Spinoff: How do you pack your food to take in the parks?

[worm761]

I've never really packed food to take in the parks. When DD was little I had lots of foods for her like Goldfish, Cheerio's, etc but I bought single serve size and just tossed them in my park bag. Now that it's just the three of us and DD has taken picky eater to a new level, I plan to pack food for the parks this time.

I have an Igloo backpack cooler from Target but I find it uncomfortable to wear while hiking plus it doesn't have storage space for other stuff. I NEED my hoodie. They keep the AC too cold for me! I am thinking of carrying the food in DH's insulated lunch box. It fits in my park bag but barely. I just haven't tried out carrying it around. But usually I just pack everything in my storage containers. I'm thinking this won't really work for Disney. So suggestions? What do you use? What did you try that didn't work well?

 

[lovewdwdvc]

We have a backpack that is a cooler. Disney purchase about 15 years ago. It has a little compartment in the bottom that we fill with frozen water bottles. Next are bagel sandwiches with meat, cheese, veggies etc. Then small packs of veggies and the little fruit cups. Snacks on the top.

 

[worm761]

We have a backpack that is a cooler. Disney purchase about 15 years ago. It has a little compartment in the bottom that we fill with frozen water bottles. Next are bagel sandwiches with meat, cheese, veggies etc. Then small packs of veggies and the little fruit cups. Snacks on the top.

Is it this bag? http://disneyworld.disneyfloralandg...wbackpackcoolerbag.do?sortby=ourPicks&from=fn
If not, do they still sell the one you have? If so, does it keep things cold? The top part, could it hold a few snack containers (fishy crackers, Craisins), a hood, sunscreen and whatnot? I want the one above but I can't seem to find any reviews on it.

 

[JimmyBean42]

We typically try and pack things that do not need to be cold (pb&j, goldfish crackers, cookies, apples, etc) so we only have to use a backpack. So we keep food in one compartment of our backpack and spare kid clothes, sunscreen, hats, etc. in another.

 

[Marionnette]

I've never really packed food to take in the parks. When DD was little I had lots of foods for her like Goldfish, Cheerio's, etc but I bought single serve size and just tossed them in my park bag. Now that it's just the three of us and DD has taken picky eater to a new level, I plan to pack food for the parks this time.

I have an Igloo backpack cooler from Target but I find it uncomfortable to wear while hiking plus it doesn't have storage space for other stuff. I NEED my hoodie. They keep the AC too cold for me! I am thinking of carrying the food in DH's insulated lunch box. It fits in my park bag but barely. I just haven't tried out carrying it around. But usually I just pack everything in my storage containers. I'm thinking this won't really work for Disney. So suggestions? What do you use? What did you try that didn't work well?

How old is your child? Would she be capable of wearing a fanny pack with her own non-perishable snacks in it? That could free up some room in your park bag for other things.

Personally, I would leave the things that need to be kept cold behind. They add a lot of needless weight and I find it much more freeing to just pay for the cold items I want while in the parks.

Now if your child has food sensitivities or allergies, that's another thing. In that case, perhaps renting a locker for your smaller cooler might be worth the cost. It will certainly save your back!

 

[worm761]

How old is your child? Would she be capable of wearing a fanny pack with her own non-perishable snacks in it? That could free up some room in your park bag for other things.

Personally, I would leave the things that need to be kept cold behind. They add a lot of needless weight and I find it much more freeing to just pay for the cold items I want while in the parks.

Now if your child has food sensitivities or allergies, that's another thing. In that case, perhaps renting a locker for your smaller cooler might be worth the cost. It will certainly save your back!

She's 5 so easily able to carry her own pack. I don't mind carrying the bag though. While she's the reason that I originally planned to carry some food, my plan now is to carry lunches for all three of us into the parks each day. I carry the bag when we go hiking/walking nature trails too. But I'm not carrying all the stuff I like taking into the parks then either. I plan to put together my park bag and weigh it and then try carrying it around the zoo or hiking to see how it works for me. If it doesn't work, then I'll rethink my plan.

