Q re: "organizing" things you bring with you...

[Dsnygirl]

So, do any of you bring any kind of organizers with you for your rooms, or the bathrooms or anything??

I'd heard on another thread on here that someone brings a clear, over-the-door organizer to put things in, and that sounded like a really great idea... seems we always have stuff that I'm putting away or trying to find.

But, as I looked at them in stores and online, the shoe ones all are too big for us... so I started looking at all the other kinds of over-the-door or hanging organizers these places carry, and I fell in love with quite a few pieces!! :blush: (I like my things where I can find them, esp. when we're rushing out the door for rope drop... ;))

So -- just wanted to see if there were any "can't live without" items like this that any of you bring... I'd love to hear your ideas and what works really well for you!

(Isn't Disney planning great?? Brings out the OCD in all of us... :D)

[Seasonscraps]

I read about people pack each outfit into a large ziploc bag so you just have to grab & go when you are getting ready. You can squeeze out extra air to save room in your luggage and you don't have to think about matching your shirt to your pants and you have socks at your fingertips.

What kind of things did you come across so far? :)

[Belster]

We also bring the over the door hanger...(thanks Intercot) I got mine at the $1 store. I put everything in there...diapers, tooth brushes, brushes, medicine....ect.

That is the one main thing I bring because it really clears up all of the counters...we have a family of 5 and teh room can get very cluttered.

I also bring my own laundry bag that way all of the dirty clothes can go right in there rather than all over the room.

Hope this helps!!!

[egospotter]

This year we bought one of those collapsible laundry hampers, it folds into a circle and has a case. Should be really handy to have with us!

[PixieMagic]

Mousekeeping envelopes decorated for each day, cash designated for spending each day (also seperated in bank envelopes), and I have pre-packed light weight backpacks for both the park and the pool :thumbsup:

[Dsnygirl]

What kind of things did you come across so far? :)
Just the kind of things a lot of people already probably travel with, but we've never needed to, as most of our previous week-long (or longer) trips were to a house in Maine, so you had plenty of space to spread stuff out and keep it organized.

My favorites right now?

An over-the-door organizer that has multiple, different sized mesh compartments... the bottom one is large enough to hold a number of laundry items, and is removable. I was thinking of it for putting all of our various hair supplies and bathroom "extras" in instead of them being all over the counter all the time, as it would hang right over the bathroom door near the sink.

Also, a hanging jewelry organizer... between my girls and I, and the costumes we're bringing, we have a lot of jewelry and hair scrunchies, tie backs, etc., and it'd be SO much easier to have them hanging on a hanger, clearly separated out into their own compartments, than the way we usually travel with them, which is everything thrown into two different Clinique cases. :blush:

And last but not least?? A flip-flop/shoe hanger. It hangs in the closet and holds 6 pairs of flip-flops/crocs/sandals type shoes. Between the three of us girls (as my DH, being a guy, brings sneakers and mocs... ;)) we usually have a fair number of pairs of flip-flops, crocs and slip-ons... it'd be SO nice to have the ones we aren't wearing up and out of the way! I swear, last trip, it was like our shoes multiplied while we were out in the parks!! :D (Of course, Mousekeeping was great and always tidied them up in nice little lines, but still... it was quite a line!!)

So... just wondering if there are other things like this out there that people find really useful on their trips... I love discovering other folks cool ideas!! :thumbsup:

[tinksmom02]

I have this great travel organizer thing that I got from Lands' End. It's big enough to hold most of our (travel-sized) toiletries, and it had a hanger so I can hang it on the closet rod. Ours is the medium-sized one, but they make a larger one. I find that most of our everyday stuff will fit in there, and our other, not so used items just go in a small case in the closet.

[nicster]

I bring the magnetic backed hooks for inside the in-room-safe. I can hang my necklaces, and rings on them & don't have to worry about them being forgotten or rolling out of sight, because the safe is dark & hard to see inside. There are also those small tins with magnetic back that have a clear lid (Bed Bath & Beyond), they work great for keeping my earrings in, without taking up the shelf space on the bottom of the safe. I also have some suctioned hooks (sounds like a theme:blush:) that I put in the shower to hang my shower buffer from. I don't want mousekeeping to mix it up with the towels etc. & want it to dry completely between showers.

