Owner's Locker--The Ultimate Test?

[CarolA]

Quite honestly, my owner's locker isn't everything I want it to be. I'm just not purple person.

Hmm. Wonder if I can paint my locker?

Should have been a beta tester.. Mine's BLUE!

(which I admit seems to confuse the bell staff!)

But I do LOVE the locker!

 

[dhluvsDisney]

Um, don't even want to confess what mine weighs. It's packed with not one square inch of space and the bellman made a "wow! this is the heaviest one I've ever picked up!" comment. I love my OL and don't know how we'd cope without it!

 

[Tara]

Annie, from the looks of those photos, you could have gotten a LOT more in that locker than you did! I think we have at least twice as much in ours! !

Diane, I'm not going to say "did you really go there" cause I thought the same thing. I was actually a little worried that all AA's stuff wouldn't fit given her description of her list!

LOL! Well, Annie, we don't just "throw things in there" either. They just aren't packaged together in little bags. I'm realtively certain our locker weighed more than 50 pounds, because I know what an Airedale weighs, and I can pick up an Airedale easily, but the locker needs Dick to help!

We don't just "throw things in there" either. There's a definite method to my packing, with things that go in the bathroom and bedroom (for the most part) in one and things that go in the kitchen or for general use in the other. Then I loosely prioritize so that the things we might need quickly are on the top or close to it. We don't throw in loose coffee filters (they're in the package) or loose Band-Aids (again, in the hard plastic container they came in). I saved the plastic packaging for my good knife and put it back in that for storage. Most medicines and small items are in the tackle boxes. Some small items with no package (like sugar packets) go inside the Brita pitcher or in one of the 2 sandwich-sized storage containers I have. There's nothing even remotely like the bottom of a kid's toy box about our lockers.

One of the reasons I got a second locker was that after filling the first one the first time, it was so heavy I couldn't lift it on my own. AND it had that tell-tale bulge in the lid when closed, and I knew I wasn't "done" stocking it yet! So now one closes easily but is very close to full and the other required sitting on, but only because of the fleece blanket, which compresses easily. (i.e., my string bean skinny son sat on it, not me or my husband, and that was plenty of pressure to close it)

The other nice result is that now I'm not stressed about everything fitting, even if we add a few items here and there.

 

[SamSam]

I never had any doubt that Annie would love her OL!!
What's not to love.

 

[Tara]

I never had any doubt that Annie would love her OL!!
What's not to love.

Ain't that the truth!!

 

[vacationbug]

So glad that you are happy and that John & Brian passed their big test!

We're traveling down to our favorite place in a few weeks and I have scheduled the "Tuesday Nights With JOHN" on our planner! Whooohooo!

Loved getting my email the other day that reminded me that our happy lockers were getting excited to be delivered to our resort!

Counting the days.....

 

[going/again]

Hey Donald,
Yeah we've been renting spotting scopes on a trial basis. Contact me through the OL site if you have any questions.
j

hi john can you tell me what a scope is we are from the uk and hav'nt heard this term before,

can't wait to see both our lockers again at xmas.

gaz

 

[LIFERBABE]

Annie, great to hear you had a nice trip and you made the best of your locker


I am thrilled to read that others take their OL on the cruise with them.

I was just starting to stress out about packing all these toiletries for our cruise portion of the trip. I was going to upgrade to biz class just so i could take free luggage Extreme I know, but I'd rather pay for an upgrade and have a few drinks on the flight than pay for luggage and sit in coach!

Now i will just take our Ol since we are staying at WDW before and after the cruise and proceed with our "carryon only" plans!

I have a million things to do at home and at work before we leave next Friday and I was not looking forward to packing toiletries for a family of 4!! Now i dont have to!

 

[CarolA]

hi john can you tell me what a scope is we are from the uk and hav'nt heard this term before,

can't wait to see both our lockers again at xmas.

gaz

Not John, but..

The Spotting scope is kind of a giant powered "one eye" binocular. I think they were orignally made for hunting (but I don't think Disney would appreciate it)

It gives you a GREAT view of the animals farther away on the Savannah and is more powerful then the binoculars I have.

I was in Jambo facing Kidani and there were Zebras over by Kidiani. With this thing I could REALLY see them. For the animals closer it was like I was checking out thier facial expressions.

Hopefully John will show up and post a photo or link, but if you have the chance and enjoy just sitting there checking out the wildlife it's great. (Now for those of you who leave the curtains open.... you are warned I am sure these things would work on humans!)

 

[Ksp]

Mission accomplished: we are now brand new members of OL! (Thanks for the DIS discount - that rocks!)
Can't wait to get a chance to fill it up on our trip in June. (counting down-we'll be there in 6 days!)

 

[Anal Annie]

Mission accomplished: we are now brand new members of OL! (Thanks for the DIS discount - that rocks!)
Can't wait to get a chance to fill it up on our trip in June. (counting down-we'll be there in 6 days!)

WhooHoo! Ya hear that John!? Another recruit for the cause!!

(BTW, see my new line I added into my siggie!? A nice DIS green ad for ya'll!!)

 

[kdzgon]

...
OK, but so YES, I DID LOVE my brand new Owners Locker (as WE all knew I would)...

...BTW, I also LOVED my new packing cubes and will probably order some more sets!! ...

