Hey friends, it's Jacqueline from Pixie Dust PhD. Even though I like to think of myself
as an above average traveler I always have some lessons to learn in terms of packing.
In today's video we'll go over some of my biggest packing wins
and packing fails from our Walt Disney World trip back in fall 2021--stay tuned!
Before we get started I want to say thanks so much for being here; your support really means
so much to me. If you are new to the channel please go ahead and hit that subscribe button,
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post new videos. And thanks so much to everyone who's already liked the video.
Also I made some definite packing mistakes here, don't get me wrong. But I would like to blame it
at least five percent on the fact that we hadn't traveled in over 18 months thanks to the pandemic.
I think I normally do have a little bit more of a routine in terms of things that I stick to when
I pack that just kind of fell by the wayside this time. Please share in the comments down below your
most key packing tips. I would especially love to hear about if there are any odd or niche items
you definitely make sure to pack that absolutely improve your trips especially to the theme parks.
Alright, let's get to it. If you watched my pack with me video you know that we packed
quite a lot. We were going to be gone for two full weeks, so that is my defense there.
One thing we were remiss in packing though was an umbrella. We actually thought about this. I asked
my partner if they thought it would be a good idea to bring one anyway, and my partner was like “oh,
we have the ponchos… like we don't need an umbrella.” So we didn't pack an umbrella.
We own one large umbrella, two medium-sized umbrellas, and I have one small purse one. I
definitely regret not at least bringing the small sized umbrella along with us. Part of my partner's
reasoning that I absolutely bought into was that we had bought ponchos for the trip. The ponchos
worked out great; I absolutely loved those. They had elastic at the wrist to keep the sleeve
secure, and there were strings in the hood so you could tie them tighter, which was fantastic.
But when it is properly pouring in Florida, and we were there during September--it's a heavier
rain month for those of you who don't know, you know, sometimes you just want the umbrella along
with the poncho. There definitely were occasions we were caught in straight up downpours that I
wish I had an umbrella. So moving forward we're bringing the umbrella to Disney World, even if my
partner says we don't need it. Moving on to some personal care items, today I am wearing my glasses
but I often wear contact lenses. This is a travel size contact lens solution that is 60 milliliters.
This was probably not enough. I did make it work, don't get me wrong, but about a
week in when it was more than halfway empty I found myself changing my solution less often,
using less solution to clean off my lenses. etc. I did not want to run out, so that second half of
the trip I ended up being pretty conservative with it. And in retrospect I wish I had just packed two
so I could use as much lens solution as I wanted. I live what I would consider like a medium active
lifestyle. You won't find me at the gym all the time necessarily, but we live in a very pedestrian
friendly city. So if I’m going somewhere I often am outside walking to get to a bus or the metro,
or just walking there in general. So I am used to sort of the weather and how they affect my
contacts, but Florida was a different game. I don't know if it's because I was sweatier,
it was hotter, the UV rays from the sun are more intense… I’m sure all those played a factor. But I
definitely found myself changing my contacts more frequently overall, and wanting to like rinse them
and re-wet them more frequently too. So if you do wear contacts I would just keep that in mind that
the Florida conditions are probably going to be a little harsher on your eyes and your contacts
than you're used to. I enjoy a good sparkle, so I did pack a bunch of this dry shimmering oil.
I know that for me to do my arms and my legs I use about 10 pumps, and I would be doing that about
twice a day. So I measured out 20 pumps, however many days--you know two weeks--and it ended up
being about two of these containers. I don't know exactly how big these are… I would guess
about 45 milliliters, maybe 30 on the low end? So yeah, this was the perfect amount of
body glitter for me. I went through two of these just about exactly. I didn't feel like I ran out,
I didn't feel like I was limited. So if you like body glitter too I would suggest, you know,
just know how much you use on an average day and then do the math as you pump out, you know,
one by one pump, 20 times however many days you're gonna be there. Next I don't tend to wear a ton of
makeup, and certainly not at the theme parks, but I do like to use, you know, a tinted moisturizer,
do my brows, do my lashes, etc. And particularly with the way things are now and for when we were
traveling with all the masks I wanted to make sure my makeup wasn't just rubbing off on my
mask and getting it gross instantly. So I did pack this Urban Decay makeup setting spray.
