How early do you pack?

[kangaand2roos]

So I leave in a little less than 3 weeks for WDW. I was reading the posts about who is going in Dec 2008, and everyone was joking is it too early to pack? So that lead me to think, when is it really too early to pack? I will probably make a list the Monday before we leave for what me and the kids need depending on the weather predictions (dh is on his own). But I probably won't pack until Thursday or Friday and we will be leaving Saturday. So when do you pack?

 

[Monty]

So I leave in a little less than 3 weeks for WDW. I was reading the posts about who is going in Dec 2008, and everyone was joking is it too early to pack? So that lead me to think, when is it really too early to pack? I will probably make a list the Monday before we leave for what me and the kids need depending on the weather predictions (dh is on his own). But I probably won't pack until Thursday or Friday and we will be leaving Saturday. So when do you pack?

I pack the night before, but practise-pack a dozen or so times over two or three months beforehand. :dazzle:

Actually, I start packing stuff I know we won't need until we're there as much as two months ahead. Then occasionally add or remove things. Then the night before all the last-minute laundry and various toiletries go in. Topped off with the laptop and camera stuff.

Then we get there and I inevitably find out I've forgotten something or other. :shrug:

 

[happymom52003]

I usually make my list of what to pack several weeks before, but in the past I have always waited until the day before to pack. And every single time when it is 2:00 a.m. and I am sitting in the middle of the floor with a suitcase and a mess all around me, I start to curse and swear I will never again wait until the last night to pack!

But for our upcoming trip, I've wised up. We are leaving for Disney two days after Thanksgiving, and I am hosting a huge Thanksgiving meal at my house. So I HAVE to pack early this time, since I will have so much work to do getting ready for hosting Thanksgiving, and then cleaning up afterwards.

Last week I pretty much got everything except our clothes ready to go. I'll pack the clothes a few days before we leave, once I have seen the weather forcast for the week we will be there.

 

[xsupaxmanxsfnex]

I don't pack the things I need on a day to day basis (shirts, pants, socks...) until the day before.
But it depends on how young your kids are IMO. If you have real young kids then I would suggest packing early because of all of the extra stuff you'll need. Plus if your kids can pack on their own I would tell them to do it early so I could check all of their things with a list made before hand.
Have fun!

 

[mainstreet1997]

I was just thinking that today. I leave 3 weeks from Friday but Im ready to start packing now! I also have this idea to pack my stuff in vaccum bags to save space (the weather can be so different I pretty much pack everything) and I need to pack my tripod. Also it makes it feel like the trip is really coming!

 

[Kelsybelle]

I start thinking about what I want to bring about a month before my trip, then about 2 weeks before I start buying all the things we'll need and pack them.
We usually go to WDW in May, so our summer stuff is all set to go. The only trouble I have is my affliction with strappy sandals...I pack way too many of them and getting everything to fit is a challenge.

 

[Kelsybelle]

I don't pack the thongs I need on a day to day basis (shirts, pants, socks...) until the day before.
But it depends on how young your kids are IMO. If you have real young kids then I would suggest packing early because of all of the extra stuff you'll need. Plus if your kids can pack on their own I would tell them to do it early so I could check all of their things with a list made before hand.
Have fun!

:lol: I know what you meant to say but this made me giggle! :lol:

 

[xsupaxmanxsfnex]

:lol: I know what you meant to say but this made me giggle! :lol:

ahahahaha I will change that now. :ROFLOL:

 

[krankenstein]

Normally, an hour before I leave. I throw it in a bag and take off. :shrug:

 

[disneynut4u]

ummm. My trip is booked for May and I'm already 75% packed. :lookaroun I pack away what I know for sure I want to wear. That way I have no chance of staining that particular outfit, etc. I start buying up outfits we'll want to take as soon as I book a trip. That way we don't count on taking clothes we wear everyday. I have lists for toiletries etc, that I'll start picking up 3 or 4 months in advance and snacks I watch the expiration dates and see how soon I can pick those up. So, clothes-wise: I'm packed. The first year we went, we left a few things, and ABSOLUTELY refuse to do that again!!! (Yes, I know - I'm sick)

 

[elcodfish]

depends

I have a bin that only has my "travel stuff" in it. My AK backpack, water bottle holder, water shoes and some other odds and ends. When my trip is approaching as I find or buy things I know I will need on sale, I have a place to put them. Then the Friday before my trip I go to the store to get whatever I need and that Saturday I start packing so I know what else I may have forgotten and the laundry I need to do. The morning of I pack my daily use stuff. I find this to be very effective and cuts down on stress.

