Luggage question

[sweet angel]

According to the airline, we can take 2 bags per person (one not to exceed 62" and one not to exceed 55"), plus a carry on. For my family of 3, that means 6 bags. I don't own any luggage so I'm looking for good deals, but do I really need THAT much?

I was looking at 30" uprights, 26" uprights and a carry on per person. Is that overkill?

Maybe 26" uprights, 21" uprights and a carry on per person would be enough?

I never realized how expensive luggage is!!!!!

EDIT: We're doing the land/sea vacation for 7 nights.

 

[prplcrzy]

I'm in the process of packing now (we leave Friday!!) and we are planning on bringing one large pullman, two large rolling dufflebags and a pilot bag for our carry-on stuff.

You need to watch out the weight of the luggage though, some airlines if not all) have weight limits. If you go over the limit, I think they charge you. (I know Song is 50 lbs)

Have a great trip!

Nancy

 

[sweet angel]

Thanks!

I'm always afraid I'm not going to have enough stuff, and I ALWAYS overpack. I need to leave room for souveniers though!

Have a great trip!

 

[LisaZoe]

Since you're doing a cruise as well as a WDW stay, you'll probably need to pack a bit more than you would for just a WDW stay. Even if one doesn't dress formally for dinner, it still seemed to me that that I changed for dinner most nights because part of the fun of the cruise was dressing up a bit. The good news is that you'll probably be in shorts and bathing suits most of the remaining time and those don't take up as much space as full coverage clothing. Why not buy one or 2 pieces of luggage and see just what will fit in then use that to decide how much more to get?

Unless you travel by plane a lot, I wouldn't invest much money in luggage. First, the cargo/luggage handlers and their equipment can be very rough on the luggage (one of mine looked really beat up after the 1st flight). 2nd, like any other technology, luggage has improved a lot in the past 5-10 years and the stuff that used to be cutting edge and, therefore, expensive is now very affordable even if it isn't the same overall quality as you'd have spent when that technology came out. I've bought some very decent suitcases at Target and Wal Mart and they've held up pretty well.

 

[sweet angel]

Thanks for the info.

The pieces I was looking at (JC Penneys, Kohl's, Boscovs) were 1200 denier fabric (kind of mid-range between 600 and 1800. They are about $100 (on sale) for a 29-30". Add to that 3 smaller bags and 3 carry ons and I was looking at about $700 MINIMUM for 3 people.

Ugh.

I'm thinking now that I can get away with less than 6 bags. I think someone mentioned in another thread that you can get laundry done on the ship. I'm thinking that may be a good option too.

 

[swilshire]

If you frequent yard sales and rummage sales, you can sometimes find great bags. I found one identical to one I had used for years (and paid almost $200 for) at a yard sale for $10. The key was lost, but if I really cared, I could probably get one from Samsonite. I also found a new American Tourister bag (no wheels, but still nice) with the tags still on for $5 at a church sale.

Marlboro had some terrific duffle bags you could get free (except for shipping) by sending in labels. I ordered some of these directly, but have also seen them on eBay and at yard sales.

Be creative and you'll find bargains.

Sheila

 

[Barbday62]

I got a decent set at Costco with some large and smaller pieces. If you dont have a lot of money to spend go to the thrift stores. If you have one bigger piece and a few smaller peices you will do good (Unless you pack everything)

My daughter went with us (We got home this morning form a week) and we had 2 kids (5months and 2 1/2years) She had two really large suit cases and a small one for toys. She even packed a baby bumper pad and mobile for the baby so he would feel like its his own space there. She packed for 4 in those 2 large and one small. She needed a forth one to come home os I loaned her my empry one I took for souveneers. Due to the hurricane I didnt get a chance to buy anything big. Oh she always carried a back pack as a diaper bag too.

 

[sweet angel]

Maybe what I really need is someone to come pack for me so I'm not tempted to overpack!! Any volunteers? Ha ha.

 

[HappyLawyer]

ok so you can carry on a laptop, i know and a purse, can you do the laptop case and a carry on bag instead of a purse

 

[sweet angel]

Ooh! There's another question...I was throwing around the idea of buying a cheap laptop to bring to upload my pics to each night vs. buying memory cards.

I guess the memory cards are a better bet.

I bet the carryon/laptop/purse thing would depend on the size of the bags.

