Epic Packing Mistakes...

[kruegeme]

On a trip to WDW three years ago, 1 1/2 hours into a 3 hour drive to the airport we realized that neither of us put the double stroller into the car. Stopped by Target to buy 2 inexpensive strollers. Stroller 8 & 9 joined the family.

Next trip to WDW, after arriving at the airport, realized that we grabbed the single stroller instead of the double. Purchased one of the red singles at WDW. Welcoming stroller number 10 to the family.

Stroller is double and triple checked now by both DW and myself as well as the kids.

 

[alc571]

These stories are pretty funny.

Mine is a different type of story. We didn't forget anything. We do carryon only on our trips. The first time I was really focussed on making sure we didn't go over our limit - which I thought was 10lbs for each bag. I bought a weigh scale to take with us. We knew we'd bring back a number of souvenirs, so I made DH bring old tshirts that we could just leave behind in the garbage, and pack his carryon with all the loot. The next trip (same airline) we just risked going over slightly on the way home. It wasn't until the third trip, when I was reading the baggage requirements again, that I realized that the limit was 10kgs.. not 10lbs! We could have packed twice the stuff!

Oh well... at least DH got new clothes out of it!

 

[MomForFrozenAddicts]

I had 2 major boo boo

#1: I left my brand new Movado watch in the bathroom of the cruise cabin. I didn't realize it until I got off the ship. Of course, it was not there when I called Lost and Found.

#2: I forgot to bring my digital camera for my honeymoon. I wanted to take a picture of us at the airport and the camera was missing. We got disposable ones but the pictures were horrible. It was 8 years ago, so the cell phone camera was not good at all.

 

[disneybride96]

It's 1996 and we were getting married at the Yacht Club Gazebo. Mom and dad drove down with my dress and a bunch of stuff. My soon to be husband packed his stuff for the flight. The night before the wedding we were walking around the Wilderness Lodge about 10pm and for some reason he remembered that he forgot the tie that he had meticulously chosen. He sped off to downtown disney but when he arrived, the stores were closed. After pecking on the window, a cast member listened to his story and let him where he got a tasteful mickey tie along with some cast member applause!

 

[Funfire240]

Last summer we drove to WDW and got about 30-40 minutes away when I went to get something out of the camcorder bag and realized the charger wasn't there. I was going to just purchase one on Amazon and have it sent overnight but DH turned around to get it. Got back to the house it wasn't where I thought I left it so I said go on and I would figure it out.
You can imagine he was not thrilled when we stopped for the night and I got out my laptop to order a new charger and lo and behold, there was the charger for the camcorder in the laptop case. OOPS!

 

[branv]

Not Disney, but one Christmas Eve we had to drive two hours to a DH family event, drive back home, then get on the road for a 5 hour car trip to my family. We had to take a ton of luggage bc after Christmas at my family's, we were flying out of that city to Banff for a week. Since we live in Texas, we'd had to buy a wardrobe of expensive winter coats and gear. So we rush home around 4 pm to pick up our travel luggage and get back on the road. Two hours up the highway I feel sick. "Did you grab the bag with all the winter stuff?" Nope. Back home we go. It's not like we could go skiing with just our Texas winter wear, and who is going to be open Christmas Day for new clothing even if we'd been willing to spend that much money again. We didn't get to my parents until 1 am. That was a fun day.

 

[minijenny]

DH might be the worst packer in the world. I do what I can to make him a list and pack everything he doesn't need in the preceding week, but I can only do so much. Especially when I'm not home. DH was attending a conference in Germany (not Epcot ;-) for two weeks. I took the kids to my parents' house the week before and sat biting my nails hoping he could make it there all by himself with no packing help. Turns out my fears of him arriving in Germany were unfounded. The major problem came two weeks later when he was ready to return to New York and the airline wouldn't let him board because he had forgotten his green card back at home. I was 850 miles away in Illinois, so my ability to help was very limited. Luckily, we had just moved into an apartment with a doorman, so we contacted our doorman to let a friend in to find the green card and mail it to Germany. Three days later, DH was safe at home, vowing to never leave the country alone ever again.

After that incident, leaving the swimsuits and sunscreen at home for a weeklong Disney trip seemed laughably trivial.

 

[ahunt]

These stories are fantastic! I've been making incredibly detailed lists so I don't forget anything important.

Every year we go to my parents for Christmas. Midnight Christmas Eve I go to put out stockings - yep they're at home in the hiding spot. 2am bedtime after I drove home to get them. Come Easter we had moved two hours from my parents. Who forgets the Easter basket? This mom. Re-bought this time. Wasn't doing a four plus hour drive! Thank goodness for late nights at Walmart.

 

[honeylove]

I love this thread! It's great to know I am not the only one to have a major packing fail! I forgot ALL of DH's t-shirts for the whole week! Luckily, I stayed with my Aunty for the first night and she had lots of t-shirts from my cousin who runs, so DH wore all these LA marathon, OC finisher shirts. LOL! It was all because I thought my DH would have wanted to choose his own shirts. Oops.

