Unpacking...

[ShyMiss]

We are always trying to squeeze so much park time in that we barely spend any time in our room. We always hit the parks on arrival day, so no time to unpack. We stay out until we are exahusted, brush teeth, put on pjs, head to bed, sleep 8 hours, & get up & head out right away. Repeat x number of days until checkout.

On the other hand on cruises, our goal is to be completely unpacked and organized before the mustard drill on the first day. We tend to come back to our room many times a day on a cruise, to change in and out of swimwear, get dressed up for dinner, relax on the balcony etc. Also cruise ship rooms are t-i-n-y. So I need everything in it's place at all times lol.

Maybe some day we'll schedule a Disney World trip with some downtime, and actually unpack. lol.

 

[Mickey's Best Girl]

Packing cube question... do you have an issue with wrinkling? Every review I've read suggests rolling clothes to pack in the cubes. I'm envisioning lots of wrinkles! But I want to try the cubes!

Some items do get wrinkled.

I worked in a clothing store for 10 years so I'm a master at folding things very precisely to minimize wrinkling. (Drives my DD25 insane).

Wrinkled clothing gets hung in the washroom while I shower. That's my version of ironing.

 

[aVASTGrl]

I always unpack, then put dirties back in the suitcase so I don't have to waste a lot of time re-packing at the end of the trip. I DO, however, lysol wipe all of the drawers before unpacking, and I keep all of my clothes in the packing cubes in the drawers; I'm a bit of a germaphobe, lol!

 

[ColoradoMom12]

Mostly live out of our suitcases except to hang a few things. What I don't understand is, given that we mostly just live out of our suitcases, how it takes me so long to get settled into the room once our luggage is there! I find I spend at least 20-30 minutes taking the essentials (toiletries, iPhone chargers, stuffed animals, shoes) out of our suitcases and finding places just for those things! I can't imagine how crazy my vacation would become if I decided to unpack all of our suitcases entirely! Maybe next time I need to try out the bins I keep reading about on this board.

 

[srwarden1928]

The only thing that doesn't stay in my suitcase on a trip is if I take my suitbag, it of course is hung up. Obviously I don't take the suit to WDW. I put the dirty clothes in the other part of the suitcase. When it gets to where there are more dirty than clean, I switch, because the other part of the suitcase is smaller than the main part. I have no idea what the packing cubes are that some people are talking about.

 

[maxiesmom]

I totally unpack. And I take a large garbage bag along for dirty clothes and just put that into my suitcase.

I also use and love my packing cubes and envelopes. They keep everything organized, and keep my clothes from getting so wrinkled.

Here is a link for those who don't know what they are:https://www.ebags.com/product/ebags/packing-cubes-4pc-classic-plus-set/297340?productid=10371832

There are many different brands and styles.

 

[ZebraDomeCrazy]

Wrinkled clothing gets hung in the washroom while I shower. That's my version of ironing.

This is my idea of ironing on vacation also! I rarely iron at home, sure as heck not going to do it on vacation, lol. We use nylon laundry bags for dirty clothes during the trip. Then we pack to go home, the dirty clothes don't touch our clean clothes.

 

[mernin]

I think we are strange...

Hotels = live out of suitcases
Cruises = totally unpack

I'm strange as well then! I very rarely unpack at hotels. But if I'm in a condo I do. And we did on our cruise too!

Usually have a laundry bag for dirty clothes.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

After hearing that people put their dirty clothes in the drawers I'm afraid to put my clothes in the drawers.

I usually completely unpack but last trip I didn't. My family was just being complainers and it was one less thing I wanted to mention. So we lived out of suitcases but we had a split stay.

I always bring a pop up hamper.

Next trip I will go back to my unpacking but I hang up everything. Anything that can't be hung up stays in the suitcase. It makes life so much easier imo.

 

[Parker Clan]

Well we drive and I'm a classic over packer so I'm in the little bit of both category -- some clothes go in the drawers and some stay in the suitcase.

 

[Hopefully]

I am a "nester". I have to unpack everything and settle in. Once I am unpacked and organized I feel as if i am on vacation

 

[dancin Disney style]

I hang up all my tops and bottom. Everything else stays in the suitcase. I bring a large plastic bag for dirty clothes or if it's a longer trip and I know I will do some laundry then I bring the pop up hamper.

