Do coolers have to be soft sided?

[3littlecuties]

I thought I remember reading somewhere that coolers have to be soft sided, but I cannot find where it says that on the Disney website. I just see that it has to be smaller than certain dimensions. Am I allowed to bring a hard sided cooler as long as it is small enough? We have a soft sided cooler but it always leaks when the ice starts to melt. When we use it at home we use it with refreezable freezer packs but we will not be able to use those at Disney since we will only have a refrigerator in our room...not a freezer.

 

[dawnhaze]

I don't know the rules for hard vs soft coolers, but if you do end up having to use your soft-sided one, you could double-bag the ice in Ziploc freezer bags. That usually prevents leakage pretty well.

 

[ZoZo]

I just did a search for "coolers" on the WDW official web site, and found this:

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/faq/parks/restricted-personal-items/

Apparently it doesn't matter if the cooler is hard or soft sided. What matters is the dimensions. They also don't want any kind of wheeled items in the parks, so certainly no wheeled coolers.

 

[disnut8]

I don't know the rules for hard vs soft coolers, but if you do end up having to use your soft-sided one, you could double-bag the ice in Ziploc freezer bags. That usually prevents leakage pretty well.

Totally agree with this. Zippered bags work extremely well inside soft sided coolers. And I totally are that soft sided coolers are prone to leaking.

 

[china mom]

I use a soft sided cooler that has a hard plastic insert and I never have a problem it it leaking. It does not insulate as well as a hard side but the long shoulder strap and easy portability is a good trade of for me.

 

[PJ]

At DHS today we were very surprised to see a family with what I would describe as a full-size hard sided cooler. They transported it through the park on a rented stroller

 

[jco_direwolf]

At DHS today we were very surprised to see a family with what I would describe as a full-size hard sided cooler. They transported it through the park on a rented stroller

Seen that more than once. a HUGE cooler, you know one of the big ones you use for tailgating in a stroller being pushed..

if I could have discreetly taken a picture I would have. it's funny.