Can we talk sunscreen?

[Erica09M]

We're going for a week in May. It will be myself, my husband, and our two daughters (turning 5 yrs, and 23 months at time of trip). How much sunscreen should I take for a family of 4, vacationing for a week?

What is your favorite sunscreen, and why? What about the continuous spray kind?

And, should I bring the sunscreen with me, or buy it once we're in Florida (would have to be at the resort since we're not renting a vehicle). Or should I add it to my order on Garden Grocer?

 

[mychicks]

If you can bring it with you, I would do that. It is expensive at the resorts. Had to buy a bottle last year at AKL and I think it was $15.00.
We use Neutrogena for us and two of my dds. My youngest dd has had reactions to sunscreen in the past so we use Blue Lizard on her and haven't had any reactions to it.

 

[Curiouser&curiouser.]

I live by the beach and I would recommend getting 2 bottles of sunscreen. 1 bottle of the Coppertone spray, 30 SPF is fine and 1 bottle of sunscreen lotion, I would recommend the Coppertone baby lotion, SPF 30 or 45. (the little pink bottle). You may want to buy a face sunscreen stick (like chapstick)..you can use it on their lips and it is easy for re-application on their faces and won't sting like the spray in their eyes.
I would add it to your garden grocer order....it is the same price if you buy it and pack it or wait to buy it there in the parks.
This past Aug I bought 2 spray bottles, and the 1 lotion and it was too much and we are a family of 5.

 

[monkey30]

For spray lotion,Coppertone over banana boat, it sprays better and the same all the way through the can. I found the easiest thing to do is have kids in undies then get dressedand spray them down this way if a shirt or shorts shift they are still somewhat protected. then the rest of the day use lotion!

I myself burn fast, so I use about a 45, not sure it makes a huge difference over 30 but it worked for me!

 

[Erica09M]

How often do you re-apply?

I know this sounds so silly to ask that! LOL But in the summers here (Indiana) my kids are only outside for a couple hours at a time and not all day long. I'll put it on before we go out, and if we're out for more than like 2 hours I'll re-apply. Should I re-apply sooner than that at Disney?

 

[Alice's Mommy]

The correct amount of sunscreen for one adult per day is the size of a shotglass. One bottle for a family of four, when applied correctly, for the time frame you're going would NOT be enough. This is because you have to figure on reapplications. Sweat and water rides will wash away some of the sunscreen so you should figure on reapplying once during the day. You may want to check with your doc about the amount of sunscreen needed for your kids, but it will be a liberal amount, more if a lot of skin will be shown!

 

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

May I suggest a really good sun blocker!

try Bullfrog brand.

I "discovered" it while working in a desert enviroment. they come in various SPF levels (36, 50 etc.)

they won't fade away, even if you are swimming. it also come in a handy solid stick tube of spf36 about the size of a lip balm, that you can tuck in your pocket and use for a touch up, plus applying to the face and nose!

never got a burn when using them!

 

[deerhart]

We get waterproof sunscreen, usually 30spf and use 1 bottle (we only put it on exposed areas so lower arms, mid legs, neck, face). If we go swimming during the day then we add it back on .

We have not had any problems with sunburns (even if we missed an area). We are also normally fairly tan by the time we go as well.

 

[Curiouser&curiouser.]

It depends on the time of day and the humidity. usually i am reapplying about every 2 hours.

but in disney we are back in the room by noon and we head back out around 5 at night. the mid-day we are inside. so don't forget to get out of the sun if it is too much.

actually my sister was there this past May and it was raining the entire trip! I really do NOT hope you experience the same weather.

 

[Erica09M]

It depends on the time of day and the humidity. usually i am reapplying about every 2 hours.

but in disney we are back in the room by noon and we head back out around 5 at night. the mid-day we are inside. so don't forget to get out of the sun if it is too much.

actually my sister was there this past May and it was raining the entire trip! I really do NOT hope you experience the same weather.

I hope we don't have that same weather either! That's the bad thing about planning a vacation, you never know what the weather is going to be like. We'll be terribly disappointed.

