Best things to buy ahead of time for trip....

[moopdog]

I've heard of a couple of great cool ideas, like the glow necklaces for at night (to help keep your kids easily in sight, ya know?). Also I've heard of getting an underwater camera for the Shark Reef at TL, and.... getting tee shirts before trip at Disney store on sale, to save money but still let your kids feel like their "getting something" at Disney. Any other favorite, ingenious secrets out there??? Please share with us!
-moopdog

 

[christinadei]

I definately agree with the lightsticks and shirts. I've been working on gift bags for the kids. I've got most stuff from the dollar tree and some stuff from Michaels. So far I have personalized shirts (t-shirts on sale at michaels for $2.50 each and I'll iron on them) disney stickers, note pads, pencils, coloring books, pez dispensers, big mickey lollipops, glow sticks and glasses, and silly string (for the hotel). All cheap and will keep them from wanting as much while we are there.

 

[Tigge50447]

Don't forget to pack some plastic sandwich bags. They come in real handy if you can't finish eating something and don't want to waste it. We ended up putting cookies, chips, fruit in our baggies and it made a good snack back at the hotel.

I also purchased a rain cover for my son's stroller when it down poured the day we went to Down Town Disney everyone saw his clear stroller cover and thought it was a fantastic idea. It sure did come in handy and was easy to put on.

Extra battery for my digital camera and lots of memory cards.

 

[summersfam4]

The things we pack to take are....
**glow bracelets (a 100 pack from illuminationz.com so they can use quite a few on strollers, connected as a necklace, in hair, ect.)
**Disney stickers new packs from Dollar Tree or Walmart
**Disney bubbles for blowing in line (found in party supplies at Walmart)
**Flashing mini strobes also from illuminationz (something different that we had never had before so that it felt really special)
**Disney fruit snacks
**Dried fruit snacks
**lollipops, candy
**Disney dollars for the girls to spend
**We make our own shirts before hand, last years had a mickey mouse head shape for each year we have been, this year we are thinking about Tye-Dye mickey shirts
**Sunvisors (decorated for the girls), and Disney sunglasses from Walmart

If I think of more I'll add to it, but since everything is small sized it doesn't take up much room, and saves a ton when we get to the parks.

Kelly

 

[crl]

We always take our Brita water bottle and filters with us. It saves from buying tons of water in the parks.

 

[Colinsmom]

We grabbed the little travel rain slickers at Bass Pro Shop for 99 cents each and brought those along, just in case. Also bought some souvenirs for DS (2.25 yrs) at the Disney Store when they were having sales, rather than pay full price +++ in the parks or at DTD, and Disney stickers and books at discount stores. The character outlets in Orlando were also great places for souvenirs for all of us!!

 

[Stitch Inside]

Coffee
Bottled Water
Fan for room (to cover/make noise during nap times).
And we read something here last year that we did and it paid off. Since we couldn't find a reasonably priced raincover that fit our stroller, we bought a colorful plastic table cloth from the local Dollar Store and some clothes pins. It worked great, and our stroller was still easily distinguishable from all the others since the table cloth covered our lime green curly ribbons attached to the stroller handle.

 

[moopdog]

See - that's what I'm talking about... green ribbon on stroller. You all probably already thought of that... do you think I did?? NOPE! Genious! -moopdog

 

[CinderellaIam]

If going in the very hot summer buy your water bottle mister fans at home, in Target, CVS, etc. They are 3X the price in the parks. I didn't buy mine before a July trip, even after DD kept nagging me too, said what will we do with that silly thing? After 3 days in the heat, sweat running down my back, I gave in and spent $$$ for a disney one in one of the parks.

 

[RichieGraciemom]

I have thrown Juice bags and bottled water between our clothes if we are flying. Peanutbutter squeezes, and peanuts. Chapstick for drylips. a bottle of rum wrapped in clothes. The disney gift bag is a great idea, I will do that this time and pretend that mickey left them in their pillows the first night we get there. When driving you can bring anything, it is the flying that gets tricke. I like the glow necklace idea, I will stock up fourth of JUlly at the dollars store, not going untill November. Autograph book also before you go. Battery rechager for digital camera. Trash bags for laundry in the room, and ziplock bags and a foldable cooler worked great for us, it collapsed in the suitcase and we brought our own drinks and stuff in the parks.

 

[DSNYRose]

I hate to have to wait the last minute and spend a fortune all at once for trip supplies. So I made a list of toiletries, snacks, and other supplies we will need for our trip. Since we aren't going until the end of May, I committed to picking up a few things off of the list once a week when out shopping for groceries, etc. I plan to hold off on snack purchases until the last couple of weeks before the trip.

This past week I purchased disposable rain ponchos from Walmart for 87cents each. The week prior I picked up one of those mesh, foldable clothes hampers and a couple of trial sized items.

This way, I'll get all of the things we need for our trip without feeling as if I spent too much.

 

[ErinInCT]

Sunscreen
Brita Fill & Go & a holder with a strap
Shout stain wipes
Clothespins (tons of uses, like clipping the rain poncho to the stroller)
Folded up rain ponchos
Ziploc bags (we pack our kids outfits for each day in a gallon size, squeeze the air out & then they just pull out a bag to wear each day), use the bags for tons of other things
Glow Sticks (you can get in bulk on eBay or orientaltrading.com)
Plastic Soda lids (put a Mickey bar stick thru the straw hole & it catches drips perfectly)
Disposable cameras
Bubbles (they have really small ones that kids use as party favors)
Moleskin (in case of blisters, we did not need ours thank goodness)
Aspirin (we bring it wherever we go!)
Extra film for regular camera
Pennies & Quarters for the penny press (we put ours in a film container)
Autograph book & marker
Pins & lanyard (pin trading was one of our favorites - decent deals on eBay)
If you have a lot of people in one bathroom, you can get an over the door shoe holder (with lots of clear pockets) for your toiletries to keep them off the counter
Ear muffs (I brought them for dd to muffle the loud rides & fireworks)

Hope this helps!!

 

[2kidsnutsfordisney]

Baby wipes for cleaning everything and everyone I also carried a small travel size deodorant in our backpack and purchased some Dove Body wipes. I am a bit of a clean freak and feel like I need to always smell my best even when a large number of those around me in line do not feel the same as me It just helps to refresh you during those long hot days!! I have also read posts from those who recommend the little Crystal Light packets to add to bottles of water. My kids do not like water but will drink a bottle of pink lemonade so I think we will try that tip on our next trip. Hope my suggestions help!