Travel Size vs. Full Size?

[toystoryduo]

We will be leaving for WDW in 8 days. Woohoo! I am curious to know how many of you take travel size toiletries vs. full size. On our last trip to WDW, we took full size and they took up a lot of space! This time around, I am thinking of the travel size, but DH says that you get more for your money with full size. We will be driving to WDW in an Intermediate size car (i.e. Grand Am) and I think space will be an issue. What do you think? Thank you.

 

[powellrj]

I make my own travel sizes. Save bottles from other trips and refill with home items and send away for lots of free sample sizes and just take those. The only full size anything I take on trips with me is my "guts"(spray mousse) for my hair.

 

[DianaPrincessofWales]

Your DH is right, you do get more for your money with full size items........but with a family of 5 even 2 travel size toothpastes were not enough and we ended up buying more. I think travel size are only a good thought if you are going solo or with spouse. I didn't think full size items take up that much space.......its the kids stuffed animals that take up space....LOL!!

 

[mad4themouse]

I dislike all the weight and space that full-size products take up. But who wants to spend $1 on a tiny bottle of shampoo when a full-size on has 10 times as much for just $2.50?

I re-use my sample size bottles by refilling them with the same product from the full-size bottle. This works well for shampoo, conditioner and body wash. Forget the toothpaste! I also buy the sample size cans of shaving cream.

For items that I can't find in sample size, I make my own. I purchase those traveling kits that usually have a couple of plastic squeeze bottles and a soap dish. Then I fill them with my favorite products.

 

[maggiew]

On our November trip, I brought travel size toiletries and we ran out in about 3 days. Who would have thought that a family of four could go through stuff this quickly??? I ended up having to buy some "conditioner" at the hotel gift shop (Port Orleans Riverside). But this wasn't regular conditioner, it was "Hair Repair Intensive conditioner moisture treatment". But that was all they had and I was desperate. Plus it cost me around $6. So PACK THE FULL SIZE!!!!

Maggie

 

[KathleenFL]

I travel solo a lot, so I bring travel size, but I think a family would need the full size of most everything........If you're looking for travel size plastic bottles, Walmart has a good selection, from 2 oz. to 8 oz........(The 8 oz. might be enough for some things, rather than bringing a huge bottle)

 

[disneysteve]

I've done a combination of what everyone else has said. Some things that I expect to use a lot of, like sunscreen, I'll pack the full size bottle. Other things that I don't need that much of, like shampoo, conditioner, mouthwash, Woolite, etc., I will refill old sample bottles. When we travel, I'll take the bottles from the hotel bathrooms and reuse those.

Another idea for good travel size bottles - speak to your local pharmacist (preferably a private store, not a big chain) and ask if you can have/buy a few medicine bottles. These are sturdy and the lids close tightly and don't leak. Plus they come in several sizes and are bigger than the little sample shampoo bottles from the hotels. That gets you a size big enough for the trip, but small enough to pack conveniently.

Steve

 

[crazymomof4]

LOL---Two weeks, six people! ---

--- Don't bother doing the math, I've done it and I'm taking FULL SIZE everything!

 

[prncess674]

I always ask the dentist if he has sample size toothpastes. I travel for work and I hate taking up lots of space in my carryon with full size bottles when I travel for less than a week at a time. My dentist is always more than happy to give them to me.

If you don't have any travel size shampoo/conditioner etc. ask a friend who travels alot if they wouldn't mind saving them for you. I personally have a huge box full. I generally donate them to a homeless shelter but I do keep the Aveda products from the W Hotel chain.

 

[LKS]

I do mostly travel sizes that I refill from my regular bottles. For a 3 week trip backpacking through Europe, weight was important so I even took travel size toothpastes (from the dentist visits etc...) and that worked great. Sunscreen is always full size and normally toothpaste is too. For a trip with heavy swimming, like WDW or the beach, a full size conditioner is necessary for the gals. The rest is travel sized and I fill in with what the hotel provides if necessary. Everyone in our family has their own toiletries kit ready to travel with sample sizes. It works great and helps keep us from forgetting stuff.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Target sells all sorts of travel containers that you can fill yourself. I bought a few for my shampoo and conditioner. The travel sized bottles and free shampoos I got from hotels just weren't big enough since we were going to be gone for 15 days. The bottles I got from Target were perfect.

 

[PhotobearSam]

I have the perfect answer...

Bring half full bottles of everything. They will just about run out as the trip is done...Throw out the bottles (recycle if possible) and use the NEW space to take home souvenirs...

Now, am I good or WHAT!?!?!?

 

[Mickey527]

Since you are going for such a long time with a large group you are probably going to be stopping at the grocery store when you arrive in Orlando. Why not buy full size stuff then
You can pick up Suave products for really cheap and I think Suave is just as good as the $10 shampoos. And if you don't finish everything leave it in the room for housekeeping.
I bet they could use it, and with their salaries every little bit probably helps.
Use the spare room in your car for paper towels and windex to clean off the bugs at each rest stop. And don't forget to check your oil. Bring some of that too, they charge over $5 for a can of 10-40, I learned that from experience. Peggie

 

[Jinxy23]

One way to save a bit of space is to buy shampoo and conditioner bars, that way there is two less bottles to worry about

 

[ceecee]

I'm with Photobearsam............we take half full bottles and throw them anyway before we leave. The samples do not last for 3 people for 9-14 days and are much more costly.

 

[toystoryduo]

These are great ideas! Thank you!

 

[ilovediznee]

I bring a shopping bag filled with 1/2 full bottles and samples that come in the mail. I even include 1/2 tubes of toothpaste and toilet paper. My goal is to use all of it by the end of the week and use the bag for souvenirs!!

 

[MEM]

I do a combination of bringing half-full bottles of products I may not be able to find during my 30 minute TTC grocery stop and then buy the readily available products at Publix - Pert Plus, Coppertone, etc. I did have products left over but I brought them home and they traveled fine.


MEM

 

[JillU-DVC]

Since it's just me and my husband, we definitely don't need full sized toiletries, esp. shampoo (my husband is mostly bald).

So I always bring travel sized for most items, but I was always having to search for just the right sized bottle for each item. Well, I solved that with our last trip by buying a BUNCH of different sized empty travel bottles. How I have the perfect size for any trip (any length).

I bought the bottles here:

http://www.containerstore.com/browse/index.jhtml?CATID=253

Hope this helps!!

 

[Jordan's MOM]

I do the 1/2 empy trick too. I try to gage everything that we use so it will be about 1/2 empty when we go and then we just toss the empty container. I also try to collect samples. Dailyfreebies.com is a great place to get sighed up for some of these things. i do try not to run out of anything as the gift shop prices are very high!1


Jordan's mom