Hi everyone! Our “home resort” for decades has been the Pop Century. In a little less than two months we will be doing our first stay at BLT as a DVC member. Yay! For Pop Century I have had a well-tuned list of what to bring and not bring, but that is for a very different room. I’ve watched the online reviews and the kitchen/laundry seems to have all the basics (we’re staying in a 1BR villa), are there any things you consider “normal” that are missing? The only thing that jumps out is I see only one little dose of laundry detergent, so planning on bringing more. There seems to be debate on how reliably you can get a kettle, but I need one for the hotels getting to/from WDW, so not an issue for me.
Thanks in advance, been looking forward to this for years!
Welcome home! BLT is one of our home resorts as well, along with BWV.
Laundry pods are always on my list, as well as dishwasher pods. I know you can request additional pods, but for me it’s easier to bring my own.
We usually eat breakfast and sometimes lunch in the room, so I usually bring paper napkins. They have paper towels in the kitchen, and we’ve used them for napkins in a pinch.
I also bring a dishcloth or handiwipes for wiping up and doing dishes in the sink. The sponge they provide is one of the non-absorbent “plastic” ones and doesn’t do a very good job.
We like to bring our own coffee and filters (and a tablespoon for measuring) as well as some K-cups. The 1-bedrooms now have a dual coffee maker that can brew a pot or make a single cup.
I always bring some small plastic trash bags to take our morning trash down to the trash area before we leave for the day. I guess that sounds anal, but we don’t like leaving coffee grounds and banana peels in the garbage until housekeeping decides to come in and take it.
I usually throw some hangers in our luggage because DH has button down shirts and I have dresses that we like to hang and it seems there are never enough hangers.
@janamelia : Nice story! Unrelated but I have one on trash bags. Back in the “olden days” when we flew to WDW, we’d pack a box full of snacks, two per person per day. For 10+ day trips it was a lot of snacks! To protect the snacks in transit I put them in a big trash bag and then put that in a box for checked baggage. Worked great for years until one trip mousekeeping saw a trash bag and helpfully removed it along with all the regular trash one day! Ouch! Since then I have had a note reminding me to never use trash bags for stuff. Trash bags for trash I guess is OK.
You can always call or use Hey Disney to ask for more laundry detergent or coffee. The one thing I missed in a 1 bedroom was a cookie sheet (but I think you can ask for one) and tin foil. I wanted both on my last stay in a one bedroom.
The rooms really have everything essential, or you can always either ask for essentials from the Front Desk or purchase them at the gift shop / quick service location for your hotel.
That said, we always buy the following items from a grocery deliver service since we have a family of 6 in our 2BR villa and like to have ample supplies:
Paper towels (the ones Disney has are fine but not very absorbent)
Paper plates and cutlery
Paper or plastic cups
Laundry detergent, dryer sheets, and spot treater
We usually bring a pair of scissors to cut off party wristbands – these come in handy for other purposes
This is of course in addition to any grocery items we purchase for breakfast / snacks / occasional meals in our villa.
One thing I wish I knew is that there is a “Garbage room” on each floor of most DVC resorts where you can put full garbage bags if needed between Housekeeping visits. You can also put large room service / delivery items (like pizza boxes) there.
@PrincipalTinker : OK on the cookie sheet. Being good planners (yea no surprise for this forum), if we are planning on anything that needs a cookie sheet or foil (possible) it is easy to plunk in the car.
@Jeff_AZ : Nice list, thanks. Definitely a theme going on paper towels! I have my Swiss army knife scissors for party bands and yes, those are tough to get off otherwise.
I hadn’t been thinking about garbage, but can see that getting to be an issue with the longer times between mousekeeping, so bags and knowing to ask where to take it is now on my list.
We plan on being a bit tentative on groceries this first trip, seeing what it is like. I suspect we will discover it is great and lean more into it on future trips.
I’m glad you mentioned this, because on our recent trip, I thought Housekeeping had been coming more frequently and my wife mentioned she thought they had only come once. I said that I had thought the trash had been taken out more times but she was more focused on towels. I even used Chat to confirm that we only had one Housekeeping visit our 7-night stay. I thought I was crazy! But they really must have taken out the trash.
For us it is only when we have pizza or room service when we have more trash than we know what to do with.
@Jeff_AZ I see you said paper plates and cutlery but since that is standard in studios I have never had a problem getting those for free in DVC. Plus, hot cups and plastic disposable cups.
I agree with what everyone else mentioned. I actually have a one page / two column list of everything I pack for Disney (excluding clothes). I am not a light packer. Most of these items you probably already bring, so I won’t bother listing them all.
However, I did not see anyone mention ziplock bags and saran wrap. We usually get a lot of fruit in our grocery order, and the saran wrap comes in handy for storage once the fruit is washed and cut up. The ziplock bags are good for any leftover treats from the parks or dinners. They also help to keep things from spilling in your luggage if you have leftover supplies to bring home with you.
ETA: I am a tea drinker, and I always request a tea kettle (electric if possible). I have always been able to get one.
I have my Swiss army knife scissors for party bands and yes, those are tough to get off otherwise.
Most of these items you probably already bring, so I won’t bother listing them all.