Just returned-things that helped the most

[beck00]

added bag and bottles to Amazon wishlist for our Nov trip....thanks!

 

[han22735]

Hey OP...how did those poncho's hold up? I ordered them for our upcoming trip in September.

 

[kj2mom]

Hey OP...how did those poncho's hold up? I ordered them for our upcoming trip in September.

While we did not use them more than one day at a time, we did sometimes throw them in a plastic bag to take out later in the day. We had no trouble with them. I had also bought a few from the dollar store and the first day my son happened to pull one of those out of the backpack when it was raining (no big deal, it was just white instead of colored). Wrong! He had the worst time with it and ended up ripping the arm holes each time he tried to put it on/take it off. From then on we used the dollar store ones to sit on only. I don't know how they would hold up if you were trying to use them day after day but they definitely did the trick for what we needed (one day then toss). I looked back at my order and I actually purchased 20 for $19.99 in February so I did get them for a dollar, I think now they work out to $1.25 but I think the quality difference is definitely worth that extra quarter.

Also, I have heard people mention the size of the dollar store ones while I didn't notice anything (I never actually wore a dollar store one, just my son did) I will say I am not a small woman and the ponchos I linked fit me just fine even while I was carrying the backpack underneath.

 

[han22735]

Thanks for the response. It was $25 I think when I ordered the other day so way cheaper then Disney prices. Glad to hear they held up well.

 

[Hannah M.]

These tips are so spot on and helpful, thanks!

 

[alievans719]

Glad to help anyone I can! I should have said the reason Amazon prevails here is because I saved up a bunch of gift cards I got from Viggle (free giftcards for watching tv). I did not pay out of pocket for anything I bought through Amazon. We needed ponchos a couple of days when the rain was torrential, one day it was sprinkling when we went on Kali so we decided to put them on just because we had them and could. It worked perfectly!

I've never heard of Viggle. Is it a good site?

 

[kj2mom]

Viggle is an app and honestly it takes a lot of work but I am a single mom who wanted to take her two kids to Disney World scrapping every penny I could so I devoted a ton of time to it. I have since slacked off a bit but for months and months I would concentrate a lot of effort into checking into the bonus shows, playing trivia and earning as many points as possible that I could then turn into gift cards. Gift cards used to be available all the time but now they seem to release 3 or so a day, one an hour sometime between 9pm eastern and 1am eastern. Again, a lot of time wasted but since the children were generally all snug in their beds and I was just catching up on the DVR it was not a big deal to keep the app open and refreshing. I ended up with enough Amazon gift card $$ to get everything we needed for the trip and enough Old Navy gift card $$ to purchase all of the clothes the kids needed then some JC Penney $$ to buy me a couple of pairs of capris. Heck, I even got a Papa Johns $10 gift card that we used when we had some friends over to our time share to swim in the pool and relax one night. We had pizza by the pool, with the gift card and a 25% off coupon the 11 of us shared pizza, breaksticks and soda for the cost of the 3 of us getting QS at the parks !

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

Definitely going to use the Brita water bottles on our next trip, such a great idea. We go through so much of the packaged bottled water whenever we go to Disney as well as for other summer trips and I feel so guilty about the waste.

 

[vtownpatty]

Love the screen shot idea! Not so much for my battery, but just the convenience! Thanks!

 

[ErinInCT]

DISers are the best! I don't know what I'd do without you! Have now ordered the Frogg Togg cooling towels, the O2 cool caribiner misters, ponchos and the waterproof backpack! And that is a sure sign that it will be cool and not rain!! Cuz whenever I spend money on something I don't need it!!!

 

[kj2mom]

Not all bad if it is cool and dry, it was definitely hot and rainy while we were there. We used a fair amount of our stuff (ponchos, umbrella, drank tons of water) and while we did not really want to test it out, the backpack was definitely waterproof (yes, I was the smart one who put it down in a morning puddle at AK when giving my children their spending money ackkkkk).

 

[AJ1983]

My husband refused to wear a poncho our first couple of trips, but after getting caught in a downpour at Epcot he was happy to wear them after. he saw the value in wearing them on Splash Mountain at night, when there was no sun to dry our clothes. They also came in handy the morning we were leaving, it was POURING so we used the ponchos to keep ourselves and luggage dry as we got from our room to the main lobby at Pop. Will NEVER go to a park without a couple of ponchos because they are only $2 at the dollar store, and take up no room in the backpack that we carry anyway.