 

[LudwigVonDrake]

Night before for the most part. I usually finish up just before leaving the house and I'm bound to forget something

 

[cameronmouse]

we leave on dec. 7th and I'm thinking of packing now only because I'm not wearing shorts anymore here so I wont miss them being packed away.:veryconfu

 

[brent2124]

I live only 2 hours away from WDW so we leave around 7 or 8 in the morning for our trips. i pack the night before we leave it helps me to get to sleep through all of the anticipation of the trip.

 

[sbkline]

I normally lay out the suitcase about two months ahead of time and "prepack" things that I know I won't be needing until then. Things such as swimming trunks, shorts, tanktops, wdwmagic T-shirts, beach towels, etc. Over the course of the next 7 or 8 weeks leading up to the trip, anything I think of that I will need, I'll throw back there in the extra bedroom with the prepack stuff. I don't think I've ever forgotten anything...I know I shouldn't with all that time to add stuff to the pile before it comes time to pack the final necessities the night before.

Now I don't know what I'm gonna do next time we go, since our son (who is now 2 1/2) will be moving out of the nursery and into that extra bedroom before our next trip. I don't know where in the world I'm gonna do our prepack. The nursery is out because the new baby will be in there. So I may just have to become a normal person and do all our packing the night before from now on. :lol:

 

[Craig & Lisa]

My wife and I sit down about a month before and make a list of what our sons will need, then each other clothes wise, then things like toiletries, meds. but no matter what we write down, what we pack, when we get there we seem to always forget to pack something. No matter when you pack there's always just something you forgot.

 

[KristieLC]

We are leaving 2 weeks from this coming Wednesday (2.5 weeks I guess) BUT I feel like I have to pack for to trips since we are spending a few days in NC first and getting to Disney on the following Saturday. That being said - I started parking today. I packed all of the toiletries and shorts/t-shirts for 1/2 the time. I am just assuming it will be warm enough based on what the next two weeks look like on the extended forecast. We plan on doing laundry half way though the trip, so we can pack a little less. I wanted to get an early start because I accepted a seasonal job and I am afraid I won't have a whole lot of time over the next two weeks. I figure I will pack a few pairs of jeans each and a few warmer tops/jackets as well as socks and that sort of thing and a separate bag for NC a day or two before we leave, leaving only my makeup and hair dryer for the same day I don't think I can wait these last two weeks!

 

[disneygirl76]

So I leave in a little less than 3 weeks for WDW. I was reading the posts about who is going in Dec 2008, and everyone was joking is it too early to pack? So that lead me to think, when is it really too early to pack? I will probably make a list the Monday before we leave for what me and the kids need depending on the weather predictions (dh is on his own). But I probably won't pack until Thursday or Friday and we will be leaving Saturday. So when do you pack?

hee hee I've been packed for weeks! And I don't leave for 2 weeks! :lol: Check out this thread! Its for the OCD Over-packer in all of us! In my case...and color coordinator! ha ha :lol:

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=363657

 

[Mikester71]

I know it sounds funny, but we already have a few things packed away for our March 2009 trip. My wife had picked up a pack of 20 of those sockette things for my son and myself to split and since I usually only wear them in the summer with shorts and shoes, I told her to put them away for next year so my son won't lose them. Then I thought, why not just throw them in the suitcase so that we will have them for when we arrive down in Florida in March. That way we can both split them and don't have to worry about packing old, worn socks.

She also has been finding good deals on some nice shorts that me and my son like to wear, so told her she might as well throw them in there too. Better than shoving them into some drawer and not being able to find them come March. Plus, it makes it seem like the trip is actually closer than the 123 days that are left - haha! :ROFLOL:

 

[DznyGrlSD]

since i haven't been to 'the world' in December in years, i'm going to wait until a few days before so I can check the weather forecast. I'd hate to pack shorts and have it be chilly, and i'd hate to pack jeans and have it be warm.