DONALD'S PERSONAL THREAD

[damo]

Lordy, I need to take notes from this thread!

 

[dancin Disney style]

Raise your hand if you bring a dozen wire hangers

 

[dancin Disney style]

What kind of sheltered life do I lead that I never knew about palmolive wipes?? (none in stock at amazon now that I've googled lol) But yeah, everything else there is on my list too. I also use collapsible cloth storage baskets and a plastic shoe hanging organizer to put stuff in so everyone can see at one glance where the things they need are.

I was of the impression that the wipes were discontinued quite some time ago. I have 4 boxes of them that will last probably the rest of my life because I cut them into smaller pieces. You can make a similar thing with those cheap cellulose sponges. You cut the sponge into small squares and put some dish liquid on them and then let them dry completely.

I also have several packages of Purex laundry sheets which I have no idea if you can still buy those. It's a detergent and dryer sheet in one. I keep those for vacay too. They don't get your clothes super clean but good enough when you are on holiday and need to toss in a load. Then you also need a few clothes pins which are double duty....good for hanging up wet items to dry in your room but also good for taking to the pool to clip your towel/clothes to the chair.

Given the opportunity I could probably fill a suitcase with all this random stuff that I seem to think is a 'need' when travelling. This I blame on a good friend who we used to travel with to competitions and she convinced me that we always needed condo style accommodation which we did for more than 10 years. You stay in a condo you need to bring a lot of stuff. Once you get used to traveling that way it's hard to change your thinking.

 

[tinkerone]

I also have several packages of Purex laundry sheets which I have no idea if you can still buy those. It's a detergent and dryer sheet in one. I keep those for vacay too. They don't get your clothes super clean but good enough when you are on holiday and need to toss in a load. Then you also need a few clothes pins which are double duty....good for hanging up wet items to dry in your room but also good for taking to the pool to clip your towel/clothes to the chair.

I have packs of those as well. I bought a bunch years back, so easy to pack. I agree, they don't do the best job but they do an okay job and that's all I need when on vacation. Compared to the cost of laundry detergent at the laundromat I'm good with that okay job.
Recently we started to take the sample packs of Tide and Unstoppable samples that Costco were giving out. We would check every time we went in to see if they were being distributed and more often than not they were. I like them because the do a good job and they are packaged so that if one pops open it will be contained to the package it is in and not all over the luggage. Since Covid though they don't give out samples which is sad. If we ever get back to traveling I might have to go back to t he Purex laundry sheets.

 

[bababear_50]

Oh My Gosh
Thanks I just added these to my list
:Command strips
Purex laundry detergent sheets (Purex is my normal laundry soap).
:Folding laundry hamper

Thanks
Mel

 

[marchingstar]

I have packs of those as well. I bought a bunch years back, so easy to pack. I agree, they don't do the best job but they do an okay job and that's all I need when on vacation. Compared to the cost of laundry detergent at the laundromat I'm good with that okay job.
Recently we started to take the sample packs of Tide and Unstoppable samples that Costco were giving out. We would check every time we went in to see if they were being distributed and more often than not they were. I like them because the do a good job and they are packaged so that if one pops open it will be contained to the package it is in and not all over the luggage. Since Covid though they don't give out samples which is sad. If we ever get back to traveling I might have to go back to t he Purex laundry sheets.

we throw a couple tide pods in our suitcase (usually in a plastic bag that we put in a plastic container). plus a couple dryer sheets.

we also do the cut sponge with dish soap. and the pop up laundry hamper (the best!). and a hanging closet organizer to keep clean stuff in order.

i’m trying to remember other things, and i’m sure they’ll come to me! we keep our designated travel stuff in a suitcase, so when it’s travel time everything is waiting. i feel like there are some great ideas here though i’m going to have to review my suitcase stuff.

