Minimalist guide to Disneyland

[Sherry E]

Whether you are buying bottled water in the park or at the grocery stores, it's still extremely wasteful. Yes, I know the bottles can be recycled, but recycling uses even more resources that could be saved if everyone just brought in a reusable bottle. I do just that and am able to fill up at Plaza Inn and Rancho del Zocalo. Both those places have walk-up drink dispensers which I think must be filtered because the water from there tastes 100% better than the water from the drinking fountains.

True, but I'm just talking about wasting money at the moment -- not other wasteful ways. I'd rather spend $3 - $6 on a full 24-pack of bottled water than spend $3 or $4 on one lone, single bottle of water at Disneyland. I can't stand the taste of SoCal tap water -- even if it is filtered -- and so I buy bottles to keep at home so that I can drink what I need to drink. I'm not a wasteful person in any other facet of my life -- I don't waste water at home (even when we were not in a drought I wasn't wasteful). I don't waste money. I try not to waste food. I use and reuse -- and reuse again -- both plastic and paper bags from a stash I keep at home. So I will allow myself to buy the bottled water because it's the only way I can manage to stomach it and get the hydration I need..

 

[tdhickey]

I'm with you on the tap water, it's horrid for visitors from areas with really nice and clean tap water. Yes bottled water is a waste, I avoid it in almost all aspects of my life. I do however appreciate the fact that they recycle those bottles which helps a lot. Overall though, a trip to Disney involves a lot of wasted food, trash and a huge ecological footprint increase which is the one downside I can think of. They are getting better, slowly...still can't recycle their plastic cups which sucks...

 

[Sherry E]

I'm with you on the tap water, it's horrid for visitors from areas with really nice and clean tap water. Yes bottled water is a waste, I avoid it in almost all aspects of my life. I do however appreciate the fact that they recycle those bottles which helps a lot. Overall though, a trip to Disney involves a lot of wasted food, trash and a huge ecological footprint increase which is the one downside I can think of. They are getting better, slowly...still can't recycle their plastic cups which sucks...

Very, very true. There is so much wasted food and assorted other things around DLR. During Mickey's Halloween Party, people collect their candy at the assorted treat stations and then just leave whatever they don't want sitting on top of trash cans, on benches, on tables, etc. In their minds, they are thinking that other guests are going to come along and take the candy that they see sitting on top of trash cans and benches, so therefore they are not being wasteful (or so they think).

But realistically, if I'm walking along and I see a stash of left-behind candy sitting on a trash can or bench, or table, I'm not going to take it with me. How do I know it hasn't been tampered with or crushed? It was left behind by strangers. I would assume that most people are not going to take candy that is just sitting by itself on a random surface in a theme park. Cast Members -- if they see candy that is left behind or on the ground, even if it is wrapped -- have to treat it as garbage. They can't run the risk of throwing it back into the bin with the other candy at the treat stations, just in case something was done to it. Once the candy leaves the treat station it becomes trash unless it ends up going home with the guests. So I cannot imagine how much candy goes to waste during Halloween Time each year!

And what is it with the tap water? It's tastes awful in SoCal, even when filtered. Ick.

 

[tdhickey]

Whether you are buying bottled water in the park or at the grocery stores, it's still extremely wasteful. Yes, I know the bottles can be recycled, but recycling uses even more resources that could be saved if everyone just brought in a reusable bottle. I do just that and am able to fill up at Plaza Inn and Rancho del Zocalo. Both those places have walk-up drink dispensers which I think must be filtered because the water from there tastes 100% better than the water from the drinking fountains.

You think bottled water is bad, you should check out the numbers on a restaurant hamburger. Consuming only 5 hamburgers is worse for the environment than buying 1 bottle of water every single day for a year...sounds wrong, but it isn't.

 

[Gisele]

You think bottled water is bad, you should check out the numbers on a restaurant hamburger. Consuming only 5 hamburgers is worse for the environment than buying 1 bottle of water every single day for a year...sounds wrong, but it isn't.

What????


Worse for cows too.

 

[Angrose]

You think bottled water is bad, you should check out the numbers on a restaurant hamburger. Consuming only 5 hamburgers is worse for the environment than buying 1 bottle of water every single day for a year...sounds wrong, but it isn't.

I can totally believe that. Cows fart A LOT and destroy the ozone layer more than all our cars do!! That's one of the reasons we don't eat much red meat in our family. Plus, it's just not very good for you in general. But hey, we all do what we can, when we can.

 

[violentlyserene]

I've been thinking about double strollers since reading a pp.
Are there double decker strollers? If not, I think that would be a good idea to manufacture. Ok maybe. Lol
Think about it. Instead of two seats side by side, one tot would get the ground floor while the other gets the sundeck. So it's one seat above the other. Of course you may want the bigger baby in the bottom seat.
Lol

Any stroller big enough for comfortsble stacking is going to be bigger than i am!

