Tips for First Trip without Stroller

[egritz]

It's been a long time since I've been around this board (3 years!) but we are finally coming "home" in September. I was a self-declared DL pro back when we made over a dozen trips between 2012-2018. But it's been a minute! Our children are now 7 and 10 years and this is our first Stroller-Free trip and I'm both nervous and excited about not having that monstrocity, as well as well as navigating DL without Fax/Maxpasses

BUT, we are SO used to being heavy packer for our park days - waters w/ refill (we REALLY don't like the taste of the DL water from quick service restaurants), snacks, lunch, sweatshirts/jackets, change of clothes for kids bc of water rides, and I usually have a change of flip flops for water rides (so I don't ruin my goods ones).

So I've been perusing Amazon looking at cooler backpacks, but my husband is concerned one of those will be too bulky for when we ride attractions, any experience with that? Or suggestions for one you've used that worked well (or didn't work well for that matter). Just to note, we don't like getting lockers bc we don't like having to walk back for whatever we need.

ETA: 3 days in the parks plus the Halloween party on a 4th day, staying right across the street (but hate going back to the hotel bc of security lines)

 

[DisSurfer878]

One question before I give my best tips: Are you staying at a hotel nearby or is this just a day trip? And if staying at hotel, which one(or really how far is it from the parks?)

 

[egritz]

One question before I give my best tips: Are you staying at a hotel nearby or is this just a day trip? And if staying at hotel, which one(or really how far is it from the parks?)

Great question, thanks for clarifying! 3 days in the parks plus the Halloween party, staying right across the street (but hate going back to the hotel bc of security lines). I'll edit to add this to the OP.

 

[mom2rtk]

Hi egritz! Are the lockers open these days? Maybe put most of your stuff there? I hope you have a great trip!

 

[Matrixleos]

Below is a link to a thread on Backpacks from a few weeks ago. General consensus was that you'll be able to bring a full size backpack with you on most rides but a few of them might be tight fits. So just get whatever backpack that you think suits your families needs.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/backpacks.3843108/#post-63125232

 

[gpjacobs]

I posted about a similar topic a while back. Maybe the advice shared in that thread would be helpful?

https://www.disboards.com/threads/tips-for-first-stroller-less-trip.3834433/

 

[egritz]

Hi egritz! Are the lockers open these days? Maybe put most of your stuff there? I hope you have a great trip!

Don't know if they are open, but we typically don't like using lockers, we prefer to have our items with us so we don't have to take the time to walk back to them for our items.

Below is a link to a thread on Backpacks from a few weeks ago. General consensus was that you'll be able to bring a full size backpack with you on most rides but a few of them might be tight fits. So just get whatever backpack that you think suits your families needs.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/backpacks.3843108/#post-63125232

Fantastic, thank you!

 

[TINA BAILEY]

Personally, smaller backpacks for everyone to carry things or a locker are how we navigate. Everyone can carry their water, snacks, etc.

 

[egritz]

Personally, smaller backpacks for everyone to carry things or a locker are how we navigate. Everyone can carry their water, snacks, etc.

We plan to do that for clothes and water. I am trying to figure out if a cooler backpack will work to keep the food cold