Advice for Moving Twice

[pjzkent]

For the first time since joining DVC, we will have to move during our stay. Not once but TWICE because the kids school calendar changed. Can't find DVC availability, so we are looking at cash or AP discount nights. I have a bunch of questions....

1. Any secrets for making the move go smoother? The idea of packing up my kids stuff twice about gives me a panic attack. This is supposed to be a vacay for me too.

2. Any tips for places you normally pick if you know you will be moving?

3. How far in advance do you see AP discounts start coming for your trip?

 

[cvjw]

We moved 3 times on our recent May/June 15 night stay. It was bad, but not awful. The worst part is not having your villa until 4:00 or later on moving day. In all honestly, I never fully unpacked until our last villa. I always pack up the majority of our things the night before a move. The morning of, we split up the chores - some continue to pack while others carry luggage to the car. Then, we head to the new resort and check in, and then hit a park for the day.

I think the places that are easier to move to/from are the ones where your car is parked close by.

I can't help you with AP rates for October - we are waiting on them as well. No availability for DVC for the last 2 nights of our trip. We will be adding on a couple of nights at the AP rate also.

 

[bumbershoot]

We went from CBR (2 nights) to OKW 2 bedroom to OKW 1 bedroom to Universal to Jambo house in December. It was all fine. It actually went better when I fully unpacked, because then I knew where everything was when it was time to pack again.

We made sure to have a fully funded Bell Services Tip Fund, LOL, though in the future we would make sure to have it ALL in cash. We had the fund in the bank, so I kept having to stop at the Chase ATMs then to go and get change, etc. The other change for this year is that we're using bigger (= normal size vs our pint-size stuff) luggage to reduce the number of bags we tip for.

If we wanted to be somewhere in the morning, we would just drop off stuff at the current place's Bell Services, then come back and get it later, then go over to the next place. If we were more relaxed, we would move it over to the new place in the morning and just leave bags with BS there.

If you don't have a car you can use BS to move your bags, but you won't have them until after check-in time at the new place.

For us it wasn't bad. DH didn't like it 100%, but HE wasn't the one packing and unpacking, so I'm mystified what HE was concerned about (and no he can't explain it). Since I was the packer, and it worked out just fine, we're doing another split stay on the upcoming trip. Maybe I'll just come up with something ELSE for him to do while I gather everything together this time. Since it seems that watching me pack was difficult for him, LOL.

 

[rentayenta]

We've done 2 moves too and while it wasn't horrible, I wouldn't do it again. Bell Services was great, no issues with not having a "home" for some of the day, but what I found to be a total headache was the packing and unpacking. I like to completely unpack when on vacation...I even use the hangers That was really the only headache and while not terrible, we won't revisit it.

 

[mkarizona]

We did 7 nights at AKV and 1 night at POP in March because I messed up our airline reservations. I thought it was painless. We unpacked completely at AKV then packed everybody's things for the POP night in one suitcase so we didn't need to get into all the bags. Then we dropped them off at Bell Services at AKV. We went over to POP to check in abt 8 pm and then went to another park. It occurred to me later that we could have done online check in at POP and possibly avoided the extra trip. I did forget something I needed in one of the bags after we left them at bell services and they let me in to the luggage storage to retrieve it, so if you really need something you should be able to get it at either resort even if you don't have a room yet.

I would suggest that instead of having a bag for each person, have a bag designated for each resort and have everyone's clothes packed together. Or you could use ziplocs in your suitcases and mark them for which resort you need each bag. That way you could leave in the suitcases the clothes you didn't need for that resort and you would never have to repack everything.

 

[DenLo]

We usually pack for the segment.

1st segment - shared suitecase holding clothes that just cover those days. Place the kids clothes in ziplock bags one complete outfit including underwear. Separate bag for toiletries, swimsuits, and carry ons for each person containing toys and games for kids and electronics for adults and older kids.

2nd segment - add another shared suitcase (I would do laundry here or during segment 3.) Only use clothes from this suitcase for this segment.

3rd segment - final shared suitcase.

 

[wbl2745]

We usually pack for the segment.

1st segment - shared suitecase holding clothes that just cover those days. Place the kids clothes in ziplock bags one complete outfit including underwear. Separate bag for toiletries, swimsuits, and carry ons for each person containing toys and games for kids and electronics for adults and older kids.

2nd segment - add another shared suitcase (I would do laundry here or during segment 3.) Only use clothes from this suitcase for this segment.

3rd segment - final shared suitcase.

