What Do You Use To Hold All Your Stuff In The Park

[ironpig70]

this year with the kids being older we will not need a dedicated stroller and diaper bag. but with twin 4 year olds i still wanna take some extras for any accidents and also snacks and water so we don't have to mortgage the homestead for the trip. and i looked at the tip post and saw lots of stuff people take. so do you use a fanny pack, a kids backpack or more of a small back pack one would use for camping???


and more importantly how or what do you do with this on the rides????

 

[SnowWhite12]

I use either my Overland Donner messenger bag or my new small messenger bag from Disneyshopping. Carry it on my shoulder or across my body. (But we do put it in the bottom of the stroller often.) Carry it with us on the rides. No problem.

 

[DTDkettleCORNfan]

We have two kids that were both out of diapers for the first time on last years' trip. It was nice to not have to bring diapers and wipes! We carry a mini backpack that is about the size of a backpack purse. It holds a couple bottles of water, camera, snacks, wallet, hand sanitizer, sunscreen, etc. But we always leave a big backpack in the locker with a complete change of clothes for all kids, sweatshirts for evenings (we go in the winter) lots of extra water, extra snacks, etc. Have a wonderful trip!

 

[ababydivine]

I don't even want to THINK about not having a stroller for all my crap! LOL! I think I'll still be pushing one around even after my 3 are too old for it.

 

[5 Disney Fans]

Ditto to the Donner bag. I carry that to hold my camera, money, and assorted stuff for the kids. And my DH carries a backpack cooler with drinks. We got the backpack cooler at Target and it is made by Thermos. http://www.thermos.com/Product_detail.aspx?CatCode=THER&SubcategoryID=6&ViewAll=true&ProductID=759. It takes up very little space in our luggage and it is sleek to carry.

 

[DisneylandPlanner]

I have always loved my fanny pack! I got the biggest one I could find and I can carry everything in it. I do carry some some juices but for water I get a cup of ice for free and fill it at the water fountains. That helps a lot on weight. You do not need to take it off on any rides or even to use the bathroom.
This last trip I was pregnant and I choose to take a messenger bag which was nice also. On the ride it stays on you just put it to the side or on your lap, easy. The only thing was I did not like having to remove it to use the restroom (I was going a lot)!

 

[bumbershoot]

When DS was in dipes I brought the cute diaper bag (we used cloth, so it was a big bag) and also a backpack for jackets and such.

At that time if we were on a big ride we used rider switch, so there was always someone to wait with the bags and boy. On other rides we just took them with us.

Last September we left some stuff in the bottom of the stroller, and DS's brand new pirate hat was stolen out from under a sweatshirt. So we leave nothing in the stroller anymore.

Recently I've had a shoulder bag for IDs, camera, and other essentials. Backpack is also carried for jackets, granola bars, and this trip maybe some real pb&j so we don't get tempted by the Uncrustables (aka high fructose corn syrup encased in bread) which are an impossibility for my family anyway.

I discovered in January that there's a nice little water refill area at Rancho del Zocalo (next to the salsas in the tables area) and also that you can just ask for ice water at a restaurant of any kind and they'll give it to ya. So we wont' carry bottles of water anymore, and we will definitely not buy any!

In Sept and Dec I had some sort of bag I don't recall, but now I have the "traditional" Disboards Baggallini messenger bag. Though mine is in the "on-clearance-at-REI" pink, rather than the traditional lime green. (just ordered a lime green cellphone to replace my "where the heck is it" phone, so at least I've got THAT bit of lime!)


Oh, for the days you will be at or hop to DCA, if your kiddoes are going to be allowed free access to the water play areas in bug's land, either bring a full change of clothes including underwear and shoes, or put them in swimsuits to play, then change back into proper clothes after. And bring a towel, too.

 

[masquerade]

I don't even want to THINK about not having a stroller for all my crap! LOL! I think I'll still be pushing one around even after my 3 are too old for it.

I'm dealing with this issue now. Going to DL later this month. My DL just turned 4. Personally i think she's too old for a stroller BUT my thinking is that it's not really for her...but for all the STUFF i will be bringing with me AND all the STUFF I will be buying!

If she's tired and wants a ride, i have no issues with that. It's either the stroller or daddy carries her. She hardly rode on it last year, but I was SOOO grateful to have something to carry all our stuff.

I don't want to be carrying a big messanger bag all day. I feel that my stroller will be safe (enough) parked outside rides.

 

[ironpig70]

yeah we will get strollers for later in the day/evening but pushing around one all day is a pita. and with 2 kids either they both sit in them or neither.


bumbershoot don't know about the "offical" dis bag but will look at my local sports and bike places for a messenger bag. that sounds like a great way to go. the locker idea is another option.


i'm also thinking of going light and just repacking if we do the midday nap.

