Thoughts on this size backpack

[CheshKAT]

My poor hubby was the pack mule for too many trips. We finally all agreed to bring our own synch sacks. Less intrusive and easily removed and stowed. And everyone had their own stuff in it. We also brought one "squirt style" Britta bottle which hydrated us all. We filled it at a water fountain/quick serve and we all shared it. Once emptied, it went back in the sack with no additional weight. The filter helped with the nasty taste of the water.

 

[JakeAZ]

Oh yeah. I forgot about the mesh back. Mine has that too. It really makes a big difference. For Universal, we usually have less stuff to carry around, so it is a bit easier to go without.

Living in AZ, ventilated seats in the car and mesh-back hiking packs are just a few of the "must haves"!

 

[JakeAZ]

The filter helped with the nasty taste of the water

A must for us too when visiting places with drinking fountains!

 

[KittyKitty]

My parents are able to carry things, but if I can make their trip easier, I will. Being 70+ and wanting to do as much as possible with their 5 grandkids over 6 park days will already be difficult.

Since I am 71 I can suggest for your folks. Your Mother/Dad may want to bring a small bag for all the small stuff we like to have at hand, like carmex, tissue, phone, etc. If so, I would suggest a cross body bag, or a string bag. Keeps the hands free to hold on to a grandchild's hand. I'm a Baggallini bag person. You might want to ask her or him. So much easier to get to stuff than a purse, or asking you.

 

[JakeAZ]

Since I am 71 I can suggest for your folks. Your Mother may want to bring a purse for all the small stuff we like to have at hand, like carmex, tissue, phone, etc. If so, I would suggest a cross body bag, or a string bag. Keeps the hands free to hold on to a grandchild's hand. I'm a Baggallini bag person. You might want to ask her or him. So much easier to get to stuff than a purse, or asking you.

Good info, thanks!

My mom or dad will most likely have something small like that for the stuff they need throughout the day. I would more than likely keep their pullovers with me.

 

[Blondie58]

We always use a backpack when going to amusement parks / carnivals etc.

We also love to hike and I have this Osprey Manta bag, which is amazingly comfortable / breathable and has a built in rain cover.

I am thinking of using it for the parks, but wanted some input on if it might be too big for storage on rides. It fits within WDW backpack guidelines, so it will have no problem getting in.

I would probably take the hydration pack out for extra storage and just use water bottles on the sides.

Basically is it "overkill"?

Thanks!

Overkill for me personally as I hate to carry anything BUT this may be perfect for you especially if you are used to carrying while hiking. Carry day one and if you do not like - adjust. Have fun!!

 

[kwdw]

I don't know the ages of your kids - but I admit to wondering what all folks feel the need to carry all day! You do you - but I see that as a pretty big bag - maybe needed for folks with a kid still in diapers or kids under 5. By 9 yo, my niece knew that she was carrying her own water bottle, mini snacks, her own coat and her own Mickey ears, any toy/gadget she wanted to bring along. She learned after day one how much she REALLY wanted to carry. Now - I will agree in that 5-8 range - you can get them to carry something for a bit - but to avoid meltdowns/fights - you just got to realize it ain't gonna happen all day. If your kids are used to carrying stuff hiking - why not at Disney? They need less at Disney.

Okay - onto the constructive part of my comments - given the time of year - you are very right that folks may need to adding and deleting clothing items based on temperature during the day. Given you want to make this easy for your parents, too, you might want to assess the benefit of a locker on some days - especially at HS and MK where its easy to pop over to a locker during the day in terms of distance.

 

[VandVsmama]

I get it, you both have very strong opinions on my backpack.

I just wanted to know if I could get in on the rides and if other people had used something similar. I got the info I was looking for.

Don't worry, I won't ask you to carry it.

I think you'll be fine with that backpack. Don't sweat it.

 

[VandVsmama]

Since I am 71 I can suggest for your folks. Your Mother/Dad may want to bring a small bag for all the small stuff we like to have at hand, like carmex, tissue, phone, etc. If so, I would suggest a cross body bag, or a string bag. Keeps the hands free to hold on to a grandchild's hand. I'm a Baggallini bag person. You might want to ask her or him. So much easier to get to stuff than a purse, or asking you.

I second the Baggallini suggestion. I'm in my 40s and switched to a Baggallini purse a few years ago. It's super light weight and very comfortable carting it around all day at a theme park.

 

[JakeAZ]

Now - I will agree in that 5-8 range - you can get them to carry something for a bit - but to avoid meltdowns/fights - you just got to realize it ain't gonna happen all day. If your kids are used to carrying stuff hiking - why not at Disney? They need less at Disney.

My kids will be 5 and 8 when we go.

We are very much a "be responsible for your stuff" kind of family.

"Dad where's my water bottle?"
"Did you bring it?"
"No."
"Well, then it's probably at home" haha

But I'm also of the mindset that there is a time and place for everything. Vacation is, IMO, not the place to teach lessons. It's my vacation too. I'm not looking to have confrontations with my kids over misplaced things. I can do that at home...literally any time I want...on demand, even!

Will I carry their stuff forever? Nope. Can I do it for them as they experience WDW for the first time as children? Ya, I can.

Hiking is 2-5 hours max, at this age. WDW is a whole different beast.

 

[VandVsmama]

My kids will be 5 and 8 when we go.

We are very much a "be responsible for your stuff" kind of family.

"Dad where's my water bottle?"
"Did you bring it?"
"No."
"Well, then it's probably at home" haha

But I'm also of the mindset that there is a time and place for everything. Vacation is, IMO, not the place to teach lessons. It's my vacation too. I'm not looking to have confrontations with my kids over misplaced things. I can do that at home...literally any time I want...on demand, even!

