How to pack clothes and food for a week?

[LeahA]

I love to go camping, but, packing for 3 nights is hard for me. We have used our pop up camper 3 times, and we are thinking about camping down at Disney.

How do you pack clothes for a week?
Do you leave your clothes in your car?
How do you pack enough food and drinks for a week?
If were pulling the camper from Illinois, should we stop overnight like we normally do? Should we camp overnight, or stay in a motel?

I have a reservation in the 1500 loop from March 25th-April 1st, 2006. I don't know if I can camp for a week! Just thinking about it makes me nervous.

I need some help and advice from experienced campers!!!!!!

 

[dgaston]

If you are used to stopping on the way down, then that is what I would do. We usually drive straight thru, even pulling the pop-up, so that is what we do. I like to pack in bins, one for dry goods (things like granola bars, cereal, bread, pasta, etc) and drawers for things like clothes, towels, etc. In our pop-up there is room for a small Sterlite 3 drawer unit next to the galley, and space for a larger one over the fridge and heater. I do tend to keep suitcases in the back of the van. The fridge in the trailer is NEVER for soda or beer. Those beverages have to go into our 5 day extreme cooler. The fridge is reserved for food products (meat,cheese, and my insulin). I think it's great you have the 1500 loop for your reservation. I always request it, and have only received it once! I'm sure other DIS campers will have suggestions too.

 

[musicmama]

We are camping at Ft. W for 10 days over Christmas ( ) and we were wondering the same thing. We spent a week in Williamsburg in late August and used the experience to try an idea I had. We have a class c motorhome with limited cabinet storage and there are 3 of us. However, there is space under the bed that appealed to me as a potential area for use, even considering that it is "split" width-wise by a support beam. I measured both areas and bought some plastic storage containers - a big one and a small one for each of us. My idea worked pretty well - the containers stayed under the bed and we just took out the clothes we needed each day. That's what we'll be doing for December, too. We noticed that a family near us seemed to be doing the same thing, only they had stuff stored outside their travel trailer.

I would highly recommend the storage containers for your clothes - with a popup you might just keep them in the center of your space as the base for a table to eat on? Or, if you have a dinette area, maybe you could store them there during the night?

Good luck.

 

[mrsgus06]

My best friend and I took 9 of our kids in a pop up for 10 days at Ft. Wilderness many times. She towed the pop up behind her conversion van and I towed the golf cart behind my conversion van. We packed an outfit for each day for each child in a ziplock baggie and put their names on the bags. (shirt, shorts, socks, etc). It is a lot of work packing for my five, but with a little organization before the trip made it a lot easier. I only packed 5 outfits for each one and opted to do laundry twice while there. We kept the baggies in rubber storage bins for the kids clothes under the slide out furthest from the road. For my clothes and her clothes, we also kept them in rubber storage bins in the back of her conversion van along with the beach towels. My van was parked in the front parking lot. As for the food, we packed that in the camper. We did not shop for dairy products and meat until we hit Disney (Walmart close by). My kids were little and could not sit up front so I stacked cases and cases of water in the front seat with me as did my best friend. We packed tang and lemonade mix in the camper with the food. Snacks and chips also got their own container that was stored under the slide in the back. We stacked the water under the slide in the front. If anyone helped themselves, they needed it more than we did. We have never had a problem with anything being taken. Drinks were outside in the cooler. We saved our quarters over the months so had change to buy ice every other day. We also had change to wash the clothes, but made sure we packed our own detergent/dryer sheets/bleach. A clothesline (tacky, we know) to hang our wet towels was hung between trees. As we emptied the baggies, they were thrown (inside out) in with the dirty clothes and repacked as we did laundry. The oldest child was only 12 and she is a special needs child. The youngest was only 9 months. There are 7 girls and only 2 boys. Sleeping arrangements were humerous, to say the least, but they did not care because they were in Disney. I have to say, 4 years later, I am now the owner of a fifth wheel (with w/d and 2 bathrooms) and she has a travel trailer. Things have gotten a lot better for us, but with a price. I can't tow the fifth wheel and she can't tow the travel tailer so now we have to make sure our hubbies can take off to go with us so our trips together are not plentiful like in the old days. My kids are now 4 years older and easier to handle and the packing is better as everything stays packed in the fifth wheel. Would I go back to a pop up with 9 kids (one other idiot) and 10 days in Disney, in a heartbeat! You will find a way that works for you and your family and you will have a great time. BTW, everytime we camped in the pop up, we camped in the 1500 loop. Easy access to everything.

