Carry-on only packing advice?

[Kat73]

Okay, I admit. I usually cheat. Typically when I go to Florida, I send my toiletries and other hard-to-pack items down with my parents. Easy enough to pick up at their place near the beach and makes flying a lot easier.

This year I'm going down in October, when they'll be back in Ohio. I'm also going on a very SHORT trip, so I'd like the conveniece of just dumping the neccessities in my carryon. Seems silly to pay for bag fees when I really don't have that much to take.

Anyone ever travel this way? advice, regrets, etc? All the rules about what you can and can't take on the plane with you make me wonder if I'd be better off paying the fee and checking a bag.

 

[essom71]

We have flown this way the last 3 times we have gone to Disney. Since we are a family of 4, you really can take alot of stuff. Remember all your liquids and gels have to be in 3 oz containers or less , and fit in a plastic bag the size of a sandwich bag. I get special bags at target in the area with the travel size supplies. We take 3 outfits each and pack each outfit in a ziploc bag. I do laundry when we are there. The last time I discovered the new purex laundry sheets which worked out great. We had waterpark mugs with us and I packed things in them. You can get shampoo, sunscreen etc at the store at the resort and still have save money.

The thing you have to always keep in mind is that you can't buy alot of souveniers. This does not bother us as we have alot from Disney already and our kids collect pins. Our attitude is you can always check a bag there if you really have to but with the size of bag you can take, we always have lots of room.

 

[stitchfan18]

Make sure you wear the biggest pair of shoes you are going to bring, and if you have another bulky pair, pack things inside them. If you are only going for a few days, i'd think you'd be fine with the small amount of toiletries you can carry on, but instead of buying the little travel size bottles of shampoo, conditioner, etc, I buy the empty bottles that are usually in the travel section. They hold more, and I reuse them over and over again. You could also just use the stuff in your hotel room if you are particular. I also do the ziploc bag thing for outfits and squeeze all the air out.

 

[lnuzzo]

Remember if you purchase a large item at disney, you always have the option to ship it home. We have done this many times. Also, we have shipped multiple items home from our resort prior to checking out. They were happy to do this, but I think they only would ship items we had purchased while at disney.

 

[Kat73]

Thanks guys for the tips! I love those Purex sheets. I probably won't need to do laundry while I am there but will likely take one or two anyway just in case

 

[englishteacha]

We'll be checking one bag for the two of us, so I'm still trying to pack light (a while ago I wanted to just do carryon but DH put his foot down-he doesn't want to worry about not having enough "stuff"). I agree with the above tips. Also, I can go a whole week with one little bottle of shampoo and one little bottle of conditioner. Most folks use way more shampoo than they really need. I just refill the bottles after every trip so they're always ready. I'm packing Purex sheets because I will do laundry. It's nice to come home with clean clothes! (We're staying in a condo, though, so it's super easy to do wash) Because we're checking a bag I can bring full sized spray sunscreen (my favorite) but if I could just as easily have used a couple small bottles filled with the sunscreen cream. If you only put your liquids in your ziplock bag (and any quart sized zip top bag will do. You don't need any special one), you can actually fit a lot! Put your soap, toothbrush, deodorant stick, etc. separately. I can fit several days' worth of clothes in my pilot case, so the liquids are really the only difficult thing.

 

[disneyag]

Best website for this

www.onebag.com. GREAT hints!

 

[shan136]

I read this article today via unclutterer.com, it's pretty interesting how much she packs into a carry-on: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/06/business/06PACK.html

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

this is a great thread! I was going to post the same question for my trip in Aug but I'm glad I did a search first.

I'm going in Aug..driving down with my brother for him to start his Disney College Program. We are leaving late afternoon Fri, driving, getting to WDW on Sat with an ADR at Yachtsman, going to the parks on Sun, he checks in on Mon = hopeful pool time for me, and I fly back Tues afternoon.

I'm hoping I can get away with just 2 carryons on the way back..one rolling and a Vera Bradley small duffle.

The tips are great!

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

Thanks guys for the tips! I love those Purex sheets. I probably won't need to do laundry while I am there but will likely take one or two anyway just in case

Not sure if anyone still reads this but..

That's what my mom always said too! She would never take laundry soap and then the one time I ended up with food poisoning and clothes had to be washed and that could not wait so I'm sure she ended up paying double for laundry soap at AKL so now we always carry at least 1 thing of laundry soap!