. So for the most part our stuff was dry.