[MNNHFLTX]

We have a large cosmetics bag that we bought from LL Bean the first year we were married. It has a hook to hang it over a door or shower partition or whatever. It helps to keep clutter off of the bathroom counter and comes in handy in places where there is not much counter space (not so much a problem at WDW, but invaluable in hotels in other countries).

[offwego]

Blythe the shoeholder idea sounds great! I hadn't thought of it and it would make a huge floor difference to us.

[kakn7294]

I also bring a 6 outlet space bar to charge the cell phones. With 4 phones to charge and sometimes not enough outlets out in the open, we can charge them all in 1 location without moving furniture. Plus, with them all in 1 location, it limits the possibility that someone's going to get to the bus and discover that they left their phone behind. With a teen and pre-teen, it's important that they have those phones with them everyday.

[tinksmom02]

I also bring a 6 outlet space bar to charge the cell phones. With 4 phones to charge and sometimes not enough outlets out in the open, we can charge them all in 1 location without moving furniture. Plus, with them all in 1 location, it limits the possibility that someone's going to get to the bus and discover that they left their phone behind. With a teen and pre-teen, it's important that they have those phones with them everyday.

I forgot about that, we usually pack a power strip as well.

[Dsnygirl]

Blythe the shoeholder idea sounds great! I hadn't thought of it and it would make a huge floor difference to us.
Well, you know, when one's shoes live in a castle and you are taking them to visit THE castle, you can't just treat them as ordinary shoes anymore!! :princess: :D

[offwego]

Well I got my shoes there temporary castle.
One thing we do is remove packaging to make space (say crystal light boxes, badaid boxes etc) and we also use a different freezer bag for each persons toiletries to help wth unpacking.

I would also highly recommend a folder for all the paper work (ressies, adr, schedule, airline info etc) that can the be placed in a front pocket of the suitcases.
We always fly and thus have suitcases (thank goodness for southwest) we unpack all the way and then use the empty suitcase for laundry.
We also use refillable smaller plastic bottles for shampoo, laundry detergent even dish soap. Much cheaper than buying the little bottles of the same thing.

[clou1028]

Mary Kay has a nice toiletries organizer. I recently saw it when on a trip with friends, one of the girls had it. You could hang it up, and each clear compartment was removable. I don't know how much it is, but IMHO I think Mary Kay is pricey.

[buzznwoodysmom]

We tend to eat breakfast in our room often so I pack a picnic basket full of breakfast items and snacks for our room. I take all items out of the boxes to save on room and the kids can just go dig in the picnic basket to find what they want for breakfast or a snack. Its so much better then having boxes of snacks everywhere.

Another thing I do is unpack all our clothes when we arrive. I put all the empty luggage under the bed or in the closet area, leaving out one big suitcase. As we take off dirty clothes I pack it back in the suitcase just like it was packed on our way there. When the suitcase is full I zip it up and take out another empty suitcase. By doing this when its time to leave we are all repacked for the trip home. Its much better than spending part of the last day getting all the dirty clothes to fit back into luggage.

[DisneyAggies]

I take 2 laundry bags one for dark-colored items, and the other for white items. When an item is dirty, it is put in the corresponding bag. Departure day, I put the bags of dirty clothes in the suitcase and zip it up. When we get home, I dump the one bag into the wash ('cause it's already pre-sorted!!). Our vacation laundry is done within a couple hours! :cool:

We also pick up a bottle of stain removal spray on our grocery stop, so stains are treated, and then the item is put in the bag. Makes it EASY on me once we're home and going through the inevitable post-WDW depression. :(

[buzznwoodysmom]

I take 2 laundry bags one for dark-colored items, and the other for white items. When an item is dirty, it is put in the corresponding bag. Departure day, I put the bags of dirty clothes in the suitcase and zip it up. When we get home, I dump the one bag into the wash ('cause it's already pre-sorted!!). Our vacation laundry is done within a couple hours! :cool:

:(

That's another great way to do it. I can't do that because there is no way all our clothes would fit into 2 suitcases. It takes us at least 4 or 5!!