 

[Curiouser&curiouser.]

she still made the best of it! they had designated "sneakers" for going into the floods of the parks...they laughed and played in the water...it was her & her husband's first time to disney together and it was their first anniversary!
they did not get to see any fireworks but they enjoyed all the good food and went resort hopping...looking at all the different resorts...they were creative if you ask me! I would recommend going to the community hall at one of the DVC locations or pay attention to children's activities at the resorts if you get a rainday or just for something different.

 

[Erica09M]

she still made the best of it! they had designated "sneakers" for going into the floods of the parks...they laughed and played in the water...it was her & her husband's first time to disney together and it was their first anniversary!
they did not get to see any fireworks but they enjoyed all the good food and went resort hopping...looking at all the different resorts...they were creative if you ask me! I would recommend going to the community hall at one of the DVC locations or pay attention to children's activities at the resorts if you get a rainday or just for something different.

Thanks for the tips!!

 

[pilotwife_02]

I really like blue lizard for kids since it's chemical free and water proof. For myself I love absolutely natural since, again, it's chemical free (and smells really good), but the downside is that you can only get it online or in Hawaii (which is where we discovered it).

Not sure about how much you should take. When we went in October is was so cool the first half of the week that we wore sweatshirts and barely used any sunscreen at all on the kids (just their faces since their legs and arms were covered).

 

[antree]

Yes bring sunscreen, I am only responding to say, I don't understand why my family doesn't need it when we are in Disney. We live in NJ and yes we use sunscreen all summer, I took it to Disney when we started going 12 yrs ago and never once needed it. I applies it in the beginning then I forgot one day and noticed we never tanned or burned? My DD now 15 will lay out trying to get something but never do we come home with a tan or sunburn. We visited 2x in July and other times were Sept., Oct March. Jan, and Nov. Is it the time of year we go. I was and still am confused on it. When I hear of so many people getting burned.

 

[MSSANDRA]

For little ones I like copertone baby (lotion, not spray) . At least 45 +.DGS does not like spray at all. I would go ahead and buy it and be sure to try it out a few times before your trip in case of a reaction. We go winter so we need much less but I would take at least 2 bottles and more if you plan to swim during the day. In the parks I would reapply a couple time, more if you do water rides. At the pool or water park, reapply every couple hours.
I try to put thin, light colored t-shirts on kids, even in hot weather to reduce exposure to shoulders.

 

[Curiouser&curiouser.]

no problem! enjoy your planning! I am officially at 30 days and counting! My DD has already packed her bags! hahah!

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

For our family of 4, we go thru a bottle and a half of spray and 1/2 big bottle of cream sunscreen. That's for a week. I look for SPF 30 or higher for us.

I like the cream for my shoulders, face and neck, ears and part in my hair. DD also gets the cream stuff there.

The guys like the spray mostly but do use the cream on their faces and ears.

I'd just order it from Garden Grocer since you are doing that order anyway. One less thing to worry about packing.

 

[hippiemama76]

We love Badger brand SPF 30 suncreen and SPF 15 lip balm. We also use the TruKid Sunny Days stick for faces. Both have zinc oxide, which while more difficult to spread, IMO is a much more effective sunscreen than the rest.

If you're brand picky, I would bring with rather than order.

 

[mousebymarriage]

I would bring 2 bottles especially if you use the continous spray kind, you definately don't want to buy it at one of the resorts or theme parks....too expensive. We use Coppertone Sport (in the blue bottle) continous spray, it's waterproof and sweatproof. On faces I use Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry Touch Sun Block (it's a lightweight lotion and great for faces because it doesn't make you feel greasy).

 

[NotUrsula]

Lots of folks here tell me that I over-kill it, but I'm a perfectly pale redhead, as is my DD. DS and DH are also fair-skinned. We burn easily, and my family has a serious skin cancer history, so I take no risks at all.

In a week at the beach in FL at that time of year we will use about 20 cans of continuous spray. At WDW, where we are indoors about half the time, we use about half that; 10 cans or so, plus wax sticks and Ocean Potion dab-ons for our faces and hair parts. We reapply every 2 hours when in street clothes, and every 90 minutes if at a beach/pool. (When at WDW on park days we will do a full-body under clothes application when first getting dressed, then reapply only to exposed areas for the rest of the day. I've been know to burn through clothing.)

As the adult dose for proper coverage is one fl. oz. per application, and the can normally holds about 6 oz., one can of the spray is good for essentially one full day of sun exposure for one adult.