Packing snacks for bringing into parks during summer

[Tiger926]

We are Disney veterans, but we usually buy our snacks each day, as we always go in the summer months: cold water, juice, fruit, ice cream/popsicles/frozen lemondade.

This time, we are trying to be more budget conscious, so we were just packing up some stuff, and realized none of it will be good for super hot weather: crackers, dry cereal, granola bars, rice krispies. Some of those are going to melt, plus they are salty or sweet, which will cause more thirst. It's so much easier at home, as we pack fruit, crackers/cheese for snacks on the go, but not in extreme weather.

Anyone have any suggestions? I'm exhausted as I have 2 ill grandparents, and we are supposed to leave on Thursday - lots of stress at the moment, so I can't seem to wrap my head around this. I don't think it's doable with the summer heat, but maybe I'm missing something?

Thanks, Tiger

 

[Bearybear]

Can you freeze a juice box or two, and pack them? They'll have melted but be very cold by the time you want to drink them, and they'll keep other stuff cold. Or you could freeze grapes. They are good frozen and if they defrost, they'll still be good.

 

[snowhyte]

Could you bring a small insulated bag? Like used for baby bottles or insulated lunch bag. Then you could put fruit or cheese in there.

 

[Tiger926]

Thanks for your suggestions. I should have already mentioned that we are bringing a small cooler bag into parks for water and juice boxes. We take midday breaks, so we only go a few hours at a time, then go back to rest. We have at least 1 TS and 1 CS per day, so we're good there too.

I was hoping for some cool new ideas, but I'm pretty sure I now know why we haven't packed snacks to take to parks all these years - they will either melt, spoil or get warm. Yuck!

Thanks for your suggestions - we will bring our frozen water and juice boxes as we are DVC members and have a freezer, and then use our snack credits to buy our fruit and ice cream.

Thanks, Tiger

 

[NotUrsula]

IMO, Juice boxes don't freeze well. As they thaw and sweat, the outer paper layer of the carton gets waterlogged and limp, making them unpleasant to handle. Foil pouches such as Capri Suns do better when freezing for use as they thaw.

 

[trennr]

Frozen water bottles make great ice-packs...and are pretty refreshing to drink when partially thawed. You'll want to open each one and pour out a little before freezing them though.

They should work to keep everything else cold in your cooler...that way you don't waste any space with ice-packs.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I always pack fruit snacks and raisins. They seem to do okay in the heat.

 

[PrincessMom4]

We bring the quaker granola bars (no choc-not just because of the sun!) and low sodium crackers (low salt) but they are mildly flavoured to taste. My mil has some food device that makes your own fruit roll-ups.