To Wash or not to wash, that is the question?

[ajvaca]

Hi All

My DH, DD(3yrs old) and I leave this coming Monday and we can hardly wait!!!!!

Anyway, I tend to be an overpacker and refuse to do that this time. We will be staying at AKL for 5 nights and 6 days. I know they have laundry facilities. Instead of packing clothes for each day plus a couple of extra outfits, since I am accident proned and my DD is young, what is the likely hood that I will use those facilities?

We will be returning to the hotel for afternoon break and plan, that is the magic word Ha Ha, on being in our hotel no later than 9:00pm.

Would love to hear your opinions. Pack clothes for each day or for half the days and plan on doing a load of laundry.

Thanks

 

[dsnycrzy]

Will you have a down day? A day just to sit by the pool and relax? I do laundry (and confess I still overpack) but I put the load in, sit by the pool with the kids. Got back and put them in the dryer and go back to the pool and by the time that hour and a half is up, it time to go to bed or to dinner. I do stay off sit though and the hotel laundry is right outside the pool so it works for me but I have also did it when I stayed at the reort that used to be the dixie landings and the laundry was outside that pool also and that night almost eveyone one of us were doing laundry and enjoying the pool that night.

 

[ksumn1]

I'm the SAME way. I overpack and am really trying to tone it down this time. We're going for 7 nights, 8 days and we're taking an afternoon break for a few hours every day, so I plan on putting the laundry on, hit the pool a little, out clothes in the dryer back to the pool and then get clothes out. Back to the room with clean clothes and get ready for dinner. I still tend to take a few extra outfits for hte kids, especially my 3 yr old who's potty training, but for DH and I 6 pair of shorts, capris etc, maybe 8 or 9 shirts and that's it!

 

[Boncho]

I guess it all depends on whether or not you mind doing laudry on your vacation. We always go back to the resort for a swim or whatever after lunch. I always pack 1 pair of shorts and 2 t-shirts per day per person with 1 extra outfit just in case - you see, I don't do laundry on vacation, some people don't mind but I figure - I'm on vacation and we have lots of clothes to do us the whole time we are there (I'll be doing laundry as soon as I get home anyway) If you don't mind doing laundry on your vacation, by all means, take fewer clothes and throw a load in the washer while you're sitting by the pool.

 

[720L]

I would pack less and do laundry if you are going to take a break at the hotel. (And you should spend time at the hotel if you are staying at AKL!--it is beautiful) One thing to keep in mind is sometimes there won't be a machine/dryer available right when you need it. This happened to me last time at AKL. I ended up having to bring wet clothes back to the room and dry them at night when we got back from the parks. Also, bring your own detergent/laundry softener if you can--if not be sure to bring lots of quarters.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

We've learned over the past few years to pack very little and throw a few loads in. We prefer it this way because we absolutely hate to have too much with us on vacation. I think it is worth the effort.

 

[Hannathy]

For a trip of your length I wouldn't plan on washing. We do when we are going for 10 days but not for 5 nights. You only have 1 kid and they are young, 8 pairs of shorts and T-shirts aren't going to take up much room. I'd only take 1 pair of pants and figure he could rewear them if it got cool. You will easily be able to pack enough for 1 child for 1 week in a small suitcase so why take precious time washing, because like others said with that short of a trip will you have a down day?

 

[mickeyfan2]

We usually just pack for that length but do laundry for a longer stay.

 

[In Luv with Disney]

Since I usually stay in a timeshare unit, I ALWAYS do laundry!!! With that said, I also tend to STILL overpack! But I always come home with clean clothes, which is PRICELESS. I can just put my clothes away when I get home.

 

[WeLoveThePoly]

I have a tendency to overpack too but I think I'm getting better. I try to pack several shirts that match a single pair of shorts and then try to wear the shorts more than once. The one thing I always wish I had packed more of is socks and underwear! Many times we'll head back to the resort to mid-day to freshen up, maybe take a quick shower, and I just put the clothes I had been wearing back on. But, I don't want to put on sweaty socks and underwear (oh, that's gross).