 

[ftwildernessguy]

We take minimal food down with us, and opt to shop offsite our first day at Publix. If you are going for a week, one morning shopping for food for the week shouldn't goof up your schedule too much.

We also plan on doing laundry half way through the trip. That cuts down on clothes by 1/2. We keep outfits simple - shorts, polo shirts, I like zip off pants because they can serve double duty, and then a piece or two of cold weather items like one sweatshirt each or a sweater, plus a packable rain coat each. I have found that on a chilly morning, I can wear shorts as long as I have a sweater or sweatshirt on.

 

[susancl]

When we camp for a week, we usually pack clothes for 5 days and do laundry once. We also use ziplock bags for the kids. We put an outfit in each bag. Then, they just need to grab a bag in the mornig. It also saves some space since you can squeeze some air out of the bags. We put each kids' clothes in a small bin and we store them at the foot of their bed. We have three boys ages 6, 6, and 4. So, they all sleep in one bunk and still fit with their bins.

I have one drawer that the kids can use to put their toys in. We don't bring any big toys to FW. The kids have so much fun, they don't miss playing ball or trucks. We'll bring action figures, bionicles, crayons and coloring books, Yu Gi Oh! cards, etc. Whatever will fit in the drawer can come. We also bring books for the car.

As far as food, I have a "camping rule" for our trips close to civilization. We eat out at least one meal a day. It's not a vacation if I am doing the same cooking and cleaning as home. We will also just run to a grocery store if there is something we want or forgot.

That being said, our meal out is usually a bigger meal. So, we bring mostly lunches and maybe 2 dinners. We use bins to store what we can't fit in the cabinets. We put them on the floor during travel and on the counters when we're set up.

 

[reeeoga]

Me Too! Plastic Bins. We used them this summer in our pop-up. We have 2 long thin ones for clothes. 1 long thin for dry food, and 1 short one for bread and chips. The long ones fit inside the pop-up when closed. The food ones go in the jeep.

We are 2 boys (34 and 1 years old) and 2 girls (4 and none of your bisness year old). We can pack 8 days of clothes into these bins.

We also keep a short bin with 2 days of clothes for everyone in the jeep. Water bottles and drinks go in the jeep until we get to the campground.

Once at the campground everything goes on the cabinetts or on the unused bed.

We also carry 1 small plug-in refrig and a portable cooler. These give us about 6 cubic feet of frig. with the camper frig.

Do a dry run. Pack everything you think you want into the camper next weakend. See if it fits. Then adjust as you see problems.

Remember when camping: stay calm, especialy with kids . If you can: eat out at least twice a day.

 

[donac]

The 1500 loop is the best and I have been there 4 times. Bring the dry goods down and before you hit FW shop for the perishables. They have milk in the trading posts but you are really not that far from a store. You can you if you are out park hopping with your car. Enjoy and try to spend some time at FW it is a lovely place.

 

[LeahA]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I like the ziploc bag idea and packing the clothes in bins.

Mrsgus06-9 kids! You definitely need sainthood status!

 

[christinou]

When we had the pop up we also did the plastic bins for both cloth and food. We drove from upstate NY and actually stopped in hotel (Motel 6 type) on the way down, it is not that much more expensive than a campsite, and with a pop-up it is a lot easier, I just packed a bag for that night.

 

[Gillian]

We have not used our pop up yet, but my plan is to measure it for plastic bins, and also to put 1 or 2 drawer units up on top of the cabinet when the unit is open. I will probably transport those in our van/truck (don't have one yet ) and move them over when we set up.

We also plan to stay overnight in a hotel. We always pack a separate bag for that. well, usually 2 for the 4 of us.

Although I don't pack outfits in zip locs, I do use them for socks and undies. I pack the kids clothes in outfit order, with a few extra mix or match neutrals in case they need a change during the day.