1. Bring clothespins for the retractable clothesline in your resort room.
2. Fill a small ziploc baggie with rice and bring along just in case your cell phone gets wet during a water ride/pop up rain storm.
3. If you pack your bags days ahead of your trip, stand the bags straight up then, days later, see if there are any large gaps once the clothes have settled. If so, pack 1-2 rolls of paper towels in that space. They are lightweight, so they don't add much to your luggage weight and are also extremely handy to have if there is constant rain during your trip. Stuffing the insides of your wet sneakers with paper towels overnight leaves them virtually dry by the morning! (We go in August and often have rain soaked shoes. By the AM, they are dry!)
4. Pack an empty backpack in your luggage for each child. This way each has a bag to fill during their trip with souvenirs and goodies and it doesn't take up space in your main luggage.
5. When we arrive at our resort, we always empty one suitcase of clothing into the drawers and that suitcase becomes the dirty laundry suitcase. We bring a pop up hamper from home and at the end of every day, I fold the dirty laundry and put it in the suitcase. It's sort of reverse packing, but by the last day of our trip, our bags are packed and ready to go home! Also, I bring gallon sized ziploc baggies and pack the dirty socks/undies in there. This way they don't get too stinky! (PS--This sounds crazy, but as I'm zipping up the baggies, I kneel on them, which creates a condensed, air-free "space bag" type bag. Takes up a LOT less room in the suitcase!)
6. Take a pic of your parking section# in the airport parking lot with your cell phone.
7. Write your name, cell phone # and where you'll be staying on vacation on a post it. Take a pic of that info using every camera you're bringing. If you happen to lose your camera, hopefully someone will be kind enough to scroll through your pics and use the info to contact you.
