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

[gretchenohar@hotmail]

Thanks for the recommendation, Amy. Will have to try it.

 

[Muslickz]

Thanks for the recommendation, Amy. Will have to try it.

Thanks for the tip it worked great thumbs up

-M

 

[disneymarie]

I am loving this thread! I'm not all the way through it yet, but I plan on making my way through every page

One thing that I want to add, that I don't think has been mention yet, is if you're looking for a good snack to bring to the parks with you, those pouches that have fruit purees are FANTASTIC! They don't break in your bag, and an easy and clean snack for kids. My kids are both way past the baby food stage, and they both love having one of those as a snack when we're out.

There were CM's giving these as samples in the Gateway at Epcot in March and I knew it was a hit with the kids and many of the adults. A must on our next trip.

 

[Fantasmic23]

I bring bottles of liquid hand soap for the hotel bathroom. I can't stand the gooey mess left by the bar soap. I also bring an inexpensive toothbrush holder (the kind that sits on the counter) so that we have someplace to put our toothbrushes.

I love, love, LOVE this idea and will definitely be packing liquid hand soap and a toothbrush holder on our next trip. Thanks!

 

[Fantasmic23]

Second we bring decorations for our window!! last yr we went for MNSSHP and we brough Holloween decor for the whole window!! it was great! we are doing the same this year and next year we are going for Christmas and have alread started stocking up with little lights for our window and after christmas this year we are going to get a table top tree on clearance!!! also we have little minature stockings!! woohoo!!

I love this idea! We were at All-Star Music last week and I was so impressed with the decorations people had in their windows. We'll be back in late November 2013 and I'm definitely going to decorate with some Christmas items. I have a Charlie Brown tabletop Christmas tree that would be perfect! Thanks, again!

 

[thelionqueen]

I just love that this thread is still going! I started it many years ago and it has helped me and SOOO many others..keep em' coming!!

I have read through almost every page, but am going to include a couple of "must do's" for those who just look on the last page of threads (like me )

Frozen water bottles. We take 6 bottles of water, take out appox 15% and put them in the freezer. We then take 2 each in our packs (or I take them all in my big bag). They serve 2 purposes. 1, we have cold water all day! Once they begin to melt and the ice remains, we can just keep filling it with tap water throughout the park..saves us at LEAST $20 a day in water alone. Secondly..I cut and pack fresh fruit and the frozen water keeps it cold and refreshing all day.

Important hint on water in bags..put the waters in a separate plastic bag before putting them in any other bag..the sweat they produce in the heat can be a lot

Decorating for holidays...Bring Extension cords & shipping tape!!! We used several of them for our windo and balcony during Christmas. Our room @ BLT was TRULY awesome and couldn't have done it without the extension cords and tape.

That's all I can think of right now..I will read through some pages and see if there is anything new I can add that hasn't already been mentioned..which I doubt because there are SO many amazing tips here already!!

 

[BeckyPA]

This is our 3rd trip w/ DD but we are avid travellers so many of these tips work well anywhere!

* We bring 2 empty pillowcases and put our dirty clothes in there. They fit perfectly in suitcases when full.
* I bring a pack of sandwich ziploc bags - you just never know when you are going to need one - if someone doesn't finish their snack, dirty tissues, clean tissues etc.
* I roll socks inside shoes/sandels
* I order our vitamins from Lucky vitamin and they sell the Nuun tablets. I use these when I work out but they travel nice too - pop one in 16oz of water and extra electrolytes - keeps you hydrated and zero sugar.
* I pre-pack some Disney gifts that I have bought at target/walmart/5 below. We set one out as we leave the room = gift when we return at fraction of cost. Extra space in suitcase now.
* Avoid shoes w/ heavy soles - extra weight in suitcase. We always wear slip ons at the airport and pack socks to use on the plane.
* I pack empty water bottles to use on the plane and at the parks.
* Hats/sunglasses - I pack both sunscreen and face stick, hats and sunglasses in our backpack for the parks.
* I pack water wings and an inner tube for the pools.
* I have had to pack refrigerated meds before (and some food items to keep cold). I pack ice in small ziploc baggies - discard ice when we get to the check in and get new ice on the other side. I always bring extra food for flights - you never know how long you will be on that plane.

