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[LuvOrlando]

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[mommymeg]

I lucked out and found a great rate with Southwest...2 checked bags per person gave me a big sigh of relief...

I was planning on doing the same as you if we had to pay for bags... ship as much as you can...check 1 or at the most 2 bags... and use carryons for the rest...depending on the size of your backpack...actual carryon sized luggage might give you better space..and I'd either roll all clothes or use ziplocs to get any air out... Good luck! Looks like we'll be there 2 days after you get there!!!

 

[zarvgirl]

This was our first trip to WDW (keep that in mind). We flew airtran which also charges for checked bags. And I packed for 5.

Airtran had great allowances for carry on's. You will have to check what Continental allows. We each had a backpack (our personal item) and 3 of us took the smallest rollie as our carry on. It's surprising what you can fit into one of those. They easily collapsed when emptied and I put them all in one of our big suitcases for storage down there.

I still needed to take 3 big suitcases. (but better then 5) I used the largest that was allowed. In these I packed all the big liquid type bottles, food(in clear rbbermaid bin), surprisingly we used all our snacks and were on the DDP, also any extra clothes, diapers, blow up twin mattress, etc. I told you I was a first timer to WDW, I'm sure I overpacked, but happy to have everything I needed down there.

have fun packing. think of the charge for the suitcases as small compared to the overall cost of the trip.

have a great trip. Ohhhh, do you think you fit me in your bags!!

 

[Colleen27]

We have several pieces of luggage that are within carryon allowances, so this trip we're taking full advantage of that. The girls will pack in DD's Hannah Montana rolling suitcase, DH & I will pack in our carryon, my mom will pack hers, and DS's stuff will go where ever there is leftover room. With 6 tickets and both big kids old enough to help with the haul, it should be managable, though I'm sure it'll be more hassle than our old "check everything" approach. The only thing we'll be checking is DH's golf bag. We'll add things like diapers, wipes, snacks, drinks, sunscreen, shampoo, etc that we used to pack to our grocery delivery order, and if we do much souvenir shopping we'll ship a box home from the resort.

 

[Darcy03231]

We pack as much as we can in carry on and then just check one large suitcase with all the stuff that wouldn't fit in the carry-on or can't be in the carry-on. We leave this weekend and I packed DS's (15) carry-on last night. I got 7 pr of shorts, 10 t-shirts, 2 bathing suits, 14 pr of underwear, 10 pr of socks and his flip flops in a bag that measures 20" x 14" x 9". I roll everything, put it in zip lock bags and then squish them to remove all the air. In addition to the carry on bag we'll each take a person item that will stow under the seat in front of us (small back pack).

 

[bubba]

There are 4 of us (DH, DS10, DS6 and myself). We took 3 small, carryon sized suitcases, the boys had a small backpack with books, handheld games etc for the plane, I had my purse and DH carried the small camera bag. My advice would be do a test run - try different ways of packing (rolling, packing in ziptop bags and squishing flat, etc) and use the one that works best for you. I travelled for work for years so I can pack for three weeks in Europe in a carryon. Our next trip, we will be travelling with 7 other people and will not have a car, so we are thinking of checking one bag between all of us with shampoo, sunscreen etc.

 

[AndreaDBfan]

I had read years ago about putting clothes in plastic bags and squishing the air out. I was doing that last night for our trip and my husband was asking if it was OK with security. It's good to see other people are doing that, too. I was getting a little nervous that I'd have to figure something else out! LOL!

I'm in the same boat, what to pack where. This is our first trip, so I'm overwhelmed with EVERYTHING, not just packing!

 

[LuvOrlando]

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[bubba]

That is if I can do it.... I dunno- I am one of those people who's husband says "WE are only going to be gone for 10 days... why so much?"

I used to be like that ! Then I realized I was bringing back clothing I never wore. We don't mind wearing shorts or denim skirts a couple times each at Disney, so for a week we can get by very lightly. Also, wear your heaviest pair of shoes while travelling. If you plan to have a pair of running shoes for walking around the parks, wear them on the plane. It's much easier to pack sandals which can usually be squashed flat than it is a big bulky pair of sneakers !

