When do YOU start packing?

[Carlyzmom]

How early before your trip do you start packing? I am an early packer. But since this is a secret trip, I have to be careful. I just get so excited. Also, I'm OCD so I don't want to forget anything!!

 

[KUFamily]

We leave in just under 3 weeks, and I started packing about two weeks ago! . U could say I'm a tad OCD, too! Plus I teach and we leave the day after school gets out, so it's super busy from now till the end of the year! Hope u have a great trip!

 

[firsttimer4]

We leave in 11 days. I have been packing for about 2 weeks. This is our first trip to Disney and our first real family vacation so I'm super excited!! My kids have no idea that we are going so I have been slowly packing after they go to bed.

 

[samacita]

Night before for everything other than my toiletries, which I put together the morning of as I use them. I have pretty detailed lists, so the actual packing is a quick matter of grab & go.

 

[maryannlandin]

We leave in September, and I have already started packing. I have packed our ponchos, toys for plane ride, a few disneystore tshirts and the kids travel pillows. I still have a whole lot to pack, but am more afraid about getting everything to fit than I am about forgetting anything. We don't want to pay for checking all our bags, so I am hoping to fit LOTS in our carry ons.

 

[Jerzetta]

We are going early Oct and I have a small bag started. Disney tshirts from the Disney store in sale, small toys. I am just so excited. I know I will be packed 1 week out but will have tons of revisions of packing/stuff to do lists between now and Oct.

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

I started "unofficially" packing months ago We have a plastic storage bin that has been holding our "upcoming Disney trip stuff" since the end of last summer. If I found things on sale or saw something that would come in handy for this upcoming trip (e.g., character shirts, outfits for the kids, lanyards, ponchos, etc.) it went in that bin. We are two weeks away from our trip and I got out our suitcases and started the "official" packing this past weekend. For this trip, the goal is for everyone to have their own carry on size suitcase and *small* backpack and not check any luggage so that we can just skip baggage claim and head straight to where we need to pick up our rental van. Packing for the six of us with the intent to not check luggage is an ambitious endeavor for me, so I will need two weeks to make this work

 

[courtneeey]

I started packing little things back when we had 50 days left in our countdown. We now have 6 days left until we leave and I have everything mentally packed haha, it's just a matter of actually moving it all into my suitcase!

 

[Missy13d69]

I'm also OCD and our trip was secret. I started packing about 3 months in advance. The "real" packing that is. I actually started putting stuff in suitcases a year in advance, as I bought it.

 

[mommy2_3]

how weird is this?! i just got on here and was about to ask this same question!

i have everything but clothes all together but not packed. i have nothing packed. we leave in 16 days. my kids dont have a ton of summer clothes, so i cant pack clothes till about 2 days before we leave. we leave very early on a Thursday morning. so i think i will pack Monday. Tuesday i am driving to Nebraska to pick up my husband from work. we will get back early Wed. morning, i will let him sleep while i clean and make sure we have everything. then i will wake him up so he can pick up our son from school. i will have pizza on the way so we can eat an early dinner and i can go to bed. i will then sleep from 5pm to about 2am. this way i can load up the car. i will then wake up my husband and we will put our sleeping kids in the car and head out.

 

[KGNOLA]

I started packing a week before last time, but didn't feel like I had enough time to get truly organized. Also, it was my first time going to WDW with a husband and child, so I wasn't really sure what we needed. This year, I am starting two weeks out and it should go smoothly because now I know more about what we will be needing.

 

[dylans mommy]

I usually will start about 2-3 months before we leave. I just gather things into a bucket for the trip and then about a week or 2 before the trip I bring out the suitcase.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Usually the day before.

 

[Noerdax]

1 or 2 days before depending on the time of our flight.

