Do you prefer a backpack or a cross body for the parks?

[scrapshappen]

I prefer to use a small sling bag - the best of both worlds.

I like the fact that it stays put while wearing and unlike a backpack I don't have to remove it to get at items in it. I just slide it around to my front.

We have a sling too. Perfect for carrying around a snack and light jackets.

 

[Robinjay]

Cross body for me. I had a backpack I left in a taxi on vacation one time, and that is all it took. Never again. I don't have to remove my cross body on most rides and never remove it otherwise. It fits a couple of water bottles, rain ponchos, and anything else you might need during the day. Lockers or tying around your waist work for sweatshirts depending on season.

 

[Winnowill]

I actually prefer a lightweight, sizable tote bag. The one I use for the parks has Maleficent on it. It's just so easy to toss jackets and ear headbands in and quite easy to retrieve stuff from. Since I'm the one who always winds up carrying DD8's stuff (jacket, ears, sometimes a princess dress), a bag that has some capacity is a must, and I hate backpacks.

 

[pharmama]

Jeans with good pockets. Wallet, fuel rod, chapstick and phone and I'm good. If we want to bring jackets or sweatshirts for evening we'll either wear them around our waists or just get a locker. That said for a recent NYC trip I did get a Dooney Crossbody "Pouchette" (Haunted Mansion of course!) which is smaller than their full size crossbody and would definitely make a good small park bag as well.

 

[PollyannaMom]

If it's a full day - a backpack, because DH and DS will both take a turn carrying it!

If it's just for a little while - I have a small Baggelini that converts from a purse to a belt pouch. (The strap clips two different ways.) I love it because it doesn't look too "touristy" - but it's ancient, and I will be really bummed when it gives out!

 

[Purrkins]

I used to go with a cross body but have been loving my camelbak as of late. Fill that puppy with icewater and it stays cold all day and my son likes drinking from it so it's an easy way to keep him hydrated. Pouches are big enough for sweatshirts if it gets cold and a couple of high protein snacks as well as my DSLR and lens if I'm feeling ambitious. Well balanced so I can wear it for 12+ hours.

 

[pdarrah]

I do wish folks would not wear those huge backpacks that look like they are carrying everything they own. I have been slammed more than once by one of these and one time I was nearly knocked over.

Agreed! I have been hit so many times over the years with huge backpacks. I am just under 5'3" and that puts most people's backpacks right in my face. When standing in lines, "holding pens" or on buses (WDW) they will suddenly swing around to point at something or talk to someone and totally forget that they have a backpack sticking out 18 inches behind them and they clock me in the face. At least 75% of the time, they don't even notice they have hit me. I have also seen kids get hit the same way. I have no clue what all they are carrying, but I sure wouldn't want to haul that much around all day.

I just wish if they MUST carry all that stuff around on their back that they would take off the backpack when standing in a crowd or on transportation. I suspect many have no clue they are going around hitting people with their pack.

To OP - I wear a crossbody purse or a (dreaded) waistpack. Yes, the waistpack is ugly, but it is by far the most convenient way to carry a few things (phone, bandaids, ticket, ID, credit card.) My son has his own waistpack that he uses in the parks. He started carrying it when we stopped getting a stroller for him (around 7 or 8ish - he was a small child, only 10th percentile for height back then). From the day we gave us the stroller, the rule has always been that each of us carries what we personally need ourselves. He is going on 18 and still uses a waistpack - even when he went to WDW with his HS Orchestra. He says convenience is more important than fashion! Only exception to the "carry your own stuff" rule is that we have a mesh string bag that we will put the ponchos in if there is a forecast for rain and we take turns carrying that.

 

[GlitteryOtters]

I use a small crossbody purse that holds a surprisingly large amount of stuff. I always have a couple snacks, a small breath mints tin from Whole Foods full of stuff (pill pouch ziplock bags each stuffed separately with Tylenol, bandaids, mints, & meds), my wallet, a small lanyard pouch with AP & fastpasses, a small notebook, a couple of pens, an inexpensive rain poncho pouch, backup glasses, phone & charger battery pack. I also often have a small sandwich as well & I have a foldable plastic water pouch which I clip onto the outside of the purse. It works great & holds what I need.


I often travel solo in the parks, so I have to take my bags on rides with me, so I like something small enough to easily fit into the security pouch in Indy or BTMRR so I do not have to worry about losing my belongings. I also physically cannot do backpacks due to strap placement always pressing right into my implantable cardioverter defibrillator (like a pacemaker, but more high tech) & I find them terribly uncomfortable. The only way I can do a backpack is if I put it only on the one shoulder without the ICD, and that always leads to neck and back pain. I think my system works pretty well for me.


~Meg

 

[DharmaLou]

I always took a drawstring backpack, and I was going to again this week but now I think you guys have changed my mind and I'll take my VB crossbody. Mainly because I don't have to take it off for rides. That alone is the hugest convenience of it.

 

[StormyCA]

Oh, another 'tip' on 'downsizing. I ditched the wallet and got a Vera zip ID. This isn't the pattern I have but here it is:

https://www.disneystore.com/bags-to...p-id-case-by-vera-bradley/mp/1406024/1000291/


It's very small but holds ID, credit cards, hopper, and room keycard along with a sizable amount of cash and some change. I was pretty amazed at how much it held, I've never had to fumble for things or stuff it in. It has a keyring on it so it can be hooked to the key tether in my Disney Dooney.