Doing laundry at Disney...how much to plan on spending?

[thelittlemermaid]

It looks like I am going to at least have to do one load of laundry while at Disney. We are going to be on vaca for 2 weeks {going to Sea World first and then to Disney} and I have enough T-shirts and tank tops for everyone, but the pants and shorts, not quite so many.

The way I can figure in doing laundry and not miss out on any fun is to have some pool time for the family {hoping the weather is nice enough for it} and while they swim, I can throw a load in a washer and then into the dryer. While waiting on the laundry I can get some pics of the family in the pool. Something I missed last year since I was in the pool also.

Now how much can I figure on needing for the washer and dryer? Are the dryers really good at drying? Since I will be doing jeans and jean shorts, will one cycle dry them or am I looking at two? Just to make sure, the laundry room is down by the pool {we're staying at All Star Music}?

This will be my first time doing laundry at Disney so if you have any tips and tricks, pleast let me know.

Thank you so much in advance!

 

[NotUrsula]

Bring at least $10 in change (small bills -- they have coin changers), perhaps $15, for each laundry day that you plan to have. Each load is $2 last I checked, which was in June. Personally I can't go two weeks on only one laundry day for an active vacation, even if I wash my undies in the sink. Bring your own detergent if you can; I use those Purex all in one sheets for travel; they are light and cannot spill. (The detergent that they sell is regular Tide, and it is $1/box for a one-load mini-pack.)

We have a no-denim rule in our family when it comes to travel. This is because it is heavy, takes FOREVER to dry in hotel dryers, and does not keep you warm outside in cold weather anyway (though it's hot if the weather is warm.) The only exception is if we will be doing any horseback riding or farm labor on the trip. Cords, khakis, or synthetic wind-pants are a much better choice for travel. (If you anticipate that it might get actually cold, which IME can happen Dec-Feb in Orlando, then I recommend a pr. of thin longjohns for each person. We use silk: very lightweight, warm, comfortable, and thin enough to cram in a pocket if the weather changes.

Oh, if you have a large rolling suitcase, keep it open in the bottom of the closet area for dirties, then wheel it down to the laundry room. Just fold the clean things in the suitcase and roll it back after.

 

[cglaura]

I found the dryers usually took 2 cycles. So what I wound up doing was for 1 load of wash, I'd split that into 2 dryers. That way, you still spend the same amount, but less time waiting.

Another tip is to push the start button on the dryer to see if any time is left from a previous guest. Sometimes people just need to dry something quick. Just make sure nobody around waiting to put their 2nd load in there.

I brought a tupperware type container inside a zip bag with my powdered laundry soap. They do have it for sale, I think $1.75 per box / 1 load. But I'm picky about my soap & didn't want to take the chance they were out of Tide or didn't have it. Then a few fabric sheets if you use them (which also makes your suitcase smell really good when you unpack).

 

[dezimber]

It is $2 per load to wash and $2 per load to dry. I didn't wash a lot of heavy material such as denim but did have some which did dry. We stayed at ASMu also and ended up eating most of our evening meals at the resort. When we got back from the park we went to the room to get our refillable mugs before going to dinner. I would put the clothes in to wash on the way to eat. If you use something that is compact it is not much trouble to carry in purse or shoulder bag. After eating I would move laundry to the dryer on the way to the room or the pool then came back about 45 mins to get the stuff out of the dryer. It worked out really well and would be back just as my stuff was finnishing or just finnished.

 

[HeidiGW]

I'd plan on doing laundry more than once. (It is easy to toss a few loads in while the kids are swimming or getting ready for bed. AMu also has laundry facilities by the Piano Pool.) Even if you have enough stuff to last, the clothes will get gross and stinky. (sweat and getting caught in the rain.)
I always do several loads and the washers work fine if you don't over fill them. And I used two rounds on the dryers, but could pull some stuff out early. It seemed to work better if you got a dryer somebody just used/still hot.
And, absolutely, bring your own soap/fabric softner/dryer sheets.
Because I do alot and I'm cheap and drive, I pre-package powder laundry detergent in snack-sized ziplock bags. I (use Gain) practically fill the little baggie with a scoop/scoop and half. It's more than the amount of liquid kind I would use at home. I find the WDW water a bit hard and smelly combined with the gross clothes factor.
And I pack a box of dryer sheets in my suitcase to keep my clothes smelling fresh!
Have fun!

 

[disneymarie]

I took a roll of quaters, some small single dollars for the change machine, BUT the big thing, the detergent, for the last three trips I had Tide, $1 for a small jug at Target, dryer sheets, and a stick of shout it out. Costly to buy the cleaners and things there.
I think next trip I will try the washer./dryer/static cling sheets not to take liquids.

Oh, I found that everywhere I go, I take a Tide stick. Great even for mustard

If you hit rain, you may have several things to dry as jackets, sneakers, beach towels etc.