 

[peg110]

Awesome tips. I really like the backpack too. I may have to get one.

 

[brazzledazzler]

-Took a screen grab of our schedule from MDE each night for the next day then made that my lock screen on my phone so we weren't killing the battery connecting each time we wanted to double check.

That is such a smart idea!! I am DEFINITELY going to use this on our next trip.

 

[kj2mom]

I was getting the link for the backpack for another thread and see that the description for the backpack now says not waterproof. It was definitely listed as waterproof when I purchased because that was one of my requirements. This is a similar one, actually a little cheaper, that does still say water resistant. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00P8UE620?&psc=1&tag=vglnk-c911-20

ETA: OK looks like it may just be the water resistant versus water proof issue. I will say it was absolutely water resistant. I set it down in the puddle for a couple of minutes and the contents were fine. Another poster said they took it on a boat where it sat in some water and the contents did get wet. So, keep that in mind. Water resistant not waterproof.

 

[junebugs]

Thank you for the great tips! I just bought one of those cute backpacks for my trip in December. It was just want I was looking for - lightweight and not too big.

 

[seashell724]

We just got back and there were several things that really helped make the trip more enjoyable;

- We loved our waterproof backpack, it was the perfect size for us and had the drink holders on both sides. http://www.amazon.com/Ultralight-Li...d=1436755575&sr=8-1&keywords=hikepro+backpack

- Brita water bottles, we froze one each night and put the other in the fridge so we started the day off with water but still had cold water through the morning. Once it started to get warm we asked for a free cup of water and refilled it. http://www.amazon.com/Brita-Filter-...8&qid=1436755748&sr=8-9&keywords=brita+bottle

- Ponchos from Amazon (better than dollar store), http://www.amazon.com/Wealers-displ...e=UTF8&qid=1436755859&sr=8-1&keywords=ponchos

-Took a screen grab of our schedule from MDE each night for the next day then made that my lock screen on my phone so we weren't killing the battery connecting each time we wanted to double check.

-Rope drop (or close to it) and get as much done in the morning then nice, cool, relaxing TS for lunch followed by 3 FP+ when the lines start backing up. We were there for 4th of July and never waited in any line for more than 20 minutes.

I am sure there were others but those are the ones that stick out the most after just returning. Thank you to everyone here who gave me these tips which made our trip that much more enjoyable.

Did you do the rides in a certain order to not wait more than 20 minutes for each one? That is great! You scheduled all your FP+ for the afternoon? Did you plan it that way? Never thought of doing that.

 

[disneyfan328]

do the Brita water bottles really help for those of us that notice the taste of the Fl water? my family can't even stand to have ice in our drinks in the parks because it even leaves a funky taste in the soda/pop.

 

[kj2mom]

Did you do the rides in a certain order to not wait more than 20 minutes for each one? That is great! You scheduled all your FP+ for the afternoon? Did you plan it that way? Never thought of doing that.

We got to each park at rope drop and headed to what we wanted to ride the most but didn't have FP+ for. For example, I was all about Peter Pan so we went there then worked our way around It's A Small World, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain, Jungle Cruise, Space Mountain, Buzz all before lunch on the 4th of July. We really did find mornings to be the key! At Epcot we headed right to Test Track, at Hollywood Studios we went right to Rockin Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror then at Animal Kingdom we did Everest and actually decided to go right back on again after getting off (we had previously made a no repeat rule because one time at a local park we ended up going on a ride many times because there was no line but then at the end of the day we were wondering why the group we went to the park with did soooo much more than we did in the same amount of time). Yes, I planned our FP for the afternoon because we figured crowds would be low until after lunch and we wouldn't really need them. We did things like Splash, 7DMT and Buzz in the middle of the afternoon when wait times were at their longest (and the weather felt the hottest). It really worked well for us!

do the Brita water bottles really help for those of us that notice the taste of the Fl water? my family can't even stand to have ice in our drinks in the parks because it even leaves a funky taste in the soda/pop.

Yes! I had brought a handful of different flavoring bottles (Mio/Hawaiian Punch/Powerade) to take that taste away and we did not open them until the last day and only then it was because the family we were traveling with had gotten a free cup of water (they did not have Britas) and thought it tasted bad so I offered them some flavoring.

 

[disneyfan328]

thank you so much. I am adding the Brita bottles to my list!