Post your best organizational, space saving and trip making secrets here!!

[SalandJeff]

I pack all our clothes in ziploc bags - 1 gal for my dd (6 yo) and 2 gal for my dh and myself. I don't use a system or pack by outfit. I just pack everything in the bags because it keeps things from getting wrinkled, keeps things organized, and if TSA opens your suitcase, it won't become a total mess. For dd, I put a few outfits in one bag. For dh and myself, I put all his socks in one bag, tee shirts in another couple, etc.

Has anyone seen the 2 gal bags recently? I used to get them at Walmart, but the last time I looked, they did not have them.

Another thing we do is take a picture of the back of our park tickets and photopass. Easier to replace if they get lost. This may already be posted in this thread somewhere!

Great idea about taking a pic of your parking space!

 

[MyVirtueAidan]

Has anyone seen the 2 gal bags recently? I used to get them at Walmart, but the last time I looked, they did not have them.

Yess!!! At BJs!!! We love them... I think they were $11 but it came with 2 boxes!!!

 

[SalandJeff]

Yess!!! At BJs!!! We love them... I think they were $11 but it came with 2 boxes!!!

Darn - we don't have a BJs membership.

Anyone find them anywhere else?

 

[msminniemouse]

Darn - we don't have a BJs membership.

Anyone find them anywhere else?

I have seen them at Target.

 

[DH-2-mamaduck]

If you choose to use Disney's Magical Express Service and have them pick up your luggage, in your carry-on, it is a good idea to put extra clothes, swimming suits, and any other supplies (toothbrush, toothpaste...); this is because it could be a few hours before your luggage shows up in your room.

Disney states:
Domestic Flights: up to 3 hours
International Flights: up to 4 hours

Ours was less than the 2 hours but my brother complained it took many hours.

 

[SalandJeff]

If you choose to use Disney's Magical Express Service and have them pick up your luggage, in your carry-on, it is a good idea to put extra clothes, swimming suits, and any other supplies (toothbrush, toothpaste...); this is because it could be a few hours before your luggage shows up in your room.

This is a good idea even if you don't use ME. If the airline were to lose your checked bags, heaven forbid, at least you would have a change of clothes, toiletries and your swimsuit.

 

[smithmom]

I'm back! And I just finished reading through this whole thread... WOW

Here are a few tested ideas that worked for me:

1. Powerstrip - for all the recharges at night. Between the ipod, phone, camera, etc. there were not enough plugs in the room. And the powerstrip allows you to keep all the electronics together so you can just unplug in the morning and go!

2. Nightlight - Helps my boys find the bathroom at night.

3. Earplugs - helps take the edge off for my 5yo at the fireworks. He asks for them before the start and we all get to see them! Yeah!!

4. Bathtoys - We bring some NEW small plastic disney toys down with us so bathtime is fun and welcomed! Just line them up along the tub to dry.

5. Flashing flashlight - I can be very cheap and it would kill me to dish out $20 for one flashing spinning toy. so at Target I found these colored flashlight that have 3 settings - solid white light, solid colored light, flashing colored light. I bought one for each of my DS in their favorite color and they happy with them. They even switched colors every once in a while. They were pretty streamline so they were simple to pack - And they were on sale for $2.49 - although the full price was $4.99. Still better than $20.00. I even bought and extra incase one got lost (which it did)

6. Batteries!!! - not a ton, cause they get heavy to carry. Everything you buy from disney the batteries will run out!!! They have been tried over and over again by everybody walking by. You'll be lucky to get one day out of them. Bring extra batteries (AND A SMALL SCREW DRIVER) and problem solved!!

Now for something I haven't tried yet (yet!).
A few years ago I bought a sixpack cooler from Linens N' Things. It was really inexpensive and holds 6 beer bottles to keep them cool. Lucky for me they also hold 6 water bottles. It folds flat and super light. I figure I'll try it and see if it will be worth it.

If I think of anything else, I'll come back in.

Happy packing everyone!!!

 

[smithmom]

oops one more...

for my stroller, I designed a sign that said "Smith Boys Ride" and printed a few out. I put them into a gallon sized ziploc bag. I punched small holes above the zip seal on the bag and attached it to the stroller with zip ties. The signs were very colorful and I never lost my stroller in Disney or the Airport. The Zip loc bag kept it nice and dry and clean. I printed a few incase something happened, but I never had to change it.

 

[purpleorchids]

wow this is great - going to take some time to read all of this Planning our first one next year

 

[Kimberly Hill]

We use the WDW souvenir popcorn buckets to rinse Mia's hair in the tub. It's not like the popcorn lasts more than one day anyway.

