How to pack a suitcase....room for souven-ears. About This Page:

[ladytikibird]

Hey All,
As a daughter of a DVC owner, I have frequently traveled to and from WDW and have found a way to pack a suitcase that I am left with space later on for souveniers. As many of you know DVC rooms have kitchens or a kitchenette in the case of a studio, well, I pack food in my suitcase. Yeap, you got it.....food. In order to give myself or my family that extra lil bit of cram space for all those wonderful little gifts we bring back home, I grab an extra suitcase and start packing in the boxes. I dont like to shop for groceries in FL if i can help it. (alot of supermarkets close to the parks tend to be pricey) So when i mean boxes, i mean things like Poptarts, those mini cereal boxes, Ramen Noodles, goldfish crackers, or heck even those little koolaid packets, things that can be normally stored in the pantry. I dont pack any heavycans like vegetables or what have you but items that are light and/or the whole family will snack on either during the trip down (if your driving this suitcase of goodies is a lifesaver), or once you arrive in your "Home Away From Home" Then once everything is unpacked and eaten over the course of the week Wahlah!! You have an empty suitcase and room for all those extras you just bought. Hope this tip helps you all out.....enjoy.
*Hugs & Pixie Dust*
Lady Tiki Bird

[IdahoDisneyMom]

I just wanted to add that for our last trip I took pop tarts, etc out of their box, and put the wrapped food in a ziploc storage container. That way we could put souvenirs that we didn't want to get squished in the container on the way home. If we didn't end up needing the container, I could have tossed it and not felt sad.

[chezp]

Thanks for the great idea. We're packing right now and I know that the British chocolate we're taking with us won't come back or the teabags and a few other things, which will give us space for souvenirs.

[toddjodybrent]

We are packing right now, too, so thanks for the ideas. We, too, pack food items that won't return, but also some of our clothing won't return. . . as I am packing our son's almost grown out of shorts and swimsuits that will be left behind.

I read somewhere about a lady who goes to Goodwill to get her suitcase and then leaves it behind as a donation when she leaves the resort. Haven't gone to that extreme, but get the idea!

[Thomhazel]

We do the same in fact we probably go a bit further, we talk tea, coffee, washing powder fabric softener, dishwasher tabs, washing up liquid, bin bags and freezer bags. i hate having to shop for boring stuff on holiday and it gives us space and weight for the return journey.

[Constance09]

I do the same thing with diapers and wipes.

[Eeyore Tattoo]

May I add to use space-bags for clothes.. You can pack quite a few items in them & flatten them down to 1/3 the space used..

[num1DVCfan]

I roll our clothes when packing and it saves a lot of room in the suitcase. I saw someone do it on Oprah (or maybe Ellen?) one day and I thought it was a great idea! For shirts, I just fold them like normal, and then roll them jellyroll style before putting in the suitcase. It's amazing how little space they take up when you do that!

[tinker_me_happy]

One other thing that is helpful is the hard plastic 'shoe boxes' to help keep food items from getting crushed. Then if you purchase a fragile item (like a tree ornament) you can use the plastic box for extra safety on the way home!

[DVC_Don]

We don't buy much anymore but back in the days we did we'd often just have the stuff shipped home from the store and even a couple of times from a resort business center.

[Beautiful Mother]

The suitcases come out today for our trip. Taking all this to heart when we pack.