What is your not so normal item to pack, which is helpful while at WDW ?

[fairy oma]

I love to wear flip flops in the parks (call me crazy but I just can't do socks and shoes) But sometimes they can break (for me it's usually the strap by your toes) So I'm planning on bringing bread bag ties for our upcoming trip. If my shoe breaks in the park and I'm in a jam, I just slip the tie onto the strap on the underside of my shoe. It holds in place for quite a while and saves me having to buy new ones!

Paper clips work even better for broken flipflops and fit more snugly against the bottom of your shoe.

 

[fairy oma]

I always pack a power strip (so many things to charge at the end of the day and not enough outlets in the rooms).

Johnstons Foot Soak for those days when your dogs are barking from walking...a 20 minute soak does wonders.

Immodium, pain relievers, Bonamine (motion sickness).

Our new favorite is a solar powered battery charger; you can clip it to your backpack or the stroller and recharge those cell phones when you need to.

A Target $3 sweater closet organizer. These are great on the clothes rack in moderates and value resorts...clothes stay neat and organized. I usually place each day's matching shirt and shorts/capris together and stack them accordingly in the cubes. You don't have to think in the morning...just grab and go.

 

[MrsHeg]

This may have been added already, but I like to bring air freshener, (especially for the bathroom)

 

[fairy oma]

Nightlights with motion detectors for the bathroom so the everyone can softly see where they are going...and they automatically turn themselves off after a short period of time. We don't travel without them.

They can be found at Wal-mart, Home Depot or Lowe's.

 

[indyannamom]

A foaming hand soap dispenser. The kids can't do bar soap without taking forever and making a huge mess on the counter.

 

[Nechville]

For those that bring their own foaming hand soap -- do you bring a regular size bottle or do they make travel sized ones?

 

[CTdaizy]

We bring our own foamy soap- just buy the cheap full-size one for .99 at Walmart and leave it when you leave. For the sake of the mess, .99 is cheap!

 

[mort1331]

Only read the first 15( trying for 15 per night) but the one I havent seen yet
is a baby change pad. Now my dds 4 and 8 have been out of diapers for some time now,,yea,,,but have kept the 2 portable change pads for when we want to sit for parades or fireworks, or anywhere the wife doesnt think is nice. They have a plastic side that wipes down nice and put that on the ground side. Folds away into nothing. Also use it on the water rides for a semi dry tush.

 

[Radiorox]

-Lights for the windows along with a timer in case I am not in the room.

-Power strip - Even solo, I like to plug that puppy somewhere and just charge all my stuff on there - Camera, phone, etc. Defo important if you go with more than just yourself. Disney has outlets in many parts of the rooms but, they are in hiding. Hehehe.

-Mini Lysol (or big Lysol) (found at the travel section of most places) just to spritz the air vents and freshen the room a bit between Mousekeeping visits. Also works to keep shoes smelling fresh! I also spritz the bed sheets.

-Wipes - Both the Lysol/Bleach kind and the ones you can use on yourself. Regardless as to how clean the hotel is, I like to wipe down hard surfaces. Especially if I am going to eat on them. I'll use the Lysol one to wipe down the remote which is sometimes very gross.

-Lip balm or body glide - Apply to feet, prevent blisters.


I drive up so, I know some people can't do this unless you ship ahead but...
-Small coffee pot if I stay at the Values. And coffee of course! I LOVE coffee... HAVE TO HAVE coffee . Before last year I would get the resort mug and have my heart's content of beverages but, since I do not drink sodas anymore, I can't justify paying for only coffee. (Mods and up have coffee pots in the rooms)

-Air Purifier - Not so much for a smelly room (which in 20+ trips I only had ONE musty smelly room) but for the noise it makes which drowns out some of the resort noise. I am not a light sleeper but, I need dark and quiet to fall asleep.

 

[cattywampus]

For those that bring their own foaming hand soap -- do you bring a regular size bottle or do they make travel sized ones?

Regular size. Cheap enough and you'd be surprised how much you will use. Toss the rest.

Other tip: I change toothbrushes a few day before I leave and start using the new one. Gives old one enough time to dry before packing. Then I throw it away at the end of the trip.

