when do you start packing??

[hinodis]

We are leaving for WDW in 23 days! This is our first time flying and first trip to WDW. I want to be organized. When should I start packing?? I live in Michigan so packing summer clothes now isn't a problem. My 14 year old DS said "Mom, shoo uldn't you start packing for Disney?" Does he know more then me?? ( he thinks so)LOL

 

[Yellow Shoes]

OK--my last trip was January 2002 (10 months ago) and I don't have another trip planned.

However--I have in a separate drawer in my closet a good deal of the non-clothing items necessary for WDW.

moleskin (I cannot emphasize enough how much this has saved every trip for me!!)
packs
film
camera
autograph books
fat pen for autographs
Park hoppers with water park admissions left on them


I know I am a first-born list-making geek; but packing really adds to my excitement.

It's not too early.....

 

[Buzz Lightyear]

When do I start packing??? THIS WEEKEND!!!!

We are leaving Oct 4 @ 4:00 am and I'm pretty busy next week, so we will get all our stuff packed this weekend. Normally, we start about 1 week before.

ONE HINT: Put up a piece of paper on your fridge so you can write down "Things To Pack/Buy" that way your family can write down things as you remember them.

 

[AkiraRaptor]

The day before, but I make a checklist weeks before that so I don't forget anything.

 

[figmentmom]

I always start packing weeks beforehand, mostly to prolong the anticipation!!!

I agree completely with Buzz Lightyear and AkiraRaptor - MAKE A LIST!!! Post it on the refrigerator, carry it in your purse, whatever - but it's essential to write down those little things you need to bring that really make a trip go more smoothly.

 

[MinnieFan]

we usually start packing the week before. I lay out all the clothes in the guest bedroom. I always make a list too. At the last minute I usually pack an extra outfit or two, whatever I can cram in. What's so funny is, I wear the same thing over and over again. Half of what I pack goes home clean. When will I learn.:hammer:

 

[GenerationX]

I write the list well in advance, and I also have a bag I keep in a closet with WDW-related items to take on the next trip. To take the list one step further, I actually assign items on the list to specific pieces of luggage we have. I have a good sense for what will fit where, thanks to hundreds of hours of playing Tetris.

Yellow Shoes:

I know I am a first-born list-making geek; but packing really adds to my excitement.

Ditto on all counts.

 

[snowwhite66]

I have a back pack with "the disney" stuff (travel bottles of shampoo, soaps,hair jell, emergency ponchos, etc.) I always try to add to the bag, so there isnt any last minute dashes to the drug store.

I try to pack as light as possible, but this creates a problem if the weather is still hot (I always to WDW in the fall and winter) After a long day in the parks its nice to be able to change from your sweaty clothes into something clean for dinner.

One extra set of clothes is always helpful. Also, I WILL CERTAINLY PACK A HAIR DRYER THIS TIME. Last year I stayed at Port Orleans and they had just remove all hair dryers form the rooms.

 

[lilkitty819]

Hi

I too live in a state where around Oct.1st it starts getting to cold for summer clothes.......I usually go to Disney in Nov.... So instead of packing all my summer clothes away for the winter I'll pack what I want to take with me, when I pack my summer clothes up for the winter.....hope that helps alittle.....just make sure you lay your suitcase flat in the closet so your clothes don't wrinkle.......Have fun

lilkitty:wave:

 

[Kingdom Konsultant]

I start packing about 2 months in advance. I have a bag filled with little sample deoderants etc. that I keep handy for each trip. I pick them up whenever I go to the grocery store.

 

[rjmagic16]

I am leaving Oct 11 and I have already packed:lol:

 

[Becky]

Pack? Pack! The secret is to never unpack when you return from WDW :lol:

 

[SpongeScott]

We make a list of what every member in the family is going to wear and take and type this up weeks in advance. Then, one week before we leave, our dining room becomes Command Central. Everything goes in there and gets marked off the list and packed away. And we put everything on the list that needs to go--snacks, CD's, toilet paper (have to have my softness!), medicines, etc. I'm usually very easy-going about stuff, but I get really --in a good way--about my Disney trips.

 

[RPMdfw]

I usually start the packing a couple of days in advance and finish the night before the trip. I also make a list and a trip budget that I download into my palm pilot so I can make changes as I think of them, and check things off as I complete them. I also track dates for making reservations, priority seatings, and keep confirmation numbers in this spreadsheet.

How far in advance do I make the list? I created it and downloaded it into my palm back in June.

My trip is March 2003.

I'm a little excited, can you tell?

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

The suitcases and other bags come out of the loft about three weeks before we go. We then start placing clothes, shoes etc into the bags after they've been washed/ironed - leaving "everyday" clothes to wear. Toiletries are packed after their last use the morning we go.
Tickets and passports are packed, checked and repacked and then checked again a few days later just to make sure they're still there :hammer:

 

[Debbie]

I start the weekend before we leave. As I do laundry, I put aside the clothes I we are going to wear. Thus we are wearing rags around the house the week before:lol: . Other than that we can be packed in about an hour or so. If we forget anything I go to Walmart in Kissimmee and pick it up. I used to pack jeans, beach towels, hair dryer, etc. and found they took up a lot of room and never left the suitcase. Now I pack exactly what we are going to wear and nothing extra with exception of socks and undies.

 

[animegirllover]

We're leaving on Christmas Eve.

 

[figmentmom]

Originally posted by Becky
Pack? Pack! The secret is to never unpack when you return from WDW :lol:

Well said, Becky!:lol:

 

[DisneyPhD]

I also live in Michigan, and we normally go in March or Dec so it is winter here. I start getting out my summer close, try them on, see if they still fit, whine about how I miss summer and dream weeks (even months) before we leave. We also make lists and have a standard list on the comptuer for WDW vaction that we update each year to meet our changing needs (and expanding family).

I like lilkittys sugestion of putting aside your summer cothes for vaction when you rearand cothes for the fall. I might to that this year.


RPMdfw, our next trip is also March 1-7 :sohappy: :sohappy: only 5 more months to go!!!!!!


Packing (and planing) is part of the fun.

 

[stepharoni]

I start my list about a month ahead and then actually pack the stuff a week ahead until the morning we leave. My DH packs and is ready to leave in 30 minutes. It's so bizarre. But he has never brought the ibuprofen or the CheezIts!

I thought I was being obsessive, so I'm glad to hear you all do that, too. I actually have one bag that is ready to go at a moment's notice, just in case. ( We live 2h away)