Share your park bag and room key holders

[Jara50]

I believe I have found THE perfect Universal bag!!

I've always carried a mini backpack to Disney and up until recently at Universal. Now that the kids are a bit older and we usually stay onsite at Universal, I just don't need that kind of room and don't want to deal with the hassle of carrying it. I would still like to have a place for the cell, camera, hand sanitizer, tissues, glasses, credit cards etc. and this little bag holds all of that and more! BUT, the best feature is that it can be worn as a purse over your shoulder which I'll do 98% of the time and then converted in seconds to a waist pack for those rides that won't allow bags.

As far as the room keys go, I have the hotel hole punch it for me and wear it around my neck on a cheap lanyard type string I picked up at a craft store. That way it is easily accessed for the ride attendants. Everyone in my party wears theirs that way.

This looks Perfect! I am getting it today!

 

[elbodans]

i plan to use this:
http://travelstore.ricksteves.com/catalog/index.cfm?fuseaction=product&id=157
it is a neck wallet--i used it in europe for my passport/tickets/cash, and it will fit my iphone quite well. the larger zippered part is lined in plastic, so it is water proof-ish, though i'll also bring a zip loc bag for water rides (it fits in a regular sandwich sized bag, which in turn fits inside IT!) i don't like wearing pants (that sounds funny!) so i wore it cross body but under my dress and accessed it like a pocket, which is possible to do when sitting down or squatting whilst only showing a bit of upper thigh. likely in universal, as i'm not worried about my passport being stolen or carrying around large sums of cash, i'll wear it on the OUTSIDE--but slip it under my dress when riding bag-free rides. my main goal is to never have to stand in line for a locker.

 

[characterhelp]

I wish I had read this post before my trip last December, the lockers are a nightmare!! So unorganized. Yay for bagless trips in the future!

 

[characterhelp]

Or better yet---"small bags that you can carry on bagless rides" trips

 

[dottybean]

Can anyone show me a picture of the souvenier coca-cola cups? I have these as pasrt of our AAA booking and am trying to decide how to carry them....

Thanks again!!

 

[eeyoreland]

Forgive me for just not getting it, but why can't you take bags on the rides? We ride the roller coaster type rides at WDW, even one that goes upside down, and you can take your bags on those. Also, I don't know that I want to be a "rule breaker", but DD uses the Vera Bradley mini hipster. I'm wondering if one of us tucked that under our shirt if we could get by with taking it on the ride. Sounds like we definitely want to avoid the lockers.

 

[hpfan100]

US/IOA does not allow any loose articles on certain rides including bags. They provide free lockers out side those rides for you to stash your goodies. Rumor is that someone's bag/leg/cup/donut or whatever flew off during a ride and someone was injured or could have been. After that they changed the policy.

If you are slim/slender/not hippy you can get away with a fanny pack/waist bag and even a mug clipped to waist. If you are bigger or hippy that might not work. If unsure always check the example seats outside of rides.

I wore cargo shorts and filled them up and I was good for the first half of my first day there. After I was loaded down with butterbeer mugs/Hogshead mug/ various potter goodies I had to use lockers. I had no trouble at any. I needed to write down my locker number so I wouldn't forget it. Harry Potter FJ lockers were the most difficult but I managed. Just smile and say excuse me.

I think the bag or not to bag is a personal decision.

 

[sunnydays28]

OK, from reading this thread, I think I understand:

~Bags, purses, backpacks are ALLOWED in the park, just not on some rides.

~There are free lockers for the bags that can not go on rides.

So which rides are bags not allowed? Is there a size dimension rules for all bags that are carried? We are taking our 2.5 year old daughter and even though all of our stuff will fit in our pockets, there is no way to do all day at a park without having things for her. We don't plan on doing any HP stuff or rollers coasters, this is all about Curious George for her and Seuss Landing for us.

And kinda related, when we go on a ride all together, is there stroller parking or should we leave it at the hotel? (I can't imagine not having one for her but if it is a huge hassle we will just wear her when she doesn't want to run everywhere.) Can we leave stuff in the stroller (ignoring the safety/theft issue) or will they make us put them in lockers?

Thanks, just trying to be prepared.

 

[Jara50]

Just got the Kipling Bag discucced above in the mail! Wow what a perfect thing. I too dont' want to have to wear a fanny pack all the time and with this you don't have to. You have a nice sized shoulder bag where you can fit phone/camera and even a small water bottle in it (wouldn't want to put water bottle in all the time but temproarily while one is on a ride will work well!). Then as one approaches ride can convert this normal shoulder bag to fanny pack! Genius. Thanks to the poster who suggested it!

 

[englishteacha]

We prefer to go bagless at parks. Some days we find we need to carry a fanny pack, but if we can avoid it, we do. I wear my camera on my belt, and put my id/cc/tickets in my pocket. Sunglasses I wear, and I have a case from Dollar Tree with a little clip. I can clip it to my belt or put it in a pocket. I put sunscreen in a tiny bottle and toss that in DH's pocket. DH carries his wallet in a pocket.

