DH just became an Owner's Locker believer!

[E-P-C-O-T]

I started to write our shopping list for our trip next week and we have a total of 12 items! This is a first for us as we always spend around of $250 of groceries/toiletries everytime we go to Orlando.

Here is the list of the items that I have in our locker that we would usually buy:

-Aluminum foil
-Zipploc bags
-Zipploc storage containers
-Coffee
-Coffee filters
-Sugar
-Salt
-Pepper
-Pancake mix
-Lysol wipes
-Laundry Detergent
-Antibacterial soap
-Antibacterial lotion
-Regular size shampoo
-Regular size conditioner
-Shaving Cream
-Regular size toothpaste
-Lotion
-Beer
-Quik
-Popcorn
-Good quality paper towel

For the baby:

-Baby wash wipes
-Baby Bottle brush
-Swim diapers
-Spoons
-Bowls

I am sure that I am forgetting a few items, but, as you can see I have easily $80-$90 worth of groceries on this list. My DH has finally told me what a great deal our owner locker is and I haven't even started to pack yet. Wait till he sees how light our bags are going to be with just our clothes, all of the baby stuff (blankets, bibs, bath towel, wash towel, changing pad, pack n play sheet, throw) is already waiting in our locker.

It took him 5 months, but, he has finally crossed over to the dark side

 

[LIFERBABE]

Love it!! I like that we are able to squeeze in multiple trips this fall because of cheap airfare and I wont have to pay bag fees and wont need a rental car because we have everything we need in our locker.

 

[SamSam]

OL Rocks! It's unbelievable how many items you can fit in one OL.

 

[Pixieflip]

So, did you practice how much you could get in one locker? What size container is it? We have 3 trips planned in the next 12 months, perhaps we need to investigate this a little more.

 

[BBG-BLT]

I'll have to consider it - originally I didn't think it would be worth the cost - but I hate having to re-buy or know I'm going to have to re-buy things year after year.

 

[Dizny Dad]

. . . . . . . .

It took him 5 months, but, he has finally crossed over to the dark side

It's FROM the Dark side . . . . FROM the Dark Side

 

[ssawka]

How often do you go down? If it's only once a year, I'm not sure I'd want to drink coffee or beer that's a year old, but then again I'm a coffee/beer snob!

 

[Anal Annie]

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE our Owners Locker! We got ours in May and just got back from using it for 10 days in August...LOVED that I only had to pack clothes for this trip!!! We even took it to Vero with us...WONDERFUL... Hated that I was putting the lid back on w/o another trip planned just yet...but just loved having MY body moisturizer and MY Oil of Olay Body Wash & shower scrunchy and the air freshner for the bathroom and my Captain Morgan waiting on me! OH, and not having to go thru airport security with each of in those pain-in-the-butt quart size ziplock bags.


ssawka - you wouldn't leave perishables indefinitely. I left some unopened items like snack crackers, wine, coffee & bottled water in our locker from our May trip - but that's 'cuz I knew we'd be back in August and it's stored in a climate controlled storage facility. Plus everything I left had dates that went beyond our August trip date. But when we left it last week we either used up all that stuff or I brought it home with us since I am not for sure when we will be back....If we had stuff that was good for another year then sure, why not leave it?! We had a car for the 3 days we went to Vero so on our last night we stopped at a Publix & a liquor store & re-stocked up on the full size sunscreens that we'd killed off and grabbed a new bottle of my Capt. Morgan (which will keep).


This worked out great for us as we usually use DME so shopping in FL is not always easy...The grocery delivery services charge extra fees for extra stops in some cases (like to get groceries AND liquor) and since we can now travel in carry-ons only for our shorter trips I can't bring things that are over 3 oz. LOL...can you picture me going thru airport security with a quart size baggie full of 3 oz bottles of Captain Morgan!? LOL... (BTW I priced a pint of Capt. Morgan in the VB store just for curiosity....$13.99.) That's only like 16 oz. ya know?! But I was able to buy a whole fifth at the liquor store for less than $16!!!

On our last night I inventoried the stuff that we left behind so for our next trip I know I only have 6 paper plates left (we stay in studios) but we still have plenty of Advil but could use a few more band-aids & Q-tips etc.

(PS) my DH is now a fan too!!

 

[Mlissa88]

We only take one visit a year so I'm not sure OL would be worth it to us....

Seems a high price to pay for just one visit but maybe some other folks can tell me how I could sell the idea to my hubby....

I sure would like the freedom to not have to drag everything down year after year but wouldn't some stuff go bad after a year...like coffee (if it was opened) and sunscreen?

 

[Anal Annie]

We only take one visit a year so I'm not sure OL would be worth it to us....

Seems a high price to pay for just one visit but maybe some other folks can tell me how I could sell the idea to my hubby....

