The Great Gear Rundown
a.k.a. Thank goodness for Amazon
Thank you for your commiseration about our crazy vacation! I’m sure we’ll have hiccups and plan changes at Disney World (I always do) but hope we can avoid the number the issues we had on trip. Especially the vomiting!
Despite our troubles, we did have some good moments on our trip!
Here are the girls enjoying their new sunglasses, a family picture in Lower Antelope Canyon (so beautiful!), and another family shot at Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park (the lowest point/elevation in the United States).
One great thing about taking this additional trip is I was able to try out some of the gear we also plan to use at Disney World. I was thrilled to discover everything we picked worked well!
Our major purchase was two new bags – a different “diaper bag” and a new “park bag” for me:
The bag on the left, an Osprey Daylite Plus Pack, stood in as our diaper bag. I like our daily diaper bag (a Petunia Pickle Bottom Meta Backpack) but wanted a bag that was more “smushable” in the bottom of a stroller. We chose the Osprey pack as we thought it would be more versatile once we’re out of the diaper bag years.
This bag was excellent! It had 20L of storage capacity and multiple pockets and places to stuff things. It also has great pockets to hold water bottles on each side – I carried the girls’ water bottles everywhere. I’m so excited to use this in Disney World and I highly recommend this backpack in general.
The bag on the right is my new park/travel bag, an Eddie Bauer Ripstop Sling. I’ve used the same park bag for years, but I’ve found my travel purse was no longer ideal when I needed to carry more than my own stuff. I apparently wanted the Goldilocks of sling bags, as I looked at a ton and most were either too small or too big. Enter this Eddie Bauer bag! It was perfect for my needs, as it has a great pocket with organization slots in the front and a big section in the back. It even includes a side pocket that’s perfect for an umbrella. Another win!
Another purchase I made for both trips was new, higher-quality rain jackets for the girls:
I chose a Columbia Hikebound Jacket for M (it came in pink!) and a REI Rainier Jacket for L. Thankfully we only needed them for wind on this trip, but they should work very well against the occasional Disney monsoon on our next trip!
One item I purchased thanks to several Disney mom influencers was a set of Bumkins travel bags:
Let me tell you – these are AWESOME. I used the three bags to hold L’s meal essentials (bibs, disposable placemats, silverware, and a cup bungee cord), mealtime activities (crayons, stickers, and a small notebook), and our additional straps (an extra cup strap and toy straps). These bags were great and I wish I’d bought them years ago. It sure beats pulling one thing at a time out of your diaper bag! Highly recommended, especially if you’re still in the diaper bag years.
A few extra things I bought mostly for Disney World include a set of extra large wet bags (to hold extra clothes and items under the stroller), a side Mickey stroller sling for quick-grab items, and a Gooseket toddler carrier to help our arms while holding L in queues:
Thankfully I packed one of the wet bags for this trip – it came in very handy for the stinky vomit laundry.
I have mixed thoughts on the toddler carrier – it is very small (which is great) but is not as supportive as one of our better child carriers. We’ll see what we think of it on the trip.
Our other Disney-specific items include all the gear to keep us cool:
I ordered two new (pink) stroller fans. We have one stroller fan that works but it often falls off our stroller, so I was happy to order a new one with the wraparound arms. I ordered two as I don’t want M to complain if she doesn’t have one, too.
I also ordered the set of two Mickey mini fans – these are great! They are SUPER lightweight, and I plan to carry them in my park bag to use while waiting in line. I even ordered a set for my in-laws who are going to Disney World next week and they loved them too.
Finally, I ordered a set of
cooling towels, just in case. I’m not sure how much we’ll use them, but I figured they’re easy to store as we’ll have the stroller.
Other things I purchased for Disney include some magic band protectors (which I've never used, but the new bands are expensive!), a few reusable straws and snack bags, and two bright pink bandanas to put on the stroller handle for easy identification.
We already have water bottles for everyone, as well as umbrellas and disposable ponchos for my husband and I. I also have sound protection earmuffs or headphones for both kids.
The only "major" item I still need to purchase is a portable charger for our phones. We have an iPhone (me) and an Andriod (G), so we'll need something that works for both. If you have a favorite lightweight portable charger, I'd love to hear about it!
Is there any other "must-have" gear that you recommend?
Up Next: Countdown and an ADR switch
But, I'm a firm believer in "shaking things out", and it sounds like that trip did the trick for you guys. I'm predicting that now that this "first trip" is over with and you worked through the kinks, it'll be smooth sailing in Disney World 
each day.