If it may rain, we will bring the fanny pack with ponchos. The disposable ones will fit in a pocket, but since neither of us wear cargo shorts, by that point our pockets are quite full.

 

[Metro West]

We prefer to go bagless at parks. Some days we find we need to carry a fanny pack, but if we can avoid it, we do. I wear my camera on my belt, and put my id/cc/tickets in my pocket. Sunglasses I wear, and I have a case from Dollar Tree with a little clip. I can clip it to my belt or put it in a pocket. I put sunscreen in a tiny bottle and toss that in DH's pocket. DH carries his wallet in a pocket.

Me too...I wear cargo shorts with lots of pockets so nothing additional to carry.

 

[OhdahLolly]

DH is in charge of the bag. This is what we take with us..

It's a timbuk 2 messenger bag. It works great. He also uses it for his laptop when hes home, so its perfect.

I also bought a little wristlet thing like one of the PP's posted (hers as Vera). I bought it from walmart. It was 6 bucks, and its got tinkerbell on it. I figure this way, I can keep our cards/tickets and DH can keep everything else.

 

[tomoyo]

I clipped mine to the belt of my fanny pack.

It was interesting that one attendant gave us an issue saying that Mugs weren't allowed, but we told him that wasn't true, it was that LOOSE MUGS weren't allowed, as we had ridden several times with them attached already. So if you are given an issue, stand your ground.

How big of a clip do you need for the mugs? I'm mainly interested in a butterbeer mug, but i'll be traveling with others who might want to get a (non-HP) mug, too.

 

[dottybean]

Do those red refillable mugs have handles? It doesnt look like it in the pictures....

 

[damo]

How big of a clip do you need for the mugs? I'm mainly interested in a butterbeer mug, but i'll be traveling with others who might want to get a (non-HP) mug, too.

I used clip about 2 inches long.

 

[aubriee]

Do those red refillable mugs have handles? It doesnt look like it in the pictures....

No (or at least mine didn't), but it has two holes in the lid and a long straw. You can put an end of the straw in one hole, slip the straw through a belt loop or bag strap, then push the other end of the straw into the second hole in the lid, making a loop. Geez, I hope that made sense. It won't work if there is anything in the cup, but works well if the cup is empty.

 

[tomoyo]

I used clip about 2 inches long.

Oops, I probably should have asked about circumference of the loop part, as opposed to length; unless length correlates to the size of the loop. Maybe I'll buy the biggest loop, just in case.

 

[hpfan100]

OK, from reading this thread, I think I understand:

~Bags, purses, backpacks are ALLOWED in the park, just not on some rides.

~There are free lockers for the bags that can not go on rides.

So which rides are bags not allowed? Is there a size dimension rules for all bags that are carried? We are taking our 2.5 year old daughter and even though all of our stuff will fit in our pockets, there is no way to do all day at a park without having things for her. We don't plan on doing any HP stuff or rollers coasters, this is all about Curious George for her and Seuss Landing for us.

And kinda related, when we go on a ride all together, is there stroller parking or should we leave it at the hotel? (I can't imagine not having one for her but if it is a huge hassle we will just wear her when she doesn't want to run everywhere.) Can we leave stuff in the stroller (ignoring the safety/theft issue) or will they make us put them in lockers?

Thanks, just trying to be prepared.

I'm pretty sure they have stroller parking at many rides but can't remember for sure...stuff in stroller should be ok rather than use a locker. I think you can have plenty of fun at Suess landing and George stuff. There is an animal show at USF that might be fun to watch too. Maybe walking around HP and other areas would be fun. There's a Barney show too at USF.
Bags are OK in park!! Some rides do not allow them... from universal website:
Lockers are available within each of the theme parks for guest rental for $8.00 per day, with family size lockers available at Universal Studios Florida for $10.00 per day. Guests have unlimited access to these lockers during the course of the day. Additional lockers are available at Universal's Islands of Adventure® for $2.00 per hour, with a $14.00 per day maximum.

These lockers are available at the entrance of the following attractions:
- Incredible Hulk Coaster®
- Dragon Challenge™
- Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey™
- Jurassic Park River Adventure®
- Revenge of the Mummy®
- MEN IN BLACK™ Alien Attack™

NOTE: The lockers at the Incredible Hulk Coaster and Dragon Challenge are free for at least the first 45 minutes (time may vary - check with the individual attractions for specific length of time).

 

[englishteacha]

We put a large elastic on our refillable mug and clipped a carabiner to it. Since the mug didn't have a handle, this was the easiest way to hold it. We were concerned about the straw pulling out.

 

[musicmama]

To all those who recommended the Kipling Multiple convertible bag. Bought it in fuschia (kipling.com for that color) and LOVED it. It's a little heavier than your standard waist bag with both kinds of straps and lovely metal zippers, but very comfortable as a shoulder bag. I was surprised how much I could fit into it and still manage riding Forbidden Journey. We did lock up for Hulk and water rides because I wasn't sure how waterproof it was and we had mugs.

Used it at Disney as well during the same trip. Just a terrific bag.