When to Pack

[zshellmatt]

So we have about 74 days til our trip and I was wondering when is a good time to start packing. We are so excited because its our 1st official family vacation and our 1st trip to Disney. We will be staying offsite for two weeks to go to Disney and Universal/ IOA and then stay a week at Siesta Key. I was thinking we would start packing about 30 days out. What do you all think?

 

[chocovrdmicears]

I don't think it is ever to early to start packing!

I have a Disney suitcase that I keep our Disney things in - Disney ponchos - trading PINS - and I add to it all the time. I found some cute Mickey Mouse antibacterial wipes that I picked up a few weeks ago and tossed them in there. We are about 2 months out so I will start organizing and start picking up a few things I know we will need (sponges and dishsoap, travel size laundry detergent, hand sanitizer, extra medicines, bandaids, sunscreen..etc).
We are supposed to get another 6+ inches of snow tonight so tomorrow I plan on dragging out all our luggage and start packing a few things..and I am making our countdown calendar. After all this flipping snow May cannot get here soon enough!

 

[2Tiggies]

I know people who pack months ahead and shrink wrap the bags so nobody goes in them.

Me? I pack the night before I'm less likely to forget stuff if I put it all in at one time and seal the bags. I also have a Disney suitcase in the attic though. There is stuff in there that we don't use any other time of the year so I clean them and re-pack them when we are home from a trip, ready for the next year

 

[CarolineB]

It probably depends if you have enough clothes to pack them up early - if you're not wearing the clothes that you're taking on vacation, then go ahead and pack them as long as you're not worried about wrinkles. You could make a list of what's already in the suitcase of simply check items off a list. Happy Packing!

 

[ironpig70]

I start filling a box of stuff a month or two before as I come across stuff. I hit the dollar stor and places like Goodwill to help stretch the budget.

A couple weeks prior I start rounding up the lanyards, water bottles and back packs.

Clothes are with in last 24 hours.

 

[Peachkins]

Another one here that usually packs the night before. Honestly, I don't have enough clothes to go packing stuff up weeks ahead of time. I might start a week out, but the bulk of my packing will be done a day or two before the trip.

 

[ZoZo]

Another one here that usually packs the night before. Honestly, I don't have enough clothes to go packing stuff up weeks ahead of time. I might start a week out, but the bulk of my packing will be done a day or two before the trip.

I usually go in October, and so I tend to put some of my summer clothes (shorts, sandals) aside as I'm putting them away in the fall (thinking ahead about what I would want to have on my trip). That way, I don't have to dig through all of my off-season clothes.

But if was traveling "in season" with the current clothes i'm using, I would probably start packing my clothes about a week ahead of time. But I do update my packing list a month or two out from my trip, and indicate the number of items in each category that I want to bring (i.e. five pairs of shorts, two pairs of sandals, etc.).

I do keep a Disney Box with Disney-specific stuff (ponchos, etc.) that don't get used other places.

 

[backpacktwang]

We leave Saturday and are pretty much already packed! I didn't start even making my list until about a month out though.

 

[ricosuave]

I MAKE myself wait until 30 days out. It kills me! I want to pack now

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

I don't pack anything at all until the night before we leave. The day before we leave I do all the laundry and make sure all our clothes are clean that we want to take then the evening before I pack up.

This trip in April I am taking I won't even pack until the morning we are leaving because our flight doesn't leave until 6 pm in the evening.

 

[jenjersnap]

I have Disney Rubbermaid bin that has all the disney trip relevant stuff. i toss things in there as I buy them. I am thinking about wardrobe and special orders already, but actual packing won't start until a few days before we leave.

 

[wdw71]

I start collecting things like a new shampoo and hairspray and new tooth brushed etc etc a out a month or so out but I don't put anything in a suitcase until the day before we leave

 

[wdw71]

I always go with new shampoo hairspray and tooth brushes etc etc ( weird huh?) so I start to collect that sort of stuff a month or two out. I will start to gather and organize as many clothes as I can a out a week out but I don't pack clothes until the day before we leave.

 

[wdw71]

Sorry I duplicated my entry my son bumped my arm and I didn't see it go through

 

[2Tiggies]

Another one here that usually packs the night before.

I'm relieved to have some company here The worst I ever did was in 2010 when I did a surprise trip for DD and worked until lunch time the day we left for the airport. I had 2 hours to pack before I ran to get her from school because there was nowhere I could hide the luggage if I did it before. Even for me, that's a never again experience

 

[Maleficent Dragon]

We start packing about 1 week before. I think anything before that is too early. Maybe others don't have much to focus on other than vacation so they start packing early??? 1 week is more than enough for us. I need time to get laundry done, the house cleaned, school and work sorted and then I can decide what to put in a suitcase. Most times we pack 1 - 2 days before. I use a checklist and it makes it very easy. I do, however, put travel items, trading pins, etc aside as I collect them.

 

[gtpoohbear]

I always pack the day before we leave, since we always fly out very early in the morning. I can't do the packing-weeks-in-advance-thing because 90% of what we take is stuff we use/wear every day!

It actually makes that last day before the trip fun - it sort of feels like the trip has started already I blast Disney music through the whole house all day and let the packing frenzy begin

 

[TwinkleKS]

We have a long drive to the airport, so we drive there the day before. Normally I leave work at noon on Friday, go home and pack for myself and the three youngest that can't pack themselves, then we pick them up at the babysitters on the way out of town.

Our last trip all of our luggage was stolen on Friday night (DH's fault, he insisted on leaving everything in the car at the hotel). So we went to Kohl's and I managed to replace an entire weeks worth of clothes for four people in 15 minutes

I do start buying little things for the plane ride for the kids ahead of time and set all of that aside.

 

[Snooks23]

I started packing a month and a half ago.. We aren't going until July 22nd. I kind of just buy things for the trip & put them in the suit case. I'm always packing early though.

 

[backpacktwang]

We start packing about 1 week before. I think anything before that is too early. Maybe others don't have much to focus on other than vacation so they start packing early??? 1 week is more than enough for us. I need time to get laundry done, the house cleaned, school and work sorted and then I can decide what to put in a suitcase. Most times we pack 1 - 2 days before. I use a checklist and it makes it very easy. I do, however, put travel items, trading pins, etc aside as I collect them.

Actually, it is the opposite for us. I start packing early because we have too much going on. I just do a tiny bit at a time and check it off on a list. If we tried to do it all at once, we would never be able to get it done and actually sleep the night before the trip.