keeping hydrated

[robinsnest49ers]

ok so we usually take a stroller with a couple of collapsible coolers and lots of drink boxes for my 3 dd's. this year i would really like to ditch the stroller and have the kids carry their own backpacks. my girls seem to drink a lot at the parks. any tips on keeping the girls hydrated? I think one year between the 5 of us we went through almost 20 drink boxes.

 

[courage]

We go to the counter service areas in the park and ask for a large cup of water with ice....we carry the lemonade, gatorade, propel mixes to add to them. There are plenty of counter service restaurants in all the parks and I sometimes buy food but most of them are used to people asking and they are accomodating. You can carry the to go mixes in your pocket.

 

[Rora]

As the previous DISer already mentioned, ask for a large cup of water with ice from any food stand in WDW and add your own stuff to it or just keep it plain and simple water. When you have a sit down meal, drink drink drink drink!! Pack a waterbottle/drink box or 2 in your DD's bag (if they can tote them around). They also have waterfountains of course so you can refill your waterbottles. But if these options don't work, you might have to just buckle down and spend some $$ on your drinks. Good luck and have a great trip!

 

[NMMickeymom]

I was concerned about keeping my girls (4 and 6) hydrated for our upcoming trip as well. We purchased two Jr. sized camelback backpacks from REI. They are pink, comfortable, and have a small amount of room for a snack or two and a rain coat. We have used these hiking and my girls love them. The novelty of the tube to the water in ones pack keeps them drinking. Sometimes too much!! They are small and comfortable enough that I don't expect they will have issues sitting on rides with them on. We leave next week so I'll let you know if I end up carrying them around the park FOR them.

 

[UtahDisneyFan]

We get water bottles and just keep refilling them at counter service stations. It's easy and convenient.

 

[The Grays]

We are big water drinkers. I will put a couple bottels of water in the freezer and get them nice and frozen. I put them in with a couple of bottels of cold water in my back pack in a soft cooler. In the summer time we go through the cold wone the first half of the day and then by the afternoon rolls around the frozen are over 1/2 melted. SO we have some nice and cold water to drink then.
We feel we are luck our 8 year old loves water and is not into juice boxes

 

[LoveTwoTravel]

*I am not a physician nor do I advocate eating unhealthy food. Do what is best for you and your family and what your family physician recommends. This is just my answer to the question posted.*

My Husband was/is an Army Ranger and he says that drinking TOO much water alone can actually have the reverse affect (or is that effect...I know I should know better). Obviously, staying hydrated is ultra important but make sure to add electrolytes as well. We're a fairly active/fit family and he advocates that actually eating some of the saltier foods (IN MODERATION) while at WDW can be beneficial: salty fries for example will help your body retain some of the hydration and water. Just drinking the water and might mean you sweat and urinate all of your bodies vital electrolytes out. Sweating is a good thing but make sure you're replacing what you're sweating out...and not just the water.

As he always says, "if you stop sweating you know you're in trouble!"

And don't forget that juices can give children the runs, especially if they are in the heat and are eating differently than at home. They can have Gat*rade as well (or the children's version called Pedialite which comes in portable juice flavors). But children can also get constipated when away from home so the juice could help in that case (so can raisons, eaten of course)

So take those packets of Gat*rade packets to add to the free water provided at WDW.