They are both addictions.....I own lots of packing cubes but I am watching for the next sale to add more, and I had two owners' lockers until we moved to Florida - I just cannot justify the cost of #2 to DH when we are now just a drive away from "Home"...(personally, I still miss locker #2....)

 

[kdzgon]

I am glad you liked your locker and more so SSR! I am still not convinced OL is right for us. I keep putting it off...

That's what the risk free offer is all about! You really, really really need to try it out. John and Brian are really great guys and as I am sure many here will attest, they would NEVER make you feel badly if you exercise their guarantee! You can test it out for up to a year, so you'll have time to see just how great it is to not have to pack all those "miscellaneous" items.

We have used it for two years now, having it delivered anywhere from DVC rooms, the Poly, value resorts and even off premise accommodations. We went to Vero Beach recently - without our locker - and boy, oh boy did I miss it. I thought I had packed what I needed (items usually in our locker) but it became a running joke where we would need something and we would say "well, if we had our locker we'd have it!".

 

[kdzgon]

Diane, I'm not going to say "did you really go there" cause I thought the same thing. I was actually a little worried that all AA's stuff wouldn't fit given her description of her list!



We don't just "throw things in there" either. There's a definite method to my packing, with things that go in the bathroom and bedroom (for the most part) in one and things that go in the kitchen or for general use in the other. Then I loosely prioritize so that the things we might need quickly are on the top or close to it. We don't throw in loose coffee filters (they're in the package) or loose Band-Aids (again, in the hard plastic container they came in). I saved the plastic packaging for my good knife and put it back in that for storage. Most medicines and small items are in the tackle boxes. Some small items with no package (like sugar packets) go inside the Brita pitcher or in one of the 2 sandwich-sized storage containers I have. There's nothing even remotely like the bottom of a kid's toy box about our lockers.

One of the reasons I got a second locker was that after filling the first one the first time, it was so heavy I couldn't lift it on my own. AND it had that tell-tale bulge in the lid when closed, and I knew I wasn't "done" stocking it yet! So now one closes easily but is very close to full and the other required sitting on, but only because of the fleece blanket, which compresses easily. (i.e., my string bean skinny son sat on it, not me or my husband, and that was plenty of pressure to close it)

The other nice result is that now I'm not stressed about everything fitting, even if we add a few items here and there.

ITA. Organization is the key to packing the OL to high heaven

I did remove my Brita pitcher - it simply takes up too much room and there is some opinion that the filter does not work well with the intermittent usage. I think I am going to replace it with a faucet filter if I can - I just keep forgetting to check out the faucets. In the meanwhile, we just bring a case of water we purchase at Costco (or elsewhere if a better price).

I also removed the coffee filters (do you just make coffee with filters and loose coffee instead of the prepacks?) and I won't replace the paper plates when done - I can always get them at Disney hotels and we don't stay off site often enough to justify them. I removed the paper towels (I always carry them in the car trunk anyway as we have young kids in the car). Next trip I'm going to replace my laundry supplies (except the dye grabbers for doing mixed loads) with these new all-in-one laundry sheets from Purex http://www.purex.com/purex-3-in-1/product

Somehow, though even with these changes, I need to use those seals to make sure the lid touches the box

 

[Anal Annie]

They are both addictions.....I own lots of packing cubes but I am watching for the next sale to add more, and I had two owners' lockers until we moved to Florida - I just cannot justify the cost of #2 to DH when we are now just a drive away from "Home"...(personally, I still miss locker #2....)

OH! If I LIVED in FL and drove I would just use my own bins like I do with our camping supplies....the point of the OL for me was to avoid overpacking and the luggage fees the airlines now charge. There are so many restrictions now... You can't bring full size anything in your carry-ons so that puts the screws to you for sunscreens if you don't rent a car, which we all need sunscreens, esp. in FL. They really enforce the 50 Lb weight limit in the bags too... I am so done with dealing with all that now!! I completed a survey from eBags.com after my last order & I got a 20% off cert. on my next order so that's what I'm going to use for my next order of packing cubes. I just need to decide if I want to order 2 sets of just the larges or a set of larges & a set of mediums or what sizes we would use most.

We have a 30" duffle that I'll probably check when we go in August so I am pretty sure that I'll be able to fit 6 of the large cubes + probably 3 mediums in that....and probably a packing folder which I ordered for nicer shirts that I don't want to roll....after seeing how well they worked out last weekend in our carry-ons I'm pretty sure that one large duffle will do it for us if we each take our carry-ons again. One checked bag for the 3 of us for 10 days is a significant improvement over the way I USED to pack!!! And I may not even need THAT large of a bag...I might get by with a slightly smaller one. Regardless tho, I know I will have to check at least one bag. But that's the other beauty of these packing cubes...most duffles don't have those tie-down straps in them for your clothes so if you don't pack them FULL then the stuff shifts badly...with the packing cubes you don't have to worry about that 'cuz everything stays organized in the cubes!

BTW, one tip I read about the Brita filter is I read someone's post who said they bring a new filter on vac., use it while they're there & when they're done they put it into a ziplock & bring it home to use at home, so it's not being left there to risk getting funky and it's not being thrown out... Made sense to me anyway...

 

[Tara]

That's what I do- take the filter home to replace one of ours at home (we have 2 pitchers at home). But I keep filters in the locker instead of bringing me with me.