Advice on shipping a package to WDW

[markyv]

I plan on shipping a few things to WDW before we arrive for our upcoming trip. What can I expect with this process and how does it work. I am told I can ship it to the resort. Has anyone tried this, and did it work well for you?

[ali'sdad2003]

I have done this on my last two trips. Send it to the hotel and have the attention line read Guest and your name. When we arrive, it is waiting for us in our room with or Magical Express luggage. It is that simple. This is one of the best thing we have discovered to do. :D


ONLY 98 MORE DAYS!!!!!!:mickey:

[It'sWDW4me]

We sent a box via UPS (I sent it through my company's mailroom, got the company discount, and just wrote a check to reimburse my company when the bill came in - all done with appropriate pre-approval, of course :)) for our stay at Pop in August 2006. Very easy and way convenient and we'd do it again. :thumbsup:

I addressed the package to the hotel but also included: "Hold for (reservation name here) party. Check-in date = mm/dd/yy".

I timed the shipment so that our box would arrive the day before we did. By using UPS, I was able to track our box's travel online and saw that it was delivered and waiting for us. At check-in, I told the CM that there should be a package waiting for us and it only took her a moment to scoot back and get it.

This worked so well for us as we don't usually rent a car or use a car service. If you need to send a lot of stuff and/or if the box is heavy, you may also want to check into a grocery delivery service - I've read quite a few posts about Garden Grocer.

[Mitzie]

We also did this with our first trip down last Oct. We sent it through the post office. Kids had fun decorating it with Disney stickers...Disney or Bust! that kind of thing. We also included our reservation number on the box. Called ahead to POR to make sure they knew to look for it and that we would be there to get it on our arrival date. We sent down all kinds of things that would of been a problem on the plane even bottles of Dew for my DH.

[Disney Doll]

We did this last October and when we checked in at POR they told us we had a package waiting. They asked if we wanted them to retrieve it right away or just deliver it to the room. Since I had a baby, a diaper bag, a stroller, and a carry on I asked that they deliver the box to the room. Big mistake! It never came. We called back up to the front desk, to guest services, to the bellmen, nobody had it. After several hours and lots of frustration they finally realized that the package had been delivered to the wrong room (same last name). Because those people we not in their room it had just been sitting there waiting to be found. It was nearly 10:00pm when our package found us and we had checked in right at 3:00pm. I was very stressed because that package had my baby supplies for the week. If we ever ship a package again I will always pick it up at check in. I know we had a unique experience, but honestly even if everything had gone as planned I'm not sure shipping a package was really worth it. We fly SW where there aren't as many baggage restrictions so on our trip in Jan I just packed a small suitcase with diapers and snacks. That seemed far more convenient so that's my plan from now on.

[Emme&TeddysMommy]

We always ship a package ahead of us. We ship via UPS. We ship 7 days ahead of our arrival. It's nice so we can track the package.
The outside of the package:
Hotel name
Attn: your name with check-in date
Address
We also call ahead to the resort to let them know we have a package coming. I also call after the package says it was delivered to double check. When we check in we have our package waiting for us. It's quick and easy.

[DVCDisneyMom]

We do this all the time as well! Very simple and well-worth it! My kids love packing it up in advance. Makes the trip really feel like it is here!

[Disney_Barbie]

I shiped myself a package last trip (to the dolphin) and it was... not quite as sucessfull as some others had described it. It was somewhat of a hassle to get the package. I asked when we checked in & got sent to the buisness services office, they sent me to the consierge (sp?) and after waiting in line for almost a half an hour (but that really wasn't their fault, it was the customer in front of me's fault) they seemed confused & told me to go to business services. When I explained that they sent me there looked a bit harder & eventually sent someone down the the storage room or whatever to retreive it for me, which again took like 10-15 mins. When we got the box it seemed to have been infested by red ants (either in the mailing process or in that "storage room" - the box did arrive 1 day before we did). For the most part, our stuff was well sealed & uneffected by the ants, but we did end up having to toss some of the cereal. Despite all this, we still concluded that it was a good idea to ship our groceries to ourselves & will try it again. Especially since all the great reviews of packages sent to disney resorts, since we will begin our stay this year at AKL.

However, I also need help with this. I like to think of myself as someone who poses an average amout of smarts, yet I have never been able to figure out the ins and outs of shipping (fed ex, ups, usps, express mail, priority mail, media mail, prepaid ect ect ect), last time I shipped my box (which I think was about 20 lbs) standard (or which ever the cheapest mail) from Massachusetts to my resort, and... I can't recall how much I paid, I think around $25 or so.
We might be able to go a little lighter this time, but it's bulky stuff generally (cereal, ect). What's the best way to do it?
Does any shipping service (Ups, USPS, Fed ex) seem to be cheaper than others? (I attempted to compare prices online, but until you have the size & weight of the box, it's pretty hard to get any price ideas)
Would a pre-paid box be the way to go, or do those only come in small sizes (I feel like everyone I've ever seen has been quite small)