Shipping home all the loot

[conan617]

Hi All!
We're headed for the world in 31 days!
This will be DD and DS's first trip and they have save up quite a bit of $$$ which means they will be buying lots of goodies (DW and I will too).
We're staying at AKL and I found a UPS store very close by. Has anyone shipped stuff home via UPS or is there a better method that I haven't thought of to get everything home?
Thanks all!

[disneydeb]

I remembering shipping things home directly from the store from which I bought the items. That was about 20 years ago and I don't remember if they were shipped UPS or USPS or FEDEX. They arrived without any hassle and seemed to have very a reasonable fee.

Have a great trip!

[sara114]

Just a thought.....you could use one of the shipping boxes that the post office has ..that you pay one price and anything that fits in the box goes. But I think it is expensive.

better suggestion is to pack a duffle bag, use that as an extra suitcase and pay the check bag price....

I just take an extra suitcase with snacks, eat all the snacks, then have a suitcase to bring bag souvies !

[DunkieKong]

I usually just get my items shipped directly from the store. The nice thing is, if something were to get broken in transit, say, a christmas ornament from the 12 Days of Christmas (this actually happened), I called Disney and they shipped me out a new one, free of charge, the next day. They were awesome about it. I offered to ship the broken item back as proof, but they told me it wasn't necessary and they were sorry that I was inconvenienced. And to be honest, I don't think the shipping rates were really out of the ordinary.

[akaDisneyDreamer]

I also had things shipped right from the store at the AKL. It was very easy and the rates were no more than normal shipping rates. Plus it was nice having a Disney package arrive a few days after you get home and feeling depressed! Last year we took an extra suitcase, for bringing back souvies, but underestimated our shopaholicness ... however the stores had a special when you spent so much, you could buy a Disney carry-on set, one with wheels and a small duffle, for a low price. We got 2 of those and then had enough room to pack our treasures, plus we got the cool carry ons that we will use again on our next trip!

[SBETigg]

You don't have to go to the UPS store. They will help you ship from the resort. It might end up costing more that way, not sure.

[conan617]

You don't have to go to the UPS store. They will help you ship from the resort. It might end up costing more that way, not sure.

This is great news! I saw that AKL has a mail center, but I didn't realize that it could help with shipping. We're bringing an extra bag filled with snacks to WDW and plan to fill it with goodies on the way home. I am just planning for lots and lots and lots of good stuff since the kids have been saving for about a year now. I don't expect them to come back with any $$$

[tdk316]

We've shipped from the resorts many times and the rates are about what I'd expect to pay shipping from any UPS store. They even have boxes!

[DizneyRox]

Shipping is now a revenue stream for WDW. Shipping costs are based on the cost (if you ship directly from the store). You might want to consider delicate items for this shipment method as it's Disney's responsibility to get them to you unbroken.

Go directly through UPS or whatever for other things if you can. The shipping costs are just too out of whack directly from the stores if you ask me.

Granted, we don't buy anything anymore, it all seems to be junk.

[KylesMom]

With our last experience at WL, we had a box pre-packaged, taped & ready to go. We were told that we'd have to take it to the CR Business Center the next morning where they could mail it from there. Needless to say, our last day we were not going to waste our time driving over there to ship a box home. We ended up re-distributing and re-packing our luggage to get the most important things home - and deepsixed the rest.

Definitely inquire at the hotel of your stay upon check-in what their policy is.

We've never had a problem shipping from the stores we've bought from, and tax has always been waived which is pretty much a wash for the shipping charges. It was pretty crazy the last time, after all the times we shipped from the resort before, to be told "no"!

[DisneyKim22]

I agree with the posters who said that having the fragile items shipped is a good idea. In fact, even if I have the extra room, I always have glass items (Christmas ornaments, etc) shipped home because of the peace of mind. Both my mom and I have had things arrive broken, and Disney is great at replacing those items. If I broke it myself, I'd just be out of luck.

I used to have to ship stuff home all the time, but in the last few years, I really have not bought enough to have to resort to shipping. You might want to check the rates at UPS and then you can compare those to what the stores offer you. Keep in mind that shipping one larger box can be cheaper than several smaller ones.

[DisneyKim22]

I think my post above needs some clarification. Although my mom and I have both had items arrive broken, it's not something that happens often. Between the two of us, we've probably had more than 40 shipments. Disney is very careful about packaging the items!!