 

[nurse.darcy]

It seems I always do at least one load, no matter the length of the trip. At Target and Walmart you can buy single load Tide packets (liquid tide). At WDW the tide is the powdered type and is one dollar per load. I also pack dryer sheets in a zip lock for drying my clothes. Sometimes I have not had a problem with the dryer drying in one cycle and other times, I have needed another cycle. I usually collect quarters from my change that collects in my purse and put that aside to take on my trips. I always take enough quarters with me for 2 wash loads and 4 dry loads (or I pack a roll - 10 bucks for a roll or 6 bucks my method). I always do laundry on my pool downtime (and yes, I still swim - I don't just sit around waiting for the laundry to get done). At nearly all the hotels, the laundry room is near the pool anyway so it works out perfectly.

 

[MandM-Mom]

I took a roll of quaters, some small single dollars for the change machine, BUT the big thing, the detergent, for the last three trips I had Tide, $1 for a small jug at Target, dryer sheets, and a stick of shout it out. Costly to buy the cleaners and things there.
I think next trip I will try the washer./dryer/static cling sheets not to take liquids.

Oh, I found that everywhere I go, I take a Tide stick. Great even for mustard

If you hit rain, you may have several things to dry as jackets, sneakers, beach towels etc.

I used those all in ones on our trip last october, I found its easier to do smaller loads every few days than wait till you have a few loads to do all at once. During our 2008 trip I had 3 loads, family of 5 half way through a 10 day trip and I got yelled at by an incoming laundry washer, because I had three machines going, I was the only one in there when I started then it started to get busy. Never will I do that many loads again Although the other ladies in the pop laundry room laughed, and said wow where's her disney spirit! THe funny thing was she filled 2 herself

 

[stich1fan]

If we stay more than 1 week, we def need to wash clothes. I believe the $2.00 a load is correct and I can agree the dryer takes forever. I normally sit there and take out some pieces as they get dry while others do seem to take forever.

I bring my own soap. We normally save 2 water bottles with screw caps. One for our soap and one for our daughter(her clothes are still washed in dreft). I have never had a leak and always then put the 2 bottles in a ziplock bag. I think those individual detergents are a bit expensive. Plus we are sensitive to soap change and they never have our brand.

Hope this helped....

 

[I*heart*MickeyMouse]

It's $2 per wash and $2 per dry. They have 1 or 2 larger capacity washers, and if you fill that washer you should split it into 3 dryers. The regular washers I split into 2 dryers. After all the dryers are done I pull the clothes out one piece at a time and toss it onto the table or into my bag if it's totally dry. I usually end up with 1 load of stuff that is still damp and needs another run in the dryer.

The soaps were $1 each, IIRC. I went to my local laundrymat and got pouches of liquid soaps out of the machine there. I hate powdered detergent!

 

[Ava]

How much drying time do you get for that $2?

 

[thelittlemermaid]

Thank you to everyone for taking the time to answer my question!

After reading replies I'm starting to think that it may be a good idea to do a a load here and there during our vaca. The first day we arrive at Disney we're not doing a thing. Using that day to check in and settle into our room. That would be the perfect time to do some laundry. By then we will have been on vaca for 3-4 days. Then I figured maybe do some on the last night we're there. Maybe another one in between, haven't figured that out yet.

Thanks again for the replies!

 

[It'sWDW4me]

We were there last month for 9 nights. I took enough clothes for 5 days and then did 2 loads of laundry in the middle of our stay.

I took a roll of quarters with me because I've read that the change machines sometimes run out and I didn't want to have to run all over the place for quarters. I also took a few Purell 3-in-1 sheets with us. Those things are awesome for regular, just sweaty, not very soiled, clothes. I was going to take a stain stick in case something needed to be pre-treated but I forgot it (good thing I didn't need it this trip).

Washers and dryers both cost $2 and run 30 minutes (at least that's what the sign on the wall said) but I wasn't watching the clock so I can't confirm. I put 2 loads in, hung out in the pool for a while, and headed back to the laundry room when I thought the time was about right. Threw the clothes from the washers into the dryers and headed back to the pool.

I had heard people say that you needed 2 dryer cycles but I thought that I wouldn't because our clothes were mostly light, summer clothes. Yeah, you need 2 cycles for some. Some of our shirts and a pair or two of thin shorts were dry after the first cycle but some weren't. I was able to combine from the 2 dryers the items that were still damp after the first cycle into one dryer for the second cycle. But jeans will almost definitely need 2 - possibly even 3 - cycles.

 

[I*heart*MickeyMouse]

Another thing - yes, the laundry rooms are right next to the pools. When we stayed in ASMovies in August, the quiet pool's laundry room was EMPTY and the main pool's laundry room was always jam packed! so you may want to check there first!

We used the luggage rack to help dry some socks that didn't dry even after being run through a second cycle

 

[mom2boys77]

We just got back on the 5th after 11 nights at the Contemporary. I had brought change with me to do laundry but all that I saw was a thing to swipe your room key to pay. Maybe it's different at other hotels? Anyway, it was $2 to wash and $2 to dry. I did 3 loads (one underwear/socks, one shorts/pants, and one tshirts.) they all needed to dry 2 times.

 

[Holly324]

We are staying at ASMo. Is their laundry by the pool as well? How many machines are in the laundry rooms? BTW, I have used the 3in1 Purex, and LOVE them for travelling!