HELP me pack my 2 and 4 year olds pleeeeease!

[snowangel72]

We are leaving in 10 days. whooo hooo! We will be there for five days.

Here are some of my questions:

Do the kids need a jacket in case it rains? Or should I just leave the jackets at home and buy ponchos if needed?

How many shoes for each kid? THey LIVE in their Crocs but should I bring better shoes for them too? Do they need a pair of running shoes each?

How many hats for each kid? I am thinking two each in case we lose one. And of course I can always buy new ones if needed.

How many pairs of pj's for each kid? Is one enough? There is laundry facilities in the house we are renting.

For the PLANE:

What do I carry on for the kids?
I am taking a portable DVD player with headphones, my four year old's L-Max, two colouring books, markers...what else? A change of clothes for each?

So one big carry on on the plane with everything? I will need dipes and wipes for my little one. What else what else?

So many questions. I am sorry! I am lost here!

 

[dis-happy]

We travel to WDW pretty often and I'm a big believer in keeping things simple (with 5 in our family space is always at a premium!).

No jackets necessary in FL in the summertime.

Buy cheap ponchos at Wal-Mart before you leave.

My ds (age 6) wore his Crocs exclusively w/ no problem during our May trip. We typically bring just one pair of shoes per child. (adults need a second pair to switch though, it really helps!)

One hat. If you only have one hat you won't lose it. If you pack two you're more likely to lose track of one (because you can grab the other). JMHO

I only pack one pair of pj's per person and do laundry mid-week.

Airplane: have your 4 year old wear a small backpack w/ his stuff for the plane---let him pack a few favorite small toys. Then you just have to do the carry-on with the diapers and DVD player and your purse.

Good luck! And don't forget....ziplock baggies (the 2 gallon size) make packing a breeze. Just don't go overweight on your suitcase.

 

[Trentmom]

We are leaving in 10 days. whooo hooo! We will be there for five days.

Here are some of my questions:

Do the kids need a jacket in case it rains? Or should I just leave the jackets at home and buy ponchos if needed?

How many shoes for each kid? THey LIVE in their Crocs but should I bring better shoes for them too? Do they need a pair of running shoes each?

How many hats for each kid? I am thinking two each in case we lose one. And of course I can always buy new ones if needed.

How many pairs of pj's for each kid? Is one enough? There is laundry facilities in the house we are renting.

For the PLANE:

What do I carry on for the kids?
I am taking a portable DVD player with headphones, my four year old's L-Max, two colouring books, markers...what else? A change of clothes for each?

So one big carry on on the plane with everything? I will need dipes and wipes for my little one. What else what else?

So many questions. I am sorry! I am lost here!

Hi Snowangel.

I would keep the jackets at home since you are not going at a cold time.

Ponchos will be fine. If you want to save some money, check out your local dollar store....we bought a 5 pack last year for the 3 of us, and still had 3 left over for this trip past May...

I brough 3 pairs of pjs for my ds for 7 nights......a lot of shorts he wears during the day are soft, so if need be, he could have slept in them.

On the plane, less is more!!!

We brought way too much stuff last year and we used nothing but coloring book and crayons..

This year..I bought two packs of crayons...and a few small disney coloring books which we used in the airport, to kill time, waiting for our time to board the plane..they were a godsend.

On the plane, we just had the portable dvd player and about 4 movies...

We also brought plug for it, too for the hotel.

This way, you are not stuck watching kidd shows in the hotels during down time...you can watch the big tv and your kids can watch the dvd player....

Definitely going want wipes, diapers if they are not potty trained yet and definitely a change of clothes.

We had ds in a pull up diaper and when we got to FL, we lifted him up and he had wet the seat....thank god we had a change of clothes...don't forget socks, too.....

As far as shoes, while a lot of people love the crocs, I would bring a pair of running sneakers for the kids just in case.


Blistered feet can ruin their whole trip.

Hope this helps!

Oh...My ds is 3 1/2......in case that helps........right in between the ages of your two kids...

 

[eliza61]

We are leaving in 10 days. whooo hooo! We will be there for five days.

Do the kids need a jacket in case it rains? Or should I just leave the jackets at home and buy ponchos if needed?

How many shoes for each kid? THey LIVE in their Crocs but should I bring better shoes for them too? Do they need a pair of running shoes each?

How many hats for each kid? I am thinking two each in case we lose one. And of course I can always buy new ones if needed.

How many pairs of pj's for each kid? Is one enough? There is laundry facilities in the house we are renting.

For the PLANE:

What do I carry on for the kids?
I am taking a portable DVD player with headphones, my four year old's L-Max, two colouring books, markers...what else? A change of clothes for each?

So one big carry on on the plane with everything? I will need dipes and wipes for my little one. What else what else?

So many questions. I am sorry! I am lost here!

