Shpping a package from home

[faberj]

Hi, I am wondering those of you that ship pacakages from home to your resort, who do you use to ship it and when do you ship it so it will be there in time. I was thinking of sending down some snacks, bottled water, and maybe soda to our resort. We arrive on December 6 so I do not know if I need to give more time because it is the holiday season.

Also what does it generally cost and what do you all ship down ahead of time. I want to for sure send some snacks and bottled water, but was also thinking of sending some of our toiletries as well.

THANKS!

[Strmchsr]

The absolute best thing to do is take your stuff to your local UPS store and use one of their heavy duty boxes. Plus, they'll tape it up for you to make sure nothing breaks. Also, UPS can give you an exact delivery date so you won't have to worry if it'll make it or not. If you decide to do USPS, you can do priority to guarantee a delivery time, but it'll cost a good bit more.

[Emme&TeddysMommy]

We did the same thing when we went in Sept. We shipped through UPS and when we checked in the package was waiting for us. We mainly did this because we were traveling with two infants and had to carry a bunch of supplies and didn’t want to pay extra for a suit case that weighed too much. It cost us less to ship it than it would have for an overweight suit case. The best part was we had a tracking number to watch and make sure our package arrived in just enough time. It was the best packing decision we ever made. I have actually heard of people sending suit cases through UPS and FedEx ahead of time to avoid hassles and lost luggage at the airport.

[faberj]

The absolute best thing to do is take your stuff to your local UPS store and use one of their heavy duty boxes. Plus, they'll tape it up for you to make sure nothing breaks. Also, UPS can give you an exact delivery date so you won't have to worry if it'll make it or not. If you decide to do USPS, you can do priority to guarantee a delivery time, but it'll cost a good bit more.

Do you have a general idea on cost?

[katzctkpt]

When do you ship your package? A week before your arrival 2 wks?

[Strmchsr]

Do you have a general idea on cost?

It depends on how much you're shipping. The boxes are $5-10 depending on size. I know I shipped a 40 lb box from Alabama to Michigan recently via UPS. It took 3 days to arrive and the cost was right at $30. If you can get an approximate weight and box size you can go on the UPS web site and get an estimate.


When do you ship your package? A week before your arrival 2 wks?

You generally want the package to arrive on the day of your check in. 1-2 days early at most. Much more than that and you're running the risk of your package getting shoved in some back corner out of the way and it taking them forever to find it. This is why using UPS with a guaranteed delivery date works best.

[disneyfan328]

as for shipping packages from home. I have done this through UPS for my daughter when she has gone on school trips for Band. It has always worked out and she gets a care package from home waiting for her on he arrival.

The weight is going to be what gets you when shipping so for things like water, you may be best to have it shipped from somehwere else rather than buying it and boxing it up and shipping. That is what we did on our trip to Disney in Sept and it worked out great. I don't believe I an give out how I did it on here since it wasn't through an intercot sponsor, but feel free to PM me and I will give the info. We packed a small suitcase with snacks and breakfast items so the only thing we really needed to ship was water and it would have cost me a lot more to do it through UPS or USPS. Hope it all works out for you!

[faberj]

It depends on how much you're shipping. The boxes are $5-10 depending on size. I know I shipped a 40 lb box from Alabama to Michigan recently via UPS. It took 3 days to arrive and the cost was right at $30. If you can get an approximate weight and box size you can go on the UPS web site and get an estimate.




You generally want the package to arrive on the day of your check in. 1-2 days early at most. Much more than that and you're running the risk of your package getting shoved in some back corner out of the way and it taking them forever to find it. This is why using UPS with a guaranteed delivery date works best.

About what size was your box? And what were some of the contents. I am just trying to get an idea, with the things I would like to ship. I am not sure how much the bottled water weighs. Can I go get the box from them first or do I haul all my items into the store with me?

[Strmchsr]

About what size was your box? And what were some of the contents. I am just trying to get an idea, with the things I would like to ship. I am not sure how much the bottled water weighs. Can I go get the box from them first or do I haul all my items into the store with me?

