Minimalist guide to Disneyland

[tdhickey]

I don't even take my full wallet to Disney. I take my debit card, my id, my annual pass and put it in a button pocket somewhere. And my phone. That's it.

nice!

 

[tdhickey]

YES it does. We're only a family of 3 and it costs much more if we don't bring snacks. And if we don't bring water, too. Anaheim water isn't good for our palates. Buying Dasani is ridiculous especially in the parks.

And I'm not seeing sunscreen on the list. The other poster only mentions it for kids. Yikes.

Igloo MaxCold cooler backpack for waters and to keep mojo/clif/luna bars cool. Another bag of some sort with camera, sunscreen, something for me to write with...quite often a sweatshirt, because going morning to night I still haven't had a day where I don't need something warmer at some point. If it's cool in the morning it usually warms up. Even a warmer daytime can get chilly once the sun goes down.

Multiply it by your family, and you've got stuff.

Sunscreen applied in the morning is effective all day, however we always re-sunscreen our kids mid day because they are younger and more vulnerable.

The right travel clothes keep you warm and cool in California weather.

 

[coaches24]

Now that DD is 6 and can walk the parks without a stroller I plan to just bring a backpack with some key items in them. It is a far cry from the packed graco stroller I have used on past trips.

I disagree completely about the water. I will bring a water bottle and refill it through out the day. That is FAR cheaper than buying drinks there all day.

I will also have some light snacks for DD for when she gets hungry between meals and I don't want to stop to buy something. Usually individual gold fish packets or dried fruit etc.

I will eat in the parks mostly but only because I budget for it. If I were trying to save more money I could save a significant amount by bringing my food in and not buying food in the parks. I totally get why some families want to bring their own meals instead of spending that money. And the bigger the family the more they can save by not eating park food.

I keep sun screen and a small light first aid kit also in the backpack.

I guess it all depends on how you want to deal with things but I feel that most people would rather bring a few of their essentials into the parks and carry them around than take nothing and have to figure things out in the park.

 

[VandVsmama]

We bring two Brita water bottles and basically share the two amongst the four of us all day.

Based on the time of year, two bottles of water per adult per day might not be sufficient. Especially when it is really hot out. You can dehydrate easily if you don't stay on top of your fluid intake.

For some people, an extra $300-500 might not seem like a big deal but for us, it's the difference between being able to stay at DL an extra day or not.

Sunscreen is always in our bag. My kids' skin can only tolerate certain brands and I myself am fair skinned so not reapplying sunscreen is not an option for us. even in the middle of southern CA June gloom when it can be cloudy for half the day, you can still get a good burn if you don't reapply sunscreen. Your mileage may vary of course based on skin tone.

We bring a backpack for convenience and cost savings purposes.

 

[NewbieMouse]

I'm also on the minimalist bandwagon. The less stuff the better I say!

 

[coaches24]

Sunscreen applied in the morning is effective all day, however we always re-sunscreen our kids mid day because they are younger and more vulnerable.

The right travel clothes keep you warm and cool in California weather.

Sun screen under any circumstances is not good all day. Even if you stand still like a statue all day it stops working after a couple of hours. Can be sooner when your walking around or if you rub your arms or face or something throughout the day you can remove it faster.

You might feel like it's still there after all day but it most definitely was not working all day.

 

[VandVsmama]

I wanted to also chime in to say that I love the concept of traveling with minimal stuff. There are some great websites about it....http://www.onebag.com and http://1bag1world.com/ are a couple of my favorites. I used the suggestions from onebag.com to travel to Europe for 9 days using just a carry-on bag and washing my clothes every few days. It was so great to not have to wait at baggage claim for heavy luggage.

BUT....I did it without my kids. When traveling with kids, I have to do things differently. And my DH is inclined to bring everything AND the kitchen sink. Just yesterday, for example, my DH said that he thought we should use ODD's huge athletic bag for our backpack in the parks. Seriously, the thing is enormous. I told him no way...the small backpack will suit us just fine.