 

[pigletto]

Also have the Purex sheets here

 

[Donald - my hero]

I have an incredible stash of things that come with us on any trip and there's an extra added bag that gets tossed in for Disney. I even have a packing list to make sure i don't forget the stuff that doesn't live in the suitcase
I think the following haven't been mentioned yet so let's add them to the growing list I'll possibly be adding some links to the first post that i made so people can find things of interest. Like all the pictures from various resorts, all my food porn pictures, the different parks, transportation etc and now maybe one for essential items for a visit to see the Main Duck!

• I need to take a TON of meds with us and hate them scattered everywhere, when i need something i NEED IT NOW, so i bought a couple of those collapsible cloth boxes with the cardboard bottom at Dollarama. I open it up, put the stuff in and it goes on a shelf in the bathroom. It goes in a separate bag inside one of the carry ons so i can remove the entire thing when going through security since a few are larger than the allowed sizes of liquids (if you declare that you have liquid medications it's allowed, I try to bring sealed, unopened bottles to make it easier. Sometimes they will swab it down and/or ask for it to be opened but usually just wave it thru)
• I hate the bathroom counter being cluttered so i bring 2 plastic bins with a lid (also from Dollarama) one for hubby's crap and one for mine .. shaving stuff, eye glass cleaner, tweezers, anti-stinkies, moisturizers, toothpaste, dental floss, that type of thing. When it's time for me to clean the counter off (even before they paid you to clean your room yourself I preferred to do it myself!) I just pop the lid on, chuck it on a shelf and it's easier!
• An actual glass - i need to take my medication with milk and if we end up in a room with a disposable plastic one, GAG! It gets a pair of socks stuffed in it and then wrapped up inside the dishtowel & cloth that comes along secured with several elastic bands (never know when you might need to close up a bag of chips!) The dish stuff is to keep the refillable mugs clean!
• Liquid hand soap because bar soap for washing hands is just gross after a few days IMHO, since we go for extended trips it's usually empty before we come home.
• Rain ponchos because heck, there's always gonna be some rain at some point.
• A power bar that has USB outlets in it because there never are enough -- now with all the room renovations that's not needed as much BUT most other hotels don't have that!
• A very long cable to let us connect the computer to the tv, YES we watch tv (usually movies or series that I've either downloaded from Netflix or old school DVDs -- not having my Netflix password floating around out there!!)
• At least 2 rolls of our own TP because let's be honest here, too much food we're not used to, too much sugar (looking at the hubby here!) not enough sleep, too much sun, different tap water (even though we buy bottled for even brushing teeth since hubby is really sensitive to that) is going to lead to a few trips to the bathroom when your poor tushy ain't gonna appreciate the sandpaper on a roll they provide!! Doesn't take up much room and when we come home POOF space for souvenirs!
• The folding laundry basket that others mentioned and now that everyone is trying to get away from single use plastic you can find almost every kind of laundry soap has those strips that actually DO work now! When the laundry is done I take one of the carry ons down with me and fold the clothes into it to get them back to the room (if there's ever anyone else in the laundry room when I'm there they are always commenting on what a brilliant idea that is)
• tons and tons and TONS of ziploc bags in various sizes. It's incredible the number of things you'll find uses for them - even before bag check happened I had those larger zipper ones filled with smaller ones so i could pull it out of my small day bag and find what i needed easily- blister bandaids, medications, snacks, wipes, whatever i decided needed to come with. As the day went on they might get filled with leftovers for the next day! i would just pull the baggies out when we went thru security, open all the zippers on the bag up and the staff was very happy to see it clearly without needing to poke and prod.

I'm sure I'm missing a ton of things but i think you get the idea, I pack like I'm taking my entire house with me because as others have mentioned I'd rather have what I'm used to instead of paying a high cost for something different!

 

[juniorbugman]

My Sister used to have a check list of what outfits she wore on her trips so that she didn't wear the same ones on another trip. This is so funny now because my friend noticed that she had worn the same outfit 2 different years on my outings to Tea at Casa Loma so I guess we should all have these checklists. Who wants to be caught wearing the same outfit on different vacations?

