Once you have saved money on all the toys, etc, how to pack?

[frannn]

I bought the glow sticks, misty mates, brita water bottles, light spinners, spray fan, mini light up fans, small Disney cooler tote, sticker books, etc. I have only put a few clothing items in my large suitcase. It is already full! How do you guys fit all the non-clothing "stuff" in your suitcase? Do you take everything (like the misty mates) out of the plastic packaging? How do you keep them from breaking or crushing? I am trying to cut down on overpacking on clothing (which I tend to do for every trip) and have realized that a lot of the space will be taken up by all the stuff I bought to keep us cool and save us $. How do you get it all to fit, safely & neatly, without taking up all your luggage space? Thanks for reading...

 

[maggiew]

I'm not the best person to answer this because last trip I had a whole big rolling duffle bag of extra "stuff". We had fans (4 mini ones), water spray bottles (2), suntan lotion, Solarcane, tylenol, cough medicine, cold medicine, jackets, towels, water shoes, park backpack, 3 character plushies (in case mousekeeping felt like arranging them), and on and on.

DH said, "Do we really need all this stuff?" I showed him the packing list that was in my Passporter guide book and said, "Everybody brings all this stuff. " He just rolled his eyes. But he was glad to have the little fan to cool him off on those hot afternoons and I had pleasure showing him the price on the water misters in the park!!!!

Maggie

 

[fac]

I am also not the best person to answer this.
This is my first time trying to buy the toys/fans *before* I go to WDW. I plan to bring an extra suitcase.

In my case, we have 4 people DH, DD5 and DD3, therefore technically we can carry 4 suitcases for the plan. The other problem is the car, but a full size car is too small for DH, as he likes to pull his seat back when he drives, and given both of my girls are in car seats, therefore my girls complain they do not have enough room to move. I usually rent a SUV or a minivan which can handle 3 suitcases. Therefore it is not an added cost.

Last year, we had to buy a duffle bag to bring back the toys and other stuff we bought. I just hope that we do not buy any extra stuff this time so that we do not have to buy another bag. I do seriously consider bringing an exta bag though

 

[swilshire]

We have several sturdy duffle bags that will fold up pretty flat. When we fly, we always put one or two empty ones in our luggage for the extra stuff we collect. If nothing else, it's great to have a separate bag for dirty clothes.

Sheila

 

[Sandy Feet]

What I've done on other trips...

Take stuff out of the packaging. Anything with small parts or liquid gets put into a ziploc bag. Roll the items in clothing for padding. Before rolling clothes fold them lengthwise and fold the sleeves in, this helps a tiny bit with wrinkles, then roll. Hard to explain how to do this without a picture! Put small items like film etc into the sneakers, unless you're wearing them and put shoes in bottom of suitcase. Pack underwear last, shove it into the corners and any empty areas. Nobdy is going to know your underwear is wrinkled. Put an extra bag into the outside pocket of the suitcase. If you're overnighting on the drive pack an overnight case so you don't have to lug everything out.
Hope this helps.

 

[canwegosoon]

What I do is make sure I have a change of clothes for everyone, including sleepware, and something for evening (like a sweater), along with toothbrushes/medications, packed in a carryon. I do this just incase the luggage is lost, or emergency. Then I usually have 1 small suitcase with all heavy items like shoes, and poss some food. The larger case has clothes, and the med case has remainder of food and other items. I usually pack for 3 days (not including outfits wearing on plane..but you only need 2 in the suitcases because 1 is in the carryon) no matter how long we go for. I always do laundry 2-3 times on vacation. The brita bottles can hold a pair of socks or underware, etc. Look for places to stuff other items in to ( socks inside shoes). Just a reminder you can leave the hair dryer at home. On the last trip I was able to pack the small bag inside the medium, on the return trip.

 

[powellrj]

we used the large ziplock bags to pack our clothes in and it saves a great deal of space in the suitcases. We just put outfits together and then have the kids sit on the bags and I zip them up and put in the suitcases. It really saves a great deal of space in the suitcases.

 

[MagicalMom]

I have been worrying about how to pack the mini light up fans from TDS. The blades seem so fragile that I afraid they will be torn before we even get there. I have been thinking about putting them in a small tupperware bowl. Any other ideas?

 

[bobcat]

We drive so all of that stuff has it's own duffle bag. It's easier to find that way and if I don't need something it is not in the way or tossed around. Everything comes out of it's packaging and I group things in lots in ziplocs. That way I am just pulling out ziplocks and everything stays together.

 

[marcyinPA]

Originally posted by MagicalMom
I have been worrying about how to pack the mini light up fans from TDS. The blades seem so fragile that I afraid they will be torn before we even get there. I have been thinking about putting them in a small tupperware bowl. Any other ideas?

My boys each have one of these (from TDS) that we brought on our trip. I just put them in the small suitcase with the other "gadgets" (mister fans, ponchos, glowsticks, etc.) and food. They made it fine. Those foam blades seem fragile, but they do hold up quite well. My ds5 used his pretty hard and I even caught him chewing on the blades once (BOYS!) but aside from a tooth mark or two, the fan is working fine and blades are intact!

Have fun!

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I would put a lot of the "stuff" into a large box, suitcase, or duffle. Have that packing (an maybe even some clothes) done a week before your trip, and send it to you at your hotel via UPS. It should be clearly maked "hold for arrival" and your scheduled arrival date shown. You can track it online to make sure it does get there. When you check in, make sure you have a printout of the tracking information showing they have received it just so there is no problem.

 

[vmkids]

We drive to the World so we just take one of our van seats out and our three teens share the one seat. Then I bought rubbermaid tubs that fit wonderfully in our van and stack. We put clothes and everything in them add the cooler and we are off. Think Rubbermaid tubs are so much easier to stack then suitcases! I have a voyager and we use 4 big 9.99 size tubs and two 5.99 size and then a cooler in back with a smaller one one top. WE also put a cooler in between Hubby and I for drinks on the way down! Easy to pack and load quick.

 

[dkrause716]

I am going to pack up all of that extra stuff in a box with non-perishable food and snacks. I will then ship it directly to our resort so that it will be waiting for us there. We have done this several times and it works great! We do not eat in the room except for breakfast. Snacks are a big help with two teenagers and save us time from stopping all the time to fill up. I'll probably pack some PB&J too.

You can go to UPS.com and calculate the exact shipping time for your package. Good luck!

 

[DisneyMomx7]

I'm debating whether to pack all the stuff in an extra large duffle bag or ship it. DH thinks I've brought way too much stuff - oh well. I'm going to try it in the duffle bag next week and if it seems to hard I'llship it. We're going to US/IOA first for five days so if I ship it before we leave we shouldn't have any problems as long as they know to hold it until we arrive. It's the stuffed animals that will take up the most space.