 

[luvmy2babies]

Ah, packing for Disney. I've packed for a couple surprise trips. I'm so grateful for my walk-in closet. We leave in 24 days (technically 23) and my two don't know yet. Nothing is in a suitcase, but our stuff from last year's trip that I can use again or that didn't get used last year for whatever reason (park bags, misting fan, hats, left over princess accessories, dd's Ariel twirl skirt and Minnie Mouse pillowcase dress, dd's lanyard, and some other stuff) went into a box right after last year's trip so I would know what I had and avoid repurchasing those things if/when we went again. As I've made purchases for our upcoming trip like this year's autograph books and dd's pettiskirt for BBB, I've added them to that box. That way it is easier to pack when the time comes.

I've purchased the childrens summer clothes but combined with the fact dd wears uniforms to school and the fact that the warm weather hasn't really shown up for long here in NC, they haven't worn much of it. Dd has worn a couple of her shirts, but none of her shorts or skorts. Ds has worn a few of his shirts and one pair of shorts. I do still need to get their pool shoes, but I have their swim wear.

Our dates at Disney are May 31st to June 8th and I'm glad its almost here. Dd gets out of school a week before we leave. She's in private school and since they have next to no teachers workdays, they are done May 23rd. She'll spend part of that following week at a local child care center I usually use to bridge the time between the last day of school and when her summer camp opens. Ds will continue at preschool. Then on Thursday, May 30th, I'll get off work at 1:00 and pick them up between 1:30 and 2:00. Going home to freshen up first, but I hope to be on the road by 3:00 so we can get to Savannah by 8:30 or 9:00. Just me driving so we're staying the night there, then driving the rest of the way on the 31st.

I'll probably start packing once dd is out of school. Included in packing of course is laundering anything that is dirty that we need to take with us. This time it will also include shopping for snacks, non-perishable breakfast items and drinks here since we're driving down to Florida. My checklist however, that I use to pack, is done already.

 

[d3boyz]

When travelling alone, I do packing the morning I'm leaving for the airport. That's only because I know exactly what I need ... since it's for work, it doesn't change appreciably.

When going with the family, and ESPECIALLY if it's a surprise, I start with a list of the activities planned. That, coupled with expected weather conditions, helps pare down the list of items to pack. The detail explained here is most useful when the kids are young ... my younger boys graduate from high school next year, and the oldest will graduate from college the year after, so it's not as helpful for me now! (and it's super hard to surprise them these days!)

After determining the expected weather and activities, I would consider the clothing that they all have that's the same, or nearly the same. Given that the parks are crowded, I dressed the boys alike so they were easier to find if they got away from us (and this DID happen on more than one occasion, I'm sorry to say!) I would pack, for each boy, a pair of shorts, shirt, undies, socks, and diapers (when they were very small) into one plastic grocery store bag, tie the handles together, and staple a paper tag through the holes with a description of the items within written on it. If my husband chose a particular racing shirt or whatever to wear on a day, often boys had similar matching shirts and for that day, the boys would be dressed like Daddy! When the clothing was to be used, I removed the tag and saved the bag. The dirty clothes would go in that same bag at the end of the day, was tied up, and ready to pack for the trip home.

One thing I forgot here ... I found it MUCH easier (learned from trips to daycare at 0500) to bathe the boys at night, and dress them from the next day before bed. Their clothing was only t-shirts and shorts without pockets, so there was nothing extra on it to annoy them as they slept. They woke already dressed for the day, and that saved LOTS of hassles (especially with one autistic boy).

Bagging everything, I found that I was not losing articles of clothing anymore AND this process served us well on the many roadtrips we would take!

d3boyz

 

[DisneyBliss7]

Probably about three weeks before we go....But I have been buying things for Disney and putting them aside. Mainly just fun things for the kids. I can't wait to start packing

 

[wiigirl]

I set stuff out for about a month before...but it doesn't go into suitcases and carry-ons until the night before.

 

[Freesia123]

I'm already making my lists and we leave in ten weeks. I'm also picking things up here and there. I'm going to restrain from actual packing until The first week of July. It's going to be hard to restrain myself!!!

 

[TheShea's]

The night before.