Family of 6, 16-day Trip: How Much Clothing to Pack?

[TigerlilyAJ]

My family will be driving to WDW in December, and I am already starting to pack (special clothes for particular park days/events). I would like to hear your thoughts on how many days worth of clothing I should pack per person. Before I really thought about long the trip was (the 16 days include driving time, USO days, et al), I had been thinking of doing laundry once--but now I see that's impossible. I'll have to do it at least twice. Should we pack so light we need to do it three times?
I feel like this is two questions: How much luggage do I want to take? and How much time do I want to devote to doing laundry at FW?
Right now I'm leaning toward ten pieces (5 shirts, 3 shorts, 2 pants) for the gentlemen, and a similar five days of clothes for my DD2 and myself. (DD would get more pieces, but I don't mind because her clothese are so tiny that she can fit twice as much into her packing cube as her brothers can. And she's more likely to need a change of clothes.) We need pants and shorts and jackets to deal with days that might start quite cool but rise to temperatures that, coming from Ontario, will have us peeling down to summery garb.
A complicating factor is the number of costumes also coming along. Like, DD may or may not have 11 different character cosplays for different meals, Meet & Greets, and events. Plus another half dozen for her brothers. It's enough to fill a suitcase and a garment bag.
How many days of clothes would you bring for a long trip?

 

[MommaBerd]

I *know* how quickly the laundry can pile up! It's been three years since my family of six has been (and we didn't have any costumes), but I think that I did multiple small loads - like maybe on day 3 and day 6 (we were only traveling for 10 days). I had made us 4 sets of matching shirts, and we rotated those, but I didn't wait until we had 4 days worth of laundry. We went in November, so the weather was a little different, but I only packed one pair of pants (I think). But you may just have to wait on bottoms until the week before and see what the weather is going to be.

Now, having said all that and re-reading your post, if your kids have cosplay outfits, are they willing to "recycle" those on another day/time? Because that will cut down on the number of plain clothes you'll need to pack.

Not a simple answer - really just thinking out loud with you!

 

[TigerlilyAJ]

Costumes will definitely have "repeats," as some M&Gs and special events call for the same character (like a Star Wars costume). Hmm, good point about not waiting until we're nude before doing laundry. I'll have to put that into my matrix. TY, @MommaBerd !

 

[Jaime4004]

I usually pack for no more than 5 days each. I don't mind doing laundry on vacation, it needs to get done there or home, no difference to me. We're also driving to FL (though only in WDW one day) but i'm going to wait to figure out pants/jackets etc until closer. The weather in December can be all over the place there...

 

[roseaster]

Where are you staying? If I am in a villa and have a washer/dry I pack very, very lightly. I have 6 kids, I am used to laundry. If I am in a hotel where I have to use the laundromat I usually pack for 1/2 the trip. Meaning for you, I would pack 8 outfits for each, and, probably 4 spares for toddlers/small children.

I will do laundry 1/2 way through the trip in that case. Usually on our "rest" day while the kids are enjoying the pool.

I also bring my own laundry supplies because they are just way cheaper at home.

Honestly, I would really cut down the costumes. I can't imagine making that many changes during a trip.

 

[moesy4]

We are a family of 5 staying 10 nights and I am packing for "5" days...technically that is 6 outfits (all my kids are little so are bound to destroy an outfit at least once lol) and then 1 spare outfit in the park bag. We are staying at the Fort and planning only 1 in park meal a day so we have two giant suitcases full of cooking stuff...waffle maker, crockpot, snacks, basic cooking supplies, etc. I really wanted to keep other suitcases to a minimum.

 

[jvz82]

I also have 4 kids (3 boys and a girl!) and we're also going to Disney in December! Not nearly for that long though.

I hate when the laundry piles up. Even going out of town for a long weekend with my crew I'm about ready to go insane by day 3 with all the laundry because it's everywhere. I'm also a light packer just in general so I'd probably plan to do laundry pretty frequently. But since you're going in December, you do need to make sure you have a variety of clothes since the weather can be a little unpredictable. I also agree with previous comments about maybe cutting back on costumes for your daughter. That seems like a lot to manage, but maybe that's just me!

 

[DisneyOma]

Orlando in December can be cold - 40's at night, so I'd not depend on summery garb being all that useful. One time we were there over Christmas break, and it was pants and jackets weather all day, every day.

Also had cold weather in March - had to buy a sweatshirt and sweatpants because I packed capris.

 

[TigerlilyAJ]

We are a family of 5 staying 10 nights and I am packing for "5" days...technically that is 6 outfits (all my kids are little so are bound to destroy an outfit at least once lol) and then 1 spare outfit in the park bag. We are staying at the Fort and planning only 1 in park meal a day so we have two giant suitcases full of cooking stuff...waffle maker, crockpot, snacks, basic cooking supplies, etc. I really wanted to keep other suitcases to a minimum.

