Packing for park with big family

[jvz82]

Hello all! This will be my first trip to the parks with all 4 of my kids. I've been researching what to pack for the parks and I'm a little overwhelmed. I don't want to overpack, yet I see a lot of suggestions for bringing change of clothes for kids, water bottles for everyone, snacks, ponchos, etc. Not to mention I need diapers and wipes for my youngest.

So I'm having trouble finding that balance. I want to be prepared, yet we'll have 4 kids to wrangle and a huge double stroller and my big DSLR camera case so I don't want to bring tons of stuff! Any suggestions? How have you managed if you have lots of kids?

 

[KayaWildfire]

We have 6 kiddos in our family so I feel the pain. First off, we use a backpack as our diaper bag and then the camera bag is separate from that since we leave the diaper bag in the stroller and the camera always comes on rides and such. We brought a change of clothes for those who were in diapers or just potty training in case of accidents. Pack each in a separate ziploc bag so you can get it flat by squeezing the air out and you have something to do with the dirty clothes. We never really did water bottles-Disney gives you free cups of water with lids. And if lost-they are easily replaced with a trip to a counter service restaurant. We only brought a poncho for the stroller and when we had a double, we used a table cloth. We got one of those that has vinyl on one side and is fuzzy on the other and draped it on the stroller. We got some plastic clips from the Dollar Store to secure it. We basically committed to doing something inside when it might rain. Put this in a plastic bag too so it can be in the bag without getting everything wet. We never brought a ton of snacks either-it is unlikely that anyone is going to die of starvation in line for a ride. If we did bring snacks-we would bring one big bag of goldfish or something and then use Disney's napkins to give each child some from the large bag. We put everything in its own plastic bag so you only have to grab exactly what you need from the backpack and the rest can stay in the stroller. The autograph books have a bag, wipes have a bag, diapers have a bag, etc. We're big on plastic bags

 

[5kidsmommy]

When ours were young I had them help pack. I never did bring a change of clothes, except for those still in diapers. Each of my kids had a light swim bag that I bought from the Disney store on clearance. And in their bags was a couple snacks and a couple drink pouches or a bottle of water. The also had a pair of sunglasses and a hat in them. I will admit though my the time I got to my 5th child I rarely carried much and I never had a diaper bag. The nice thing about them each having a small bag was that if needed I could throw them in the stroller but that rarely happened. As a mom of many I am in the less is more group. And I try to never be the pack mule.

 

[Heidi K]

I wouldn't do a change of clothes--but some of the parks have those water-play-areas for kids, so you might want to warn your kids in advance that they won't be playing in water!

I recommend carabiners for the stroller. Hang a lightweight plastic bag (like a grocery store bag) from each one and just throw stuff in there throughout the day. Then when you have to fold the stroller to get on the bus, you can first grab the plastic bags. I would keep the actual diaper bag/backpack under the stroller.

We only bring snacks for kids who are toddler age. The older ones get a Mickey bar or a popcorn refill sometime during the day.

 

[Heidi K]

I also like the idea of a very lightweight bag for each kid to wear, especially if you won't be there in the heat of summer.

 

[jvz82]

Thank you all! These are great suggestions! Yes, I'm definitely in the "less is more" camp too. I always have been even before kids. However, I do think I will need at the very least a change of pants/underwear for the two younger ones. My 3 year old does occasionally have accidents if he's too busy to remember to go potty. And the toddler could have some sort of blow-out, and his shorts will be tiny anyway. I will not bring extra clothes for the older ones. The plastic bags laying flat are a great suggestion.

I like the idea of individual bags, although I worry the kids will lose them. If they had something that went over their chest they might be ok. The older kids might like having some responsibility and being in charge of their own snacks.

I will have to disagree about not bringing much for snacks though, lol. My kids are EATERS. My 7 year old is enormous, 4'11" and 90 lbs, and he is always hungry. When they get crabby, sometimes food is the only thing that brings them down. But we'll see how it goes the first day. If we overpack on snacks, we'll know to bring less the next day. Plus most of the days we go back to the resort for the afternoon so maybe we won't need much for just the morning time.

I forgot that I will also need sharpies and the photo mat for autographs and our portable chargers for our phones. But that won't be too bad. I can probably get away with just a couple diapers since my toddler is older.

I'm slightly worried about not bringing water bottles but we'd probably be ok. I wonder if we could bring just one water bottle, and like 4 tiny disposable cups so each kid could at least have a sip if they're dying of thirst in line or something.

28 days out but strongly considering getting our bag packed up, lol.

 

[jvz82]

When ours were young I had them help pack. I never did bring a change of clothes, except for those still in diapers. Each of my kids had a light swim bag that I bought from the Disney store on clearance. And in their bags was a couple snacks and a couple drink pouches or a bottle of water. The also had a pair of sunglasses and a hat in them. I will admit though my the time I got to my 5th child I rarely carried much and I never had a diaper bag. The nice thing about them each having a small bag was that if needed I could throw them in the stroller but that rarely happened. As a mom of many I am in the less is more group. And I try to never be the pack mule.

Do you like having 5 kids? I want one more but hubby says no way, lol.

 

[5kidsmommy]

Do you like having 5 kids? I want one more but hubby says no way, lol.

Yes I do. Honestly once you have 3 or 4 another one more isn't a big deal. Until it's time to pay for college, which is where we are now. Lol

 

[jvz82]

Yes I do. Honestly once you have 3 or 4 another one more isn't a big deal. Until it's time to pay for college, which is where we are now. Lol

My kids all eat sooo much! I feel like we couldn't afford to feed another, lol.

