To launder or not to launder, that is the question...

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I used to refuse to do laundry on vacation. DH got tired of all the suitcases we had for the 4 of us and complained about it on every trip. (We normally drive.)
So I've now broken down and do laundry once a trip.

DH developed allergies to most laundry detergent but I did find All Free and Clear in a travel size bottle that can do 2 loads of laundry so I bring 2 of those. We can't use dryer sheets or any kind of fabric softener. I forgot to add I also bring a stick stain pre-treater.

I bring quarters in a mini M&M container so I don't have to mess with the change machines which are usually broken or out of change anyway.

I use one of our rolling suitcases to get laundry to the laundry room.

I still hate doing laundry on vacation but if we want clean clothes, I have to. Blech.

 

[LuLuO]

I always do laundry at least once when we travel. Less to pack so less to carry = more convenient when flying or trying to pack the car for a road trip. I bring along a few of the travel size laundry detergents and a few dryer sheets in a ziploc. Of course now they have those all in one things so I may try that this time.

 

[DonnaBelle2005]

We were at ASMu last Aug and def did laundry. I brought my own Tide detergent with me to use, and about 10 dryer sheets (didn't need all of them).

First of all we WAY WAY overpacked...I should have cut down on the clothes we brought with us and just did laundry. (We did laundry and most everything was clean when we came home.)

We are going in September and I will be only bringing about 4 sets of clothes per person this time (as we are more limited on space since we have 2 extra people going with us this trip).

I would HIGHLY recommend just doing the laundry when you have your pool day...thats what we did as the laundry was right at the pool.

Have fun!
Donna

 

[tzolkin]

Hmmm... I haven't done laundry at Disney, but you guys make it seem like I'm missing out on something wonderful. I guess I'll have to try it next trip.


We've only gone twice (9 and 12 days at Disney +2 travel days). I've packed travel sized detergent "just in case" and we use a pop-up hamper, but I've never had to do laundry and all 5 of us always wind up coming home with several un-worn items each.

 

[littlbugmom]

We always stay in a villa or condo, so washing clothes is not bid deal at all. The washer/dryer is right there in the room. We pack less, I do a load midway through our stay (9 nits means a load at day 4) and then wear those clothes again.


Last year, I did a load at the end of our stay too and then just packed the clean clothes to take home.

 

[disykat]

None of us are clothes people and hate shopping so we really only have about a weeks worth of clothes before we start running out. We always do laundry on vacations that are longer. I've done laundry in WDW, Chicago, Yellowstone, San Diego, Hawaii, London, etc. I also try to hook it to swimming and/or meal time and often meet interesting people in the laundry rooms.

 

[Wendy5055]

NOPE!!! I guess I am a hold out.

I have gone for longer trips at WDW and do not under any circumstances wash clothing. I usually go when it is warmer (like in 2 1/2 weeks! LOL) so we pack lighter stuff (tank tops/t-shirts/shorts) and I pack a few extras. However, you CAN wear jean shorts more than once. Sneakers are worn on feet while travelling...flip flops and one pair of sandals are packed.

Besides, we need room for those princess dresses so clothing is not high priority!

We always packed carryon bags only, but last year I succombed to doing one checked roller bag each...not the super large kind either. It amazes me the amount of clothing/suitcases people bring...and we always change for dinner.

I tend to only pack the stuff that I know I will wear...everything else stays home. I guess it helps that my dd is now 8 but she has been going to WDW since 4 years old.


**NOTE: I would do it if my child were sick...you can't NOT do it then...but I would NOT enjoy it.

 

[hedge333]

I HATE laundry. I had not planned on doing any during vacation but after reading this I think that I will come prepared to laundry if necessary (weather, sickness, comfy clothes.) I was already planning on packing my pop up laundry baskets just to keep the room neat and things separated for the way home. I just went to purex's website and they have a free sample of the 3-n-1 sheets. It is a 2 pack, which would be how many loads I would probably do. In 4-6 weeks I'll have a free sample to pack in my suit case to use if the mood strikes me. That way I won't have to worry about packing sample sizes, leaky ziploc bags, etc. I may do laundry during nap time our last day just so I won't have to do it at home.
Just thought I'd pass along the free sample on the website.

 

[aussietravellers]

We are going for three weeks, but are actually away on vacation for just over a month as we have a week in NY also, so we have to do laundry as taking a months worth of clothes is just not a good idea (if I want to have any room for shopping ) We also did laundry whilst at Disneyland in December for two weeks and whenever we travel to Europe its usually for a month so we always do laundry whilst away.

I usually buy a bottle of laundry liquid from a local supermarket or in the case of Disneyland order from Vons or at WDW order from Garden Grocer as it's cheaper for us to do it that way than pay for the individual packets in the laundry rooms at the resorts and carrying it from Australia is not going to happen either, just too heavy.

As far as doing the laundry, its usually not on a park day. I have been known to use the inhouse laundry service too if I can not be bothered to do my own. It is expensive but gosh it's nice to have somebody pick it up in the morning and then when you return at night it is all washed, ironed and either folded or hung waiting in the room.

 

[momminnie]

We were at the PORS in Sept. 8 nights and I did our laundry. I HATE TO DO LAUNDRY ALSO. Like the PP says, even laundry is magical at WDW. I took my pop up hampers and my samples of detergent and my m&m roll of coins and it was a piece of cake. Even the family that went with us decided to do some laundry so she wouldn't have so much to do when she got home. I even shared my stash of detergent and quarters. She wasn't prepared, I was.