See, that's closer to how I expected to do our 10 nights at the Cabins at FW, but then we got FD. ;-) So, we're at the cabin, but really only need snacks and breakfast foods, no real cooking expected. I use packing cubes in our suitcases, so the three boys share one suitcase, DD and I share another, and DH uses a carry-on for himself. (So another suitcase for costumes isn't too much for the minivan.) Five outfits is about the maximum for the cubes, although we might need more room if the weather forecast before we leave says the colder end of the range rather than the warmer.
I think the kids plan on using all their snack credits on items involving ice cream, so I fear destroyed outfits, too!

I totally know that the costumes are OTT, but that kind of OTT is my cup of tea, LOL. We cosplay as a family, going to things like Comic Con and such. We did one six weeks ago where I packed 16 costumes for all of us for a four-day convention. So, we are a little more accustomed to regular costuming, and travel with costumes, than most. Having said that, I guess I can sadly leave Faun behind and restrict DD to just the one fairy costume with Tink. So there's one less costume.
Sidebar: Star Wars becoming a Disney franchise really bloated the costumes, adding another set of costumes and getting the two kids who are less interested in costumes excited for dressing up for certain M&Gs.

 

[monorailsilver]

I would bring enough for 3 days.

I hate having tons of clothes because my kids wear the same stuff over and over again.

We wear 2 outfits per day.

 

[DonnaBelle5]

We were there for 9 days last year & were a fan of 7 (2 was my twin sis & her son). Since we drove down in our minivan we only got 1 bag each (I had our soft sided luggage bag on the roof). We did laundry only once mid trip. Everyone had at least 5-6 outfits & we did bring a fair amount home dirty but I didn't mind. Like you we had to include jackets which took up space but we were glad we had them because our 5th day it got chilly.

I'd suggest a min of 7 outfits with extra shirts to mix match pants, and maybe you could only wash once (?).

If you are flying how many checked bags do you want/need?

Good luck!

 

[TigerlilyAJ]

@DonnaBelle5 We are driving and planning on four suitcases (and a stroller) in the back of the minivan. My friend also suggested packing enough for only one round of laundry, but that would be 48 outfits (6 people x 8 days), 96 pieces. We also suggested letting clothes kept clean be worn again before laundering, which works for some, but is a non-starter for my adolescent son's shirts, which take on quite the scent no matter how well he showers and wears deodorant. ;-)
What's funny is that i can't even remember what I did for our DLR trips in 2012 and 2013, which is annoying as it seemed to work just fine, whatever I did.

 

[jevs]

I pack as light as possible and use the laundries available. That said, you're driving so can pack a little more than we could.

As an example I'm planning on one medium case each that won't be crammed full, for our next 6 week trip to the States. I'm planning on taking 5 - 7 mix and match outfits, not including formal wear for the cruise or winter gear for the East Coast.

I find dark clothing for kids is much better than light, easier not to see the grime.Small items can be hand washed and hung in the bathroom - undies etc will dry overnight.

 

[scrapquitler]

My family will be driving to WDW in December, and I am already starting to pack (special clothes for particular park days/events). I would like to hear your thoughts on how many days worth of clothing I should pack per person. Before I really thought about long the trip was (the 16 days include driving time, USO days, et al), I had been thinking of doing laundry once--but now I see that's impossible. I'll have to do it at least twice. Should we pack so light we need to do it three times?
I feel like this is two questions: How much luggage do I want to take? and How much time do I want to devote to doing laundry at FW?
Right now I'm leaning toward ten pieces (5 shirts, 3 shorts, 2 pants) for the gentlemen, and a similar five days of clothes for my DD2 and myself. (DD would get more pieces, but I don't mind because her clothese are so tiny that she can fit twice as much into her packing cube as her brothers can. And she's more likely to need a change of clothes.) We need pants and shorts and jackets to deal with days that might start quite cool but rise to temperatures that, coming from Ontario, will have us peeling down to summery garb.
A complicating factor is the number of costumes also coming along. Like, DD may or may not have 11 different character cosplays for different meals, Meet & Greets, and events. Plus another half dozen for her brothers. It's enough to fill a suitcase and a garment bag.
How many days of clothes would you bring for a long trip?

I'd start by hauling out my suitcases, stroller and whatever other gear I thought I had to take with me and loading it all in the car to see how many suitcases I had room for, and adjust based on that. Given all the costumes and the number of people, I'd probably bank on doing laundry three or four times.

 

[Nevada Jen]

And I would cut way back on the bottoms. I find a wear the same pair of jeans or shorts on vacation 3 or 4 times with no problem. I saw this brilliant packing video on facebook the other day and tried it and it worked super well. Lay each person's outfits (including socks and undies) out in a single stack and then roll them the whole stack and put it in the suitcase (or cube). When you get there, unroll each person's stack and put them flat in a drawer and then you just work through to the bottom of the stack. I couldn't believe how well it worked!

 

[DisneyCAL]

I would pack for 5 days, do laundry on day 5 and day 11.

 

[kohlby]

We pack enough for 6 days and do laundry as needed. We generally go through just one outfit a day, though we do pack extra underwear and socks. I have learned not to plan to do laundry X amount of times with kids. It works better for us to figure it out as we go - especially if any kids are young. We just returned from 17 nights in Orlando and had 6 outfits each and it worked out quite well.