This sounds like a really good idea. Last Christmas my two brothers and our wives were at AKV. We had to move three times! (It is a long story...) It would have made life a lot easier if we had specific suitcases for specific days.

As it was we really just didn't unpack at all. We just pulled out what we needed that day. We either left luggage with my one brother and his wife who had a studio throughout the stay or with the bell desk. We never got into our rooms before 4:00 PM. Often, because we were at the parks or dinner we didn't get back to AKV until late when we had to deal with luggage.

 

[teacher2525]

We bought one of those cheap shoe organizer that hang on the door and put every non clothing item in it. sun screen tooth brushes q-tips hair items etc... That way it just folded up and went into the suitcase and unfolded and went back up on the next door. kept everything neat and organized. I have 3 boys and we stayed at 3 different resorts. The boys lived out of their suitcases and just zipped up to pack. This August I will be hitting 4 resorts

 

[Dean]

We usually pack for the segment.

1st segment - shared suitecase holding clothes that just cover those days. Place the kids clothes in ziplock bags one complete outfit including underwear. Separate bag for toiletries, swimsuits, and carry ons for each person containing toys and games for kids and electronics for adults and older kids.

2nd segment - add another shared suitcase (I would do laundry here or during segment 3.) Only use clothes from this suitcase for this segment.

3rd segment - final shared suitcase.

We don't normally stay where we have to move but for packing in general, we take a similar approach. We're 4 hours away so I'll often work all day Thu and take off Fri. We then leave after work thursday and drive part of the way staying around an hour away. Get up early, have breakfast (usually included) and get to the resort and check in. That way we have as much time as possible, can use the dining credits for lunch (even breakfast at times) if we do the DDP. We pack a small case just for the night. For longer trips I'll sometimes pack individual days in space bags, we recently did this for an AK cruise/tour for 2 weeks and it worked great.

I would try not to move twice. Make sure you wait list for the resorts that are the easiest to get like SSR and OKW or for just one segment depending on who/how much you have booked already. I hope it works out so you don't have to move twice. Guests changing rooms/resorts is an area where Disney could improve. Marriott timeshares will allow you to stay in one unit until the other is actually ready even if it's a different resort in the same area.

 

[Sandisw]

We usually pack for the segment.

1st segment - shared suitecase holding clothes that just cover those days. Place the kids clothes in ziplock bags one complete outfit including underwear. Separate bag for toiletries, swimsuits, and carry ons for each person containing toys and games for kids and electronics for adults and older kids.

2nd segment - add another shared suitcase (I would do laundry here or during segment 3.) Only use clothes from this suitcase for this segment.

3rd segment - final shared suitcase.

Exactly what we did last year. We had two segments and had two suitcases. Only had to unpack the one and as we used things, we put them back into that suitcase. By the time we had to check out and move, pretty much everything was already back in. I did laundry during segment two since we went to a 1 bedroom from a studio.

I even packed different sets of things like shampoo, etc. so those didn't have to be re-packed. For the time at Disney, I figured we could survive with shampoo, etc. that might not be our favorite. But, it was nice just being able to throw those away and start a fresh at the new place. It's amazing how many toothbrushes can be bought at the Dollar store!

 

[Alexander]

Packing cubes.....You just take them from the suitcase, drop them in the drawer and reverse to pack up.

I also really like the idea of a suitcase designated for each leg of your stay. Then the others can stay packed and be put in a closet.

 

[TisBit]

Try to plan your moves so they have similar days on the beginning and end of your trip. We did a move because of friends coming in the middle. We spent 2 nights in a studio before our friends came and two nights in a one bedroom afterwards. It worked out so that we packed small suitcases for the two night stays and large suitcases for the main 6 nights. When we moved the first time, we washed all the clothes and put them back in the small cases, didn't have to deal with those and when we moved, we had fresh clothes and did not have to unpack the big suitcases. For short stays we dont' mind living out of a suitcase, so this made it easy.

 

[marie1981]

In March, when I moved from BC to BWV, I left on their hangers all the clothing that were in the closet. By doing that, I saved time packing, unpaking and putting back on hangers t-shirt, pants etc.
Bell Services told me there was no problems doing that.

And on top of saving time , those clothes stayed nicely pressed...

 

[Alexander]

In March, when I moved from BC to BWV, I left on their hangers all the clothing that were in the closet. By doing that, I saved time packing, unpaking and putting back on hangers t-shirt, pants etc.
Bell Services told me there was no problems doing that.

And on top of saving time , those clothes stayed nicely pressed...

