With this much luggage and stuff, it is important that we
keep our Walt Disney Resort room tidy and organized. Since we want to be at the parks before rope
drop, lack of organization in our resort room could cost us valuable time, and
sometimes money.
The “everything has a place and everything in its place”
motto is helpful in organizing a resort room.
The challenges are making the decisions about what place for items will
be best—think about how you decide where things go in a kitchen when you move
into a house or apartment—and then communicating those places to the rest of
your traveling party so everyone knows.
Let’s start with shoes.
I don’t know about you, but our family—well, two out of the three—spend lots
of time looking for shoes. Mostly
because they come off anywhere in the house and the boy’s could come off one at
a time and in various locations. In a
resort room, shoes could end up under beds, etc. So, we designate one space on the floor—usually
between the dresser/hutch that holds the TV and the table—as the holder of the
shoes. It is just steps from the
door. Having everyone’s shoes easily
accessible in the morning makes our trip out of the door more efficient.
Pajamas. When
returning to the resort after a long day of touring, the last thing I want to
do is try to find things. When we
travel, we wear pajamas multiple nights, rather than a new set each night like we
do at home. So, pajamas get stored in
the nightstand drawer. They go off and
get put in the drawer, so everyone can find them the next night. Other items that get stored there include
journals and books.
Needed items for park touring end up taking the table space
in our resort room. The power strip with
all the chargers gets plugged in and placed on the table, so it is easy to grab
the camera battery and charged cell phones from this location. The park bag gets emptied each evening, with
paperwork placed in one of the dresser/hutch drawers. (I end up scooping all the receipts, park
maps, etc, up and putting them in a Disney sack to make the trip home.) Lanyards with Key to The World Cards are
placed on top of the dresser/hutch for easy access. Since the park touring bag is emptied each
night when we return from the parks, it is easy to reload in the morning with
needed items—ponchos, umbrellas, sunscreen, snacks, etc.
Food items. We
typically travel with some sort of easy breakfast items to eat in our resort
room—small boxes of cereal, fruit bars, granola bars, pop tarts, juice boxes,
and bottles of Mountain Dew for the husband.
In our room, the area on top of the mini-fridge becomes a mini
kitchen. Drinks go in the fridge and all
snack/food items are stored on top. This
keeps everything together and easy to find.
I usually unpack all of these items upon our arrival at the resort so
the next morning goes smoothly. Having
these items visible also helps in making decisions as to what to eat early in
the morning.
Toiletries. For
whatever reason, we now travel with fewer items in this category than we used
to. We rely on the resort shampoos,
soaps, and lotions. The supply gets
replenished daily and we bring extras home.
Toothbrushes and toothpaste get stored in a glass on the sink counter
or, if available, the small shelf above the sink. Vitamins, glasses and contacts equipment, deodorant,
and hair products are stored visible and within reach on the “closet” shelf
next to the sink.
Dirty clothes/laundry.
A pop-up mesh hamper with handles fits great in the zipper pocket on the
inside lid of a suitcase. We have two—a white
one and a black one. Depending on the length
of our trip, we take one or two. This
pop-up hamper is set up near the sink area and all dirty clothes are placed in
the hamper. The hamper is then packed
inside a suitcase—still containing the dirty clothes, for the trip home. Yes, it fits!
When we get home, unzip the suitcase and carry the hamper along with the
dirty laundry to the washer. We have
also used the two hampers to separate “lights” and “darks” on longer trips. (The handles come in handy if you want to do laundry while at your resort--click here to read more.)
Clean clothes stay in suitcases that are place strategically
in the room. I usually set up the
ironing board and place at least one suitcase on top. There are benches that hold the rest. We typically have one suitcase for each of
us. Clothes for the day get laid out in
the morning before I take a shower. This
way, the husband and the boy can start to get ready when I’m in the bathroom—they
both shower at night.
I have also found that since I do the packing, I was the
only person who knew where things were in the various bags and suitcases. So now, I take the husband on a “tour” of our
luggage before a trip. This way, he and
I both know where things are in the various bags and suitcases. This reduces the number of questions like “where’s
the camera” or “where are the snacks” while traveling to our destination and
once we get to our destination. I still
haven’t “cured” him of asking the “did you pack the . . .” or “did you bring
the . . .” questions once we get going in the car—but the “tour” of the luggage
has helped!
Making your resort room space useable and efficient saves
valuable time both at night and in the morning.
Being organized and sharing the organizational system with those in your
traveling party saves searches for needed items and means less digging through
various bags and suitcases. You know
what they say. . . time = money, and that is especially true for a Walt Disney
World vacation.
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