Would you try it? Packing

[Blessedwithboys]

We have a 7 night trip planned in 10 days (well 11 but today is almost over right?!) I am in packing mode and was wondering what you all think. We are a family of 4 DH and I and two little boys 5 and 2.5. We are flying Spirit Airline (have flown them before) and have to pay for each piece of checked luggage. Is it crazy to consider trying to pack my family to two suitcases? I am thinking that it would be worth the 60.00 to wash a load half way through the trip allowing me half the PJ's and undies and shorts. We each get a personal item free of charge so I am carrying on a small duffel, two backpacks and a childs backpack (all within the regulation size). Do you think its worth it to try and fit our stuff in 2?? 60.00 can buy a lot of Mickey bars and Dole Whips!! Actually it would pay for 1/2 of our tips! That is a big deal.

 

[3BoysRDisneyFreaks]

We have a 7 night trip planned in 10 days (well 11 but today is almost over right?!) I am in packing mode and was wondering what you all think. We are a family of 4 DH and I and two little boys 5 and 2.5. We are flying Spirit Airline (have flown them before) and have to pay for each piece of checked luggage. Is it crazy to consider trying to pack my family to two suitcases? I am thinking that it would be worth the 60.00 to wash a load half way through the trip allowing me half the PJ's and undies and shorts. We each get a personal item free of charge so I am carrying on a small duffel, two backpacks and a childs backpack (all within the regulation size). Do you think its worth it to try and fit our stuff in 2?? 60.00 can buy a lot of Mickey bars and Dole Whips!! Actually it would pay for 1/2 of our tips! That is a big deal.

I pack 6 of us into 1 small suitcase and do laundry. If trip is 6 days I pack 3 outfits. We are flying Spirit I October and I am already planning carry on packing.

 

[ahem]

I am in a similar situation when we go in December. I am prepared to do some laundry mid-week to keep us in 2 suitcases. You are right, Pj's can be re-worn if you are just sleeping in them!!! Good luck

 

[FUNMAMADIS]

I just packed myself and my two preschoolers stuff into one large suitcase. My husband's stuff will all go into a carry on. I also have a backpack for my carry on. Packing each days clothing into a ziplock bag and squeezing the air out really helped everything fit!

 

[JessM]

I think you could absolutely do 2 suitcases. My DBF and I always share a suitcase for our week long vacations and we don't even do laundry! Your kids clothes will all be relatively small so roll em up and pack em tight!

 

[mousehunter3]

We packed our family of 5 into two large suitcases. We also brought two smaller carry on rolling suitcases. We did not have to do laundry while on our trip and we stayed 8 nights.

 

[Blessedwithboys]

Thanks all!! You give me hope I am going to do a trial run before I commit to it and buy my bags but I really am thinking I can do it.

 

[Blessedwithboys]

I am in a similar situation when we go in December. I am prepared to do some laundry mid-week to keep us in 2 suitcases. You are right, Pj's can be re-worn if you are just sleeping in them!!! Good luck

You are right!! My boys do get sweaty at night I feel so maybe I can just pack half the amount of PJS and undies and wash half way through for all of us! How much is it to do a load of laundry?? Anyone know off hand?

 

[disneymom3]

You are right!! My boys do get sweaty at night I feel so maybe I can just pack half the amount of PJS and undies and wash half way through for all of us! How much is it to do a load of laundry?? Anyone know off hand?

I don't exactly recall the cost but I definitely remember thinking it was very reasonable. Bring some little packets of laundry soap though! That was ridiculously pricey.

 

[FiggieFan]

Last trip was Feb 2014 and we did laundry twice. We have found we always pack too many clothes and just lug things back and forth so we have been making an effort to pack lighter. Bring your own dryer sheets. I should have brought my own detergent but didn't last trip because I prefer liquid detergent and didn't want to carry that - I will next time! If I recall, the washer's were $1.50 and I believe the dryers were the same. They took quarters so I always bring a few rolls with me, but they have recently updated POFQ wash rooms to take credit cards. I haven't heard or read any updates or that any other resorts have switched over yet. I know there was some concern that the machines took credit cards and not the KTTW cards, but I believe POFQ was the test site. Have a great trip!

