Luggage - too much or unavoidable?

[clovely]

OMG, I'm packing for our three nights on the Wonder (we leave this Thursday). I'm glad we're not doing 7 nights! I'm following some wonderful DIS advice and some socks, undies, and beach toys are not making the return trip! But that's only so much space. Here's what it looks like we'll have to take; tell me if I'm way out of control.

dd & ds carrying (between them) - a small backpack, a small basket full of sand toys and a few pirate props, a big sand bucket that they can stick in their stuffed Mickey and Minnie - between the two of them, that's nothing heavy, and shouldn't involve too much whining if they have to carry that!

Me: A kinda big duffle-type bag and a big beach bag/purse...both will be stuffed to the brim!!

Dh will have (because I can't talk him out of it) his backpack with the laptop in it and also a small garment bag.

Then, between the two of us, we'll have a large suitcase and a smaller one. We'll be able to check those pretty quick, right? (We're driving over from home, not flying or taking a transfer from WDW.)

The big "PITB" is that those two suitcases is all I want to check. I'm terrified we wont get our luggage in time to get ready for our early dinner so I want to take our clothes and things we'll need to get ready with us. That's not such a big deal, though. It'll all be in that one duffle. It's the little junk that's going to drive me nuts - keeping up with the 3 things the kids have, dh's laptop, my purse. I guess it'll only be a couple hours and I can leave dh and the kids at the pool and take most of this stuff to the room and hopefully have a few minutes to get organized (and put my magnets on the door) without everyone under foot.

...But does this sound like overkill for 3 nights? It seems like so much stuff but I don't see any way to minimize with my over-the-door shoe organizer, a couple bottles of wine, about 14 pair of shoes between us (including beach things), etc. all stuffed in those suitcases.

And I'm glad I've got several more days to finish packing. How I'm ever going to repack all this stuff is going to take a miracle!!

 

[lmok]

Be safe and take what you want!! Probably to much but this OK it can come home the same way it got there. HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!!!

 

[lbgraves]

Find a suitcase to pack up most if not all of what you have set for DD & DS to carry. You wont get to your room until 1:30. It sounds like you will end up having to carry that stuff around after a time in the terminal then on the ship with lunch & exploring since it is your first time. Check that bag & eliminate alot for them. They want to have their hands free to hug the characters when they happen along.

 

[prov3v56]

I agree with the above poster. You will have to carry everything you bring aboard with you to lunch and while exploring until your room is available. It would be much easier to pack the little extras into one suitcase and check it. When we took our first Disney cruise, we walked on the boat with a small backpack, rolling carry on, stroller and two children and felt that it was too much to keep track of in the small space, not to mention you may be taking stairs if the elevators are to crowded. Hopefully this helps.

 

[eeyoregon]

Boy can I relate! My 2 DS's and I are coming all the way from Oregon next month to sail the 7 night Western. Thank goodness we are on an airline that allows tons of luggage at no additional charge!

I get to feeling so overwhelmed by all the stuff that I need to pack. The list gets longer each day And it's all stuff that we will need or might need and don't want to have to purchase at inflated price$ at Port.

Fancy clothes and shoes. Casual clothes and shoes. Beach clothes and shoes. Toiletries, cosmetics, medicine (have to be ready for possible ailments!), sunscreen, curling iron, sun hats, rolling cooler.......

You are not alone...good luck and happy packing!!!

 

[webray]

Definately find one large suitcase to pack the kids extra stuff in, you don't need the sand toys on the ship that day, and it is a pain to drag things around while you are eating lunch and checking out the ship. Carry on as little as possible.

Put your swimsuits on under you clothes if you want to swim right away when you board the ship. There will be towels available.

You will have your clothes for dinner in plenty of time, so don't carry all that stuff around with you.

For three nights on the wonder, you can probably get a way with two suitcases for all of you, plus a couple backpacks. Swimsuits don't take up that much room, and that is pretty much all you will where with the exception of port day and dinner. One/two pairs of pants/capris with different tops for dinner and you are good to go.

 

[clovely]

Find a suitcase to pack up most if not all of what you have set for DD & DS to carry. You wont get to your room until 1:30. It sounds like you will end up having to carry that stuff around after a time in the terminal then on the ship with lunch & exploring since it is your first time. Check that bag & eliminate alot for them. They want to have their hands free to hug the characters when they happen along.

You're right, Lisa. If I wear shorts instead of what I had in mind, to the terminal that day, I can wear my tennis shoes and not pack them. I was thikning about that last night. I can find a few things to move around like that and hopefully find room in that small suitcase for that misc. stuff I was having the kids carry.

 

[scottishwee35]

Aye, we are from Scottish and I am trying to work out what the best thing to packing the cases as We are going to Florida for two weeks.

As i am thinking to pack one big cases for 4 of us for the Cruise to save my times and i know that case for Cruise only mean we don't open it when we arrive in Florida and use other cases for holiday!!

Is that good idea??

And when we go to the Cruise, we want our kids to have free hands no carry as we will use our backpackers!!

Scottishwee35

 

[minniebeth]

Yikes... if there is ONE thing that I would have done differently, it was to bring LESS stuff!!!!(we did a 4 day) I am always prepared with everything I think I might need. I did take the advice of the boards and eliminate some things but not a lot of things. The more stuff you have, the more you have to keep track of, tidy up and pack up. ...And we did do a lot of toss aways like old undies, socks, even pjs and bathing suits. We just didn't need as much as we thought we would...example, on a casual night for dinner, my DH wore a nice golf shirt. He only had it on for a couple of hours with the late seating, and wore it again the next morning with shorts since it was still clean and fresh...thus not using the shirt packed for that day. Next time my mantra will be "less is more..." (time to have fun!)
This is just my 2cents....
Happy Packing and HAVE FUN!!!!

 

[Jsme]

Our first family cruise I let the kids take a bag too. Big mistake. It was just awful. They were unhappy and I was the one who wound up carrying everything. Plus we looked stupid. We looked like we did not even pack a suitcase with all of our carryons.

I always over pack. I would rather take everything I think I might want then to get there and wish I had paced something that I left. And yes I have regretted not packign things before. That is why I over pack. I hardly ever get out of jean shorts and tee shrits or a bathing suit during the day. And most of the time I will wear the same shorts. I hardly have them on total for the entire cruise 5 hours. If they get dirty I just throw on another pair. LOL
Now the shirts are a different story! Plus I am a summer shoe nut. I have shoes to make my bathing suits. OH that reminds me I need to make sure I have earrings to match my bathing suits. I am crazy I know but if it makes me feel good about myself I do it.

 

[kcashner]

Carry on as little as possible! Yes, for safety, take any prescription drugs in your carry one...and swimsuits if you want to swim the first afternoon.

You might get your checked bags at 2 pm...then again, you may not get them till 5. Or you may get them in any combination. I've never figured out why/how we checked 3 bags with the porter. 2 arrived virtually as soon as we had room access, and the third didn't come till after the safety drill!

As a veteran of 14 Magic cruises, I still take too much.

Relax a little--I've never lost luggage when we've driven. You know it is on the ship! If you don't have your checked luggage in time to get ready for the first night dinner, wear whatever you have on. It happens, and you will all survive. No one will say anything. It certainly beats lugging around all that stuff yourself! Chances are excellent that you will have it. Just smile, relax, and have a great time.