Post your best organizational, space saving and trip making secrets here!!

[PortieOwner]

Not really fantastic ideas but I find I need plenty of clothes--2 shirts per day, 2 sets of underwear per day, and 2 sets of socks per day. And two hats! When one gets sweaty I wear the dry hat.

Make sure you bring your medicines along, especially prescriptions for things which only happen sometimes--migraines, back pain, etc.

Buy a case of water in Florida and keep 5-6 cold ones in the fridge and a few with you. That is a huge dehydration saver.

Bring multiple printouts of things like ADR reservation numbers, touringplans.com tour sheets, character locators, etc. I also brought a bound notebook with all the restaurant menus I was interested in.

Portie

 

[thelionqueen]

Just another idea..I found today (Friday) on Disneyshopping.com that the shoe organizer and stacking organizer (both fabric, portable and featuring our pal Mickey) are on sale! With another $20 off an $80 order, you may want to check it out.

Keep the ideas coming~~

 

[Donnaly66]

54 more days....

Picked up the "shoe" holder for over the door, laundry bag, hand soap, (2) little umbrellas (great deal), and some other stuff. No rain ponchos or glow sticks - they were out, but I'll check another store or go back later! WHOOOHOOO!

At Target, I picked up some travel size hand sanitizer for everyone, trail size sunscreen, toothpaste, wipes, and some moleskin and a mini-first aid kit. Still need to get some body glide I think.

Got my first pair of crocs (which I love) and my new Baggellini messenger bag which is awesome. Now, I have to search the boxes in the garage for our mister fans we used last time (eight years ago!).

Whew....I think I'm getting it all together.

THANKS DIS POSTERS! Almost of all of these ideas were from wonderful posters like yourselves! Couldn't have done it without you!

 

[pbharris4]

I take several tall drawstring garbage bags. We drive down and put the dirty laundry in there. Then I just carry that to the laundry area and then take another (clean) bag and put the clean clothes in to take back. They can also be used for extra garbage or to carry some souveniers home. Make sure to take a black marker to label the bags though.

I'm also a ziploc fan. I pack several snacks in smaller bags and then put them all in one bag. Also I put the small laundry detergent in there and small books, CDs, Gameboy games, etc. (all seperate of course) that way they aren't laying all over the van!

If you drive and have to spend the night: Pack a separate bag just for the overnight stay. Put everyone's clothes etc in one bag so all your other luggage stays in the car.

-Pack (almost) everything into the car the night before that way you can get on the road first thing after breakfast of after Dh gets hme from work.

-For potty training: Take along the little potty and a few squirt bottles of water. And also take one of those fold up potty seats to put on top of the toilets so they don't have to sit on some of those nasty toilets in some areas. You can rinse it off, put it in a ziploc and put it in your bag.

 

[mumzie2three]

After searching Walmart for over an hour and asking 3 employees (they weren't any help) I finally found the fan/misters! They were in the same isle as the garbage cans?!?!?!? They are so cute. Palm size with a carabiner (metal clip), foam fan blades and they take one battery. All of which means as long as my DDs have belt loops they can carry their own. Yay!

I've got my comfy shoes, matching family Disney shirts, BodyGlide, moleskin, kids chewable peptos, glow necklaces/braclets from the dollar store, star wars chewy fruit snacks (also courtesy of the dollar store), laminated disney alphabet pages (mousesavers).....Honestly I don't think there's any tips that I've let slip by. Thanks to everyone!

 

[swillis]

That is one of the best packing ideas I have ever heard. I hate digging through suitcases to find the right socks or whatever. DH just grabs whatever he sees and that usually makes another outfit incomplete. Plus, all the digging around makes everything a mess. Thanks so much for sharing that one. I will be trying that on our next vacation.

Ok all...I started packing this week. I have never tried the ziplock bag packing method, so I gave it a try. I have to say it didn't work for me. Maybe it's because my kids are older (10,11) and they don't have "little clothes" anymore? But I found trying to fit a shirt, shorts, underware into 1 bag was kind of hard. I guess I could go up to the big 2 gallon bags, but those suckers are kind of expensive.

I also found that I couldn't fit as much into the suitcase using the ziplock bag method. Without it I'm able to take small tanks, roll them up and stick them in a corner of the suitcase. The bags seemed to take up alot of space.

I did pack a hamper (collapsible) small softsided cooler (to keep some drinks cold for after the parks) lysol wipes (for the room) fanny packs, water bottles, disposable cameras, sunscreen, baby wipes, purell (I'm determined not to write a trip report where someone gets sick)

I still need to find plastic containers to transfer shampoo/conditioner from the big bottle as we will have 2 bathrooms. So far I haven't found any that have an opening big enough. Hmmmm....

 

[INDISMOM]

....But I found trying to fit a shirt, shorts, underware into 1 bag was kind of hard. I guess I could go up to the big 2 gallon bags, but those suckers are kind of expensive.


I still need to find plastic containers to transfer shampoo/conditioner from the big bottle as we will have 2 bathrooms. So far I haven't found any that have an opening big enough. Hmmmm....

I work for a plastic bag manufacturer and you can get stock ziplock type bags that are A LOT larger than the gallon bags. You may have to buy 500 or 1000 bags, but I have found that I use them for everything now! I am a brownie troop leader, so we pass out papers in them, distribute badges, etc. I also send treats to my daughter's school in them, keep a few in our gym bag for wet bathing suits. I keep some in the car and they have come in handy more times than I can count. Everyone calls me the bag lady!!

