Share your packing and trip preparing tips!

[skiwee1]

I put all the clothes we are taking on hangers and put them in the guest room closet. I even save the hangers that DD's little clothes come on and hang hers up also. The night before we leave for our trip I take the clothes, still on hangers, and carefully lay them in the suitcases. When we arrive and unpack I only have to lift them out of the suitcase and hang them right in the closet of the hotel room. There are less wrinkles packing this way and it is so quick and easy to do. I also have a pop up hamper that I got from Lillian Vernon or Harriet Carter, can't remember which, and it was great! It had handles and a pocket for soap and dryer sheets too. It made it so simple to go to the laundry.

 

[Highland Lass]

I am spending 2 weeks in Orlando in December and have no plans to do any laundry.

So instead of having .......how shall I put it........OK I'll just say it........smelly underwear.......hanging around in bags or whatever and bringing it back home to the UK , I am keeping the old pairs from home that I would normally throw away for the trip. That means every day I'll just put yesterday's underwear in a little tie top bag and throw it in the bin/trash !

Although I probably won't break the habit of a lifetime and may well end up doing laundry ... but I won't iron !

 

[helenm29]

Hey Highlandlass, THAT is a great idea! I think that if you are travelling with one or two of you - tossing your "unmentionables" is a great idea, UN-fortunately with five of us it could get a little costly in the end. I don't plan on doing more then one night for laundry though. Sounds like you are going to be doing Dis' the same time we are! HAVE A GREAT TIME! Helen

 

[Highland Lass]

Thanks Helen

We will be in Orlando 1-15th December and Disney cruising 4-7 Dec......YIPPEE

I am so excited !!

I went shopping today and our shops are selling all their summer stock off really cheap to make way for the winter woolies.

I bought my daughter Hannah 6 quality items today for $13...excellent !!

I was going to wait and buy our clothes when we arrive but this was too good to miss.

We are staying on International Drive in the Quality Inn . I love I-Drive, its got a buzz about it and much as I love Mickey & Co I don't really want to stay on-site.

So its late now , 11pm so I'm off to Dreamland.

 

[sharonjanegreen]

We will be leaving the UK on Thursday 2nd October for our 6th trip to Orlando. We too love I-Drive and are also staying at the Quality Inn International for the 2nd time, after 2 weeks there we move on to a week at The Hilton Clearwater Beach, can't wait!! Here is my travelling/packing tip, buy The Jet Rest travel pillow from Lakeland Limited it is fantastic even if it is a little pricy(£20), I have used the 'blow up' type and they are absolutely useless. The Jet Rest is filled with a lovely 'squishy' filling and is soooooo comfortable. I have also bought the travel washing line that does not need pegs and has a suction cup at each end to stick on the walls of the shower for hanging up your freshly washed 'unmentionables'.

Have a great time

PS How do you put the countdown in your message?

 

[Highland Lass]

I've never met anyone who has stayed in the Quality Inn International. It must be OK if you're staying there a second time !! I booked that hotel because its one of the Virgin flagship hotels , so it may be a little nicer than others in the same price range.

The first time I went to Florida in 1990 I had 2 weeks in Orlando and 1 week in Clearwater and it was great .Felt like I was away from home for AGES!! Plus I noticed that food / drink prices etc were much lower than in Orlando.

I don't know how to place the countdown timer , I asked the same question on one of the boards and I was sent a link by another user.

6th October is nearly here.........lucky you. Please send me a PM or post a holiday report when you come home . I'd love to know how you get on.

 

[cruiseclues]

Outstanding Packing Tips. We added this thread to our personal website page of packing list links.

http://cruiseclues.com/packinglist.htm

 

[debbiedoo]

first of all I always do things all year to plan for any trip that I go on.

1. At home we have a change jar that we save, and is used only for buying disney dollars, which my daughter calls mickey money!! This definitely comes in handy, because in the past I have used this money for the majority of the food cast a little souverneirs.

2. I have a container at home that I always add to, my non-edible take on vac items. Everything from shampoo, deo, band-aids to neosporin. When the local groc store runs super double coupons I try to stock up on this.(because the items usually costs nothing after the coupon).

3. I also recommend a backpack a must!! I have a jansport fishnet one and we love it!! It is lightweight and does not hurt our backs, because weight is distrubted evenly.

4. and we also bruing a couple of rolls of quarteters, for that laundry we do while we are there. That way when we do get home we don't have to wash a ton of it!! Our trips are usually long from 1 tp 2 weeks.

I hope this may help someone!!

 

[Blueberry]

One great thing to take along is the bottles of hand sanitizer to use before you eat anything with your hands or when your hands feel yucky..such as after Splash Mtn and you have touched those rubber hand grips....You can get small bottles of it at Walmart, a small four pack of them which are differnt flavors, these are perfect size for fanny packs and all and can be refilled. I take along a bigger bottle and refill the smaller ones if necessary..

We always pack a few pair of extra socks along too. Since we go in September and it is hot and rainy we often leave a pair or sneakers and spare socks for each of us in the trunk of the car all week..If there is a huge down power you have dry socks and shoes to put on immediately. We each bring two good pairs of sneakers to wear, and for the spare pair I bring along an older pair I just have here that I wear for walking at home...it sure has come in handy.