 

[Heidi K]

I just have to thank the wonderful people on this thread for the tip of using disposable drink lids to catch the drips of Mickey bars. I used them many times throughout our trip and I had several cast members compliment the idea!

This thread really helped me create an awesome packing list.

 

[fairy oma]

The packets of Gatorade...self contained and you can add them to your bottle of water to replenish some of the electrolytes in the heat and humidity.

 

[nkereina]

The packets of Gatorade...self contained and you can add them to your bottle of water to replenish some of the electrolytes in the heat and humidity.

Another bonus of this is that you can re-fill your water bottle at drinking fountains and use the gatorade packet to mask the taste of that Florida water

 

[keahgirl8]

Another bonus of this is that you can re-fill your water bottle at drinking fountains and use the gatorade packet to mask the taste of that Florida water

Does anything really mask it? I've tried the Crystal Light for this and I still taste it! The only thing that comes close to working for me so far is the Camelbak with a filter.

 

[Chuckers]

The packets of Gatorade...self contained and you can add them to your bottle of water to replenish some of the electrolytes in the heat and humidity.

I bring a couple of the small squeeze bottles of concentrate liquid and collapsible cups. I can get water from a water fountain (instead of waiting in line for a cup or pay for a bottle) and add enough liquid to make it taste good.

Just make sure you close the lid of the concentrate bottle tight... My whole camera bag smelled like Ice Tea for a day... oops.

 

[quakechicago]

I just thought of something else since I'm packing for another trip. I bring hibiclens packets and individual soap packets instead of other wipes or antibacterial goo.

They're pretty much the only thing that works on norovirus, C-diff, and everything else ghnasty and they continue working for hours.

 

[k_hase]

At home my son uses an old iphone as a noise machine. We use the sleep machine app and have it plugged into an old desk top speaker thing for iphones/ipods. But I hate to carry that big speaker thing (about the size of a big shoe box and a little heavy) so I learned that if you take your iphone/ipod and, with the sound that you want to hear on, put it in a glass bowl, dish or glass it acts an amplifyer. I know. Sounds bananas but it works. I plug it in, put in on a shelf or back of the TV thing in a water glass and it is loud enough to drown out sounds.

Also, we have really old heavy luggage for our checked bags, always hitting the 50lb limit. Now I pack an empty box in it, a shoe box or larger. It eats space, weighs nothing, and means I didn't have to buy new luggage. Our other problem was that we needed to use the big bags but they were just a bit too big and everything would be a mess. The empty box makes that problem go away too.

Duplo blocks. I carry a track bag as my carry on with as many duplos as it can hold. We use them at the airport, on the plane and in the room because you can make many toys out of the one toy, they are quiet and they don't roll away. In the parks I always have a few in my bag for long lines or cranky kid problems. Sometimes it even works. A few matchbox cars do the trick as well--those line railings make great roads...

 

[djmeredith]

I just thought of something else since I'm packing for another trip. I bring hibiclens packets and individual soap packets instead of other wipes or antibacterial goo.

They're pretty much the only thing that works on norovirus, C-diff, and everything else ghnasty and they continue working for hours.

Thanks for posting about Hibiclens! I've read all of the pages at some point and do not remember ever seeing it mentioned before. I'm pretty obsessive about washing or sanitizing my hands (and my nephews when they are with me) but I had never heard of it. I looked it up and will definitely be purchasing the soap and wipes for my upcoming trips (one to Disney/Universal and a cruise).

 

[quakechicago]

Thanks for posting about Hibiclens! I've read all of the pages at some point and do not remember ever seeing it mentioned before. I'm pretty obsessive about washing or sanitizing my hands (and my nephews when they are with me) but I had never heard of it. I looked it up and will definitely be purchasing the soap and wipes for my upcoming trips (one to Disney/Universal and a cruise).

Glad I could help! It can be drying and does stay on the skin for hours killing germs so you don't need to constantly wipe.

Hope you have fun (and healthy) trips!

 

[cmstpierre]

I have two kids and I can never tell their hotel washcloths apart - even if they are replaced daily there are times when I want to wipe their faces at a mid-day break and by the evening bath I've forgotten whose is whose. So this trip I am bringing cheapo washcloths in two different colors from the dollar store for each of them.