Best of AtM: Miscellaneous Packing Tips

Please enjoy this "encore performance" of a previous Affording the Mou$e post. Back on Monday, September 24, with all new material!

This is our final installment of "Best of Affording the Mou$e." Tomorrow, I'll share a Friday Photo, and if all goes as planned, I'll have a trip report (or several) next week. But for now, enjoy these miscellaneous (or, Mousellaneous?) packing tips:

• We drive to Disney from Tennessee, which usually means an overnight stop on the way. Fortunately, we have family along the path, so we save $ by not paying for a hotel. Rather than unpack our entire vehicle to get our enormous suitcase that is, inevitably, in the back and at the bottom of everything else, we've learned to pack a separate overnight case for our personal items (toothpaste, shampoo, etc.) and a change of clothes for each member of the family. Such a timesaver when packing back up the next morning!


• I roll some clothing, rather than folding it. I don't believe in unused space, so I fill every corner and crevice of our suitcase by rolling small items such as socks and underwear.


• Again with the theme of no unused space, I pack items within items. For example, I don't just toss in the empty clear backpack or fanny packs--I fill them with items first. Our soft-sided cooler/lunchbox that we'll take into the parks is full of plastic utensils and disposable bowls. My small purse is holding various sample sized items.


• Speaking of samples, I save up every shampoo, floss, cereal, or medication sample I get throughout the year and take them all to Disney World. I love having a variety of items in miniature. It lets me take "the kitchen sink" with little commitment.


• When we arrive at our WDW resort, we unpack the aforementioned enormous suitcase into the ample drawers that Disney resort rooms offer. Since I detest the thought of packing up on our final day, I try to make it go as quickly as possible. One way we accomplish this is by turning our empty suitcase up on its side in the closet area, leaving only about a 6-inch opening at the zipper, and using it as a dirty clothes hamper all week. You can easily cram worn clothing through the slot, and at the end of your trip your suitcase is already packed (more or less).


• I know some of you will balk at this, but we drive from our resort to the parks. (It really is a packing tip...wait for it.) Yes, Disney transportation is, for the most part, efficient and reliable. But there are advantages to having your own vehicle. First and foremost, we don't have to wait in the never-ending bus line at park closing. Also, you have the ability to leave and eat off-property if you wish. (We've done this when meeting up with friends from the area who didn't have park tickets.) And here's the packing tip: we keep a small cooler of beverages in our car where we can stop and reload our "lunch box" as we park hop. It's a refreshing break and an opportunity to load/unload anything else we might need.


• We make our kids carry their own snacks. Yep, I'm the "mean mommy." But seriously, each girl has her own little fanny pack. Inside she has two snacks--usually one that's somewhat healthy and one that's more of a treat. This offers them easy access, and gives them the responsibility to make them last between meals.


• We have saved a couple of tubes from miniature M&Ms. These make great holders for quarters and shiny pennies for the pressed penny machines around the property. Film canisters work too (but who uses film anymore?).

That about wraps up our series. If you have some favorite packing tips, feel free to share them in the comments section.