You took the hangars from the BC? Of course bell services said that wouldn't be a problem, they aren't going to have to pay to replace them!

 

[Tamar]

Packing cubes.....You just take them from the suitcase, drop them in the drawer and reverse to pack up.

I also really like the idea of a suitcase designated for each leg of your stay. Then the others can stay packed and be put in a closet.

Where do we get these packing cubes. They sound really helpful, even if you aren't going to move during the trip.

 

[quirty30]

A few recommendations:

1) Don't unpack. If you're in a 1 BR or larger, use the laundry basket as a hamper, and do all laundry the night before check out. You can even throw the last load in the dryer before bed & then turn in back on briefly in the AM while you shower and have breakfast. Fold everything up and zip up your suitcases. Definitely have separate toiletry bags so you can just throw those back in the suitcases as well.

2) Let Bell Services do the hard work for you. Plan to tip $5-$10 for each pick up & drop off depending on how many bags you have. (We usually have 5-10 bags and I budget $20 for each move.) Call them a little bit ahead of time before you are ready to check out. SSR seems to require at least an hour of lead time so definitely factor that in. At AKV and BLT, a half hour is usually sufficient. Also keep in mind that some days of the week are busier than others.

3) We find that shopping & lunch at Downtown Disney is the best plan for moving day. Hop on the bus to DtD, then hop on the one to your new resort after lunch. Pack a small tote with swimsuits and sunscreen just in case your new room isn't ready so you'll have something to do. It's also just as easy to head to a park on moving day. AK is a good one since they close a little earlier. I like to make an ADR for an onsite dinner at the new resort and get back early enough to be able to freshen up before dinner.

4) If your new room is ready at check in, hand your baggage receipt to the CM and they will hand it over to bell services and give them your room number. If not, call them once you get to your villa. Again, allow an hour or so for them to arrive; more often than not, they will get there a little sooner.

We love split stays and enjoy the changes of scenery. We also plan our park visits accordingly (this past trip we visited MK and Epcot while at BLT, then planned for HS and AK while we were at AKV. We ended up skipping AK altogether as we have come to just love immersing ourselves in the resort. We also had a move from Kidani to Jambo, which is the easiest move ever! Just hop on any park bus and you'll be at Jambo in a matter of minutes!)

 

[Mjkre]

Having just returned from a Pacific Northwest vacation where we changed hotels 8 times, I offer the following.

1. Do not unpack.
2. Pack very light. You really need much less then you think.
3. Give each person a suitcase and leave a decent amount of extra room in each one. It is much easier to pack a suitcase that has plenty of rrom then one that it extremely tight on space.
4. Keep all cosmetics, meds etc in a bag in bathroom that you can then throw in suitcase easily.
5. Do what everyone else said.

Honestly, I was more annoyed changing rooms at Disney then on my most recent crazy but fantastic trip. leaving the extra room in each bag was key. At Disney, I had a tough time squeezing every last thing into two large bags. Once each of the five of us had our own, life improved. And no more weight limit problems!

 

[marie1981]

You took the hangars from the BC? Of course bell services said that wouldn't be a problem, they aren't going to have to pay to replace them!

Well, Bell Services told us we can do it. So I guess, we brought hangers from BC to BWV and some times, it is the reverse: BWV to BC.

I did not see it as a problem. Maybe they are used to it and they count the hangers coming in and give them back the same numbers of empty hangers.

As long as I am not bringing them back home, I do not see the problem...

 

[kristenrice]

Where do we get these packing cubes. They sound really helpful, even if you aren't going to move during the trip.

They are the greatest thing since sliced bread! I think I have about 20 of them in various colors and sizes. They are great for a day at the beach, sending the kids overnight to the grandparents and especially WDW and other road trips.

These are the ones that I have. I have slim, small, medium and large in three different colors.

http://www.ebags.com/category/packing-folders-and-cubes/20014520/b/ebags

They are fantastic!

 

[jdmn2010]

I recently had to move twice during the stay and I didn't unpack for a one night stay but I did unpack for stays that were 3 to 4 days each. I just made sure that I left myself some time the evening before switching hotels to pack, do laundry, and get myself organized for the next day and make sure we had everything we would need for the day without having our luggage until the evening. It wasn't too bad, just took a little more organization than usual.

The biggest pain was actually having the DDP and needing to check in at the new hotel to get our dining for that part of the stay. If not for DDP, we would have waited until evening to check-in, and then had our room and luggage ready.

We also planned our parks around going someplace that would be nearer to the hotel that we were moving to that day (if applicable).