I sure would like the freedom to not have to drag everything down year after year but wouldn't some stuff go bad after a year...like coffee (if it was opened) and sunscreen?

We usually go 2-3 times per year...the annual fee is $99 for 2 deliveries per year. One of the big factors to convince my DH was now that the airlines are charging fees for checked bags (unless you use SW which we don't usually use them) then you have to pay each way for each checked bag (unless u go first class which we don't usually do). So for US, we used to check about 5 bags...at $15 per bag x each way would be $75 x 2 or $150 per trip just in checked bags x 2 trips or so per year... OH, then plus all the TIPPING that went with that luggage (to the skycaps & bell services & the parking shuttle driver guy & the DME driver ETC. at $1 per bag....) We were being eaten alive in bag fees & tips!!!!

For our trip in May when I set up our OL I mailed a box of stuff via UPS. It weighed 44.5 Lbs and only cost me $38. We travelled in carry-ons only. For this trip, because it was for 10 days we had more stuff. I tried desperately to get all 3 of us into just one checked duffle. And I DID...BUT it was over the 50 Lb weight limit and it was STUFFED FULL. So I ended up dividing it into 2 checked duffles that were only about 36 Lbs each. That gave us wiggle room for the return trip too. On the way down on this trip we were able to redeem A+ Reward points on Air Tran & upgrade to Business Class so we didn't have to pay the fees on the way down, only on our return. So only $30 in checked bag fees which wasn't too bad.

As far as leaving stuff with expiration dates. Unopened coffee usually has a date of about 6 months so I have left between May & August. I have a very detailed content list and have dates beside everything that has exp. dates. MOST sunscreens these days are good for about 2 years. Same with several OTC meds....I made sure that everything I was packing & leaving will last until either late 2011 or early / mid 2012. I am not going to worry about something that expires in June and we go in August...a 2 month delay on the exp. date doesn't worry me for one second. I also have my list to refer to. So whenever I have a LOT of stuff that needs to be replaced I can ship another box...

The rest of the stuff I have in our locker are things like flip flops, a string backpack, extra batteries (good until 2013 or something), some candles, can & bottle huggies, ALL of our toiltries like razors, shave cream, mousse, blister block, neosporin etc, pool bags, spray fan bottles, ice cube trays, plastic cups to take to the pool, misc. stuff like scissors, packing tape (that comes in very handy), scotch tape, glue, sewing kit, hats & visors, slippers, rubber bands & safety pins & paper clips (u never know) plus a stash of rain ponchos & mini umbrellas. I seriously have over 120 items on my list!!

Yes, you have to evaluate how often you go & what you spend on checked luggage fees....if I hadn't talked DH into the OL tho I was making a Disney bin to keep all this stuff in just like I use for our camping supplies...I was tired of the repeatative packing. But once it started hitting 30+ pounds it became pretty obvious to him what my point was...it finally topped off at 44 Lbs. That's a lot of crap to take each time. But we always took it... LOL...we saw someone getting TWO lockers delivered while we were at BCV & I told DH some people leave clothes too...he LIKED that idea as well. If we could go more often I think I could talk him into a 2nd locker so that we could pack even less...he HATES dealing with the luggage!

 

[ssawka]

ssawka - you wouldn't leave perishables indefinitely. I left some unopened items like snack crackers, wine, coffee & bottled water in our locker from our May trip - but that's 'cuz I knew we'd be back in August and it's stored in a climate controlled storage facility. Plus everything I left had dates that went beyond our August trip date. But when we left it last week we either used up all that stuff or I brought it home with us since I am not for sure when we will be back....If we had stuff that was good for another year then sure, why not leave it?! We had a car for the 3 days we went to Vero so on our last night we stopped at a Publix & a liquor store & re-stocked up on the full size sunscreens that we'd killed off and grabbed a new bottle of my Capt. Morgan (which will keep).

I totally agree, and when it comes to liquor, liquor and decent wine will keep almost indefinitely, but beer... not so much! Also, coffee goes stale, unless you are using cans and the cans are unopened.

 

[Dizny Dad]

. . . . . . we used to check about 5 bags. . . . . .

5 Bags! Gee Whiz . . .did you really use all that stuff?

Even with that great travel advice - 1/2 the clothes, twice the money, we still don't use more that a pair of shorts, a pair of slacks, unmentionables (so I won't), a few Disney T's and nice shirts. With the washer/drier combo in the rooms, we just don't need much and it sure isn't a fashion show for us.

5 Bags! oh, wait a minute, now I understand . . . it is for the money.

 

[Anal Annie]

I totally agree, and when it comes to liquor, liquor and decent wine will keep almost indefinitely, but beer... not so much! Also, coffee goes stale, unless you are using cans and the cans are unopened.

