Travel Tuesday: Packing for Disney with Toddler
The working title of this post was “Yes, you will do laundry on vacation” but I was afraid that would be a one-way ticket to “nobody is going to read this”.
So now that I’ve drawn you in, allow me to say that if you’re going to Walt Disney World with a toddler, you WILL do laundry during your Disney vacation. It will not suck the fun out of your trip – on the contrary, it will give you and the family a much-needed break in the action.
As you know from some of my previous posts, our family drives from Atlanta for our Disney vacations in Florida. This is in part because my husband is terrified of flying and also because we can fit more stuff in the trunk of our full-size SUV than we can in suitcases.
My friends and family are well aware that I start packing for Disney vacations as far in advance as possible. Sometimes I pack so far in advance that I have to UNPACK because I forget what’s in the suitcases. What you pack depends on different factors: the time of year you’re visiting, how long you’re staying and regular hotel room vs. DVC accommodations. For the sake of this post, let’s assume you’re staying in a DVC room with a kitchen and that your travel party is two adults and one toddler (not potty trained) for six nights/seven days – breaking up the drive down with an overnight halfway through.
If you want to see a VERY comprehensive packing list, check out this link to WDWPrepSchool.com. My packing list is a condensed version of this list that I update/edit for each trip:
An ‘overnight’ suitcase that includes pajamas, necessary toiletries and a change of comfortable, Disney-themed clothes for the second half of the drive. This is the ONLY bag that comes into the hotel with us on our way to Disney, so I make sure it is in the back of the trunk and easy to access. Don’t forget the white noise machines! Very important in a hotel room where walls are thin and other guests are noisy.
My Mom bag which is a large purse/tote that includes our MagicBands, extra pacifiers and ‘minkies’ for the toddler, my phone and iPad, any hotel-related paperwork and other typical purse stuff. That way, if our room isn’t ready when we arrive at the hotel, we can go straight to the parks without unpacking.
Enough clothes for everyone to wear for four (4) days – in my case, that means 3-4 pairs of shorts and matching shirts, socks, underwear, pajamas and accessories. I also double up on pajamas and bring an extra crib sheet for my son in case we need to swap anything out in the middle of the night.
Accessories for our family includes 1-2 baseball caps for Dad, 1 for Mom, pool/floppy sun hat for kiddo, belts for Dad and Mom’s jewelry. I have lots of Disney earrings and a Pandora bracelet I love to wear on Disney vacations.
When heading to Disney in cooler weather, we’ll also pack 1 pair of jeans or other long pants, a light jacket or hooded sweatshirt and 1-2 long-sleeve shirts.
A large, clear plastic container with a lid that includes various and sundry things to make our vacation more enjoyable:
A power strip for the kitchen to help us charge lots of electronics at one
Outlet covers so my child doesn’t electrocute himself
Food items – kiddo’s cereal bars, food pouches, snacks, fiber supplement
Laundry detergent – we use Dropps pods due to sensitive skin issues. I pack enough pods to do two loads of laundry a day.
Stain spray
Plastic ponchos in Ziploc bags
Ziploc bags – quart and gallon size
As many iPhone/iPad chargers as I can find in my house.
A pop-up laundry hamper that I got at Goodwill for a dollar – gives the family a spot to dump their dirty clothes and avoids me wandering around the bedroom and living room picking up stinky socks.
A large ‘sleeve’ of diapers and overnight diapers for the kiddo. I always bring WAY more than I will need because I don’t want to pay the inflated prices for these already expensive items at Disney.
Another large, clear plastic container with a lid that houses all of our swim stuff – sunscreen, swim diapers, bathing suits, cover ups and flip flops. Same principle as the Mom bag above – if we want to go swimming, everything is all in one place.
In the back seat of the car, where I am relegated to keep the toddler entertained, I keep two bags.
One I call the ‘car bag’ and it includes small toys and other things I hope will distract my son on the long car ride. It usually doesn’t work.
One I call the snack bag because it has (wait for it) snacks. I also have a sippy cup with water and a large water bottle. I also have a roll of paper towels, Huggies anywhere wipes and some grocery bags to use for garbage.
Timing/Location
When it’s time to do laundry, which is usually every morning, I throw it all in the machine on cold. It’s bad enough to do was on vacation – make it easy on yourself. Then when you come back to your room in the afternoon for a nap, throw the stuff in the dryer. Repeat each morning as needed. I will say that the W/D set up in the DVC suits is LOUD and I don’t recommend running the machines during naptime unless it is absolutely necessary.
On our latest trip, we staying at Port Orleans French Quarter, our favorite moderate resort, and used the onsite laundry facility – located right by the pool! – which just meant setting the timer on my iPhone to coincide when the loads were done washing and drying. We were at the pool/splash pad anyway, so why not get some clothes washed? . The upside was that it takes credit cards!
If you’re flying to Disney, there is NO reason to pack a change of clothes for each day of your trip. Get some detergent and just plan on doing wash. You’ll still come home with dirty clothes – but if you put those in your previous ‘overnight’ suitcase, you won’t have to dig through all of your post-vacation stuff to find the smelly socks.