 

[BethanyLynnFit]

On our Disney Honeymoon my DH forgot to pack shorts!!! Went to Downtown Disney and bought a pair of overpriced shorts that he wore the whole trip! Funny thing is...8 years later, still owns and wears them!

Last trip, Spring Break 2014...not an epic mistake but rather a miscalculation...didn't pack nearly enough snacks for the kiddos or adult beverages for the parents. We ran out about three quarters of our through the trip. Won't make that mistake again! Buying drinks at the resort is expensive!!

 

[2nd Time Bride]

Well I wasn't going to WDW but the first trip I took with my DD I had packed EVERYTHING for her, food, toys, clothes, portable crib, we got to the hotel and I had no clothes for myself. NONE. Not even a pair of underwear, I left it all in a big stack on my bed. Yeah, I had to hit up Target big time in the morning.

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

We have an Owner's Locker (www.ownerslocker.com), which is a plastic tub of stuff that gets delivered to us at the resort at the beginning of a vacation, and then picked up at the end. One year, my roommate swore he had left shorts and shirts in the locker at the end of the last trip. He didn't pack any clothes for himself.

Guess what wasn't in there when our locker was delivered.

We were using Disney transportation that trip, so we didn't have a car to run up to Wal-mart. He refused to pay the Disney prices for clothing, and also wouldn't spring for a cab. So we washed the same set of clothes every night. Fortunately, some friends were joining us half-way through the vacation and we had them stop at the house to pack his stuff and bring it down with him.

New rule after that trip: no clothing is kept in the Owner's Locker.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Disney cruise vacation plus a few days before and after in February.

To be fair, due to a pending storm and houseguests having the flu (we all had flu shots but it just complicated departure), we departed 2.5 days earlier than we had intended to.

I had no shoes for my 3 year old other than what she wore in the car and ballet slippers she just had to have. We often fetch shoes last and I just didn't fetch anything for her. So her dress shoes on the ship were ballet slippers.

And we left my husband's suit coat in the car at the port. But that wasn't a big deal. We weren't doing Palo or Remy. He just looked a little less fancy on semi-formal night. I hope we didn't cause controversy.

 

[WorldWacky]

So whats your most epic packing mistake - What have you forgotten to bring down to The World?

Our last trip, I realized about 90 minutes into the drive that I forgot my daughters princess costumes!!!!! We had to turn around, come back home and get them. I was so mad at myself, but at least we were driving, and able to turn around and get them.


So whats yours?

I too, forgot my DDs' princess dresses and a homemade Prince Charming costume for DS. BUT, I didn't notice until we were at Disney. We certainly weren't driving back to get them! We tried to get costumes at Walmart to no avail. So, we spent a small fortune at The World of Disney.

 

[Jessica14]

The most important thing we ever forgot were my DH's crutches. He has cerebral palsy so he often doesn't use them except when he is doing lots of walking. We were about half way to the airport when her realized. I tried not to panic knowing we had six days at the park planned. There was no way he was going to even be able to do a few hours!

When we got to POFQ, he asked at the desk where he could go to buy some. Not only did he find a pharmacy that had them but, they delivered! He ordered them, was able to stroll lesiurely around DTD, and come back and pick them up at the front desk. It was a great trip!

 

[pinkprincess30]

After our trip to Disney in 2011 we were checking in at the airport for our flight home. That's when I realized the clerk at our hotel had neglected to give me my license back after checking us out! We missed our flight and the next flight didn't leave for 8 hours. We had already turned our rental car in and the hotel would not bring me my ID. So we hung out in the airport alllllll day... Me, DH, my parents and my THREE little boys. I had to go through a major hassle to get through security and on the plane. You wouldn't believe the things the TSA knows about you. They asked me questions that I had to answer 100% accurately or NO GO. Like "what are the first and last names of your next door neighbors". And "How many pets do you have and what are their names?". THEY KNOW THAT?! Now I am always paranoid about knowing where my license is at all times!

 

[keahgirl8]

After our trip to Disney in 2011 we were checking in at the airport for our flight home. That's when I realized the clerk at our hotel had neglected to give me my license back after checking us out! We missed our flight and the next flight didn't leave for 8 hours. We had already turned our rental car in and the hotel would not bring me my ID. So we hung out in the airport alllllll day... Me, DH, my parents and my THREE little boys. I had to go through a major hassle to get through security and on the plane. You wouldn't believe the things the TSA knows about you. They asked me questions that I had to answer 100% accurately or NO GO. Like "what are the first and last names of your next door neighbors". And "How many pets do you have and what are their names?". THEY KNOW THAT?! Now I am always paranoid about knowing where my license is at all times!

Scary! I would suggest getting a passport. After I had a scare in the airport where I thought I'd lost my license, I came home and applied for a passport. Now I never fly without 2 IDs!

 

[Sparkly]

My Dad forgot to pack shorts one year- we had to make a Walmart run and so didn't get to MK until 10:30am

And back at home, we went up north to visit family for a special occasion- and thinking that it was June and so I didn't need any warm clothes, didn't pack any! It was very cold and windy up there and I was FREEZING the entire weekend! Ended up having to buy a new sweatshirt to add to my collection.