Deep breathe.
Ok, I would skip the jacket for rain and get a poncho instead. You can buy them at the dollar store or target really cheap. Remember mom, the more stuff you bring in the parks, the more stuff You end up carrying, you don't want to end up as a pack mule.
shoes:
I'd bring their crocs and a pair of sneakers. Even if the live in their crocs you never know when 1 gets left at the pool or various other accidents.

Plane:
Here is where you want to keep it simple. I fly 2x's a week and remember you've got to go through security. If you haven't flown recently let me tell you, security checks through every bag. I've seen moms have to totally unload strollers and in light of the big sippy cup scandal, the good old days when women with children were cut some slack are over. Do you really need a change of clothes on the plane. (yep, I've got 3 kids, I know what you're thinking). Put some cheap dollar store toys in a plastic see through bag to make it easy to go through security.
Absolutely NO Liquid! No juice boxes, no sippy cups. nothing! they will make you through it out. Not sure about the rules for bottled milk.

 

[emh1129]

I WAY overpacked for our two children when we went in January (2 & 4yr olds). I think I'd leave the jackets at home and just bring the cheapo ponchos.
And I would think one hat would be fine. If it gets wet during the day you could always hang it to dry at night and it would be fine the next morning

 

[Gillian]

If you'll have a car and a washing machine, you really don't have to worry! You can always was it or go to walmart.

I like to travel with a small pack of colored pencils (and a sharpener) because they don't melt in the heat and you never know when your kids might want to color.

 

[Perditamarie]

Here some more ideas:

* Check out the dollar spot at Target for ponchos -- I think they have kid sized ones, as the regular ones will swim on the kids! They are also bright colors.

* Packing the kids outfits in the ziplock bags is a great time saver and super organizer -- label so you know who's is who's.

* Bring empty sippy cups and after security check you can stock up w/ their favorite beverage -- that way you are ready for take off. Also, to help w/the ears, the fruit chews or gummy bears work as well. I also carry familiar snacks and a small supply of the tiny dumdum lollipops to circumvent any meltdowns.

* Color wonder markers are great -- they only color on the paper! Sticker books, postits and magna doodles are also fun.

* Another great tip I read on the boards is to pack a little bit of everyones stuff in all of your suitcases so if some of your bags are misdirected, everyone still has some clothes.

* Have everyone in the family wear slip on shoes w/socks to make going through security easier.

Have a great trip!

 

[stacy6552]

Buy cheap rain ponchos for the family, more than one and toss them out as you use them. Buy a rain cover for your stroller and cover it ever time you leave it (we learned this the hard way).

Bring two pairs of shoes for everybody and switch them out midday. This is a big one for taking care of your feet in the raging heat. Also bring spray deoderant and spray your feet.

I usually pack pj's to use 3 mights, so bring two sets.

2 hats each sounds good.

your list for the plane sounds good too. Since you cant bring juice boxes anymore, bring something chewy, like Starburst, for take off and landing.

Have fun!

 

[snowangel72]

THank you thank you thank you!!!! These are all wonderful suggestions and I took notes. I really appreciate the help.

I know we can't take liquid through the security check, but can buy it from the safe area and take it on (I didn't realize this before! I thought you couldn't take any liquids on the plane and I saw a woman with Starbucks and I was so mad I didn't have one!)

Anyway, can I bring food through security? ie stuff I know the kids will eat? Or does all the food have to be bought in the safe area as well? I really appreciate your help!

 

[Ilovemyprincesses]

You can bring food. I am traveling with a 2 & 4 yr old too. I am bringing fruit snacks, goldfish and oreo cookies. I am bribing them to behave. I bought them new color wonder stuff and disney coloring books and crayons.

If you have a dollar tree near you they have disney stuff.

Have a great trip

 

[Cruz91]

Great tips so far, but we bring more jammies than other folks are recommending. We usually break at the condo for naps mid-day, and sometimes they are so sweaty that they can't wear the same jammies at night. It's not uncommon for us to do two jammies in a day.

Ponchos - a definite 'do', and the dollar store is the ticket. No sense buying 'nice' ponchos you have to keep track of. The $1 ones are great and you don't feel bad about tossing them when you're done.

Have fun!

 

[bookworm2]

I would just buy a poncho there if you need one. That way you won't be lugging that jacket with you wherever you go. They are $7 for an adult and $6 (I think) for child's size.

My DD didn't wear anything but her Crocs. Come to think of it, neither did DH or I!!

Two is probably a good idea - we looked at hats and they are kind of expensive there.

I would say probably more than one pair of pj's, but I put clean ones on my DD every night anyway.

One thing that didn't sink in for me is that we didn't have our luggage available to us the minute we checked in (using Magical Express) - we went to the park the first day w/o sunscreen and other various things that I should have put in our carry-ons.