 

[january]

If your driving and stopping overnight along the way pack a small bag that will get you thru the night and next day. I use a different tote bag for each night I stop. IT contains toothbrush (one of our old ones)for each of us, bottle of shampoo and conditioner bottle of bath soap. I keep refilling old bottles jammies, next days clothes. Much easier than unloading the big bags and having all the bags in the room for just one night.

Those Dove cloths with the soap already on them work great for travel one less thing to worry about spilling 1 of them would be more than enough soap for a kid and I usually have some soap left on the 2nd one after I soap up once...... hot sticky weather tho it nice to have some extra soap to soap some of the smellier parts of the body.

I refill all my bottles as I unpack so I'm ready to go again at a moments notice. My disney tote bag is kept on hanger in back of my closet with the rain ponchos and other stuff I always use in the parks in it ready to go.... If I need it between trips I empty it to us it then refill it before hanging it back up.

When my DD was younger I kept a tote bag of stuff for her to do for the car ride 16 hours for us. Only time she got that bag was long car rides and if we had to go somewhere where she would need to be quiet for a long period of time. Usually for car trip she found something different in it and as she grew the bag grew with her more mature items in the bag less baby stuff.

Oh and to save on mess and storage problems in the room we take our empty bags back out to van till we need them.

Almost always pack everything but what we absolutely have to have during our afternoon break the day before we leave or the night before this allows us time to enjoy the last day in the parks or taking a quick swim before heading home.

I take cloth laundry bags 2 usually middle of stay when the 1st one is getting full we take it out to van to make room for the 2nd one in the room. Usually need more diet cokes and bottled water for the room by then anyway so take out the laundry and bring back water and cokes.

I have even went so far as to buy extra post cards to address and stamp before leaving home with HI!!! so &so Wish you where here or what ever already written on them so all I got to do is drop them in mail box at disney.

 

[mom2bandp]

I put a laundry basket in the corner of our bedroom a month or so before time for our trip, and as I come across items we'll need on the trip I toss them in there. Examples: Rain ponchos, camera, film, batteries, sunscreen, travel medicine kitk, swimming floats (for the kids), pool towels, etc. These are the things we don't use everyday and that I might otherwise forget.

I refill the travel medicine kit before I toss it in the basket, making sure that nothing's expired.

It's also helpful to keep a master packing list in one of the suitcases, then it can be referred to if needed when repacking before heading home.

 

[apirateslifeforme]

I'm a clothing roller as well. DH and I take one 29" suitcase for the two of us for an 8-day trip, and there is plenty of room to spare for souvenirs. On our last trip, I took our two carry-ons (slightly larger than a vanity case), and in each one (in case the suitcase was lost) I was able to fit two changes of clothing, 5 changes of undies, 10 pairs of socks, a jacket, a baseball cap, six pack of water, some granola bars, toiletries/makeup, and a book. Everything fit just fine - although the carryons were filled to the brim!

I second the hand sanitizer! I can't imagine eating without washing my hands AND using the sanitizer as well!

When we got married 5 years ago, we received several sheet sets. Each piece - flat sheet, fitted sheet, and pillowcases - was in its own zippered plastic bag. I thought the bags were actually rather nice, with the zipper and all, so I saved them for traveling. I use them for things that might leak or spill (lotions, mouthwash, shower gels, etc). That way, if something should leak out and make a mess, it won't get all over our clothes and suitcase, and I can just throw out the bag.

 

[jeanelain]

i bought two of the pop-up hampers from the Christmass tree shop when i was visiting my sister in rhode island. Love that store!! they were $2 each. since we'll be staying in a 2-bed at OKW they'll be great.

also i was going to buy the tide tablets, but noticed an empty can of slim jims in my cupboard the other day. filled it up with 4-6 loads worth of tide, sealed it up good with tape and i'm set. also you can go to the downy website and request a sample of downy to take with you.

I'm going to pack the laundry supplies, packets of dishwashing detergent, small bottle of dish detergent, small boxes of cereal, snacks, coffee, sugar, and anything not perishable in a box and mail it to us for our stay. that way i don't have to pack it in suitcases.


i use the packit sacks that you can roll the air out of.

i also pack little goodies in my kids backpacks and their not allowed to open them until we are in the air. they love this!

 

[iluvwdw_2002]

I don't mean to be duh???? But I just have to mention some essentials....

- Don't forget plenty of film for the camera if you don't have digital
- plenty of sunscreen
- re-fillable water bottle with a strap, so you can hang it over your shoulder or something like that
- extra batteries for walkmans, cd players, etc...batteries are expensive at hotels
- breakfast bars or pop tarts...great quick breakfast

Awesome ideas on the hampers!!

Thanks everyone!!!

 

[Beccabooey]

I can't tell you how much we love using packing cubes -- they're available at www.ebags.com. We bought the "e-bags" brand and they come in a pack of 3 (S, M, L) for around $20. Let me tell you, when they searched our luggage, no mess at all! Each packing cube has a mesh cover, so you can see what's inside, so they didn't even bother to open them. We watched others have their stuff *completely* messed up and disorganized, and I was thrilled to have my cubes! Also, all you have to do is place them in a drawer when you get there, and you're all set!

I found the best part to using these gems is if you forget to pack something, you only have to pull out one cube, and not mess up the rest of your suitcase. (Ever have to unpack everything, then refold it all? YUCK!) They're a lot bigger than they look and hold quite a bit, so don't be fooled by the photo. I've been able to use them for 5-7 day trips w/ absolutely no problem.