DH and DD are quite happy to use the drawers and like to unpack totally.

 

[Allison]

I never put anything in drawers at a hotel. I will hang things up but that is it. I'm an out of the suitcase person.

 

[Babsy]

We live out of packing cubes, with the exception of toiletries and a few items like chargers for electronics. It just takes me about 10 minutes to pack/unpack the few items that we keep out. Even my toiletries stay in a toiletry bag on the bathroom counter. I will hang a few 'likely to wrinkle' items sometimes, plus our jackets that we wore on our way down from Canada. I have very organized carry on bags where I have a special pocket for everything little, like sewing kit, medications, etc. Every packing cube is labelled and color coded so that I know at a glance what is in every one. Also, they are different sizes and I have a system as to where each is located in my suitcase.

I pack a 'dirty clothes' duffle that is washable and that I always use for that purpose. When clothes are dirty, they go in there, ready for a trip to the laundry or to bring home and go straight to the wash.

It is so easy. i know where everything is because I pack the same way for every trip, and I know that i can always leave at nearly a moment's notice, if need be. I like being organized, I guess and I hate packing/unpacking when on vacation. We also love split stays and we like to be able to feel 'at home' as soon as we arrive in our room without spending an hour 'settling in'. Also, if we arrive to a room with an issue that can't be fixed until a day to two later (it happens), it isn't difficult to quickly switch rooms.

Packing cubes have made my life so much easier! I won't go anywhere without them.

 

[REEREEG]

We live out of packing cubes, with the exception of toiletries and a few items like chargers for electronics. It just takes me about 10 minutes to pack/unpack the few items that we keep out. Even my toiletries stay in a toiletry bag on the bathroom counter. I will hang a few 'likely to wrinkle' items sometimes, plus our jackets that we wore on our way down from Canada. I have very organized carry on bags where I have a special pocket for everything little, like sewing kit, medications, etc. Every packing cube is labelled and color coded so that I know at a glance what is in every one. Also, they are different sizes and I have a system as to where each is located in my suitcase.

I pack a 'dirty clothes' duffle that is washable and that I always use for that purpose. When clothes are dirty, they go in there, ready for a trip to the laundry or to bring home and go straight to the wash.

It is so easy. i know where everything is because I pack the same way for every trip, and I know that i can always leave at nearly a moment's notice, if need be. I like being organized, I guess and I hate packing/unpacking when on vacation. We also love split stays and we like to be able to feel 'at home' as soon as we arrive in our room without spending an hour 'settling in'. Also, if we arrive to a room with an issue that can't be fixed until a day to two later (it happens), it isn't difficult to quickly switch rooms.

Packing cubes have made my life so much easier! I won't go anywhere without them.

What do you use for a carry on bag?

 

[stinkpickle]

Our family is half and half. My wife always unpacks and lays everything out. She does the same for kids. However, I live out of my suitcase. I'm always ready to evacuate. Maybe that's why I don't mind split stays, but she absolutely hates them.

 

[Terpsichore]

We are unpackers! We use packing cubes and throw those in the drawers unzipped for easy access. We have a few cloth storage boxes we use to hold the clutter that builds up. We also have a mesh laundry bag for dirty clothes. We will do laundry during the week, usually when hanging out a a quiet pool or during an afternoon break. When it's time to go, we'll pack clean clothes in one suitcase and dirty in the other. My husband will neurotically sort the dirty stuff when we get home and starts laundry almost immediately.

 

[ErinsMommy]

We live out if our suitcases and bring a laundry bag that stays in the closet for dirty clothes - then on wsy home all clean clothes get condensed into one suitcase, dirty clothes in another.

 

[OKW Lover]

Do you guys usually unpack your clothes into the drawers or use packing cubes in the suitcase or stack on shelves on shelves, etc ?

For anything longer than just an overnight stay, we unpack into the draws/closets.

 

[Anniefrances]

We also are unpackers. Check in, fill up mugs, and organize the room first thing while listening to Stacy on the tv. I bring a duffle bag for dirty laundry, which I wash on pool days. Our summer trips tend to be around 11-12 days so we have at least a couple of those. And for shorter trips I do laundry later in the evening as I enjoy a cocktail and the kids are winding down with their ipads or tv (if they haven't already fallen asleep).