It was one of the large size boxes. I was mailing a playpen. You can definitely go get the box beforehand. You can also go to Uhaul or other moving company and pick up one of their heavy duty boxes. For that matter, you might could get a big enough box from the local liquor store. I use those all the time for moving. People just love seeing the new preacher moving in with 50 liquor boxes. :D The main thing is if you're shipping heavier items like water you need a box that's heavy enough to handle it and won't bust open in the middle of shipping. Water is heavy and can really add up in a hurry. You might be much better off with a grocery delivery service. For instance, a case of 24 16 oz water bottles weighs about 30 lbs. That can cause the shipping costs to skyrocket in a hurry.

[teambricker04]

We JUST mailed off two boxes on Monday (A week ahead of the beginning of our stay). We did FedEx, and two rather large boxes (we just moved so it was perfect to recycle them!). They were mostly full of diapers, wipes, formula, and food, but they had some fun stuff like sand toys. I think our total was about 65 pounds and we paid about 70 bucks (that is with a sizable discount) for two day delivery because it was the cheapest way for it to get there.

I called the BC to make sure I had it labeled correctly, and I did. Make sure your name and date of arrival is on it. I think DH put our res number on the comments on the paperwork.

This was a lot cheaper than it would have been to have extra bags and lug them around ourselves! Most of the stuff is edible or will be left or thrown away so we don't have to carry it all back.

We have never done this before, but since we are going for nearly two weeks (we usually go for a few days) we decided it would be easier than lugging it or buying diapers and such while we are there. I will let you know how it goes!

[Taja]

Hi, I am wondering those of you that ship pacakages from home to your resort, who do you use to ship it and when do you ship it so it will be there in time. I was thinking of sending down some snacks, bottled water, and maybe soda to our resort. We arrive on December 6 so I do not know if I need to give more time because it is the holiday season.

Also what does it generally cost and what do you all ship down ahead of time. I want to for sure send some snacks and bottled water, but was also thinking of sending some of our toiletries as well.

THANKS!

The water and soda are going to be expensive to ship. Look at the size bottles/cans you're going to ship and the quantity. A typical individual bottle of water is .5 L, which is 16.9 ounces--or just over one pound. That excludes the weight of the bottle, so probably 17 oz. each.

If you estimate the weight of your package, go to the UPS, FedEx or DHL website to check the cost from your home to WDW (you'll need both zip codes, but don't need the address) for the type service you want. I usually ship ground from the western US and I allowed 2 weeks last December. The package was there when we arrived! :)

Another option might be a grocery service such as Garden Grocer. It might be a good compromise and save you some time!

[Taja]

I just noticed that you're staying at CSR. It's a convention resort, so they may charge a "handling fee" to receive your package. You pay it when you pick it up.

Shipping lightweight consumables that won't return home with you works well. I shipped extra diapers (14-week-old infant with us), wipes, partial bottles of shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, etc. Things we didn't plan to take home with us, even if we didn't quite empty them.

[KylesMom]

We usually Fed-Ex a box via 3-day air - 20x20 in size with a shipping weight of about 25 pounds. Bell services delivers it to our room with our luggage.

We include fruit and granola bars, snack crackers, gum and other munchies for the room. We also stick various toiletries in the box wrapped well that may not fit in our suitcases.

I would definitely check out the delivery service options for your beverages - with shipping costs, you may end up paying more than you bargained for!

We've found this to be a very economical and easy way to get "extras" down to our room without lugging them on the plane with us!

[Sam&Alex&Josh'sMOM]

We did this last September. We buy our diapers in bulk at costco, so we always have huge boxes/ diaper cases hanging around the house. I packed up 2 of them with diapers (both DD's were still in dipaers last year... )so diapers, wipes, formula, baby food, cereal bars, pop tarts, extra socks(they make a great filler ... just as good as styrphoam peanuts, and better for the environment!) New jars of peanut butter and jelly, shampoo, conditioner, soap, snack foods, bottles, sippy cups, and some special stuff like glow sticks, glow jewelry, toys, etc that we bought cheap to give the kids at night to keep them occupied and keep them from whining for the light up toys they see at the parks... anyhow, shipping both boxes cost about $17 a piece. We used UPS, I shipped them on Tuesday and we were due to arrive at the POP on Sunday. We tracked them along the way... and they got there Thursday night. It really was a great thing to do!

[motherhamv]

I just knew there was a simple solution out there!! :thumbsup: thanks!