 

[AndreaDBfan]

wear your heaviest pair of shoes while travelling. If you plan to have a pair of running shoes for walking around the parks, wear them on the plane. It's much easier to pack sandals which can usually be squashed flat than it is a big bulky pair of sneakers !

Ooohhh, I like this idea! I didn't think of that, thanks!

 

[Bren's Mom]

After lots of trial and error I'm now a 'put all clothes on the bed that you think you need and then put 1/2 of that away before you pack' packer. Seriously, no one ever wears as many changes of clothes as they think they'll need. 1 skirt for in the evening, with several different tops is plenty. And even then we don't always change for dinner depending on the day. Enough underwear for the week is essential, of course. But even for kids you don't need 2 sets of clothes for every day like I used to think! LOL

 

[abouley]

I hate that they charge for checked bags now! Personally, for me it's worth the $15 each way to me not to have to lug it through the airport and through security though! Not to mention, there are all the restrictions with liquids to deal with.

We packed 2 suitcases to check for the 4 of us on our last 2 week trip. I rolled our clothes which really saved room and planned to do laundry mid trip. I didn't do the plastic bags because our suitcases are kind of big and we would have run into weight issues. We had a car so were able to buy diapers, snacks, etc once we got there but if we hadn't I would have done a grocery service or used amazon for that stuff.

Our carry-ons were full of toys, cameras, snacks etc. Not really any extra room to use for our clothes. But, my kids were 2 and 5 and so needed entertainment on the 5+ hour flight!

Alison

 

[timzagain]

We try to travel with carry-on luggage only; as our personal items, we will each take a backpack or, in my case, a large tote and a carry-on sized wheeled suitcase. Our outfits usually consist of easy to wash, quick drying board shorts, moisture-wicking shirts/ tank tops in interchangeable colours, and we will do laundry once at the hotel. That eliminates the need to pack outfits for every day of your vacation.

Wear your bulkiest clothes/ shoes on the plane, and pack the rest.

I don't pack full sized bottles of shampoo, sunblock etc; we each travel with our 3-1-1 bag of toiletries so that we'd have a little of our favourite toiletries to get us started. When I get to the destination, I'll buy larger bottles and give away any unused products to another family (or to housekeeping) when we are leaving.

We'd probably check one large suitcase for our party of four - to accomodate any souvenirs/ shopping we might have done on vacation.

 

[jana616]

I have been worrying about this as well, since we will have 4 of us on Delta. My kids are little (5 and 2), so their clothes are small and we're going in warm weather, so it'll be shorts and t-shirts, no heavy and bulk clothes. I'm hopeful I can get all of their clothes in one carry-on combined. I think I can fit mine in another, and DH's in a 3rd. Then I am planning to check one huge bag (rolling duffle) with all the misc. and our snacks and toiletries. Still undecided on diapers-we aren't planning to do a grocery order, so I don't want to just order those, but maybe I will check out Amazon.

Question...when you say small backpack, do you mean like a school-sized? I was hopeful we could take two school backpacks and a small camera bag as our personal items, and then 3 small rolling suitcases as our carry-ons (I know we'd be allowed 4, but just don't think we could manage it). Does this sound okay? Getting through the airport will be tough, but we will have two single strollers to gate check. I'm thinking pile the rollers on one of those while ODS walks. Thoughts?

 

[longstangetrip]

We don't check anything when we fly. We each take a generous carry on and a backpack. Liquids (very few) are in small travel size containers. Each person gets a quart size bag's worth. You can get a lot in there. We use hotel shampoo and soap. We do laundry every few days. I take the single size laundry detergents from Target, although the resort laundrys sell it. We have MORE than enough clothes and toiletries...even take a laptop, cameras, phones and chargers. You don't need as much as you think. Have a great trip.

 

[LuvOrlando]

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