 

[adSimba]

Sun screen under any circumstances is not good all day. Even if you stand still like a statue all day it stops working after a couple of hours. Can be sooner when your walking around or if you rub your arms or face or something throughout the day you can remove it faster.

You might feel like it's still there after all day but it most definitely was not working all day.

agreed, I may not wear it almost at all (and thankfully no sunburn this last trip) but even I know sunscreen breaks down in 2 to 3 hours

Reapplication of sunscreen is just as important as putting it on in the first place, so reapply the same amount every two hours.
Sunscreens Explained - SkinCancer.org

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...=W8CkmUSeU0jm3vlDu9GwCA&bvm=bv.93756505,d.cGU

 

[3Gsandme]

We carry as little as possible and there are five of us. I'm floored by the amount of stuff people cart in with them. You're not moving in!

I have a family of five. No babies. We carry in a few bottles of water, a couple of snacks, sun screen and that's it. Maybe ponchos if rain is expected or a fleece jacket that's light and easy to roll up and stuff into the jacket. As little as possible. It's such a pita otherwise.

 

[disneychrista]

I agree that some people bring way too much stuff with them to the parks.

My biggest pet peeve is those who bring the stroller, not so much for the kids (who don't need it) but for their stuff.

 

[Aladora]

See with the water I don't get why people bother:

- every kids meal comes with it already so there's three waters/drinks taken care of per child which is more than enough for them in a day
- the water you bring is cheaper, but there's no way it's cold like Dasani which lets face it is super refreshing
- adults, like 2 bottles each a day at most sure it's $13 a day for water much better than lugging a flat of water around. Also you need to go get that flat somehow...your not exactly carrying it down harbour blvd so there's a cost associated with getting it and anything near DLR is marked up significantly.
- You are carrying 6 bottles of water to the park with you every day, lugging them around to save $20 a day on your $5000 vacation (just not for me I guess)

A few rebuttals to your responses.

1. Every kids meal comes with a small 10 oz bottle of water, 30 oz of water is not enough for a child over the course of a hot summer day. Heck, I usually grab two 17 oz bottles from the fridge in our hotel and have finished one by the time we walk into the park...and we stay right at the park entrance!

2. We always have a fridge in our hotel room so the water we bring is already cold.

3. In a normal day at home, I will drink around 2 liters of water or in imperial terms, 68 oz a day or four bottles of water. That's a normal day, not a Disneyland day. Given the heat and how much we walk, I can easily go through double that and not blink. As for the lugging a flat of water, the last time we went I found someone who was not only staying at the Grand for the same dates as we were but who was driving there. I asked if she would get and drop a flat of water off at the front desk for me and she was kind enough to do so. No extra cost and no lugging it anywhere. This next trip we are taking a town car from Universal and the trip includes a stop at a grocery store so again, no extra cost or lugging involved. Lastly on this point, the couple of trips where we did not have a flat of water, we simply stopped at the hotel's gift shop and paid $1.12/bottle of lovely cold water on our way in to the park. Water at 1/3 of the cost.

4. We travel to DL two to three times a year for 5 days each time. Since 2011 we have gone 7 times with an 8th one coming up in August. $100 a trip over 8 trips is $800 saved by not buying water in the park. Simple math to me.

 

[disneychrista]

4. We travel to DL two to three times a year for 5 days each time. Since 2011 we have gone 7 times with an 8th one coming up in August. $100 a trip over 8 trips is $800 saved by not buying water in the park. Simple math to me.

Save even more by getting it FREE with your meals & at counter service throughout the day.

 

[Aladora]

Sunscreen applied in the morning is effective all day, however we always re-sunscreen our kids mid day because they are younger and more vulnerable.

The right travel clothes keep you warm and cool in California weather.

Sunscreen should be reapplied every few hours, more often if you are prone to burning easily like my family is. We are pale West Coast Canadians, we burn on a cloudy day!

Save even more by getting it FREE with your meals & at counter service throughout the day.