 

[ItsyBitsy]

For all of you out there that use MandM tubes for pennies and quarters I just found these at the Container Store.

http://www.containerstore.com/shop?productId=10005039&N=&Nao=40&Ntt=pack

Might be easier?

 

[TxDisFanatic]

large ziplock bags for outfits make packing a breeze and a day at the park so much smoother. I do this for every trip! It's easy to have spare outfit in your day bag, they check it easy at the gate. You have a bag to put your dirty/wet clothes in untill you get back to the hotel.

 

[karic19]

I haven't had a chance to read through the entire post yet but one trick I have for traveling with a baby/toddler is...... Bring an extra box of ziplock bags for dirty diapers. It contains any odor that you might have to "live with" until mousekeeping pays you a visit. We have also used the zip locks by filling them with ice from the ice machine and packing it into a foldable cooler with water before we head to the parks. My last use for the zip locks (I was pretty happy that I had brought them along!) is..... dd spills EVERYTHING on her clothes. Knowing this, I had filled a smaller spray bottle with spray and wash before we left home. At night I would put her shirts in a ziplock, spray and seal until we got home. Tada! When I got home and did laundry.. NO STAINS!!

Just some ideas...

 

[TxDisFanatic]

Color wonder coloring books and markers. I can't tell you how many times we have pulled them out in lines, waiting for shows to start, dinner, waiting on buses, waiting on big sister to get off a ride little brother and sister cant go on. It easily fits in our park tote, and a few markers makes for happy children without the worry of sun beaming down melting crayons and dealing with broken crayons, and regular markers turning them colors.

 

[Kitkat6595]

Just read the entire thread over the past week. Wow!! I have some great tips now, thanks! A shout out to the mom who recommended fruit purees. My sons LOVE "squeeze applesauce" as they call it, and I think it's brilliant to think about bringing it along!

 

[miami305]

Target has black Mickey Mouse shaped bottles of hand soap.

 

[Kitkat6595]

Oh, we've used that mickey mouse shaped foam soap before - I forgot about that! I've also seen it at Buy Buy Baby.

 

[michigal23]

These are AWESOME ideas. Question though about the fruite puree squeezers. I had thought about bringing these along too - especially since I dont' know how well my kids are going to be eating on the trip and they make some of these with veggies mixed in. But how will they do on an airplane? I know I've always had to worry about shapmoo and stuff like that "exploding" or leaking if it goes in the checked baggage. Anybody experience any difficulties with the purees? Or what about yogurt (I'm thinking the Gerber yogurt blends that don't need ot be refrigerated). Thanks!

 

[Mouse7116]

Subscribing - lots of great ideas!

 

[Masoncoopermom]

Subscribing!!

 

[laliclay]

Wow! So many great ideas. My head is spinning!

 

[familyfirsttimer]

Subscribing - lots of great ideas!

Subscribing!!

Just so you guys know, you do not have to post to a thread to subscribe. On any thread, at the top there is Thread Tools, Just select Subscribe to this thread. You can then choose your subscription options.

Just wanted to point it out as it keeps the threads from getting bogged down with just subs.

HTH

 

[Mouse7116]

Well, I'm not quite all the way through the tips yet and decided I better share some of my own before I forget!

1. We fly by air. In order to find our suitcases easier we tie funky colored yard/ribbon on the handles. The wierder the better because it makes it easier to find.

2. Regarding tips - we calculate what we think we need for bell hop/mousekeeping/sky caps and put each in an individual envelope labled and then in order of when we need them. The envelopes help keep our tips all in order and easy to grab as we need them.

3. Bringing a small pocket sized notepad to keep track of what we spend - I'm a total sucker to buy stuff in the gift shops and this helps me keep my budget on track. I can make a quick note about total dollars spent and make sure I don't go overboard.