Will I carry their stuff forever? Of course not. Can I do it for them as they experience WDW for the first time as children? Ya, I can.

I agree with this philosophy. When my kids were in the age 8 range, it was hit or miss many times with them sharing a bag/backpack to carry for their stuff. A few times, it got left behind on a ride...on that trip, I decided, "Forget it, I'm carrying ALL of the stuff for the remainder of this trip. We'll try this method again later on." Couple of years later, it worked out just fine.

 

[JakeAZ]

Forget it, I'm carrying ALL of the stuff for the remainder of this trip

I get it! Kids misplace stuff all the time. Even stuff they just had in their hand a few seconds ago! Now factor in all the distractions of WDW....

I remember what I was like as a kid and I grew out of it and became "responsible". So will they.

 

[Kelandsam]

As an avid hiker (section hiker) I’d say nope to that, while the hydro is nice, the rest would be pain (taking on/off, buckles, etc.) I highly recommend the Baggalini sling pack. Super easy to have a bottle of frozen water defrosting and also easy to take on and off.

Have fun whatever you decide

 

[mickeyluv'r]

JakeAZ, reading your posts, it sorta sounds like you want to bring this particular backpack. Plenty of folks bring backpacks. there is a tradeoff, IMO, the more you bring, the more you are carrying an extra X pounds around all day. IMO, your best bet is to keep it light. Generally for us that means, no bag, or one person has a small crossbody bag. At WDW, cargo shorts are great- you can carry up to 4 bottles of water. Most of the time 1 bottle of water per person in plenty.

With the pandemic, you might want to carry some snacks. Normally, WDW has so many awesome snacks, that eating food from the backpack quickly becomes unappealing.

One of the only exceptions is if the weather is really such that you want to bring a sweatshirt or rain jacket, but only wear it part of the day. Even then, it is often better just to tie it around your waste. though perhaps for little kids.

It does help to think small. Like, instead of a large can of sunscreen, we only carry a tiny stick. We apply can spray before we leave the room. The stick looks like chap stick. Or else it is easly to find a small tube.

 

[cgattis]

We have 12 people going on this trip. Now, we all won't be together the whole time and I'm absolutely not going to carry things for everyone, but in addition to my family of 4, I will most likely keep some things for my parents in there.

So waters, snacks, phones, charging brick, ponchos, storage for things we may buy, light jackets for AM / late PM.

But you do bring up a good point about rides. I do not want it to be an obstacle. It was nice to hear from others that have used similar bags and didn't have issues.

When the kids were younger, we always took a bag larger than that. We’re usually open-to close types, so we’d have snacks, waters, ponchos, camera, extra clothes, etc. and it was never too big for any Disney ride. Now obviously Universal is different, and I’ve used a fanny pack but remember wands have to go in lockers, so if I’m having to stow a wand anyway, I usually just take a bag too.

 

[JakeAZ]

JakeAZ, reading your posts, it sorta sounds like you want to bring this particular backpack

I do want to bring it and most likely will now that I know it will fit on the rides. I appreciate all the pointers. I'm just used to this bag. I'm comfortable with things in it. Is it ideal? No, but traveling with kids isn't ideal either! haha. Everyone handles it differently.

I'm not a fan of filled pockets and do not own cargo shorts (no offense to people that do!).

I like knowing I have the stuff we "need" at places like this. My wife likes knowing we have it too and that she doesn't have to carry it! But that also means she has one thing less to worry about while keeping an eye on the kids. It just works for us. I'm absolutely aware it's not for everyone.

 

[JakeAZ]

but remember wands have to go in lockers

I did not know this, thanks! That is good info.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

The 'free' lockers at Universal are quite a bit smaller than they used to be a few years back, and there are NO free lockers near the water rides: JP river Adventure, P &Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges, and Ripsaw Falls. At those three rides, single-time use lockers start at $4 per locker (if used during the posted wait time for that attraction). The Barges are closed 2/1-2/19, the Falls are closed 2/22-3/19.

At Universal, having to put a bag into a locker and later retrieve it is cumulatively all day adds up to a time drain. In the before times the locker room were also quite crowded, though I imagine Universal has lowered the number of people who can be in the locker rooms at one time. In the before times, using the lockers for the Forbidden Journey and Ginrgott's usually = rubbing up against/being physically bumped by multiple people, especially if it was a busy park day. The area was just that crowded.

At Universal, going bag free is more beneficial than it is at WDW. This is one way the two properties differ significantly. At universal, you see far fewer people with bags, especially big backpacks.

Here's the details: Standard-sized lockers - as in the ones that are free while you ride, are: 14 in x 5.5 in x 16.9 in. The larger lockers are 12 in x 13 in x 16.9 in and cost $2 per use for 'while you ride' duration. Just to clarify, if you leave your stuff in the lockers for more than the allotted ride time, Universal charges more.

One option is to get your wands relatively late in the day, that way you won't have to deal with carrying them around/stowing them in lockers. The wands come in a nice box. It is sturdy, but the less the box is abused, the better, IMO. If you reserve the last few hours of the day purely for wands, then you won't end up stowing the wands much at all.

The wands are pricey, but I think it is well worth getting at least one. Though they sell the idea of each person getting their own wand, sharing a wand works just fine. The spells are very magical, and finding all the locations is fun. The only small caveat is that younger kids tend to need a little extra coaching: the tip of the wand must stay pointed at the windows. Small kids/beginners tend to want to swing the tip of the wand around, rather than keep it level/pointed at the spell area.

 

[jimmymc]

That's a pretty normal size pack and a good brand, I say go for it.