What should you have brought that you forgot??

[Julma]

We did the Magic cruise earlier this year. There are some great packing ideas on that link. One was an over-the-door shoe holder. Now this is a life saver when you are in a small cabin (more like a closet) on a ship, but I think it serves a purpose for a hotel room as well. Hang it over the bathroom door, it is a great place to put glasses, wallets, suntan lotion, room key, two-ways, etc.

 

[Strings]

A must have for us is our Brita water bottles We carry a regular bottle of water and our Britas. It keeps us hydrated through the morning. I also take our eyeglass prescriptions and extra sunglasses.

 

[momxx5]

I haven't read this thread all the way through but.....

I forgot our walkie-talkies and I was pretty upset about it for the first few days. DH and DS love to ride the thrill rides. We(me and other kiddies) spent "ALOT" of time waiting around to meet up with them.

Next time I will not forget them!

 

[danacath]

Hey, Strings--We just moved out here from Rochester, MI a couple of years ago. It's nice to see a familiar address on these boards! Re: water bottles--I always take them along, but it seems like more and more people are taking Brita water bottles. Are there specific things that you like better about Brita water bottles? I'm thinking about giving them a try.

Julma--Glad you brought up the over-the-door shoe holder idea. We used one last year when we stayed at BWV and it worked great! Since we had 4 people in the room, we each got a vertical row of "holders" to ourselves for toiletries, etc. Everyone knew right where their stuff was and it kept the countertops free of clutter. The one glitch was that the hooks on our holder wouldn't fit over the bathroom door at BWV, but we just hung it over the clothes rod in the closet and that worked just fine.

 

[sanilacjack]

gets my vote.
If you have small children, its a god sent. Most hotel bathrooms have really bright lights and the fan that runs..
It's a must for us.
Of course, I can't tell you how many we have left behind!!!!

-Kim

 

[Strings]

Danacath,
I haven't run into any other DIS members from Rochester/Auburn Hills area yet. Hello! In answer to your question. The Brita water bottles have a Brita filter inside them. To me th water in Florida tastes funky. The brita cleans this out. It is a nice supplement to bottle water. I got mine at Farmer Jack's. I've seen posts that they have them at Walmart and Target as well. Mine was $7.99.

 

[danacath]

Strings-- Travelbug, a DVC member/family member of mine, lives in Rochester Hills. You'll probably run into a Travelbug post or two at some point. Thanks for the info on Brita water bottles. Normally I pride myself on not being a picky person, but I, too, really noticed the "funky" water taste last year when I refilled at Epcot. Will probably go pick up a Brita from Target for our upcoming trip.


Another item I wish I had had on our last trip is some type of earplugs/earmuffs for DD, age 2, who got frightened by the noise level of Illuminations fireworks. This year she'll be prepared!

 

[sters]

Batter charger for my cell phone(s).

 

[mecook]

The 16 pocket over-the-door shoe bag was a lifesaver! I got that idea from the DIS cruise board. Not much space on an All Stars vanity either.

Clothespins for the retractable clothesline over the bathtub. Clothespins also clip the curtains together so light doesn't come in.

I used moleskin for the first time. If I hadn't of had it for my heels, I could not have walked Thursday night and Friday. Wonderful stuff!!! It won't creep like bandaids do.

We took a nightlight but never used it. Instead, we would hang DD's glow necklace over the bathroom doorknob and it was 'just right'...not too much light. It would still be glowing the next morning.

Speaking of glow necklaces...take your own from Walmart's halloween section ($1.84 I think) or from Dollar Tree.
The Dollar Tree package ($1.00) has 6 "sticks" and connectors. One package will make 2 necklaces. 50 cents is much better than $3.50 for a WDW version!!! I took a package for every night-time attraction we were planning to see.

Be sure to take enough film. You DON'T want to buy theirs. DH bought DD her own disposable camera when I wouldn't let her shoot pictures with my 35mm. It was $18.99 and tax!!!!
I also took an extra battery for my camera and an extra "button" battery for the camcorder. Never needed either, but I had them.

Take ziplock bags in assorted sizes. Be sure to carry a large one in your backpack with your ponchos inside it. Then if you wear them, you'll have a place to store them without wetting everything else in the backpack.
We also used a gallon size to store our resort mugs from morning till we returned for snack or supper. Saved toting them to and from the room like we did the last time.

Take headache meds for you AND your kids with you at all times. If you don't, you'll be returning to the resort for kids tylenol or motrin.

Don't buy the $0.97 lanyard at Walmart and think it will keep your tickets/money dry at the water park. It has holes where the straps connect. To compensate, I put money and ticket cards into a small ziplock...still had wet money.

Take enough money with you to water parks to buy the photos they make. A 5x7 is 12.95 and I didn't have enough left after eating to buy ours. Boo hoo!

Take your own peanut butter and bread if your kid likes it. They only sell "uncrustables" pbj. They have little "pots" of pnb (think margarine or jelly). They were 50 cents apiece!

If you won't be relying on cell phones, take a phone card with you at all times. I couldn't find my DH and DD where they were supposed to wait for me after I rode Test Track a 2nd time without them. I finally had to call his cell phone. It cost me 50 cents for the initial call and 1.50 more for the longdistance part. I only happened to have the change because I was carrying pennies and quarters for the penny pressing machines. Otherwise, I'd have had to ask passersby if I could borrow their cell phone.

If you are addicted to a white noise machine or fan to sleep by, take yours if you are driving and can. I didn't take our little fan and I missed it terribly. I would still be awake 1.5 hours after going to bed...listening to noise outside our building.

We took extra hangers (the kind from the dry cleaners). It's a good thing too.

Don't forget camcorder charger and cell phone charger!
Memory for digital cameras if you have those.

Carry a little notepad and pen to make notes about what you did or what you paid for stuff.

Take your kid's own Disney stuffed animals, old mouse ears, etc. back with you. No need to buy more of the same stuff.

Bag each person's socks, undies, hankies, etc. in individual gallon size bags. I unpacked each of us into one dresser drawer apiece. It was much better than living out of a suitcase for a week.

Take a medicine bag. Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it. Pepto, headache meds, rolaids, itch cream, sunburn treatment, bug spray, Immodium, bandaids, moleskin, little scissors for the moleskin. One more hint...if the bug spray and itch cream are not WITH you every night, they won't do any good in the suitcase!!! Same for keeping headache stuff and moleskin with you.

I've run out of ideas for now. I'll write more if I think of anything else. Melanie