 

[mickeymaker2003]

We use a pop up hamper and then give it a ride in the stroller down to the laundry room. Since we have the stroller anyway, it works quite nicely Gee... when my DD doesn't need it at Disney anymore, I bet we'll miss it a little.

 

[monorailsilver]

I do laundry every trip if it means less luggage for us to bring.

I used to do it every other day when it was just dh & I or just us 2 & 1 kid & us two & 2 kids.

Last trip it was 5 of us (3 kids) & I did laundry every day, but I only did one load per day.

We only brought one medium suitcase and one smaller suitcase plus we each had a carry on (no clothes in it).

We go in the summer so wearing 2 outfits per day is the norm. We take a mid day break which also includes our second shower of the day & put on clean (dry) clothes.

I can't imagine not doing laundry on a Disney trip.

In the past I have used my stroller to carry the laundry & I got one of those pop up laundry baskets.

I also use powdered detergent for trips & measure them out in a baggie per load.

 

[southtexasmom]

Laundry is one of the reasons we bought into DVC, we are a family of 6, if we tried to take enough clothes to last our entire trip we would need our own plane.

Now that we stay in a DVC room we just start a load of laundry every night and move it to the dryer every morning and we only take 3 or 4 outfits for each person. Its great to come home from vacation with all clean clothes.

 

[MacFam4]

Thank you all for your input I will probably only wash/dry two loads, so how much does it cost?

Who knew laundry could be so interesting?

 

[Brer Shay]

We always do laundry midway thru our 8 day trips. Purex, popup hamper & roll of qtrs already packed. No biggie!

Same thing here. Two loads during a pool afternoon and we're good to go. WAY easier than packing and transporting all those clothes.

 

[billybobblockhead]

I'm gonna post without reading the entire thread. We always plan a pool day in the middle of our stay and only pack clothes for half of our days (plus 1, just in case ). That way, we don't have a choice but to hang around and do laundry and relax around the pool, then maybe go for fireworks at the end of the day. Then, we have enough clothes to take care of us the rest of the trip plus a set for the drive/flight home. We then arrive home with nothing but dirty clothes and don't have to worry about mixing our cleans and dirties in the suitcases.

Also, DW pre-measures clothes detergent into ziplock bags, then combines all of the small bags into one big bag. Pretty simple, acutally, but it really causes us to slow down a little and enjoy things.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

NOPE!!! I guess I am a hold out.

I have gone for longer trips at WDW and do not under any circumstances wash clothing. I usually go when it is warmer (like in 2 1/2 weeks! LOL) so we pack lighter stuff (tank tops/t-shirts/shorts) and I pack a few extras. However, you CAN wear jean shorts more than once. Sneakers are worn on feet while travelling...flip flops and one pair of sandals are packed.

Besides, we need room for those princess dresses so clothing is not high priority!

We always packed carryon bags only, but last year I succombed to doing one checked roller bag each...not the super large kind either. It amazes me the amount of clothing/suitcases people bring...and we always change for dinner.

I tend to only pack the stuff that I know I will wear...everything else stays home. I guess it helps that my dd is now 8 but she has been going to WDW since 4 years old.


**NOTE: I would do it if my child were sick...you can't NOT do it then...but I would NOT enjoy it.

I agree with everything. I would under no circumstances do laundry on vacation. Unless my kids were sick and I needed to, absolutely not.

To me there is nothing fun about everyone swimming and me sorting and folding laundry. I like to relax by the pool too with my mai tai in hand. I don't care if someone says well it only takes a few minutes. To me thats a few minutes from my vacation. I'd much rather wait until I get home.

My kids, husband and myself have more than enough clothes for the 8-10 days we spend at Disney plus we also change for dinner or our stroll on the BW.

I take what we need , and I have no trouble fitting everything in our suitcases, including multiple princess dresses and the crowns to match.

Plus if I washed clothes and rewore outfits that means the same clothes would be in pictures on different days. Nope can't do !

 

[northcoast_momma]

I hear ya - no one WANTS to do laundry but honestly - with a family of 5 - I do 1-2 loads of laundry a day at home (my family can go through 2 outfits a day). So YES - I do laundry while on vacation and I'm fine with it. Last year, hubby woke up before us, went down to the laundry room at ASMu resort, came up and laid back down to sleep a bit more, went down to put the clothes in the dryer, took a shower, and we grabbed the laundry before heading to the park. (over achiever!!)

This year - we're staying in a DVC so we'll have a washer/dryer and we are SOOOOOO glad. Fresh shorts and underwear!!!!

 

[goldwest]

I planned to do a mid trip laundry trip but the weather was cooler than we expected and unbelievably we didn't drip something on every outfit so... we did a socks and underwear wash and hung it to dry in the room.

 

[badblackpug]

5 kids, 10 day trip. We always do laundry because i can't imagine taking that much luggage. I have each person pack 5 outfits. (extra for the babies, but their clothes don't take up much room) We unpack when we arrive, then use our suitcases as hampers. After you wear something, you put it in the suitcase. Half way through the trip we zip up the suitcases and pull them to the laundry. I do laundry while the kids swim. When the laundry is done I fold it back into the suitcases and we pull them back to the room and unpack again. We always get an order from Garden Grocer, so I just order small bottles of detergent and softener.

This year we rented DVC, so laundry will be much easier!