How do you keep your cooler "cool"

[lelalittlelegs]

Do you prefer frozen water bottles? Or those blue ice packs from the freezer? Do you wrap things in paper or use extra insulation? We are about to go on a long train journey across Europe and I thought I would pick the brains of you WDW and DL folks and how you keep your long days worth of food or snacks or drinks, cold?

 

[MSSANDRA]

I freeze those large OJ containers full of water. I try to fill the cooler completely full, freezing food that is fine to do so. I also try not to open the main cooler except for meals and keep a smaller one with just drinks or foods that won't go bad if they are not kept very cold. Also try to keep your cooler shaded or in a cool place as much as possible.

 

[ZeroMyHero]

Food and drinks go inside first, and ice goes on top. Use 1lb of ice per quart, so a 9 quart cooler will need 9 lbs of ice. Chill your cooler ahead of time if you can, or at least make sure it is room temp, and put only cold food and drinks inside. A room-temp 2 liter of soda will melt a lot of ice. Keep the lid closed and keep it out of the sun, and don't drain the water out of it. The water fills up air space and will keep your stuff colder. Hope this helps!

 

[NotUrsula]

As others have said, fill it as completely as possible. However, your weak spot is always the seam near the lid, so fill it completely -- up to 1 inch from the top. Fill that space with newspapers taped inside a trash bag, cut the papers to fit the size of the cooler exactly. (you can also use layered paper towels or real towels, if you are taking them on the trip anyway.)

 

[sarahtar]

I have several "extra long life" gel packs that I use. I line the cooler with a thin towel (actually a prefold cloth diaper), then put my stuff in. If there's room in between the stuff, I stick smaller cold packs down among the stuff. Then I top everything off with the good gel packs, laid across the top. Then more towel on top of that, then zip close. If possible, I use a cooler that also has gel packs integrated into the sides.