 

[MOMO2DK]

Hi,
The last time we went to Disney, I chose not to overpack (for a change) and then boxed up all out clothes and sent them down to our resort via UPS. I called resort ahead of time about doing this- they gave me details for mailing tag. With 2 kids, it was SOOO nice to get around the airport without any luggage! We usually rent a car, so I did check their car seats. Never again will I check luggage when going to WDW. But in the past when I did pack a suitcase, I used an eagle creek wheeled duffel that can carry all the clothes for our family of four.
LOL

 

[HenDuck]

Be careful about buying a suitcase that is larger than 26 or 27". Once you fill it up, you will be dangerously close to the 50 pound weight limit.

We got rid of our humoungous suitcases. Now we only use 26-27" suitcases that expand. We pack a foldable duffle which we fill with dirty clothes and other soft items on the way back.

I always buy my suitcases at Ross and refuse to pay more than $50 each.

This next trip, we will bring one suitcase each, pack the duffle as usual and each of the 3 of us will bring a back pack on the plane. My DS' backpack has wheels so he can pull it himself (yeah right! )

Good luck!

 

[disneydebi]

If you are looking for luggage, go to mousesavers web site. They have a link to Ebags and you get a discount for the referall from mousesavers.

They have a few sets that are not badly priced.

 

[sweet angel]

Thanks for the tips (especially the last one!)...I'll check out mousesavers.

 

[ahutton]

For our family of 4, we have a 26" bag, (2) 21" bags and an overnighter. For a week where we won't be able to do laundry I would take the large one for clothes, a small one for shoes and put in it a small duffle that I can use for extra souvineers and my overnight bag. DH also carries laptop case. However, I find that I always do laundry on my trips now, it is just so much easier. Our last trip was 10 days and we took both 21" bags, we wore tennis shoes, put sandals and bathroom stuff in the overnight bag and that was it. I did 3 loads of laundry over the course of the trip and it was so much easier!

 

[NotUrsula]

Don't buy a 30" softside pullman; most of them will go over 62" when you actually fill them up. Be careful of weight; remember that a large pullman w/ wheels with usually weigh about 10 lbs. empty. For carryons, 20" is better than 22", which will sometimes come a little too close for comfort in the sizer boxes.

BTW, you are looking in the wrong stores for bargains. Much better bets are Tuesday Morning, Ross, TJMaxx, Marshall's, and Sym's. Good stuff, and almost nothing will cost over $100.

 

[javaj]

I like overstock.com for good luggage selection, reasonable prices with cheap shipping (usually 2.95 shipping unless there are specials). Here's a link to their luggage page:

http://www.overstock.com/cgi-bin/d2.cgi?PAGE=STOREPICK&STO_ID=7&STL_ID=30

If you click through one of the online reward sites though, you can get 2 to 3% rebate (such as fatwallet.com).

HTH!

 

[ladydancer]

Originally posted by HenDuck
Be careful about buying a suitcase that is larger than 26 or 27". Once you fill it up, you will be dangerously close to the 50 pound weight limit.

We got rid of our humoungous suitcases. Now we only use 26-27" suitcases that expand. We pack a foldable duffle which we fill with dirty clothes and other soft items on the way back.

I always buy my suitcases at Ross and refuse to pay more than $50 each.

This next trip, we will bring one suitcase each, pack the duffle as usual and each of the 3 of us will bring a back pack on the plane. My DS' backpack has wheels so he can pull it himself (yeah right! )

Good luck!

I totally agree with poster. I don't use my huge suitcase anymore. I took it on a trip a few years ago. After I packed it it was too heavy. Now I only pack my 26" suit case. I would not recommend anything over a 27"

 

[sweet angel]

Problem solved. I checked out mousesavers (ebags) and overstock and compared American Tourister luggage on both. I ended up getting 3 26"; 1 21" and 3 carryons for under $400. It worked out to $54 per bag...not too bad. Hopefully that will be sufficient for my family of 3. It should be if I don't overpack and remember that I don't have to bring a hairdryer.

Thanks for all the help!

 

[trracers]

Or you could, like someone I know , really not plan well at all an buy so much STUFF at the WDW that you end up having to buy a new suitcase in the hotel store for a bargain price of $200 just to get it all home !!

Okay, I do better now. I pack one of my smaller suitcases and pack it inside a larger one so that I have an extra for all the stuff!