 

[mjkacmom]

When ours were young I had them help pack. I never did bring a change of clothes, except for those still in diapers. Each of my kids had a light swim bag that I bought from the Disney store on clearance. And in their bags was a couple snacks and a couple drink pouches or a bottle of water. The also had a pair of sunglasses and a hat in them. I will admit though my the time I got to my 5th child I rarely carried much and I never had a diaper bag. The nice thing about them each having a small bag was that if needed I could throw them in the stroller but that rarely happened. As a mom of many I am in the less is more group. And I try to never be the pack mule.

I never let my 5 carry bags, especially my boys, who were not good about holding on to things. However, everything we brought fit into my smallish backpack diaper bag (none were in diapers, just love that bag, my youngest are teens and I still have it).

At the time, my 3 youngest were the same size, so just one pair of extra shorts (could always buy shirts) a couple of refillable water bottles, dollar store ponchos, small sunscreen. We rented a double stroller, so jackets could go there.

 

[mjkacmom]

Yes I do. Honestly once you have 3 or 4 another one more isn't a big deal. Until it's time to pay for college, which is where we are now. Lol

I feel your pain, have 2 in college now. It's still hard for me to cook for a family of 5 - kids are complaining about leftovers!

 

[5kidsmommy]

I feel your pain, have 2 in college now. It's still hard for me to cook for a family of 5 - kids are complaining about leftovers!

This is totally me. We have two in college right now and one heading there next fall. It seems like my house that was once full of constantly eating kids is now turning into an empty nest. I remember when leftovers (if there were any) were gobbled up right away. Now I am learning to cook for a smaller family because no one wants leftovers.

 

[loves to dive]

I only have one myself but was a single mom and when he was little I didn't take anything extra except maybe a small bag of goldfish. My thoughts were we were going to have to go back to the room at some time to rest anyway so if he had an accident or just got too dirty for words, we would go back then. I am, however, the youngest of 6 with only 5 years between me and my oldest brother (5 boys and 1 girl). We lived in Cucamonga when I was born and in that area until I was 3 so trips to Disneyland were normal. From what I'm told I was the only one in a stroller, even the youngest boy walked. Mom and Dad were very into us being independent and I once asked Mama how they did it with all 6 of us in the park and she said just like we did it every where else we went. She was very firm on the fact that neither one of them were pack horses so nothing extra to carry, I was still in diapers until I was 2 and the next brother older than me is 1 1/2 older so I'm assuming he was also in diapers for some of the time. She took a diaper bag and me in a stroller. Oldest brother held youngest brother's hand, Daddy held two other boys hands and the third youngest boy held onto my stroller.

 

[alex9179]

I only have 3 and didn't do the parks with anyone younger than 5. But, I didn't bring drinks because you can get filtered ice water in a cup at any QS. I did bring snacks and they were divided between my bag and DH's pockets. Next trip, they will have to carry their own. I only have one that is a bottomless pit, though! Ponchos weren't needed during the time we went even though I stuck them in our luggage. I'll have to play that one by ear.

I think we'll pack one bag with everything and then divide it up between the 3 once through bag check. I'm betting the amount we bring to a park will decrease quite a bit over time!

 

[TeamH5]

We did camelbacks for our kids, and will again this next trip. They can have water readily available, and the ones we bought also had a small backpack so they could carry their own snacks. And the packs had a chest strap so they stayed secure on rides and such.
I'm horrible about carrying a diaper bag, but will have to pack a small one this time with a toddler.
For clothes... light jackets that can be put in a bag(we're going in Dec) and really that's it. My older ones will be 9,9 & 8, they'all be alright with pants and a short sleeve shirt. Lol Last time we went in Aug when they were 7,7 & 5, all they had was shorts and tanks. Back then we didn't have anything extra other than our Camelbacks. I used a small camera so no big bulky bag or anything to carry around.

 

[cdnSpinalTap]

Hi jv282,

We have 3 kids and used a double stroller as well. What I did was buy a few of these mesh bags in various sizes and zip tied them on the stroller, wherever I could find a spot. We also purchased snack holders and drink holders that attach to the stroller. You'd be absolutely amazed at how much stuff we could get in the stroller, without "feeling" like we were carrying too much. The other great thing was that when we went through security, the guards would push around the mesh bags, but since they could see through them, they never once made us empty them in the 5+ years that we toured this way. The only extra bag we would take was my camera bag, and my wife's small purse like bag. The kids did not have to carry a thing.

With this arrangement, we could find spots for the following: extra change of clothes for toddler, diapers, rain ponchos for 5, snacks, autograph books, sunscreen, light sweatshirts rolled up, rain cover for stroller, water bottles. Anything that needed to be protected from the elements, we would put inside zip lock bags before putting them in the mesh bags. We also had one large mesh bag that could hold everything in case we needed to fold the stroller up for an unplanned bus trip, or something like that.

This arrangement is not for everyone - we are over packers and like to be prepared. Using this arrangement allowed me to balance that with my need to be organized

 

[Bob Dolewhip]

Just 2 kids here, but we only brought ponchos when rain was forecasted, never carried snacks, and brought extra pants rolled very tightly. You can even secure the rolls with a hair band.
We shared a bottle of water and got new water as needed.
Whiny children were told they can either share or be thirsty.

We still carry one package of wipes even though we don't have any kids in diapers. When we did have to carry diapers it meant one bag for each of us instead of one backpack for my husband. Diapers can also be rolled or packed flat for space saving.

 

[thelittlemermaid2]

We use to always have the kids carry their own small individual bags, but we used fanny packs! They clip on so they aren't easily left behind or lost, and if any kid had a meltdown and refused to carry it then it would just get clipped on the stroller for the time being