 

[bmldisney]

Thank you for all of the wonderful tips! Keep them coming

 

[weheartdisney]

Such great ideas. I'm pasting them into a document for our August trip. Not sure if these have been mentioned...but these are a few things we always do.

We drive down and stay at a hotel the day before we check into our Disney resort. I always pack one suitcase with all 4 of our clothes/pj's/shoes and bathroom items needed for one day in it. That way we don't have to haul 3-4 suitcases in for one night.

For each of my boys I bought the $1.00 4x6 photobooks from Wal-Mart and replaced the front and back covers with pieces of Disney scrapbook paper. I put their name on the outside and added extra stickers. Before each trip, I take some of our favorite photos from the previous trip and put in there. I give them their books at the start of our trip (we have a 9 drive) and they enjoy looking at the photos. Each book has some photos of all of us, but mainly photos of that child with characters, on rides, in the pool, etc.. As I take replace the pictures, I put them in the WDW photo album we always buy on that vacation.

I take the luggage tags Disney sends you and put all our information on it. Each child's name, both mine and my dh's cell numbers, resort we are staying at, room number, etc. and loop it onto their shorts each day. Helps ease my mind just in case one of them were to get separated from us (prayers this never happens).

Hope this is helpful.

 

[erinlaw]

Thanks for all of the great ideas--we leave in 12 days and I am so not ready to go!

 

[Angellovely]

Originally Posted by SalandJeff
Has anyone seen the 2 gal bags recently? I used to get them at Walmart, but the last time I looked, they did not have them.

I buy mine at Dollar Tree

 

[zoie101]

what great ideas

 

[MyVirtueAidan]

Thanks for all of the great ideas--we leave in 12 days and I am so not ready to go!

I'll take your place... We have 32 days left!!!

But I really want to thank everyone for their tips...

 

[auntiegem]

WOW, what an incredible thread. I've picked up so many good tips, and I can't want to get packing!

 

[gabrismom]

These are great tips and I plan on using some for our upcoming trip. Last time we went we froze a bunch of water bottles each night to bring to the park. Then as the day went on we still had cold water to drink. Bags of lots of different types of snacks were also a must bc our kids were always asking for snacks.
I also bought little books with Disney themes at the dollar store before going and the kids used those for the Autograph books.

 

[ReneeQ]

I've seen this thread before, but never had time to read it. I'm currently on medical leave, so finally read it all, and it's great. Here's all I can think of:

1. We stay DVC, and I take some magnets for the refrigerator. Great place to leave notes, put receipts I don't want to lose, hang our schedule, etc.

2. I take clothespins, which have tons of uses - use as chip clips for half eaten bags of stuff, to keep cereal fresh, etc. Use to clip the curtains together, if they don't quite meet. Clip a few on the bottom of the shower curtain, to keep it from flying around and sticking to you. To hang wet clothes/swimsuits on the laundry line over the tub.

3. We no longer need a stroller, but sometimes we take it anyway just for our "stuff." No one looked at us weird for having a stroller with no kid in it. In MK we would move it from land to land, but not from ride to ride. That way it was much closer than getting a locker. We used it for things like jackets, water bottles, etc., that we wanted near us if needed, but didn't need with us constantly.

 

[Minnie*bell]

Inspired by another thread, I thought I knew almost all the secrets of making our WDW trip extra organized and extra magical..but alas, I do not.

I just read another thread about people brining over the door shoe holders that you can buy for $1 at the dollar store and using them to store all kinds of goodies in your room. Loved this idea and figured there were a lot more.

So think of your most invaluable advice on packing, organizing, planning or whatever else you can think of here so that we can use them too.

My 1st tip and item I used very minute of every day...

Lanyard/cord that hold up to 8 different ID's/credit cards. I always had my park passes, Credit Cards and other ID's available around my neck and never had to worry about losing them. Bought @ Target for .88cents!

Share yours here!!

My #1 tip for packing is...dah da da dahhh!!!!! Space bags. We got ours @ big lots 3 for $10. My 2nd thing is only bring 2oz bottles u can throw away while ur on vaca. Or I buy regular size shampoo,ect. when I get there, by the end of the week or 10 days they r gone so I toss them. Zip locks are awesome for socks, underwear & swim wear b/c u can label the bags & squeeze all the air out [like space bags=]. Everything stays neat all week. I'm also a fan of doing 1 load of laundry @ WDW to save space in suitcases. The laundry rooms are always by the pools in value & moderate resorts so it's no trouble @ all. Really, & I hate laundry more than any other chore.