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

[ThreeSweeties]

Love all the ideas! I'm a germaphobe too so I bring the mentioned lysol wipes. I also bring:
waterproof pillow cover and colored case. I love having something from home that is clean and soft.
Car Air freshener from Yankee Candle. They come three to a pack for about $5.00 and are thin and lightweight.
Scissors to open stuff including said air freshener.

I use the e-bags packing cubes too, one color per person. I put together outfits into gallon zipplock bags and then into the corresponding cube. Sounds like overkill but it helps to keep us all organized.

 

[jand1more]

- Noise blocking headphones for the kids. DS and DD are both very sensitive to loud noises. Having this and a small flashlight enabled them to feel comfortable in many of the rides and shows.

- Black sharpie pens for character autographs

- a small collapsable cooler bag

- Packs of wet wipes

- Zip lock bags

 

[briar]

For those who use the packing cubes, do you fold your clothes and lay them flat in the cubes or do you roll them and put them in the cubes? I've seen several people recommend rolling clothes to save space and prevent wrinkles, but think it would take up too much space if using cubes.

I always roll everything except pants. They go on top of all the rolled T-shirts and underwear, etc. We each have our own cube. Absolutely love the ease of unpacking - I've been using them for years and really think they help not only with organization but with fitting everything in.

 

[CandyHead09]

I will start a list of not so normal items to pack for use at WDW.

We bring a McDonalds takeout cardboard 4 cup holder. We bring plastic Disney cups in 4 different patterns, whcih fit into the McDonalds 4 cup holder. What we use it for is a tooth brush holder. Everyone gets a cup assigned to them, to place their toothbrush in. The toothbrushes are organized and do not touch the counter.

We also bring a power bar with at least 8 outlets in it. We use the power bar to plug in our 4 cell phones, camera batteries, ipods, and anything else which needs charging. It helps when there are only 2 or 3 plus available to charge things at night.

We bring ziplock bags in quart and gallon sizes. We use them to store any food we bring back to the room (no bugs please) and our cell phones & camera's when it rains.

What do you bring and use at WDW which are not normal items like a brush, clothes, extra sneakers ?

The shoe rack for over the bathroom door ALWAYS helpful for my sister and I!!! We have all kinds of hair things, makeup, brushes, phone chargers, MNSSHP tickets (we usually go for halloween) and things like that we dont want to lose!

Laundry hampers!!! You can take a duffel bag (as well as a personal bag) as a carry on so it makes more sense to pack everyone up in carry ons and put anything you cant carry on (hairspray, makeup, water bottles, ect.) in one or two suitcases to be checked, it's a lot cheaper! And on the one night in the middle of vacation when everyone is exhausted you can throw your laundry in read by the pool, maybe swim, shop in the gift shop, explore the hotel a bit while your waiting for your laundry to be done. It's really nice.

I like to bring my own pool towel(s) I really dont like the ones at Disney they're ok for showering but not good for the pool they dont really dry you off.

 

[Disneyhayes]

I never thought of some of these things! Totally replying to this so I can find it and come back to it later. I am so thankful to my Daddy for telling me about this forum!!!!

 

[Bearadise]

Being husband and wife, Cathy and I share a number of "common" items, thus we need to pack a bit less. As we travel using Southwest, each of us gets two checked bags free and one carry on.

We have nesting suitcases (for storage one fits inside the other), so on the trip down one of us will place one suitcase inside another suitcase. Thus having only three checked bags for the trip down, while taking four. I know we could check all four, but it's one less thing to have to keep track of on the way down. Once at WDW the extra suitcase becomes our souvenir bag for the trip home, which is why we call it three down, four back. So in essence, we "packed" a suitcase...

 

[Disneyhayes]

Being husband and wife, Cathy and I share a number of "common" items, thus we need to pack a bit less. As we travel using Southwest, each of us gets two checked bags free and one carry on.

We have nesting suitcases (for storage one fits inside the other), so on the trip down one of us will place one suitcase inside another suitcase. Thus having only three checked bags for the trip down, while taking four. I know we could check all four, but it's one less thing to have to keep track of on the way down. Once at WDW the extra suitcase becomes our souvenir bag for the trip home, which is why we call it three down, four back. So in essence, we "packed" a suitcase...

What a good idea!!! I might do the same but with a duffel bag. That way I can throw all the dirty laundry in the duffel (since folding to avoid wrinkles won't be an issue ) and pack all the souveneirs in the suitcase since they will be the most important

 

[cissy]

When we went three years ago, I got a great tip from this board that was AWESOME. Take clothespins and clip the park map to the top of the rental stroller. GREAT tip...everyone can see the map and it helps to identify your stroller from all the others. Many people came up to us and told us what a great idea it was.

