Goody bags for the car ride

[ohboyx3]

What do you all put in yours? I try and put together something to keep them entertained in the car or that they can use when we get to the World. Looking for some different kinds of ideas.

 

[TreeSapp]

What do you all put in yours? I try and put together something to keep them entertained in the car or that they can use when we get to the World. Looking for some different kinds of ideas.

Swing by the Dollar Tree. They always have disney stickers and sometimes toys. I've gotten disney character coloring books there and have seen didney princess and fairy crayon sets (but no disney crayons for boy themes). One time my mom made us a disney gift pack ONLY from $tree. It had little action figures of disney characters, those really tightly packed pop-up washcloths (minnie & cars), and Kleenex with woody and buzz on it. My store yesterday had Mickey characters on the big Kleenex boxes - but very few.

 

[amylevan]

Disney themed play packs with crayons, stickers and a small coloring book. You can find them in the $1 spot at Target and at Walmart.

Candy.

Glow sticks. (We travel at night, so its dark in the car. Plus they can use them at WDW.)

Ditto the Dollar Tree.

 

[TreeSapp]

Forgot to mention: if you pack the goody bags in waistpacks or small backpacks... You can make it 'fun' for the kids to lug some of their own stuff through the park (& you won't be playing packmule all day"

 

[cemeb4dk]

depending on the age, you can always get a landyard and a pin start up kit, so they can utilize at the parks, or also get them autograph books or make a custom one so they can get excited about meeting characters etc. Or if they are old enough to read we just got my 7 year old daughter the new 2014 brinbaums WDW for kids, and she has loved it and has barely put it down, even though she has been to WDW 10 times. Then there is the other stuff crayons, coloring books, etc. Or even those new rainbow rubber band bracelet making kits all the kids are playing with.

 

[ParrotBill]

You didn't mention age...

but in the snacks department we always make sure there is candy, cookies, preztels, licorice... for a variety.

A new book or two

Coloring or drawing stuff

Jewelry

Puzzles


But even more important is a music player and a movie player.

 

[TreeSapp]

Forgot AGAIN! My brain has clearly stopped functioning

Michaels's craft stores have LED finger lights (red/Blue/green 3pk) that attach like rings with elastic around your fingers. EVERYONE asks where www bought them when we're in the park - even CMs. They're super bright, super fun & hard to lose. $2 for the pack - or use the 40% off coupon on your phone.

 

[DisDayz]

I create travel books for our kids. I start with various Disney coloring pages that you can find on the internet. There are some themed after rides in the parks and tons for all the characters. I add a section that has travel games like battleship (on paper), Disney word searches, Disney crosswords, mazes, etc.

I then add a section with two coloring maps of the U.S. (One for the drive down and one for coming home) I add a couple of sheets with the state names for each direction and we play the license plate game, only the kids get to color in the states as they find them. This one is usually the most popular part as before long all of the adults in each car are trying to help the kids find the most. Last year we even awarded a prize ($10) for the kid with the most states found.

After the license game I include a section with journal pages for each day of our trip, including the travel days. There are pictures of Disney characters along with spaces to record parks, attractions, rides, etc. There is even a spot for one picture from each day to be added when we get home. And of course there is a section for them to write what they were feeling each day. These are great to read after the fact as you really get the sense of what was going on throughout the trip, even years later.

The last section I include are fun facts about Disney that I have compiled over the years. It may include snippits about hidden Mickey's, the travel distance from home, the number of steps we took during our last trip. Basically just any fun fact to keep them on their toes and reading for a few minutes.

The first year I made these I did five, one for each of our four kids and one for my niece. The next year I had to make an extra because my niece was bringing a friend. The next year there were seven as my DW and mother had to have one as well. On our last trip I had to make nine, one for all of the kids (who are now 8, 13, 14, 20 and 22) along with one for my DW, mother and both of my sisters. At one point during this trip I walked to my mother's room to confirm plans for the evening and seven people sitting in the room coloring Disney pictures. My comment was we spend thousands of dollars to go on vacation and they want to sit around coloring, next year I'm saving the money and buying them all new crayons.

 

[bluezy]

It looks like your boys are about 9, 12, & 14 (based on your PTR). At that age, I let them decide what they want to keep them entertained on the drive. Our most recent trip to Disney was in June 2013 and my three youngest kids were 8, 13, & 14 at the time -- so, similar in age to yours. We have an 1,100 mile drive each way that we split over a 2-day period (12 hours on day 1, 4 hours on day 2). Things they chose to bring along:

MP3 player/I-pod touch
Tablet computer
Portable DVD players with a few movies

The 8 yo also brought a tablet and colored pencils, stickers, Bendaroos, and some small My Little Pony figurines.

I also had a "just in case" bag (that they didn't know about) with 2 new movies, a few trivia books, and a trivia card game. I didn't need to get anything out of that bag and I don't think they watched *any* movies. The older 2 listened to music most of the time and the 8 yo played a few games on her tablet computer in addition to listening to music. I made sure we had plenty of chargers (both for the car and regular outlets at the hotel), a headphone splitter (so 2 people could watch and listen to the same movie and the rest of us didn't have to listen to it), etc. so they didn't have any "down time" waiting for something to charge. I'm all about keeping everyone happy in the car.