That was DH's excuse to pop the top on his first beer on our last day at Vero at like 10:00!!! I guess he likened it to tailgating for his 1:00 Redksins games!

(PS) I had a 12 oz bag of UNOPENED coffee that I left between our May and August trips...dated for Dec. '09. I brought that home with us this trip....

 

[Tara]

I totally agree, and when it comes to liquor, liquor and decent wine will keep almost indefinitely, but beer... not so much! Also, coffee goes stale, unless you are using cans and the cans are unopened.

In our locker we keep filters, a grinder and a coffee scoop. Then each trip we purchase whole bean coffee (we always make a grocery stop) and then take any leftovers home with us. DH likes his coffee fresh and strong and Disney coffee just won't do.

It would be a simple matter to pack a bag of coffee for a trip if you didn't want to do a grocery stop or order groceries, though. I'm not sure what coffee the resort shops sell...

 

[Anal Annie]

5 Bags! Gee Whiz . . .did you really use all that stuff?

Even with that great travel advice - 1/2 the clothes, twice the money, we still don't use more that a pair of shorts, a pair of slacks, unmentionables (so I won't), a few Disney T's and nice shirts. With the washer/drier combo in the rooms, we just don't need much and it sure isn't a fashion show for us.

5 Bags! oh, wait a minute, now I understand . . . it is for the money.

OK, well, first of all...I DO NOT go on vacation to do laundry. No, no, no!!! Secondly, we stay in studios so there IS NO WASHER /DRYER combo in our villa. Third, we usually go for about 10 days and we typically change 2 x per day - esp. in August when it's all hot & humid & once we get drenched with icky water on Splash Mtn. & Kali River...sorry, but MY unmentionables need changing again after that!! A typical day for us is to head out in the am with one outfit, get all hot & sweaty, come back back to the resort for the afternoon & hit the pool for awhile. Shower and put on clean clothes to go back out for the evening. We may or may not re-wear that set of shorts again the next day. NOT if we got drenched on a ride we wouldn't. I usually am the one with the bullseye target for getting COMPLETELY drenched on both of those rides. I am the one you see getting off looking like a drowned rat. Always.

But so, yes with all this stuff that I NOW LEAVE in the OL we could easily hit 5 checked bags before. Don't forget that was a whole bag's worth all of it's own that I don't have to take anymore. NOW that the airlines charge for the bags tho I have also invested in packing cubes so that I can pack more efficiently too. I have really cut back significantly. We also used to only take ONE carry-on bag for all of us and we checked the rest. NOW we EACH bring a carry-on and check less.

 

[DisneyDudet]

After really researching it, and going so often this year, I have become a believer!

I will be going 3 times in one year (that are currently planned), so this will be beneficial. When we go in Dec, we will stock it all up for March and June!!

One thing FOR SURE we'll put in there... our PANCHOS!!

 

[ssawka]

It would be a simple matter to pack a bag of coffee for a trip if you didn't want to do a grocery stop or order groceries, though. I'm not sure what coffee the resort shops sell...

I know what you mean about not being sure what products you will find at Disney, or at any of the grocery stores down there. My daughter has ceiliac disease, so "brands" are very important to us. This is why we are shipping down our own food. I pluuged in some number, and found that I could ship up to a 75lb. box with dimensions of 24"X24"X24" for about $25. That's comparable to the delivery services and that way we know exactly what we are getting. The only problem with this method is that we will still need to buy Milk and H2O from Disney.

 

[E-P-C-O-T]

We go 2-3 times per year. The coffee has not been open yet and it's canned. I didn't know that beer spoiled, I didn't mean to offend the beer purists I guess I have to add beer to our grocery list! Thanks!

 

[pixie921]

The thing that convinced my dh to get an OL was my packing up two suitcases full of stuff that we needed on vacation, but could be left in an OL and not dragged back and forth to WDW every visit. He used to say he didn't mind the extra bags because we usually fly first class and don't have the normal baggage restrictions, but once he actually saw how much extra luggage we could actually avoid hauling, he was sold!

 

[Anal Annie]

I know what you mean about not being sure what products you will find at Disney, or at any of the grocery stores down there. My daughter has ceiliac disease, so "brands" are very important to us. This is why we are shipping down our own food. I pluuged in some number, and found that I could ship up to a 75lb. box with dimensions of 24"X24"X24" for about $25. That's comparable to the delivery services and that way we know exactly what we are getting. The only problem with this method is that we will still need to buy Milk and H2O from Disney.

Just wanted to let you know that you can get cases of water delivered (shipped) from Costco to your resort. They run about $7 each including the tax & shipping (which takes 2 days). You can order it online & it will be waiting on you at bell services with your box that you ship down!! That's what we do when we use DME and don't get a grocery delivery.