[DisneyAggies]

That's another great way to do it. I can't do that because there is no way all our clothes would fit into 2 suitcases. It takes us at least 4 or 5!!

Right now, there's only four of us, and we're just there 8 nights, so I guess we luck out... Once the boys get bigger (they're 4 and 2 right now), I'm sure we'll have to do some re-arranging, but for now, it works GREAT for me! :thumbsup:

[MistressGracey]

We live in Virginia, and my DH refuses to do the whole trek from here to central FL in one day, LOL, so for the past several years we have had two stop overs-one on the way down and one on the way back. Every year I pack two bags, fondly known around here as Mickey Mouse 1 and Mickey Mouse 2 (they are Mickey-themed bags). When we get to the Marriott in Brunswick, GA (way down) we just pull old MM1 out of the trunk along with the toiletry bag and we have our clothes for the next day right there, seperate from the "main luggage". This has been so wonderful for us to not have to drag out our whole 5 piece, heavy, and HUGE luggage set, just to drag it back to the trunk the next AM. Same thing for the way home with MM2. :thumbsup:

[buzznwoodysmom]

Right now, there's only four of us, and we're just there 8 nights, so I guess we luck out... Once the boys get bigger (they're 4 and 2 right now), I'm sure we'll have to do some re-arranging, but for now, it works GREAT for me! :thumbsup:

Hahaha, 4 of us here too. We must pack way more than you guys. Our boys are now 7 and 9 and we stay anywhere from 7 nights to 10 nights. And yes, I have had to re-arrange how we pack as they get older and their clothes gets bigger.

[DisneyAggies]

Hahaha, 4 of us here too. We must pack way more than you guys. Our boys are now 7 and 9 and we stay anywhere from 7 nights to 10 nights. And yes, I have had to re-arrange how we pack as they get older and their clothes gets bigger.

LOL

I never thought anyone packed more than us!! :blush: Now, maybe I've met my match!! DH doesn't understand why each boy needs to bring 3 pair of shoes...or why I bring 5 or 6! LOL They also get a fresh pair of jammies each night, and don't re-wear anything during our stay (not even shorts). Clean body...clean clothes! I always bring 2 'spare' outfits (for each of us) as well (even more when my DSs were younger and nursing). Drives DH batty!! :D I say it helps make him a SUPER packer!! LOL

OH...and btw...I LOVE your screen name...my DSs were Buzz and Woody last Halloween!!

Also, if you liked the idea, you could always do white/dark laundry bags for you and DH and another set of white/dark laundry bags for your DSs...then just dump 'em in together once you are home!

[Aggie97]

I also have some suctioned hooks (sounds like a theme:blush:) that I put in the shower to hang my shower buffer from. I don't want mousekeeping to mix it up with the towels etc. & want it to dry completely between showers.

Love this idea!! I bought a hook today for my "mother-daughter" trip to NYC this weekend. :thumbsup:

[Dawn,DeniseandDiane]

We always bring the hanging clothes pin hangers to hang in the shower to dry swimwear or bath sponges. They are plastic and can hang on the rod. We like the pull thingy in shower but the clothes have to lay over it. This way takes up less space & stuff dries evenly. For a pk of 6 it is under $3 at our Meijer store.
We also do the shoe hanger in the closet & we take 4 drawer hanger for the closet too. We keep our "lady" things in a drawer and makeup and stuff in one too. The over the door thing we use as well. You need to make sure that the clips on top are wide enough for the door to the bathroom though. We had to bend the ones we got to fit just right.

Dawn,Denise&DIane:wave::wave::wave:

[KAT1811]

This year we bought one of those collapsible laundry hampers, it folds into a circle and has a case. Should be really handy to have with us!

I forgot this one!!! We bring two mesh laundry bags with two sections. Lights, darks, light handwash, dark handwash.


I bring the magnetic backed hooks for inside the in-room-safe.


Great idea!!!!