This stuff is kind of like a cult favorite, I’m sure it's not new to any of you who wear makeup.
This travel size guy is a 15 millimeter spray bottle; I was using this basically twice a day,
every day for the two weeks we were on vacation, and I absolutely ran out. Now,
I was using more than I normally would use because I was really concentrating it on the areas that my
mask would rub, but I’m just saying like this was not enough. And if you're going to be on a
longer vacation you may want to pack more than one travel size makeup setting spray.
We are not theme park novices, so we do buy and pack and bring Foot Glide. This stuff is amazing,
it's totally a win. I think it's especially great with Chacos or other sandals--wherever the straps
around your toes or the sides of your feet may rub… do this before you leave in the morning
as a little preventative care, and then I bring it with me into the park and if anything starts
to feel a little red like it's rubbing I’ll just put some more on and it helps every time.
For sneakers, I find I will usually put this on the backs of my heels and that also helps.
That being said, I am the most prone to blisters actually on the bottom of my
feet--on the soles--and that did happen while we were on vacation. I haven't figured out a way to
prevent that yet. If any of you have tips in the comments down below please let me know. I’ve
gone so far as to ask like employees at running stores and they all look at me like I’m a freak.
But even knowing I was probably going to get blisters on the bottom of my feet, I failed to
pack some key items. So I didn't have Neosporin or any other sort of anti-bacterial cream. We did end
up buying a small tube at Beach Club Marketplace. Additionally, anytime you're working with an
open wound I try to be as clean and sterile as possible. I typically have, at home with me as
well as pack on vacation--especially vacation I think I’m going to get any cut scrapes or
blisters, these alcohol prep pads. These are 70% isopropyl alcohol. Unfortunately, I failed to pack
any of them with me for our Disney World trip, but we did have a ton of hand sanitizer so that
worked out in the end. But yeah, alcohol prep pads if you are prone to blisters, cut, scrapes, that
kind of thing… it can't hurt to bring these; they are so small, it takes up like no space to pack.
In other first aid news we did pack bug spray, which we sort of talked about “do we really
need to bring this? Like the resorts are treated so heavily for bugs”. But we packed it anyway,
and we did use it pretty regularly and I am glad. Now, both resorts--Walt Disney World as well as
Universal Orlando--do a great job treating their grounds to make it so there are not a ton of bugs
around. I will absolutely give them that. However, at both resorts there tend to be less crowded
areas, like infrequently used walkways, or areas around the hotels, that aren't treated as heavily.
And yes, we absolutely still got bug bites. I am glad we packed bug spray; I definitely think that
was a win, especially since we were checking a bag anyway it didn't really hurt to bring one with us.
But even with the bug spray, we definitely still got some bites. And unfortunately we
did not pack any itch cream. So this was another thing my partner and I did actually talk about
before we left and we figured “ehh, we'll be fine… like what's the chance we're gonna get
bitten between the resorts treating for bugs and we're wearing bug spray? Like we'll be fine.” We
were not fine. At both Universal and Disney World there were several instances where we had bites,
and they were very itchy. We did end up purchasing a little tube of ice cream from a Disney resort
shop, which was heinously overpriced, but it was worth the expense at the time. But in the future
pack the itch cream. Also in terms of blister prevention, a product that I had never even used
prior to our trip--so I definitely hadn't packed it--was this “moleskin” or “moleskeen” padding.
I actually bought this for winter here in the DC area because my best pair of winter boots is
a little big depending on what socks I’m wearing, so I was using this to sort of pad out my heel a
bit. And then I decided that it was actually super comfortable like everyone on the internet has been
saying, and it stays on your foot, and it works really well. And so I used this preventatively
around my heels when we went to Disneyland. In the future I’m definitely going to be bringing this
to Disney World too. And as we've talked about previously, the right shoes can make all of the
difference for any trip, but especially a theme park trip. I brought a lot of pairs of shoes,
and I have no regrets. The rotation schedule, where I’m switching between sneakers and sandals
and I’m also trying not to wear the same pair of shoes on back to back days, I really do
think helps my feet out in terms of not getting rubbing in the same spots day after day after day.