As far as getting the shampoo in the smaller containers--have you tried a small funnel? I always get the large pump type of shampoo and that helps when filling those travel size bottles.

 

[disneyfansx5]

Anybody pack wrinkle releaser when they go on vacations? I hate ironing and inevitably my kids clothes are always a wrinkled mess. Just wondering if it came in travel size bottles.

 

[thelionqueen]

Anybody pack wrinkle releaser when they go on vacations? I hate ironing and inevitably my kids clothes are always a wrinkled mess. Just wondering if it came in travel size bottles.

Yes, and Yes~ I bought like 5 bottles last year at Target and they are PERFECT! They are small but not too tiny, so they work out great. I haven't bought them in about a year, but would assume they still have them.

This is awesome for getting clothes ready and wrinkle free for the next morning, hang em on the shower cord.

 

[kcork1026]

54 more days....

52 more days here...and trying really hard to get it together here

 

[JenniferAtl]

My DD2 is so infatuated w/ her autograph book that we bought one of the small blue ones that WDW sells and all of our family members signed their names in it. We allow her to color in, put stickers on, and play with this book so that her real autograph book does not get ruined. We have used the same book for 2 trips and it has been a lifesaver at restaurants.

 

[thelionqueen]

35 days left for us!! I just wanted to thank everyone for their input, some SUPER ideas are on this thread..thanks again!!

Jennifer Atl...I also wanted to add a little suggestion about autograph books. If you have a Hobby Lobby (preferred) or Michael's close, check this out. I always buy the black "spiral type" bound mini photo albums (6X6 & 7X5is) and let the kids decorate one however they like. I then buy some really quality Disney embellishments (Jolee's, etc) and make a real nice one. This way they can have a quality "one of a kind" autograph book, and one they can do whatever they like with. Both my boys really like doing this, and the books turn out AMAZING!! I also have all characters sign just the one side of each opened 2 pages, so that when I get home, I can mount and embellish the picture of my kids with that character on the opposite page...TOO CUTE!!

 

[DVCkidsMOM]

...If you drive and have to spend the night: Pack a separate bag just for the overnight stay. Put everyone's clothes etc in one bag so all your other luggage stays in the car.

-Pack (almost) everything into the car the night before that way you can get on the road first thing after breakfast of after Dh gets hme from work.

-For potty training: Take along the little potty and...

The above work great for us and:
If you are driving and take along the potty for roadside emergencies or just a toddler level of comfort and familiarity, try lining the potty with a plastic bag in which you have part of a puppy pad. The puppy pad is to hold/absorb any waste and the bag is "backup" and for trash. This makes clean up so easy - tie the bag and toss in trash.
We found "techni ice" at a local sporting goods store and are taking it with our collapsible cooler this (first time flying to) WDW trip. It's flat, like a few sheets of paper flat. You soak it to expand whatever is in it then freeze it. Because they are flexible, we're expecting to fold it up in the little freezer part of the resort mini fridge - then it will go into our collapsible cooler for ADR leftovers or anything we need to keep cold away from our resort room. It's supposed to stay cold for days - we'll see. Unless it dries out quickly to shrink back into our luggage it may be a throwaway item.

 

[bobcat]

If you live in an area that has Meijers stores they carry store brand 2 gallon ziplocks. Much cheaper than the national brand.

If you are going to a water park buy some type of water tight container to hold your passes and money beforehand.

 

[disneyfan6301]

Here's my idea, but it is more for the when you get home time. There are three of us, and each one has his/her own suitcase. I always unpack and put things in the drawers. Then, I open my DH and my suitcase and leave them sitting out of the way. As we dirty clothes, the whites go in one suitcase and the colors go in the other. By doing this, it saves time when you get home because your laundry is already sorted!! Then, I use DS suitcase for any clean clothes we might be bringing home.

I do the travel size stuff for Disney trips, too.

When we fly down, I pack an extra small duffel bag to bring back souveniers that might not fit in the suitcases filled with clothes.

 

[NatalieO]

Okay maybe a silly question but I have 25 days to go and am packing and uppacking like 10x a day. What is bodyglide and what is is used for? Also water bottle holders, its just going to be myself and my 3 kids (5,7,8) and I cannot carry 4 bottles of water. Help?

 

[momamy]

www.bodyglide.com

its a roll on pain reliever

 

[hunter.deal]

I'm not the sharpest tack in the box I guess because I'm having trouble tracking down this moleskin product. I've found teggaderm (sp) but no moleskin. Is moleskin the brand name or at least writtien on the box? Should I be in the band-aid area?

Also BodyGlide lists nothing in my area on their WWW site, has anyone found it locally and if so which store?

 

[mumzie2three]

Okay maybe a silly question but I have 25 days to go and am packing and uppacking like 10x a day. What is bodyglide and what is is used for? Also water bottle holders, its just going to be myself and my 3 kids (5,7,8) and I cannot carry 4 bottles of water. Help?

It is used mainly by athletes, like runners and cyclists, to prevent friction. It looks like a stick of deodorant and goes on clear. You can use it on your feet to guard against blisters. I found it at a bike shop in town.
I wanted to add that I saw water bottle holders that clip on at the dollar store.

 

[DVCkidsMOM]

I've also had trouble finding moleskin because most blister products are now gel type things. I've tried the "new" blister kits and they worked well.
I found bodyglide at athletic sneaker specialty stores. (Fleet Feet, not the mall chains)