Pack extra socks. After the Kali Rapids, the three year old on our trip refused to walk anymore cause her socks were wet. I had an extra pair in our stroller bag so I saved the day.

Speaking of stroller bag, since we rented a stroller, I took one. Got it cheap at Michael's and decorated it with our last name and some fun disney iron ons. Then used large plastic stroller hooks (from bRus) and left it attached to the stroller all the time. It was a lifesaver on many occasions. Put all the little stuff in it like...

extra socks
wipes
medicine
napkins
poly folder for souvenirs
chap stick
sunscreen stick
hand sanitizer
small snacks

you get the picture! This year we won't rent a stroller so I am going to make each of the kids wear a fanny pack.

Great thread....Love this board!!

 

[cissy]

Get some of the small salsa cups from Moe's (I always ask and they never mind). These are perfect for wet condiments since I hate putting ketchup on napkins. They stack and are small enough to carry in a pack.

 

[Princess_Emily]

Great tips! I have a list going already.

I just have a couple of questions that came up while reading cissy's post in this thread: I have a six and seven year old who will be turning 7 and 8 just before we go. Do you think we should rent a stroller? If so, how much do they cost?

I was thinking of bringing a backpack to the parks with snacks and frozen water, etc. - but as we will all be going on the rides together, will this pose a problem? I doubt we can bring backpacks onto the rides.

Thanks in advance!

 

[DizDragonfly]

I doubt we can bring backpacks onto the rides.

Backpacks on rides aren't a problem at Disney. It just becomes a matter of how much stuff you want to carry around all day.

eta: Also, any of the places that serve fountain drinks will give you glasses of ice water for free. On hot days, they even have a bunch already poured waiting for people to ask for them.

 

[Disneyhayes]

one thing I thought of was to pack my 2 DDs diapers in space bags (the ones you use a vacuum to suck the air out of). this way they don't take up too much room on the way down and since the diapers will be used up the bags will fold down small enough leaving room for souvenirs

 

[cissy]

We rented a double stroller when they were 5 and 6 but do not plan on getting one now that they are 8 and 9. However, NEVER say NEVER!! If we find they are complaining we may change our minds!!!

 

[Princess_Emily]

Backpacks on rides aren't a problem at Disney. It just becomes a matter of how much stuff you want to carry around all day.

eta: Also, any of the places that serve fountain drinks will give you glasses of ice water for free. On hot days, they even have a bunch already poured waiting for people to ask for them.

Ooooh, ice cold water for free? Good to know! Thanks!

 

[Princess_Emily]

We rented a double stroller when they were 5 and 6 but do not plan on getting one now that they are 8 and 9. However, NEVER say NEVER!! If we find they are complaining we may change our minds!!!

Yeah, I think I will play it by ear. I think we will try without but if they start complaining, we will get one!

 

[rhax07]

What a fabulous idea...thanks i will definately do this

 

[Blackbeltdisneygirl]

Great tips! I have a list going already.

I just have a couple of questions that came up while reading cissy's post in this thread: I have a six and seven year old who will be turning 7 and 8 just before we go. Do you think we should rent a stroller? If so, how much do they cost?

I was thinking of bringing a backpack to the parks with snacks and frozen water, etc. - but as we will all be going on the rides together, will this pose a problem? I doubt we can bring backpacks onto the rides.

Thanks in advance!

We took a stroller for our then-4 year old on my mom's orders. I didn't want to b/c she usually walks with no issues. I was wrong, and I don't say that often. She fell asleep everywhere!!! My point for you is that even my 8 year old would sit in it, and we'd have to kick her out so the little one could sit in it. We are actually purchasing a new jogging stroller for this trip. It will be sturdier and easier on the hubby's back. The airline let us take it for free, so that was nice as it helped in the airport.

The other thing we did was to leave any bags on the stroller that we weren't nervous about someone taking. No one touched them. We will take our cameras on rides and such, but this year I will take ziplocs for water rides. We had no issues last time b/c we didn't take them on any water rides, but we'll take them on this time so we don't risk the bags being stolen. We have less adults with us for most of our trip in May, so we'll have to be more careful!

 

[ajchambers1]

Moleskin to prevent blisters!

 

[bearlyanne]

a blender! for making margaritas in the room

 

[bearlyanne]

ok, two more if you are traveling with lil ones.

Bring a stepstool so they can reach the hotel bathroom sink on their own.

and this is a MUST if you are traveling with a baby on a plane...

put one the following in a sm ziploc bag....
a diaper , a disposable changing pad and an individually wrapped baby wipes . I also lucked out an found individual packets of butt wipe. That way you can just grab the bag and go, and you won't be as crowded in the tiny restroom. it also gave me more room while sitting on the plane, because I took the ziplocs and put them in the seat pocket, and stored the big bag above me,