For Those That Have Shipped Food Ahead

[StinkerbellsMom]

How far ahead do you send items? Will they simply "Hold" them for you at the Resort? I have read that some folks have shipped some 'goodies' so as to save space and time and it sounds like a great concept, but I just wonder how, realistically, does it work? My mom is not only diabetic, but very 'picky' about what she eats and I would like to have a stash of her favorite goodies on hand, and with 6 of us travelling and using a Car Svc to pick us up and doing grocery stop, I dont want to spend the 30 minute stop searching for items that may not be carried in Publix or another store, kwim. Has anyone here ever shipped ahead? Thanks for any info ... I am getting so excited!!!! Almost TIME!!!!!!!

 

[gary4jenn]

I called my resort to get the address.

I packed a ten pound box with little packs of cereal, plastic bowls, ring pops, dumdum suckers, a body pillow for me and Disney themed treasures for my kids toopen up each night after returning from the parks.

It cost about $10 to ship it and it arrived about 5 days before we did. I shipped it UPS and followed it by checking the tracking # via the UPS's web site. So I knew when it arrived.

I wrote my retuen address on the box and on each side I wrote:

Hold for Jennifer Johnson arriving 1/26/04.

When I checked in that morning, I asked if it was there and it was. I just went to where they store the luggage and showed my ID and took it back to my room.

Another person's post said they had theirs delivered to their room after they checked in and to be sure to ship it either FEDEX or UPS since regular postal mail goes somewhere else.

We are going again in Decmeber and I already have started a large box of stuff to send.

 

[Wily Wily]

I was wondering if this was possible. We are heading to WDW in October and will probably send some stuff down ahead of time - preferrably non-breakable or non-crumbly stuff.

 

[TandyR]

We shipped down a big box filled with clothes and food and had no problem with them holding it for us and no problem having they ship our box home when it was time for us to leave. We would do it again because it was so easy. I used UPS so I could track the box and know when it showed up and who signed for it.

 

[StinkerbellsMom]

Absolutely AWESOME!!! I am so excited about doing this!!! We will be flying down this time and NOT renting a car, so I will stop for water (using Car Svc and grocery stop), but will shop for water and the 'heavy stuff'. I really had not thought of shipping ahead until I read it here! Can I just say ... the DIS and all its folks absolutely ROCK!!!!!!!!! WOO HOOOO!!!! Thanks All!!!

 

[HappyLawyer]

i have not shipped yet but i will be this dec i am using ups and it is so cheap, they say it will arrive the end of the third business day so we arrive on the 11th so i will ship on the 7th the hotels will hold the boxes just put your arrival date on the box and it's a piece of cake good luck, i will use my grocery stop for soda, paper paltes, cups, water so the 30 mins will be plenty of time.

 

[rottendog]

I shipped a box to All Star Movies several years ago and it worked like a charm. They had it noted in their system so that when we were checking in, the guy says "oh, it looks like you have a package waiting for you". It was wonderful, I didn't even have to ask for it. I shipped mine UPS. I would highly recommend doing this for anyone, but especially if you have a picky eater.
I now have 13 year old eating machines. We're driving down this summer, not sure yet if I'll do it then or not.

 

[tigger12jb]

How much does it usually cost to ship the boxes using ups and how much do they normally weigh? We are driving and with me my dh and ds (2 at time of trip ) we are afraid we won't have enough room for an 11 day trip, it may be easy to send some stuff down. Where do you go to mail it back home? UPS at Hotel we are staying at the Poly

 

[whozit]

The cost to ship will depend on the distance you are shipping from (I assume shipping from Georgia will be less that shipping from Oregon), the type of delivery service you choose (regular ground, next day delivery, etc), the overall size of your package and its weight. The easiest way to get a ballpark idea is to go to the UPS and the FedEx websites. They tell you how to measure your package. You can have a pretty big box and still not be in the "oversized" category. I found a box the size I thought I'd need, and entered those measurements, then entered the zipcode I'd be sending it from and to (Lake Buena Vista), then I entered an approximate weight. Check both sites, they can vary a lot. I used regular ground service (guaranteed delivery date for my zip code was 3 days, one year it arrived in 2 days). In 2002, UPS was cheaper than FedEx by a little (I paid about $28, and I think FedEx was about $30) , in 2003 the estimated UPS cost was about $30, and the FedEx cost was $17). Once I had my box size and zipcode, I tried different weights and I found that the cost for a 20 lb box was the same as a 50 lb box (at 51 lb, the price began going up again). I didn't intend to send juice boxes because they are heavy and the weight adds up, but since 50# cost no more than 20# and I had room, I went ahead and sent them too.

It was much easier than lugging these things through the airport. I bought everything when the stores ran them on sale, and I know I wouldn't have just happened on a sale on everything we wanted once we were in Orlande. On the grocery stop, we just bought perishables.

I don't know about shipping things back home, I only shipped consumables and disposables.

 

[safetymom]

When I shipped things ahead of time to CSR for a conference there was a charge when it came time to pick them up. So you might want to check on that before you ship to a resort.