Laundry??? Really?

[CindyT]

We usually go for 2 weeks and I do laundry midway though our trip. No biggie, I pick a break day to do it.

 

[Collette]

I will NOT cook or do anything that even closely resembles preparing food while on vacation, but for some reason, I don't mind doing laundry at a WDW resort. I always did it when we were there as a family and even threw in a couple of loads on a solo trip while waiting for the parks to open after hurricane Wilma. It's a combination of not needing to pack so much clothes, being able to wear a favorite outfit again, and not having so much laundry to do when we return home tired.

There always seems to be some point in a trip when we need to stop the touring and regroup. The kids would sleep, watch tv or just lounge in the rooms and DH and I would take our time doing laundry. At POFQ, we grabbed a couple of drinks at the poolside bar and sat by the pool. Other times, I might wander through the gift shop while the clothes are washing. Oddly enough, the laundry breaks often seem more relaxing than work. And then we would return refreshed to our park touring.

Collette

 

[MelanieC]

We stay for about 2 weeks at a time usually. It's almost always necessary to do laundry about half way through. This year we are staying for 16 nights. It would be almost impossible to carry 17 days worth of clothing for 4 people!

 

[my4boys+1]

We are staying 8 nights and bringing only 5 outfits so we will be doing a load of laundry while there. I'm trying to pack as light as possible.

 

[ktink]

I like to do laundry at night while we take a late swim. I would MUCH rather do that than to have dirty clothes piled up somewhere in my room for a week only to ride home and have to do the laundry as soon as we get back.

 

[pooch]

I agree w/ the poster who said she brings 12 pr of shorts then wants to wear the first 6 again. I just leave the last 6 pr home!!! We're going for 10 days and the family has been told to give me enough clothes for 4 days plus whatever they're wearing on the flight down. Then I put one outfit each back!!
We so overpacked last time and really were happiest with 3 or 4 outfits. I too grab a drink and hang out poolside either reading or working on my TR and thrown in a load. Will probably do this twice to cut down on dirty laundry at home!!

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

We used to do laundry on various vacations (if a washer and dryer were handy) until I bought THE most amazing washing machine and dryer (Kenmore HE3T!) Now I'm completely and thoroughly spoiled. I LOVE to do laundry at home. Clothes washed in anything else seem stiff and coarse. Even the kids comment. Truly, I would rather wait and wash my clothes at home than anyplace else when I can help it.

So... we pack light tops and shorts and simple sleeveless sundresses, and I use the folding board on all our items to pack them as flat and neatly as possible in our suitcases. My kids are no longer little, so spills are much less frequent. When we arrive at the resort, we hang up or place into drawers all of our clothes. We keep an airy mesh laundry bag for our dirties. A shot of febreeze keeps it tame!!

 

[va32h]

We always end up doing laundry. I'd rather pack light and do laundry than haul around that much luggage. I am always the first one up in the morning and the last one to bed (who can sleep when you're at Disney!), so the laundry has never interfered with our touring plans or vacation fun.

 

[Kahana-ri]

Our last family trip we did laundry. DS was getting over rotavirus and had a few accidents Even a good rinse wasn't going to help us.

 

[lovesdumbo]

My main reason is so I won't have tons of laundry to do when we get back home. On our last trip when I did laundry at POFQ the laundry room was packed. More people do laundry on vacation than you realize!

I'm heading to POFQ in Aug with my family and planned on doing laundry. When were you there? What time of day was it packed? Did you end up giving up and going another time? Was it less crowded then?

When I was at Poly last Oct, we had planned an afternoon at the resort to rest a bit before MNSSHP and I tried to do laundry but 1 person had something 12 washers going all at once. I ended up returning at 5am the next morning and had the place to myself. At the Poly the laundry isn't at the pool but has a nice room with couches and a TV.

When my DH & I first got married we most often camped. With the tent, sleeping bags, stove, pots & pans, and cooler that didn't leave a lot of room for clothes. We often did laundry on vacation. It was sort of a nice break.