 

[alohamom]

collapsible cloth boxes with the cardboard bottom at Dollarama. I open it up, put the stuff in and it goes on a shelf in the bathroom

Genius! I just love this idea, thank you!

 

[Donald - my hero]

OK, today's plan was to sit here at my actual laptop that has ALL of the pictures from our trip - we're talking over 2,000 here when i add in the photopass ones and continue organizing them. NOYT HAPPENING! I've used up today's worth of mental energy already (one of the symptoms of depression that's rarely talked about, i can get exhausted just by trying to do things that require concentration)

Time for a poll gang - how do you you want me to proceed?
Chronologically so you can see how we spaced out the entire trip
OR
Activities/pictures grouped into categories like, resorts we visited, Disney Springs, food porn (big part of my trip!), each of the parks?

OR
Randomly added by some algorithm that makes sense only to me

To wrap up today's postings with a picture of me with the main Duck in all 4 parks
Magic Kingdom - I was showing him the sticker on my phone of him

Looks like this BTW

Epcot showing him the sticker on my Magic Band of him

Looks like this BTW

The studios? Nope he's missing from there
Animal Kingdom

 

[tinkerone]

For me, anything you post is fine. I miss travel so much I'm devouring what ever comes my way. It could be a mash up of pics from today and twenty years ago, I just don't care. Anything you care to share is fine and I will give a big THANK YOU for doing it.

 

[juniorbugman]

For me, anything you post is fine. I miss travel so much I'm devouring what ever comes my way. It could be a mash up of pics from today and twenty years ago, I just don't care. Anything you care to share is fine and I will give a big THANK YOU for doing it.

Me too. However you want to share your photos with us is just fine. We just want to see your photos and will take them anyway, anytime you want to share.
Oh and just so you know today is Spunky Old Broads Day so let's all celebrate.

 

[Silvermist999]

We also bring our own liquid hand soap pumps, lots of wire hangers and plastic hangers with clips, twist ties/elastics and lots of ziploc bags too! I also bring along a tiny bottle filled with dish soap (saved the tiny 5 inch Palmolive bottles from when we stayed at the Poly and BLT studios/villas)

We always remove our shoes once in our room, so I like to bring slippers (dollar store) to wear, instead of going barefoot. They are super cheap and get tossed at the end of our trip. Got this idea from our travels in Asia where the hotels always provided disposable slippers for use in the rooms.

 

[marchingstar]

since you asked for opinions, i’ll share mine!

i vote organizing your posts somehow other than chronologically.

not that there’s anything wrong with that kind of trip report...but since you have the “benefit” of a lot of time since the trip, you’ll see interesting connections and stuff.

like your donald post...it’s so much neater to see all your donald meetings at once vs. them showing up over different days.

so i say let your brain go where it wants. you’re a good storyteller, so tell the stories you want, the way you want to tell them

 

[dancin Disney style]

I have an incredible stash of things that come with us on any trip and there's an extra added bag that gets tossed in for Disney. I even have a packing list to make sure i don't forget the stuff that doesn't live in the suitcase
I think the following haven't been mentioned yet so let's add them to the growing list I'll possibly be adding some links to the first post that i made so people can find things of interest. Like all the pictures from various resorts, all my food porn pictures, the different parks, transportation etc and now maybe one for essential items for a visit to see the Main Duck!

