Spreadsheet for packing planning

We travel enough that I usually pack for myself and our three kids the night before we leave. I hate packing. But I can do it on a moment’s notice and I rarely forget anything. I fully appreciate lists (and I’ll probably need one for Disney with things like “glow-in-the-dark bracelets” and “Mickey ears” that I’ll have bought for the trip.) But yeah…I guess I don’t fully appreciate the need for major packing lists for WDW…

Not true.

For example, eyeglass bands. I don’t need them for anything UNLESS I’ll be riding rides. I wouldn’t back them for any other trip. But I need to make sure I remember them. (One trip we didn’t, and as a result we had to find a store and buy them once we arrived, which was annoying since we already owned several!)

Rain ponchos. Again, we’d never pack them otherwise.

We also do cargo shorts for the parks, but not for any other time so that we don’t have to carry bags.

I could go on…but we definitely pack differently for amusement park trips. (Now, having said that, it is hard to find a trip where we’d not involve an amusement park…but that’s beside the point!)

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I used to use a list, separated by location (suitcase, carry-on, diaper bag, kids carry-on, pocketbook). But then my kids became teens and I no longer need to maintain that level of detail. Now I start packing a week ahead of time by placing items in a bag when I think of it. Then when it comes time to put it in the suitcases, I walk away and let my husband do it.

We don’t pack anything different either. I know some people do. But honestly I can’t think of much. Mainly you’re taking clothes wherever you go.

Mine is not about the clothes (mostly) it is all the ‘other stuff’ that I bring on a Disney trip, that I don’t other places - actually to be fair, I don’t really travel for vacation except to Disney, if I travel for business I am way less worried about forgetting anything. There is very little I couldn’t buy when I am on business - when I am at WDW I am on property and using Disney transportation, so forgetting something means getting an uber/lyft and going to buy it - or paying Disney prices - neither of which I want to deal with when on vacation.
Like, sun-screen, mole-skin, band-aids, external phone charger, poncho, etc.
Also - when I go to Disney I like to wear my Disney shirts :slight_smile: plus I take a ton of pictures and want to like what I am wearing in them LOL

I am obsessive about my packing spreadsheets, no matter where I’m going. Creating them helps me to suffer through the interminably long days and nights before I get to leave. That said, after I check them for the 8th or 10th time, the only way I can get myself comfortably out of the house is to physically put my hands on the only things that I can NOT buy/replace upon arrival…passport, wallet, phone. Once I am mentally in that place, I’m good to go.

I’d have all that on any holiday except moleskin and ponchos, neither of which I take to Disney anyway. I wear Disney T shirts more in my every day life (literally nearly every day!) than I do at WDW, mainly because I get too hot there with sleeves, I like to wear vest tops there.

I travel every week for business and usually pack 5 minutes before leaving for the airport…

However, for Disney, I tend to have a list for special stuff: handheld fan+mister, Mickey ears, clothes for disneysounding, special snacks and my good shoes. For the rest I throw stuff in a suitcase. I always check my suitcase; I can totally just have a carry-on, but I’d rather not.

I like to have all the things I want.

Oh snap…I had a list for my first two trips.

Last month? I threw everything in a bag and hoped for the best.

Next month? Oh sod it. I’m just going to wing t and figure if I forget something I’ll just buy it. Or go without.

I’m a bit of a “fly by the seat of your pants” kinda human though…I get it from my parents. Who randomly pack up their camper van (yes, my parents camp in a 2004 Kia van they converted. I know. It’s bizarre) and go on road trips. With zero plans and usually zero appropriate clothing. Which means they end up at my house scrounging for clothing. :joy::joy: (they keep cloths and stuff at my house now…they kinda live there part time anyway)

But when I take the kids? Yeah, I have a list. Because they forget stuff otherwise!

For me, it’s the fact that it’s in America and I won’t have access to a car.

Any other trip that I would take, there’d be little problem if I forgot to take something. I could just go to a shop and buy it.

But that’s a much bigger deal during a Disney trip. The place I’m staying in is nowhere near any shops. Disney sells lots of things, but not everything — and what it does sell often comes at a significant premium.

It’s a lot simpler to know I have everything I need.

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