When I travel with my kids who are now 7,5 and 3 I have enough to keep track of in the airport with stroller (going to use ME for the first time as a family so this will be the first time without at least 1 carseat), kids, kids' toys and a DH who doesn't travel well. I try to limit my checked bags to 2 bags. I do send a package to the resort and I plan on doing laundry. I bring a pop up hamper for the room, bring my own soap, dryer sheets and lots of quarters. I actually enjoy doing the laundry. It is a wonderfully mindless activity that ends in a beautiful pile of clean clothes.

 

[colonels cruisers]

As we are on vacation my loving DH does laundry so when I get home I don't 'pay' for 10 days worth of smelly clothing.

 

[Cupmom]

If you're away from home long enough. We will be gone for 2 weeks. That alot of socks and underwear, plus 14 outfits for 4 people equals a lot of suitcases. One trip to the laudry room helps me catch up plus less laundry to do at home. We always go in Aug. so sometimes it's 2 outfits a day. One for the day that gets.....a little stinky....and a clean outfit to put on at night.

 

[WAHMto5]

When you have as many kids as we do, you have no choice or fill the ENTIRE truck with just clothes for everyone to wear for 14 days, Not my most favorite thing to do on vacation, but it comes with having a large family for us!

 

[DznyLvr2005]

Disney is so FILLED with things to do that I get tired and need some time to rest.. Hence, I do laundry! I usually pack 1/2 my suitcase and do laundry 1/2 way through my trip. Takes about an hour or so and I feel refreshed.. lol
PLus when I did laundry at the WL the pool is right outside, so I'd dump my clothes in and hang out at the pool.

 

[dsneygirl]

I don't mind doing laundry at the resorts. We're DVC members and the last 2 trips we have stayed in a studio so I just used the laundry by the pool. I take a book and it's quiet time. I find in the warm weather we go through more than one outfit a day so laundry makes for lighter packing.

 

[gigi1313]

when we were at cbr for ten days, every night dh would sit on the "porch/walkway" or watch tv while i tried to get two over-tired kids to bed, so... i started doing laundry on vacation just to give myself a break whle he put the kids to bed! it was wonderful much-needed downtime and has since become a tradition for us... although now i tend to do it in the mornings when i cannot sleep and i get frustrated watching everyone else snoring! unless ds is awake, then i throw in a load of laundry, we swim, i switch it, we swim some more and when it's all done we wake the sleepy-heads!

 

[yankeepenny]

If i do laundry, pack lighter than I normally do
( i always pack as if I am go 3 weeks instead of one, DH will attest to that )
I am absoulutely positively bringing home lots and lots of
stuff(ie: new tshirts, more new trinkets , a few pairs of mouse ears....and anything else i can find... )
DH will be thrilled, NOT!

 

[mmmears]

We always do laundry in the laundry rooms by the pools. Like you, we live in Northern CA and so we have to fly to WDW. We ususally stay 10-14 days at a time and plan on laundry once per trip -- it really lets us pack lighter and makes keeping our room neat much more manageable. If we could drive (like when we go to DL) we just fill up the trunk and never consider laundry.

 

[oogieboogie]

Why I do laundry at WDW?

1. It's relaxing - dump the kids in the pool, do the wash, lay on a lounger, do the dryer, lay some more, laundry done... hey... it's time for dinner!

2. I don't bring enough clothes for 10 days. I only bring enough for 5 days so I can fit 4 peoples' clothes in one 29" suitcase.

3. I like bringing back nice clean clothes so I don't have to do the laundry when I get home (what a vacation downer)

4. In the summertime, I don't like being sweaty, so I'll change clothes mid-day - and stinky, sweaty clothes are nasty when they sit around.

5. Did I mention it's relaxing?

 

[sherry8253]

I never do laundry on vacation. I found a nice inexpensive wash and fold laundry about a mile away from Disney. I drop my dirty clothing off there and have clean clothing when I arrive home.