Trip Must Haves

[kalimom6]

Hello all, I am new to this forum. My 5 year old daughter is getting a wish granted, she wants to go to Sea World. We leave Dec. 1, 2012 for a week, we will stay at GKTW.
I am wondering about your trip must haves. We are flying from Montana, we have 5 other children, the oldest is almost 10, the baby will be 16 months when we go.
I notice people buy lanyards for everyone....what is the purpose? It looks like a good idea, I am just curious if I need to go and buy some.
I have also read to buy some rain ponchos from the $ store, bring some zip locs. I cant remember much else.
So, if anyone wants to share their must haves I greatly appreciate it. I think I have the airplane must haves figured out, I have been reading a LOT of blogs. My daughter does have special needs but is able to walk, just not long distances, so we'll be getting a doctors note for stroller.
Thanks is advance.

 

[Piper]

Read the FAQs at the top of the forum -- it will help you a lot. Also near the top is a wish kid thread. That will tell you a lot, tool. You won't need a doctor's note for the stroller--just ask at guest services and you can use it as a wheelchair and take it in lines.

The most important resource will be the FAQs -- it is full of information!

 

[kalimom6]

Thanks, I must have read the wrong FAQ spot because I didn't see what I was looking for. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction

 

[dja14]

I would get ponchos for everyone from the dollar store or something like that. Small folded ones you can carry in a back pack or diaper bag. When it starts raining everyone runs for the stores and you can pull over, whip out the ponchos and keep going. We usually go for 10 days so I buy a couple for each of us because they are thin and tear sometimes. Last trip we only needed one so we brought them home and tossed them in a box for next trip somewhere. When we went to Gatlinburg a couple years ago it rained every single day, like a constant drizzle and we just got a poncho on and went. Saved the vacation. Sometimes we fold (or cram) them back into a ziploc bag or two and sometimes I toss them

Other than that I would pack lots of sunscreen. When we go to the parks we always carry a water bottle and sunscreen and a few kids prepackaged snacks (like granola bars or something like that) Especially when my kids were little and wanted a snack they meant a bite or two. You might need diapers, etc. First time we went we did, I just carried a big backpack (well hubby did or the stroller did) I also carried some washclothes in a ziploc, dry to start, then wet them as we needed them. And I carried an outfit for whoever needed it. I also had a very, very picky eater so lots of days they was a half peanut butter and jelly in there too. A few bandaids for scraped knees and a couple jackets. Yeah it was a pain to carry that big bag but it was really nice to have everything we needed. My husband complained til I started pulling stuff out, we used it all, even gave a bandaid away. You know your kids best and will know what things they need for an all day trip.

one year I bought lanyards and a few little pouches to wear around the neck and it was a waste for us. I carried all the tickets and most of the money, husband carried a bit of money. We just used the camera case or fanny pack and he wore shorts with big side pockets. Kids were really too young to trust with tickets. Every night I just refreshed our money and if we needed to we went to atm. Everything else (besides id and one credit card) we either left at home or locked in safe.

Have so much fun

 

[peemagg]

Something we found helpful when our kids were little, was we brought our own strollers, and got rain covers for the strollers. It went on the stroller and not the baby. I found ours online (amazon or Ebay) for a few bucks. At the end of trip you can either pack them up and save them or throw them away. They also work good to help keep wind and cold off a baby.

We also brought light weight, small blankets with us. They were good to keep the sun off a child that is sleeping in the stroller or to just take the chill off at night. These I found at our local Target in the dollar section.