by Pixie Dusted Diva
When packing for a Walt Disney World vacation, I am a last minute packer. Now, as a busy mom of four it makes it worse! In comes Amazon Prime. Don’t have Amazon Prime, use our link below to sign up for your free 30 day trial!!
I can’t tell you how many Amazon Prime orders I placed last trip to save myself from running to the store. From anything to ponchos, new stroller rain cover, to table placements for the twins! We came up with the brilliant idea to also ship items to the hotel ahead of time once we had the twins. Diapers, wipes, formula, all the essentials were now going to go right to the resort and not in our suitcases making packing easier for me.
I started to load up a Amazon Prime Pantry box with these essentials. For those who don’t know how Prime Pantry works, you fill a box with each item taking up a percentage of the box. Once your box reaches 100% it is full and you can continue to a second box or decide to ship it. There is a flat fee ($5.99) to ship each box, or you can add certain items that qualify you free shipping. These items vary each month and you have to search through the categories on the home page, but I always manage to get free shipping. There are also coupons for certain items so looking for them (as in $2 off shampoo etc). When I was done my Prime Box had a total of 23 items in it, mostly items for the twins, toiletries and snacks but here is a sample of what I ordered:
-Aussie Shampoo & Conditioner
-Similac Formula
-Huggies Wipes
-Johnson & Johnson Shampoo, Lotion, Baby Powder
–Schick Intuition Razor
–Dasani Water
-Fritos
-Capri Sun
-Honey Nut Cheerios
-CoffeeMate Creamers
-Variety of Gerber Snacks and Yogurt
Now when I did the order for a large box of Pampers Swaddlers and chose Amazon Prime delivery, I simply changed the shipping address from my home address to the resort address and was able to order no problem. When I did the same for Prime Pantry box it took much longer then the typical two day prime shipping.
DIVA TIP: Prime Pantry shipping is longer then your typical Amazon Prime shipping. So I would suggest if you take the Prime Pantry route you should place your order 5-7 days in advance of your arrival date.
To get your packages you will ask the Front Desk for them. Attached to both my diapers and Prime Pantry box was a package handling notice (as pictured), and a $5 charge per box was added to my room charges. Over the past year (as I wasn’t charged in November 2016, but was charged in July 2017 at the same resort) Disney added this package charge.
When we got back to the room and unpacked the box, for the first time about half of my items were missing. At this point I was stuck, there were some items I would be able to get on property, but it defeated the purpose and convenience of shipping items ahead of time to the resort. I now had to call Amazon Customer Service and figure something out. They could not ship another Amazon Prime Pantry box to me for another week, which was when we checked out. So I opted for a credit for the items and would purse other options.
Amazon Prime Now
I had heard of others using Amazon Prime Now in Orlando, but never looked into it myself, so while on the bus to Magic Kingdom I downloaded the app to see if the items I absolutely needed/wanted for the week were available. You will enter Orlando’s zip 32830 to search over 25,000 items that can be delivered for free within 2 hours. I found mostly everything I wanted so I started to fill a cart. The prices seemed very reasonable as well and I was able to finish my order while at dinner. Differences such as I had ordered Aussie shampoo from Prime Pantry and could now only get Herbal Essence shampoo in the same size, but I was ok with switching brands. There is a minimum order of $20 when placing your order. When I went to place the order around 6:30 p.m., I was given the delivery window of between 8-10 p.m. or the following morning. I wasn’t sure if the following morning was going to available, as it was a holiday, 4th of July, but they do deliver on holidays too!
Some of the items I chose in my Prime Now order consisted of the follow:
-Case of Dasani Water
-Herbal Essences Shampoo & Conditioner
-Half Gallon of Milk
-Instant Coffee & Creamer
-Apple Juice & Fruit Punch
(I was able to add cold perishable items to this order, which I was not able to do with Prime Pantry)
Amazon Prime Now Cold Packaging – Disney Magic Diva
I received several notifications from the app that my order was being processed, assigned to Koral and on its way. The final notification was it was delivered at 9:23 p.m. One of the main differences between Prime Pantry and Prime Now is your Prime Now order will be delivered directly to Bell Services similar to a Garden Grocer delivery. In the past when we’ve ordered from Garden Grocery Bell Services has stored the perishables for us most likely in a refrigerator, so while Prime Pantry did package the perishables with ice pack in silver cold bags I would plan to pick up your order shortly after its delivered. Unless noted to Bell Services all the Prime Now bags look the same and they would not know what is perishable and what is not by the packaging. Also, Your Prime Pantry order came via the mail so you were charged the $5 package fee. As of right now, orders taken through Bell Services are not subject to the $5 package fee.
How to Address the Package
Regardless of which Amazon service you choose to use you will want to address the package with your name C/O Disney Resort and the address of the resort. If you have room it doesn’t hurt to put your check in date. I’ve never done that, but it doesn’t hurt. I addressed the package:
My Name
C/O Saratoga Springs Resort
1960 Broadway
Orlando FL 32830
Personally, I can’t say one service is better than the other right now. Prime Now is quicker for sure. On a previous trip we ran out of formula for the twins, and Prime Now was not in existence. After speaking with the concierge my options were Garden Grocer (which has a $40 minimum order) or pay for a taxi to a grocery store or Target. I don’t even think Uber existed! I ended up paying extra for Amazon next day delivery. So in cases like that I think Amazon Prime Now will be perfect!
Disney Magic Diva just used Amazon Prime Now for her July 2017 trip and let me know about the expiration dates of her items delivered on July 27. The milk had August 8, deli meats August 14 and September 7, and bread was August 3 so everything was pretty good! She provided me with additional photos for this article from her recent order.
Disney Magic Diva’s Perishable Items
DIVA TIP: There was a coupon on the main screen of the app for first time orders of Prime Now for $10 off! Pay attention as that will come in handy if you are placing an order.
Regardless of is you choose to use either of these services from Amazon or a similar service like Garden Grocer, planning a Disney Vacation is expensive. Using any of our Diva Tips to cut costs will save you money. Let our Disney Travel Agent help you with everything to make your trip as magical as can be! Contact her for a FREE QUOTE!
Disney told me to ship to a po box but prime pantry won’t ship that way. Did you put your resort address on the box?
I’m not sure why Disney said to ship to a PO BOX, I’ve shipped from Amazon and Amazon Prime Pantry and used the resort address. Amazon Prime Pantry will be an actual person delivering to Bell Services, so they will physically be driving up to the resort. I use the physical resort address.