 

[alc571]

I'd be the first person to say you're not crazy at all. I pack three of us (me, DH and DS7) into three carry-ons! I refuse to pay baggage fees, and now we hate waiting for bags too. We have three carry-on sized duffles, and then I carry a small backpack and DS7 carries a small backpack with his "plane entertainment" in it. That's it! Our last trip to WDW was 9 days and I didn't do laundry, and we didn't wear the same outfits more than once! (Well...DH wore the same shorts every day..but the rest of us wore different clothes!)

 

[Meshell2002]

I think someone else mentioned it is now $2 to wash and $2 to dry at Riverside.

If I was flying and paying baggage fees I would let every ticketed passenger use their allotment for carry on baggage and the kids carry on space would definitely help with that! You can mix all the clothes together as long as they fit

 

[wiigirl]

We packed our family of 5 into two large suitcases. We also brought two smaller carry on rolling suitcases. We did not have to do laundry while on our trip and we stayed 8 nights.

 

[squirrel]

Don't forget to roll the shirts and shorts. I also put each outfit into a ziplock bag with socks and underwear. Makes it so easy to get dressed each day.

 

[maxiesmom]

There are a lot of great How to Pack videos on Youtube. One I really liked showed a man rolling some things for the bottom layer, and then the top layer was laid out flat and then the ends all folded in. He crammed a lot into one bag that way!

 

[cfriend416]

I don't mean to state the obvious, but even if everything fits, make sure your bags are under the weight limit! I don't know what it is for Spirit Airlines, but it's 50lbs for many airlines. If your bags are overweight, it's often a greater fee than a second bag. If you plan on bringing back souvenirs, remember to save weight for them too.

 

[aylarosie]

Definately try to pack lighter. Washing while there is a plus if you need it.My Daughter took some dryer-laundry sheets with her and they worked great.Last year I stayed at port orleans riverside, the laundry was right at the "quiet" pool. I notice a couple of families enjoying lunch at the pool while the laundry was being done. Seems better than paying extra to take more stuff. Have fun.

 

[mm1971]

We have a 7 night trip planned in 10 days (well 11 but today is almost over right?!) I am in packing mode and was wondering what you all think. We are a family of 4 DH and I and two little boys 5 and 2.5. We are flying Spirit Airline (have flown them before) and have to pay for each piece of checked luggage. Is it crazy to consider trying to pack my family to two suitcases? I am thinking that it would be worth the 60.00 to wash a load half way through the trip allowing me half the PJ's and undies and shorts. We each get a personal item free of charge so I am carrying on a small duffel, two backpacks and a childs backpack (all within the regulation size). Do you think its worth it to try and fit our stuff in 2?? 60.00 can buy a lot of Mickey bars and Dole Whips!! Actually it would pay for 1/2 of our tips! That is a big deal.

I would pack into 2 cases and do laundry. We did laundry half way through our trip this year during pool time and it worked out very well. The machines are by the pool. Next time we'll pack less and plan to do laundry again. We fly Southwest so no fees for bags, but still seems much easier to bring half the clothes and do one afternoon of laundry. Have a great trip.

 

[My2Qtz0205]

Yup. We just did a 5 night stay in August, and I packed for myself and my 2 children (ages 10 and 7) in one large suitcase. I packed 7 outfits for each of us, allowing 2 outfits per day in the sticky August weather, plus bathing suits and 2 pairs of shoes each. I did laundry on the morning of our last park day. I used Space Bags to make everything fit.

 

[jennylyn_b]

We can pack for the three of us in one suitcase. DH, dd who will be three and myself. We also have a diaper bag carryon and a small duffle. However, we recently started using two suitcases for more room for all the things we pick up for dd while there lol Our trips are usually 11-15 nights and we do laundry once or maybe twice during the trip. Actually DH does it. He says since I do it all year I get the vacation off! Lol