Suggestions on a good park bag?

[Capo]

We have a large family and usually have a decent amount of stuff that we bring to the parks. However, I'm looking for a new "carry around bag" that we would take with us when we go on rides, etc. as that it would have valuables in it and we wouldn't want to leave it in the stroller.

In addition to valuables, other items we'd carry would be diapers/wipes, cell phones, changes of clothes for kids, other random things, etc...

I was thinking that a good medium sized, single strap bag may work well but I'm open to other ideas. If you have any, feel free to share and provide links to bags that have worked well for you!

Thanks1

 

[kmb584]

We have a large family and usually have a decent amount of stuff that we bring to the parks. However, I'm looking for a new "carry around bag" that we would take with us when we go on rides, etc. as that it would have valuables in it and we wouldn't want to leave it in the stroller.

In addition to valuables, other items we'd carry would be diapers/wipes, cell phones, changes of clothes for kids, other random things, etc...

I was thinking that a good medium sized, single strap bag may work well but I'm open to other ideas. If you have any, feel free to share and provide links to bags that have worked well for you!

Thanks1

I traded in a handbag for a backpack a couple of years ago and feel like it was an excellent move. My shoulder used to kill me by the end of the day whereas with the backpack, the weight is evenly distributed. For our park bag, I use one of the Vera Bradley Lighten Up backpacks. It's water resistant and has held up well over 8+ 9-10 day WDW trips.

 

[kamerino]

When my daughter was younger and I had to carry more, I used to carry a Kipling backpack (frankly, any style that you find that works will be good). They weigh practically nothing when empty, they're very comfortable to carry, and they hold up extremely well. Now I carry a Kavu sling bag, which holds less, but works for us now. And it's just about the most comfortable park bag that I've ever owned (a nice plus is that it comes in a ton of really pretty colors and prints, much like the Kiplings, too).

 

[ChasingLeslie]

I love my Kipling Europa cross body purse. It's lightweight, and has a ton of pockets!

I carry my cell phone in the front pocket, mini fans on one of the side pockets, snacks in the other, sunscreen and sunglasses in the back pocket, and a gallon-size ziplock bag for one of my daughter's costumes on the inside.

 

[loves to dive]

The smaller the better. When my son was small I refused to be a pack horse so it was just a small zip lock with his snack of choice that day (usually cherrios) and small travel size of wipes and diapers. No change of clothes, if he got too dirty for words or had an accident, we just went back to the room. After he got out of diapers, it was just a small crossbody to hold my phone and a small wallet. No wipes since I could take him to bathrooms and wash him up as needed and no snacks but it would have been easy enough to put a small zip lock in the cross body. He outgrew eating between meals at an early age. Now, it's no bag, phone in a pocket a little cash, ID and cc in a small soft wallet in another pocket, glasses on chain around my neck. If I'm wearing a sundress, I have a runners belt that I wear under the dress while going through security and hold the phone in my hand, after I get through security I go to the bathroom and pull the belt over my dress and stick the phone in it or I have a light weight infinity scarf that has a pocket. If you are using a stroller, you can take a small light weight bag for the diapers and change of clothes and snacks and leave that in the stroller, if it gets gone no great lose. Use a small cross body for your valuables.

 

[d-train]

I usually use a small backpack that held what we needed. This past trip though, I tried a few days without - just did the minimal that would fit comfortably in pockets - so nice to not have that backpack! I will try that again this spring I think!

 

[Minsc]

One of the best things we ever did was get all four kids a small Quechua backpack for them to carry their own stuff. Up until then, only my wife carried a backpack, and became the family mule, so to speak. Now everyone carries their own stuff, and my wife is much happier.

The Quechua backpacks are available at Amazon for like $10, are adjustable, and come in several colors.

 

[David Brent]

I usually just go on Amazon and get ideas of sizes and types of backpacks etc....I end up buying a smaller backpack with lots of storage/pockets