My tips!

[Ariel Wanna-be]

1) This contraption is kinda hard to explain without using my hands, but here goes: my DS7 has an "outfit organizer" for each day of the week...it's about 12" wide, 12" deep, and about 5 feet high. It's made from cloth, and it hangs vertically from the hanger bar in his closet. It's divided into seven sections, so that you can put in an outfit for each day. It's collapsable, so when it's folded up, it's only about 12" x 12' x 3" and takes up hardly any space when it's packed. We hang it from the hanger bar in the resort, and since we pack separate outfits in ziplocs, we just throw a ziploc for each of us in each compartment. ZERO time in the morning searching for outfits.

2) Spray shoes and backpacks with Scotch Guard in case of rain or wet rides.

3) Buy some "bath confetti" and "bathtub color tablets" before you leave, and when your child is not looking, color the water and sprinkle some confetti in their bath..."Look, Tinkerbell visited!"

4) Let your child wear his/her own fanny pack with their autograph book, pressed penny book, and a cheap disposable camera so they can take their own pictures.

* I have more, but I HAVE to get my DS ready for school!!

 

[Okiemom]

I have never seen one of the closet hangers made out of cloth, where did you get it?

 

[MeredithJ]

Okiemom: I bought two of the cloth closet hanger "thingies" (you were right Ariel, these are hard to describe!) at Meijer, but I think I have also seen them at Wal Mart. I thought maybe they were called sweater organizers, or something like that. I paid $6.99 for each of mine, and they each have eight "shelves". My girls each have one in their closet and on Sunday, we set up outfits for each day of the week with shoes in the bottom "shelf".

Ariel, that is a great idea for using them on vacation, I would have never thought to do that.

This thread is great, full of awesome tips! Glad I found it!

Meredith

 

[jenr812]

Just to give you an idea what they look like because, yes, they ARE hard to describe in words LOL

That's from Target but they're $20 there. I paid around $10 or less for ours at Walmart. The straps on top have strong velcro that you wrap around the pole in the closet area. HTH

 

[Mad2Scrap]

If you have a digital camera you could do this each morning before leaving your hotel room: take a digital photo of your child in that day's clothing. Easier to remember what they were wearing and to show CM if they (your kids) get lost.

 

[jmminarik]

One more tip. Use solid deodorant on your feet before you go to the parks and even if you are in socks and tennis shoes and they get wet, you won't get blisters! I tried this last time and did it every day and no one in my family got any all week.

Just a follow-up on this tip: Use anti-perspirant, not just plain deodorant. Most people use the terms interchangably, and it's harder and harder to find plain deodorant these days, but there is a difference.

And a warning: Using antiperspirant circumvents the natural function of the feet to perspire. Most folks don't have a problem with it, but if you do use this, keep an eye on your feet for swelling and other 'problems'. Not everyone reacts positively to this tip.

-Joe

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Here is a few tips my family uses. I always pack extra hangers in my suitcase. I like to hang my clothes and they never give you enough. For those of you who still have little ones in diappers, bring ziplock bags. For late nights when you don't feel like finding an outside garbage can to dispose of the diappers you can just zip up the diapper and there is no more smell. Lastly, I pack all the snacks and water that we will have with us on the trip in a small suitcase instead of bags. When the snacks are gone we fill the suitcase with all the gifts we bought to take back home.

 

[sleepyone]

Mad2Scrap,

GREAT TIP!!! Thanks so much. Love the idea...why didn't I think of it???

Sleepyone

 

[twinscandc]

Here is my tip:

I love to pick a "scent" that I only wear for vacation. I usually get it from Bath and Body Works and I get the whole line...soap, lotion, body spray, etc. They also make those plug in air fresheners in the same scent.

It's always nice to come in from the parks and open your room door and it smells fresh, etc.

So, after vacation, occasionally I will wear this "scent" and it will remind me of WDW!!

Am I the only one to do this?

 

[Fastcars]

I packed a inexpensive power strip to take on our last 2 Disney trips. There never is enough plug-ins in the rooms to handle all the recharging of batteries these days. Cam recorders, digital cameras , battery chargers for the Game Boys. It really helped in keeping our trip charged


Another tip that went over well is the Sharpie click pen I brought along for the autographs. It was large and easy to handle for the characters who have the large hands. A lot of the characters really liked the idea

 

[ms4getful]

ok..I will ask...What is moleskin?...I keep thinking band-aids

Yea, what IS moleskin?

 

[tomerin]

I packed a inexpensive power strip to take on our last 2 Disney trips. There never is enough plug-ins in the rooms to handle all the recharging of batteries these days. Cam recorders, digital cameras , battery chargers for the Game Boys. It really helped in keeping our trip charged

this is a great idea. i bring my laptop, 2 cameras and with my 2DSon's ipods to be charged every day this is now on my must pack list

thanks!!!

 

[Fastcars]

We stayed at POFQ just as they where making the refridgerator available to the rooms at no charge. We called mouskeeping for them to bring one up. Wouldn't you know it they plug the fridge into our already plugged in powerstrip

 

[ChadandNickiO]

thanks y'all! just returned from the dollar tree where i picked up 6 ponchos for half the price of just one at the world!

 

[poohangel]

I love these tips, some of these are great.

poohangel

 

[Lynn4Mel]

Another tip.... when you pack for your trip, pack an entire suitcase full of snacks, juiceboxes, little boxes of cereal, etc... at the end of your trip your suitcase is now empty so you can carry home all of your purchases.

_________________
1976-1990 various family vacations when young including one trip to Disneyland
1998 Off Site ... 1st trip with husband and daughters
2001 All Stars Music
Oct 2005 CBR and MNSSHP!!!

 

[FayeW]

Okiemom: I bought two of the cloth closet hanger "thingies" (you were right Ariel, these are hard to describe!) at Meijer, but I think I have also seen them at Wal Mart. I thought maybe they were called sweater organizers, or something like that. I paid $6.99 for each of mine, and they each have eight "shelves". My girls each have one in their closet and on Sunday, we set up outfits for each day of the week with shoes in the bottom "shelf".

Ariel, that is a great idea for using them on vacation, I would have never thought to do that.

This thread is great, full of awesome tips! Glad I found it!

Meredith

We have one that we used in our pop up camper. It was great to organize the pj's, socks and underwear without having to dig through everybodies bags. We used a shelf for each of us, and the remaining 3 for snacks, cereal, bread, etc.

 

[sandiegosusie]

I pack every outfit for my kids in individual Ziploc bags. I then pat all the air out. This keeps everything organized and wrinkle free. For my husband and I, I put clothes that I have ironed in plastic dry cleaner bags before I pack them. I don't know how it works, but the clothes are wrinkle free when I unpack them!

 

[bonkos6]

Lynn4Mel, that is a great idea. Did you fly when you packed all those drinks and snacks? Did anything burst open?

 

[Pink Flamingo]

Did you fly when you packed all those drinks and snacks? Did anything burst open?

I'm not Lynn4Mel, but I did the same thing & worked great. I did fly & nothing burst or broke (I had a glass salsa jar packed which I was a little leary of). I did pack all the liquid items in zip lock bags just in case & I cushioned the items too. It was great to have a stash of snacks on hand.