 

[jworthy]

I use a hard plastic pencil box (like the ones purchased for elementary school kids) to keep our shelf stable snacks in so that they do not get smashed while in my park bag. I use snack or single serving baggies for each type of snack and box it up. We use a small lunch bag for the cold items. I like using frozen yogurt tubes and frozen grapes to help the other items stay cold longer and they are good if you want to eat frozen as well. I love taking hummus and carrots, pretzels and the little jiff peanut butter containers with us. I take a couple re-usable water bottles with us and fill it up with the free ice and water from the counter service locations so I don't have to carry any drinks. They can be clipped onto a bag when empty with a carabiner clip.
If I were you, I would simply have another person hold the lunch bag and take turns so that you are not having to carry everything in one bag or carry multiple bags yourself.

http://www.organizeit.com/sterilite...sp?cmpid=gpa&gclid=CISGreTXjcYCFc1hfgodonkABw

 

[hpfan100]

I carry at small backpack with a cheap soft sided cooler in the base of it. In the cooler I put frozen waters, cans of coke, snacks etc. when we brought sandwiches into the parks I packed them in old lunch meat plastic containers then we recycled them after eating. We pack cut fruit in old yogurt or butter tubs and again recycle them when done. My husband loves homemade Chex mix and I oack that in an old butter tub too. There usually is enough room lefty no y pack for a light hoodie and any other items I need.

 

[only hope]

We just use one of those lunchboxes that has a removable hard plastic shell inside with an expandable compartment on top. We usually pack pb&j's because those dont have to be kept super cold. We usually have two drinks in there as well. You can cut down on weight by putting the ice pack in the middle layer. Theres enough room on top for dry snacks as well- it can be annoying to carry but it sure saves us a lot of money!

i5.walmartimages.com/dfw/dce07b8c-7bda/k2-_867eca06-185c-4e77-8b0f-9d76341cc4c0.v1.jpg

 

[akaDaddy]

I carry at small backpack with a cheap soft sided cooler in the base of it. In the cooler I put frozen waters, cans of coke, snacks etc. when we brought sandwiches into the parks I packed them in old lunch meat plastic containers then we recycled them after eating. We pack cut fruit in old yogurt or butter tubs and again recycle them when done. My husband loves homemade Chex mix and I oack that in an old butter tub too. There usually is enough room lefty no y pack for a light hoodie and any other items I need.

It's been a while since I've been to Disney, but can you get cans of coke and bottles of water through the security check at the gate?

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

It's been a while since I've been to Disney, but can you get cans of coke and bottles of water through the security check at the gate?

Yes, as long as it's not glass.

 

[Yougotit]

After dealing with the food issue during our January trip this year I read a suggestion from a poster on disboards that I thought was particularly brilliant.
The suggestion was to bring/rent/borrow a stroller and to park it in designated stroller area for the day, returning to it as required to access the cooler left sitting inside or underneath...

 

[hpfan100]

It's been a while since I've been to Disney, but can you get cans of coke and bottles of water through the security check at the gate?

Yes, as long as it's not glass.

Yes indeed...I just had to unzip the cooler so they could see what was in it and I was all good. This strategy works great for us since the pack gets lighter as the day goes on since we are eating and throwing away items. So as I get tired my pack gets lighter...

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

After dealing with the food issue during our January trip this year I read a suggestion from a poster on disboards that I thought was particularly brilliant.
The suggestion was to bring/rent/borrow a stroller and to park it in designated stroller area for the day, returning to it as required to access the cooler left sitting inside or underneath...

Maybe better to rent a locker. The food will be out of the heat and away from critters. I've seen a few posts of squirrels being very crafty getting into food left in strollers.

 

[jsmla]

When I make my solo trips I usually bring a picnic lunch in with me in this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IDOE8DA?redirect=true&ref_=s9_cxhsh_co_g79_i3

I usually stay in an off-site condo and find that the frozen bag does a decent job of keeping things cool.