As far as snacks, I bought several types of snacks (granola bars, goldfish crackers, trail mix, pretzels, mini cookies, etc.) and lined them up on the kitchen counter. I put out a box of the snack-size ziploc bags and told each kid to pack what they wanted for their own snack bags. They put their "little" bags into a big bag, wrote their name on their bag, and that was theirs to keep track of and ration throughout the entire trip. I had a small cooler in the car with bottles of water and juice.

I'm very happy to finally be past the point of having to pack the snack and entertainment bags for the kids (which I did for YEARS....my oldest son is 27). I always packed *way* too much stuff because I was never sure what they would want to eat or play with on the trip. Now that they do everything themselves, it's much more efficient.

ETA: We always play the license plate game. I print out the list from momsminivan.com and make sure I have a clean copy for the drive home. I date them and keep the completed lists in our Disney box. It's fun to look back and see how successful (or unsuccessful) we were in getting all of the states. It's always a thrill to find AK or HI somewhere along the drive.

 

[larryz]

What do you all put in yours?

MP3 player
Noise cancelling headphones
Laptop with GPS bug and mapping software
DSLR

That's about 14 hours of entertainment for me.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

. . . Candy . . .

Preferably laced with copious amounts of Benedryl.

 

[Brian_WDW74]

This isn't really a theme parks attractions and strategies topic, so I've moved this thread to the Disney for Families board.

 

[dpswift]

At the age of your kids I might buy a backpack and put a favorite snack or 2, and maybe a video or video game that they would enjoy. I found that after multiple trips that they really only pay attention to a few items and the rest ends up all over the car.

 

[disneymom3]

My kids pack their own backpacks and then I add a few items. This year I found some funny pencil holders clearanced so those are going in with a pack of gum, a couple rolls of Life savers, some snacks and a mini game from the toy area. I think I ended up with 20 questions, Electronic Yahtzee, and...maybe Battleship.

I am doing a license plate find, but we all find them together and then each fill our lists. I love the idea of doing it with a US map!

They always each bring a composition book and colored pencils and that goes a long way. Each of them has a job as well. One does the recording of mileage and gas purchases, one has to find various stops using the GPS such as rest stops, gas stations, restaurants and the other is in charge of figuring out the money needed for tolls. He is also in charge of all money needed for any kind of machine, like a Coke at a rest stop etc.

 

[MSSANDRA]

At their ages, I would skip the small junk stuff and just re-freshen their current electronic stuff. An itune card the day before they leave to down load a few new things to their ipads or phones, or a new game for their hand held game system. Maybe a new movie or two, a new book or magazine. Trivia games are fun for everyone in the car as are simple games like guess the person, or car tag game. Fun snacks are great for any age!

As far things in the park, maybe some pens to trade or change for the penny press machines. Arcade cards or extra money for snacks in the parks. If they would go for it, a disney t-shirt or two, or a disney hat might be fun.

 

[ohboyx3]

At their ages, I would skip the small junk stuff and just re-freshen their current electronic stuff. An itune card the day before they leave to down load a few new things to their ipads or phones, or a new game for their hand held game system. Maybe a new movie or two, a new book or magazine. Trivia games are fun for everyone in the car as are simple games like guess the person, or car tag game. Fun snacks are great for any age! As far things in the park, maybe some pens to trade or change for the penny press machines. Arcade cards or extra money for snacks in the parks. If they would go for it, a disney t-shirt or two, or a disney hat might be fun.

good idea on the iTunes cards. I will definitely do that. I had also planned on getting them a new tee. They have pins already. I will probably skip the coloring books. Thank you all!

 

[kam1011]

My kids are younger than yours, but I wanted to share one bit that we did this time that really helped:

Before we left, I sorted all the snacks into ziploc baggies (portion sized). I emptied out the center console and put all that I could fit in there and the rest in a bag in the back of the van. When someone wanted something, I would take it out and toss it back. If two or three kids wanted the same kind of snack at the same time, no problem. No overeating, no fighting. Everytime we made a potty break the kids would throw out any trash and we restocked the center console for the way home with the ones I put in the back.

Each kid brought their own iPod. We updated the games before we left so they'd have some new stuff. DH's iPad played movies/shows (although they didn't use it continuously like they used to with the DVD players). We have two DS's that they took turns with. I tied DS pens to each kid's seat with a long string, so they couldn't lose them (as in every vacation before this one!). My oldest brought her kindle.

We have about an 18-19 hour drive, but the kids sleep through most of it.

 

[sb682]

For boys that age, I would see about buying a new DVD or two for them to share, and maybe some new books or magazines. They'll probably be pretty happy with listening to music or watching movies on their own. You could also let them rent a few DVDs from Redbox and return them when you get to Disney. Mad Libs are a fun way to pass the time, too. Give them spending money to pick out their own junk food when you stop for gas.

 

[lovebug21]

I have two little ones, 3 and 7. We make the trip from iowa to Florida at least once a year. We like to leave in the middle of the night to help get some of the trip underway before they wake up. Once I packed a bag with individual packages that were to be opened as we entered each state. They would have movies, snacks, books, maps and other items pertaining to that state. For example, a horse movie, horse figures, books and popcorn when we went through Kentucky. U include coloring sheets on state Capitol, bird, manufactures, etc. other years I have wrapped little presents they get every two hours or so. Remember to not use everything on the way down, it's harder going home.