 

[Gisele]

Any stroller big enough for comfortsble stacking is going to be bigger than i am!

Lol. Hm...well back to the drawing board I guess.

 

[Gisele]

I can totally believe that. Cows fart A LOT and destroy the ozone layer more than all our cars do!! That's one of the reasons we don't eat much red meat in our family. Plus, it's just not very good for you in general. But hey, we all do what we can, when we can.

Hey....people fart alot too man. Icky.....

 

[Zbugz]

Whatever I can put in a waist pack plus sometimes a water bottle is all I take in. Even with that I manage to fit in a snack, a rain poncho, bandaids, a phone, cash, credit card, sunglasses and a real camera. I make my kids carry a waist pack, too. If they can't fit it in there, they can't bring it. Also I do not buy souvenirs.

I'm with you on SoCal water. Bleech.

 

[SeattleSuz]

I am a minimalist as well. Small backpack and lanyard is about all I carry. Even when DD was little, small backpack had a couple of diapers and wipes and an extra dress. I normally carry snacks for DH (he is GF and eats every hour or so), small container of sunscreen, small first aid kit (DD trips over her own feet a lot), and maybe an extra tank for me and DD. DH carries his own water bottle. Even when we took DD as a little one, we never bothered with a stroller, so annoying. When she got tired, I just sat down on a bench and let her sleep in my arms while DH went on some rides, then we switched off.

 

[whoever]

Hey, my backpack IS minimalist. Has water, snacks, aspirin, napkins, area for a hard-portfolio for something I don't want bent, my DLSR and an extra lens (I like my pictures, so too bad on that), room for head covering, a light jacket depending on the time of the year, a poncho, etc. I can scoot around pretty darn well with it.

 

[corinne76]

I've been thinking about double strollers since reading a pp.
Are there double decker strollers? If not, I think that would be a good idea to manufacture. Ok maybe. Lol
Think about it. Instead of two seats side by side, one tot would get the ground floor while the other gets the sundeck. So it's one seat above the other. Of course you may want the bigger baby in the bottom seat.
Lol

Like a Phil and Teds? http://www.toysrus.com/buy/double-t...r-with-second-seat-cbru-v2-5-200-usa-12319633

 

[disneychrista]

Like a Phil and Teds? http://www.toysrus.com/buy/double-t...r-with-second-seat-cbru-v2-5-200-usa-12319633

Thank you. I knew I had seen one recently. But my quick search didn't come up with anything.

 

[chickapin parterre]

I can totally believe that. Cows fart A LOT and destroy the ozone layer more than all our cars do!! That's one of the reasons we don't eat much red meat in our family. Plus, it's just not very good for you in general. But hey, we all do what we can, when we can.

Actually, it is the burping and manure release from a Ruminant that is the problem, not the farting. Humans are not ruminants but omnivores. We just plain stink!!!! And it is not destructive but more of a dangerous blanket that can lead to destruction of life as we know it, like the science of the three bears , which I do carry in my backpack to watch parades, the blanket, not the three bears, just can't find a backpack big enough for that family, so an emergency space/marathon runner blanket will suffice for my parade watching family .

 

[Gisele]

Like a Phil and Teds? http://www.toysrus.com/buy/double-t...r-with-second-seat-cbru-v2-5-200-usa-12319633

I like that. I was thinking more like a staggered double decker.

 

[peterpanandwendy]

When it was just us two adults we were super minimalist. We didn't bring much of anything… we did have buy my husband a $60 sweater one time, lol, but he still has it and it is a good story of how our minimalism got the best of us. We are tap water drinkers. We just grin and bear it. I don't really get the bottled water phenomenon, so we did bring our own reusable water bottles.

Now that we have kids we are crazy packers. We are the couple hauling around the HUGE stuffed backpack with fourteen changes of clothes because of ice-cream and water bottle spills and leaky diapers and potty accidents. We LOVE to eat park food, but budget only allows for CS lunch, CS dinner, and one or two churros or ice creams (that we share). Our kids usually need a steady stream of nourishment all day, so we have to bring granola bars and bananas and apples etc.

We also have all the other necessities, like phones and cameras and sunscreen and hats and sunglasses and bandaids…. oh god, so much stuff.

 

[NannyBeBe]

My daughter, husband, and I will be heading to DLR soon for four days. We will each carry a backpack and a personal bag, and our sweater tied around our waist. That's it. No checking suitcases. Amazing what you can fit in a backpack if you roll your clothes.

 

[chickapin parterre]

My daughter, husband, and I will be heading to DLR soon for four days. We will each carry a backpack and a personal bag, and our sweater tied around our waist. That's it. No checking suitcases. Amazing what you can fit in a backpack if you roll your clothes.

No....amazing what airline fees can do to our talent of packing for Disneyland trips. That is the nice surprise of shorts from the PNW, heading south. But the train, well, that is 4 pcs of luggage, per rider.

 

[tinklvsu]

Just saw this

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