Do you "pre-pack" for your trip?

[sbkline]

At some point several weeks prior to your trip, do you get the suitcase out and start throwing stuff in it in preparation for the big event, or do you do all your packing immediately before leaving?

Normally, I drag the suitcase out and put it in the extra bedroom 7 or 8 weeks (possibly more) ahead of time and throw things in it that we won't be needing until the trip, such as shorts, tanktops, beachtowels, etc. Obviously, there are several things that can't be packed until time, such as socks, underwear, etc.

I dragged our suitcase out recently and put it in the extra bedroom, but before I can lay it down and start putting stuff in it, we first have to clear out all the clutter from the floor and the bunkbeds (no one sleeps in that room yet...the bunkbeds are my wife's that she had at home before we got married). Unfortunately, that room is our "let's throw this crap in here and get it out of our hair" room, so there's alot of crap that has to be put away or thrown away. So we were doing the first phase of it tonight, and I hope to do more tommorrow, and then I will be ready to start packing some stuff into the suitcase.

In the process of cleaning up that room, I came across a map of the Epcot resort area that I never knew I had. I don't know if it came in the mail with an info packet on WDW or if I picked it up at a motel along with several other brochures at some point. And, in organizing that room, I found some stuff that belongs in our hallway closet, and in the process, I found our beachtowels. Up until then, I had totally forgot about those when thinking of things to prepack, so it's a good thing I started this project tonight and stumbled upon them as a result. :sohappy: Our trip is planned for April 13-20, with us leaving for the roadtrip on April 12, which is 8 weeks from today.

So how many of you dig out the suitcase and start packing several weeks ahead of time, and how many just do it all in the last few days?

 

[maryszhi]

I do it a week in advance no matter where we are going. i add the last minute shopping stuff the night before and the tolietries that are necessary in then also. i useually put nonessentials iin a week bf also. that way i dont forget anything, and can rest easy and know ahead of time what i have to buy. It also get me excited about a trip. I also put stuff that i nedd in the night before.

 

[Nansafan]

I cannot pack until I have listed everything. I list clothes, list toiletries, list prescription and OTC medicines, list miscellaneous (i.e. batteries, cell phone chargers, camera battery charger, itinerary, etc.) list purse/tote items, of course each list is sub-listed by person (i.e. myself, son, husband) then most important, the list that contains the lists. Only after everything has been properly catagorized, then and only then do I start listing which item will go into which suitcase. I do not actually start packing until about a week before we leave and that is items we will not need during the week. Regardless of how organized I am, somebody inevitably wears something that needs to be washed the day before we leave and I am "final" packing the night before we leave.

 

[happymom52003]

I cannot pack until I have listed everything. I list clothes, list toiletries, list prescription and OTC medicines, list miscellaneous (i.e. batteries, cell phone chargers, camera battery charger, itinerary, etc.) list purse/tote items, of course each list is sub-listed by person (i.e. myself, son, husband) then most important, the list that contains the lists. Only after everything has been properly catagorized, then and only then do I start listing which item will go into which suitcase.

OMG, you must be my long lost twin! That is EXACTLY how I do it. My friends think my packing lists are insane...I'm glad to see I'm not the only one!

 

[Disnut]

I pack about a week before but even before that I make lists of what I need to pack.

 

[lilclerk]

I would need a choice along the lines of "8 hours before the plane leaves I am finally getting the suitcases down from the attic" to be able to answer this one...

Ha same here. My worst one was when I went to Arizona a few years ago and had to be at the airport at 6am, but I didn't start packing til 2am because I had been at a friend's house and didn't want to leave :brick: Amazingly I had everything I needed!

 

[Montyboy]

I pack only a few hours before we leave. It helps avoid the OCD of checking if I forgot anything.
Then I remind myself that I'm going to Florida. They have stores there.

 

[WDWRLD]

My friends think my packing lists are insane...I'm glad to see I'm not the only one!

I have a packing list on the computer that I have used for 7 or so years now and it works great. I just print it off a couple weeks before we go and check everything off as I put it in the suitcase. That way I know when we leave home im not forgetting anything.

 

[WDWRLD]

Then I remind myself that I'm going to Florida. They have stores there.

Yea but the lines at WalMart arent themed nearly as good as the ones in the Magic Kingdom.....

 

[davidpw97]

Then I remind myself that I'm going to Florida. They have stores there.

Exactly! No reason to worry much about forgetting things because almost anything I don't remember to bring I can always buy when I get there. I don't have enough clothes to pack any more than a day or 2 ahead of time, always have to throw in a last minute load of laundry before I pack up.

 

[sbkline]

I pack only a few hours before we leave. It helps avoid the OCD of checking if I forgot anything.
Then I remind myself that I'm going to Florida. They have stores there.

I look at it just the opposite way. By laying out the suitcase in the extra bedroom 7 or 8 weeks ahead of time, then, for me, that insures that I don't forget anything. If I'm sitting in my living room and remember that item "X" needs to go to Florida with us, I can just get up, go grab it, and throw it in the suitcase. I have a special wallet that I use exclusively on vacation. It has a chain on it, that I chain to my belt loop to ensure that it doesn't get pickpocketed, or fall out on the floor in the bathroom stall while I'm doing my business, etc. By putting my vacation money in that wallet and putting that wallet in the suitcase ahead of time, I know I'm not gonna get my shower on the day of departure, get dressed, and, out of habit, throw my regular wallet in my pants and drive to Florida without my money and without my WDW tickets.