My partner also brought enough shoes to have this rotation schedule to help avoid getting blisters
and I do think it helped. If you're typically only bringing one solid pair of shoes for the parks,
like a solid sneaker, I would highly suggest you try and switch it up and bring a second pair and
see if that helps out. Another thing I just packed a lot of was clothes. I had about two
outfits per day. Now, I know this seems like an extraordinarily high amount, but honestly
for me that was correct and that was a win. For me September in Florida is a very sweaty time,
and I am not about wearing sweaty clothes all day. So we take a midday break back at the hotel,
literally shower and put on new clothes. Yes, we could have done more laundry while we were there,
but that eats into your time. And I’m really paranoid about using laundry machines I don't
know well with a lot of my nicer clothes. Maybe for you two outfits a day is too much,
but it was perfect for me. And I really only had one dress and one shirt left over at the end. This
packing fail is on behalf of my partner. I don't know if they consider it a fail, but it stressed
me out enough to where I consider it a fail for me. My partner only packed one dress shirt;
one shirt with a collar even. And we had multiple signature dining experiences. Now, places like Le
Cellier that are inside theme parks tend to be pretty lax about their dress code because you're
in the theme park. But there are places outside the theme parks like Yachtsman Steakhouse, like
Topolino’s Terrace, both of which we ate at and they knew the plan--they knew we were gonna eat at
these places--they can be a little stricter. So my partner brought one single shirt with a collar. It
was a white button down that we used on our first night for Boo Bash; it was part of their costume.
And Boo Bash was a 95% humidity night the whole time; it was very sweaty, very gross. And that
was the only collared shirt they had packed! I can understand not wanting to bring multiple
actual dress shirts, but my partner didn't even pack a polo! Of which, prior to this trip,
I had bought them several of those lightweight, moisture-wicking, nicer looking polos--partially
for this trip, partially for where we live in our day-to-day lives. But like they had options.
So my partner not having a dressier top that was clean for some of our later signature dining meals
definitely stressed me out. It totally worked out in the end, none of the cast members said anything
to us, so I’m very grateful to them--thank you so much. But yeah, think about where you'll be
dining and make sure that you and whoever you're traveling with is going to have the appropriate
clothing for that. And the last thing we planned ahead for and packed in advance that I think was
a total win with our tip money. Now, I was remiss that I totally forgot to mention the tip money in
my recent video that went over the budget for this trip. Prior to leaving we went to the bank and
took out about $150 in fives and ones. Then while we were still at home, long in advance of packing
even, we doled out money into individual envelopes for housekeeping for each of our hotel stays.
The tip advice for housekeeping I’ve always been given is one to two dollars per head
per night. So there were always only two of us, so we basically just rounded up to five dollars per
night. For each of our planned hotels stays, I had pre-labeled envelopes and put the five
dollar bills in there; so that was taken care of and I didn't have to think about it. Then we
had a bunch of fives and ones left over; primarily these were going to be for tips for bell services.
We ended up spending $140 out of that $150 we took out in tip money. It was so nice to have this
pre-planned, done, and ready to go prior to even going on vacation. It was awesome to not have to
look for an ATM inside the parks, and still know we would be tipping all the appropriate people.
I would love to hear much you tip housekeeping! It seems like the advice I’ve been going off of is
still what I find on the internet; but especially with COVID and increased cleaning protocols and
everything, I definitely want to know if I’m outdated and need to update my practices.
Those were the highest highs and the lowest lows of our packing adventures and woes from our fall
2021 trip down to Universal Orlando and Walt Disney World. Granted, it was a two-week trip,
but I felt like we had packed so much I figured we had it all covered. Even with all that stuff
though we definitely still missed some key items. I can't wait to hear about some of your
packing mishaps and must-dos. And if you want to chat about this outside of YouTube you can
always find me over on Twitter and Instagram @PixieDustPhD. I don't know why it took me so
long in life to try the moleskin padding product, but that is going to be a key thing for me moving
forward. I hope the rest of your day is magical, and we'll see you real soon at Pixie Dust PhD!