Oh, and one year I forgot to pack any underwear for DD! I spent a small fortune on Tinkerbell undies at one of the Polynesian's gift shops!

I don't like to laundry when I'm on vacation. Heck, I don't like to do it when I'm at home!

Debbie

 

[pezpam]

I'm in the 'doing laundry while you hang at the pool' camp, but I really only plan on that for trips over 7 days long. When we're there for 10 days, doing laundry halfway through allows me the luxury of fewer suitcases to wrestle with (esp. as the only adult....) and also of leaving clean clothes at home so I don't have to do laundry at 11pm when we get home. For less than 7 days, we're not taking all of our clean clothes to begin with and the luggage savings is negligible, so I don't bother with laudry on the trip.

 

[lorrainesy]

I always pack enough clothes, plus an additional one set for each four days I'll be there (If I am there 12 days I bring enough for 15 days) then I wash them the day before we leave. I can't stand the thought of strangers at the airport looking at my dirty clothes. Plus it is much easier coming home to unpack clean clothes then it is to do laundry.

 

[disneyluv4]

I wouldn't since you are staying 5 nights, if any longer I would, but I wouldn't want to take my time up doing laundry!

 

[julsmom]

I have one DD and we go for 9 days. I do laundry at the hotel and I would recommend it. I was pleasantly surprised the first time because I expected a typical hotel laundry room (tiny, insufficient). The ones at Disney (that I have seen) are more like a laundromat. There are many machines so I don't feel bad leaving it for a little bit. You definitely can put it in and come back when it is done. Ours have been near the pool and have big windows so they do make it as nice as it can be. Otherwise I would maybe struggle just to pack us all enough complete outfits.

DD (5)

 

[Schmeck]

The laundry room at AKL is right by one entrance to the pool, and it's inside the building (not a building of it's own like at BC/YC) so it makes laundry a bit easier. The washers are great, but the dryers tend to take a long time to get the clothes completely dry. I've found that one load of wash needs to be placed in two dryers sometimes, or it never dries.

Also, my laundry has been taken out of a dryer and dumped (still wet) and someone else has used the rest of the time on the dryer. Now I don't do laundry at AKL unless I can spend an hour curled up on one of the comfy chairs there with a book. That way, my laundry won't get dumped...

 

[aubriee]

I pack enough clothes for one outfit a day, plus one extra. Of course I don't have small kids. I can't stand to come home with dirty clothes however, so always wash the day before we leave, so all I have to do when we get home is unpack clean clothes.

But hey, I'm also the one who supercleans the house and makes sure absolutely everything is cleaned, dusted, mopped, vacumned, put up, etc, the night before we leave home, because I can't stand to come home to a dirty house either.

 

[ajvaca]

Thanks everyone

What a big help this has been. I love having this forum to ask stupid questions that my husband would think are crazy.

 

[budbeerlady]

We didnt, I took two sets of clothes for DD a day, but Dh and I only had 1 set per day. You dont get that dirty at WDW, just maybe sweaty. I wouldnt want to take my vacation time to do laundry. So I took lots of shirts and did rewear a pair of jeans at the end when our trip was colder than I had planned on it being. Shorts and t-shirts dont take up that much room for us.

 

[clonetothebone]

I wouldn't since you are staying 5 nights, if any longer I would, but I wouldn't want to take my time up doing laundry!

I agree. 5 days isn't enough time to even see all there is at the parks let alone take out time for laundry.

 

[DisneyArk]

I wouldn't since you are staying 5 nights, if any longer I would, but I wouldn't want to take my time up doing laundry!

I agree. We've done laundry at WDW, but only out of necessity. On our first trip we went in December and it was VERY hot. We had to wash shorts mid week.

Another thing that might sound crazy, but I have my sons wear different clothes every day because I'm taking so many pictures of them.

Just remember that sometimes all of the washers and dryers are full and you have to wait!! Time is money at WDW.