On the other hand, if I packed only a few hours ahead of time, I just know that there would be something that we forgot. Packing as I go several weeks ahead of time tends to decrease that likeliehood.

 

[catne]

Exactly! No reason to worry much about forgetting things because almost anything I don't remember to bring I can always buy when I get there. I don't have enough clothes to pack any more than a day or 2 ahead of time, always have to throw in a last minute load of laundry before I pack up.

You have time to shop when WDW is waiting? I prefer obsessive planning so nothing more is needed...if it didn't make it into the suitcases, we don't need it, dang it!:ROFLOL:

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Stuff I don't use on a daily basis or that I've purchased especially for the trip I keep all in 1 place. That's my Disney spot. Sometimes it's a corner of my closet. Sometimes it's a big rubbermaid container.

As for clothes, we have to wear our clothes so I can't pack them until the day or so before we leave. Generally I start washing and puting things together a day or so prior to departure. In the past I packed for everyone. This past December I was so busy I got the boys involved. I figured it was about time they learned the art of packing. I'm very methodical so I don't end up with too little of something. Now if I could just get the DH to submit to my lessons. LOL! If I let him pack his own he'd have 6 pairs of jeans, 2 shirts, 4 pairs of socks, and 12 pairs of drawers. There's no logic to it at all. I think after the first 2 road trips we went on after we were married I banned him from packing. Plus, I can pack him what I like vs. what he likes. LOL!

 

[3fordisney]

We start early!! We are leaving on April 12th and I already have a box with our "Disney" stuff in it. As we locate things we use for our trips, we pack it into the box. In the next few weeks, we'll start to look for our matching t-shirts and set it aside (we don't do that every day, just 1 or 2 of the entire trip). It makes for great pictures. We start packing into suitcases about 1 to 2 weeks prior. Oh April can't get here soon enough!!!

 

[sbkline]

We start early!! We are leaving on April 12th and I already have a box with our "Disney" stuff in it. As we locate things we use for our trips, we pack it into the box. In the next few weeks, we'll start to look for our matching t-shirts and set it aside (we don't do that every day, just 1 or 2 of the entire trip). It makes for great pictures. We start packing into suitcases about 1 to 2 weeks prior. Oh April can't get here soon enough!!!

You're leaving April 12, too, eh? How long are you staying?

We leave April 12, arrive April 13 and check out the morning of April 21 and plan to arrive back home on April 22.

 

[WDWRLD]

You have time to shop when WDW is waiting? I prefer obsessive planning so nothing more is needed...if it didn't make it into the suitcases, we don't need it, dang it!:ROFLOL:

That was the point to my jab at the WalMart lines.....I went to the one I think it was near gatorland or Midevil Times to get a camcorder battery once, but it took forever to checkout, and traffic was terrible. Someone at POR told me that was the busiest WM on the east coast. Last year my Sony Camera battery wouldnt hold a charge so I just ordered it online and paid the next day air just to avoid having to put the key in the ignition of my truck.

 

[reptar77]

My toiletries bag is always packed year round. Our clothes and stuff I pack the night before.

 

[sbkline]

That was the point to my jab at the WalMart lines.....I went to the one I think it was near gatorland or Midevil Times to get a camcorder battery once, but it took forever to checkout, and traffic was terrible. Someone at POR told me that was the busiest WM on the east coast. Last year my Sony Camera battery wouldnt hold a charge so I just ordered it online and paid the next day air just to avoid having to put the key in the ignition of my truck.

If you're talking about the one next to Medeival Times, we always stop at that Walmart on every trip. Our 2007 trip was the first ever on property stay. Prior to that, we've always stayed in the Super 8 motel on Vine Street in Kissimmee and have established the tradition of having to go to that Walmart on every trip, as well as playing mini-golf next door at Pirates Island on every trip. Even though we've moved our Disney trips on property now, those two traditions have carried over and continue to be part of our WDW trips.

 

[catne]

...and have established the tradition of having to go to that Walmart on every trip, as well as playing mini-golf next door at Pirates Island on every trip. Even though we've moved our Disney trips on property now, those two traditions have carried over and continue to be part of our WDW trips.

Actually, we break up our drive down over a couple nights, so we'll do the last minute shopping thing the night before we get to Florida, probably in some town in Georgia--to pick up snacks/quick breakfast items/fruit for the week. After a couple of days on the road, we'll know if we forgot toothpaste or swimming suit, etc. so can get them before we get to WDW (and in a less busy store, too...we've stood in grocery store lines in Orlando for way too long, too.)

Next day, have a 4-5 hour drive so when we hit Orlando around noon, it's straight to the resort, eat lunch, check in, unpack & hit the parks!

 

[Tiggerfanatic]

Sbkline, your spare room sounds like ours. No one sleeps in there, and it has become the "collection" room - the place I put stuff until I get a chance to put it where it belongs! I get the suitcases out a couple months in advance, and start throwing in stuff like toiletries, the new underwear that you have to buy for every trip, but I can't put clothes in too early, or the cat makes a bed out of them. I get serious about laundry and packing around a week out - we have to wear our ratty clothes that last week because all the good stuff is being washed and packed/

 

[OhioDisneyLover]

I start packing really early....really early. I have a drawer that I put my "Disney clothes" in. I add to and subtract from the drawer constantly. Then around 15 days out I what I call my "pre-final" packing. I watch the weather forecast and then will do my "final-final" packing about 2 days before we leave. Drives DH crazy. He packs last minute. Sometimes that means when we have less than 12 hours before we leave the house.