 

[avalon451]

We carried light fanny packs, had little ones for the kids, too. They look dorky but hey... they worked great. The kids each carried their own emergency snack rations (energy bars, goldfish crackers) for those moments of "I gotta eat NOW" grouchiness that inevitably struck while we were standing in line for something.

We rented a stroller for the almost 6yo DD. I was really glad we did, it saved her legs, and was a good place to pitch the fanny packs and the water bottles while walking around. When we went on rides, the fanny packs were great because all you had to do was turn them around to your front-- easier than a backpack.

 

[pixiewings71]

I use a sling bag, it's great and I love how it stays closed.

 

[bumbershoot]

I feel that my stroller will be safe (enough) parked outside rides.

We did too.

Last September we left some stuff in the bottom of the stroller, and DS's brand new pirate hat was stolen out from under a sweatshirt. So we leave nothing in the stroller anymore.

Because it was a purchase we had made the day before at the park, when DS was talking about it to some sweet CMs preparing the IASW area for the fireworks, they brought it to a Lead's attention and the Lead was incredible and gave us a voucher to replace it.

Even though it was taken care of, the *feeling* of having something stolen will stay with me forever. I don't recommend putting things out there that might cause you to feel that feeling. Don't leave stuff in the strollers...


ironpig70, there's a possibility we'll use a locker on this trip, too. Maybe. Then again I don't think it's going to be a souvenir-heavy trip, since we've been there as a family twice already since September (and will be bringing his souvenirs *with us*, lol), but you just never know sometimes!

Oh, you can take souvenirs you buy back to the "newstand" at the front of Disneyland, and they will hold them for you for the day. There's probably a place at DCA where you can do that too, I don't know.

And of course if you're staying onsite, you can have stores send the souvenirs to your hotel, but they wont' get to you until the next morning. And each time we tried that when staying at PP last Sept, the stores were out of the forms they needed, and by the time we got to a store that had them, DS was already firmly attached to whatever we bought, and it wasn't worth the tantrum (generally caused by hunger, lack of sleep thanks to my commando-touring style, or feeding him things that we didn't know had corn syrup ingredients) to wrestle it away from him, so sending things to the hotel didn't work for us!

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

We carry around a backpack. It's not huge, but big enough for 3 water bottles, camera ect... DH and I take turns carrying it. We used to have a fanny pack, but now that we bring water the backpack was just easier.

 

[mommaU4]

I don't even want to THINK about not having a stroller for all my crap! LOL! I think I'll still be pushing one around even after my 3 are too old for it.

Mine are too old for one but we rent one anyways.

Okay, this is what I do and it works for us. Might not work for anyone else but here goes:

We have a Disney visa so we get a free stroller rental (you can actually get 2 but we only need one). My kids are 7, 7, 11 and 13 so we have no real need for one, but it's free. LOL

Then I have two bags. One backpack that I keep with me that has anything of value, wallet, glasses, snacks, etc.

In the rental stroller we keep another bag with misc items, a blanket to sit on during Fantasmic, handy wipes, extra water bottles, etc.

We park the stroller at a ride in whatever land we are in. For example, if we are doing Fantasyland I'll park the stroller in front of Snow White and leave it there while we do all the rides we want to do.
Then before we move on to another section of the park, I'll go get the stroller and we'll take it with us and park it in another area. So in other words we aren't pushing it all day, kwim?

It works for us so we don't have to carry so many items and yet we don't have to pay the high cost of a locker rental that would be too small anyway.

Hope that helps!

 

[dizneekrazee]

We carried light fanny packs, had little ones for the kids, too. They look dorky but hey... they worked great.

I had the same fear last year before we went, then I took my cute little butt to BebeSport, and cot a cute "belt bag", now I have 3, and take them whenever we have a days outting. They are small, but I just wanted it for the things I needed to get to fast, camera, cell phone, wallet, room key. Otherwise we had a diaper bag, or this trip (hoping we dont need the diaper bag), will use a backpack. Not taking our stroller this time, but will rent. We had a double stroller for our youngest two, but our now 4 yo does not ride at all and then now 2 yo old does and we dont need to pack that big ol' thing (leaves more room to pack out new stuff on the way home too!)!

Brandy

 

[ironpig70]

mommau4 great idea on land parking may try this we also have the visa card. and we don't do alot of shopping in the park. we will take an afternoon and do dtd and then drop everything back at the hotel. before we head back to the park.

 

[mommaU4]

mommau4 great idea on land parking may try this we also have the visa card. and we don't do alot of shopping in the park. we will take an afternoon and do dtd and then drop everything back at the hotel. before we head back to the park.

Yeah, we dont' do a lot of shopping in the parks either so I don't worry about anything being taken. And in all our years of going, we've never had anything go missing.

Another nice thing about doing it that way, is we do have a stroller just in case one of the 7 year olds need it. Doesn't happen often, but little legs do get tired and it's nice to know we have a stoller should we need it, without having to push it from ride to ride.