As I said, I can easily drink 4 liters of water a day while at DL. I typically bring in a bottle and refill it with the free CS cups until we go back to the hotel mid day to rest then grab a new bottle or two as we head back to the park.

Neither my son nor I can drink the regular tap water in CA, I am not sure what it is about it but to us it tastes disgusting. I don't even like the filtered water stations that are around DL park. When we stayed at the DLH I had to resort to getting ice in the evening and letting it melt overnight and drinking that!

 

[disneychrista]

Neither my son nor I can drink the regular tap water in CA, I am not sure what it is about it but to us it tastes disgusting. I don't even like the filtered water stations that are around DL park. When we stayed at the DLH I had to resort to getting ice in the evening and letting it melt overnight and drinking that!

You do realize ICE is frozen water right? The same water you say you can't drink. That is the key though to the water in Anaheim (not all California water is the same) it has to be ICE cold.

 

[Aladora]

You do realize ICE is frozen water right? The same water you say you can't drink. That is the key though to the water in Anaheim (not all California water is the same) it has to be ICE cold.

Really? Ice is frozen water? How did I ever miss that in all my years of schooling???

I am not sure if the water that is frozen at the DLH is filtered but all I can tell you is that the ICE cold water that I am given at the Denny's across from the park is undrinkable to me. With or without ice. the water that you get free from the CS places is filtered, the water that is from the water fountains is not. One tastes gross to us the other does not.

My son, who has no idea about where the water comes from refuses to drink the tap water when we are in DL but will happily drink bottled water if we pour it into a glass. He won't even brush his teeth with the tap water.

But thanks for talking down to me like I was an idiot, much appreciated.

 

[disneychrista]

But thanks for talking down to me like I was an idiot, much appreciated.

Wow! Someone must be dehydrated. (THIS IS A JOKE)
Did you miss the *WINK* as in it was a joke. You know things you are suppose to find funny.

 

[DizMe]

I have ethical reasons for avoiding the bottled-water route. I find it environmentally unfriendly and, quite honestly, an unnecessary "necessity." My family manages to drink the water at DL (free). I've tasted better, but hey! It's water and gets the job done. I very rarely use sunscreen. My family is totally minimalist; in fact, I didn't even bring the kids until they were 4, which meant the younger ones were left behind until they were old enough. I wanted my kids to walk (no stroller). We don't eat constantly so I don't worry about snacks. We get a couple of those over the course of a day and split meals because we usually find it cheaper and tastier to all eat off the adult menu. I like not having to pack food around and I WON'T carry water. I can see why people bring their own snacks, especially if someone's always hungry, but for the way my family eats, I don't worry about it. Exception: we have stayed concierge a few times and we bring things along from the lounge for snacks and lunch.

So yes, I agree that for my family as well, minimalist is great. However, I can also see how it isn't for everyone! It could get really expensive trying to keep a large family fed if you didn't supplement with your own stuff. Some people have more need of 'extras' than others. I think going without pounds of gear is the better way to experience DLR but I won't go so far as to tell people not to bring anything extra. One of my dds could not leave home without her precious Pink Row-Row (teddy bear), who traveled on her back in a little pack. Totally superfluous but oh, so necessary to her

I think there are extremes at either end to be avoided but plenty of room in between for traveling in the way that complements your lifestyle.

 

[chickapin parterre]

amazing thread......this explains why folks are always asking for jumper cables.

 

[Elk Grove Chris]

We don't bring food or water, we can get that in the parks, for a higher price than outside, but worth it. When it comes to a camera, I pack the big gun, large DLSR, several lenses, multiple accessories, probably a minimum of 10 lbs of gear. Doesn't bother me with either a full backpack or a shoulder bag, no slowing me down-and we can stuff sunscreen and hand wipes in in quite easily.

 

[3Gsandme]

amazing thread......this explains why folks are always asking for jumper cables.

What does buying water in an amusement park have to do with jumper cables. I don't get the connection. Actually, we don't have any in our car. I forget what happened and our pair bit the dust. We need a new pair. Thanks for the reminder.