• I need to take a TON of meds with us and hate them scattered everywhere, when i need something i NEED IT NOW, so i bought a couple of those collapsible cloth boxes with the cardboard bottom at Dollarama. I open it up, put the stuff in and it goes on a shelf in the bathroom. It goes in a separate bag inside one of the carry ons so i can remove the entire thing when going through security since a few are larger than the allowed sizes of liquids (if you declare that you have liquid medications it's allowed, I try to bring sealed, unopened bottles to make it easier. Sometimes they will swab it down and/or ask for it to be opened but usually just wave it thru)
• I hate the bathroom counter being cluttered so i bring 2 plastic bins with a lid (also from Dollarama) one for hubby's crap and one for mine .. shaving stuff, eye glass cleaner, tweezers, anti-stinkies, moisturizers, toothpaste, dental floss, that type of thing. When it's time for me to clean the counter off (even before they paid you to clean your room yourself I preferred to do it myself!) I just pop the lid on, chuck it on a shelf and it's easier!
• An actual glass - i need to take my medication with milk and if we end up in a room with a disposable plastic one, GAG! It gets a pair of socks stuffed in it and then wrapped up inside the dishtowel & cloth that comes along secured with several elastic bands (never know when you might need to close up a bag of chips!) The dish stuff is to keep the refillable mugs clean!
• Liquid hand soap because bar soap for washing hands is just gross after a few days IMHO, since we go for extended trips it's usually empty before we come home.
• Rain ponchos because heck, there's always gonna be some rain at some point.
• A power bar that has USB outlets in it because there never are enough -- now with all the room renovations that's not needed as much BUT most other hotels don't have that!
• A very long cable to let us connect the computer to the tv, YES we watch tv (usually movies or series that I've either downloaded from Netflix or old school DVDs -- not having my Netflix password floating around out there!!)
• At least 2 rolls of our own TP because let's be honest here, too much food we're not used to, too much sugar (looking at the hubby here!) not enough sleep, too much sun, different tap water (even though we buy bottled for even brushing teeth since hubby is really sensitive to that) is going to lead to a few trips to the bathroom when your poor tushy ain't gonna appreciate the sandpaper on a roll they provide!! Doesn't take up much room and when we come home POOF space for souvenirs!
• The folding laundry basket that others mentioned and now that everyone is trying to get away from single use plastic you can find almost every kind of laundry soap has those strips that actually DO work now! When the laundry is done I take one of the carry ons down with me and fold the clothes into it to get them back to the room (if there's ever anyone else in the laundry room when I'm there they are always commenting on what a brilliant idea that is)
• tons and tons and TONS of ziploc bags in various sizes. It's incredible the number of things you'll find uses for them - even before bag check happened I had those larger zipper ones filled with smaller ones so i could pull it out of my small day bag and find what i needed easily- blister bandaids, medications, snacks, wipes, whatever i decided needed to come with. As the day went on they might get filled with leftovers for the next day! i would just pull the baggies out when we went thru security, open all the zippers on the bag up and the staff was very happy to see it clearly without needing to poke and prod.

I'm sure I'm missing a ton of things but i think you get the idea, I pack like I'm taking my entire house with me because as others have mentioned I'd rather have what I'm used to instead of paying a high cost for something different!

We must be related.....I don't bring boxes for the counter but I do bring a hanging shoe holder which basically does the same thing. Everything goes in a pocket and hangs beside the sink. I clean my own room....I prefer to not have anyone in the room and also, critters can get in when they prop the door open. Hand soap and TP....yes. Many Ziplocs...yes. Rain ponchos....yes. Power bar....yes.

I think I mentioned it but I have a notebook with packing lists. I need different things for different trips. I have a list for Disney, a list for all inclusives and those are broken down into different countries. Then I have lists for other types of trips/places. That sounds really OCD Now that I think about it my camping list might have been the first. We went tent camping and forgot to bring the pegs and mattresses. That was over 25 years ago.

 

[Debbie]

I use ThirtyOne bags when I travel....DH's medication in one, electronics in another. I have a clear bag for general first aid/medications-see at a glance. Snacks go in ziplocks, and, yes, we have one ziplock full of ziplocks.

We have a large hanging travel bag for bathroom necessities, and everything is used and returned each day. The bag has a hook so hangs on one of the hooks in the bathroom, zipped until needed again. It is always stocked. Every trip DH says "Did you remember the toothbrushes?" even though there are toothbrushes (and every other need) in the bag so we could leave at a moments notice.

Donald, I'm of the you decide how to share your photos. I was in the chronological camp, but I liked your Donald meets Donald posts above.