What do you with all your "junk" without a stroller?!?!

[Dismom820]

so, every time we've gone to Disney, we've had a stroller and the next time we plan to visit, my daughter will be almost 4 and even now, at 2 and a half, she HATES using the stroller most of the time, we asks to walk so i know by then, she'll be fully walking, which is great, BUT, we always bring a snack bag, a small lunchbox cooler of drinks and a bag for her change of clothes, wipes, emergency things, etc...how can I get all that inside the parks without me actually carrying it all like a pack-mule? I'm not going to carry it all, so, what do you guys do when your child no longer needs a stroller, but you need the "junk" in the parks? thanks in advance!

 

[btk2333]

either a small backpack or leave it in the room- personally I like to bring as little into the park as possible- we have twin 20 month olds and if we don't bring the stroller we basically just bring a few diapers and wipes that can fit in the baby carrier and their waters- plenty of places to refill the waters if necessary.

 

[lustergirl]

cut back on your "junk"

 

[mshanson3121]

so, every time we've gone to Disney, we've had a stroller and the next time we plan to visit, my daughter will be almost 4 and even now, at 2 and a half, she HATES using the stroller most of the time, we asks to walk so i know by then, she'll be fully walking, which is great, BUT, we always bring a snack bag, a small lunchbox cooler of drinks and a bag for her change of clothes, wipes, emergency things, etc...how can I get all that inside the parks without me actually carrying it all like a pack-mule? I'm not going to carry it all, so, what do you guys do when your child no longer needs a stroller, but you need the "junk" in the parks? thanks in advance!

Personally, I'd still bring a stroller to carry the "junk" in. But, other options are:

- Pack less stuff
- Rent a locker for your lunchbox cooler and change of clothes
- Get a backback for the wipes, small snacks, one drink, small emergency things
- Rent a Disney stroller. She may not like "regular" strollers, but she might do just fine with a Disney stroller, since they're a different design altogether and something she can just jump in/out of whenever she wants. Also, at not even 4, I'm willing to bet she'll get tired enough walking that she will use the stroller.

 

[soniam]

They sell drinks in the parks. I can see one or two small snacks. I carry small messenger bag, and DH carries a very small backpack. We really only bring ponchos, cameras, hats, and water bottles that are big. We use holders for the water bottles.

 

[bc7ate9]

I bet once you stopped hauling all that "junk" around, you'd realize you don't need it.

 

[Dismom820]

cut back on your "junk"

if i had it my way, definitely done, but my mother insists on bringing it in...plus she has to "have" her drinks ice cold...hence the small cooler. *rolling my eyes*

 

[bc7ate9]

if i had it my way, definitely done, but my mother insists on bringing it in...plus she has to "have" her drinks ice cold...hence the small cooler. *rolling my eyes*

Then let her carry it!

 

[btk2333]

if i had it my way, definitely done, but my mother insists on bringing it in...plus she has to "have" her drinks ice cold...hence the small cooler. *rolling my eyes*

Then make her carry the cooler

 

[GPC0321]

if i had it my way, definitely done, but my mother insists on bringing it in...plus she has to "have" her drinks ice cold...hence the small cooler. *rolling my eyes*

Then make your mother carry the junk.

 

[LilyWDW]

if i had it my way, definitely done, but my mother insists on bringing it in...plus she has to "have" her drinks ice cold...hence the small cooler. *rolling my eyes*

Then she gets to carry it. You want to bring it, you carry it. If she can't do it, then she needs to figure out something else.

 

[btk2333]

Haha GPC and Lily you guys are my favorites- beat you to the punch by a matter of seconds

 

[Dismom820]

Then let her carry it!

Then make her carry the cooler

Then make your mother carry the junk.

no chill from you guys!! hahah I'd LOVE to see that go over with her! however, i'm probably going to suggest us both carry a backpack and if we NEED one, to just rent one. she also made a statement she needs something to hold on to while we're running all over the parks! haha

 

[mshanson3121]

Haha, I'm with everyone else. If she wants to bring that stuff - she carries it. I'm sorry, you have a young child that will be occupying much of your energy and focus, it's not your job to haul around your mother's stuff, too. I'm assuming she's physically capable? If she isn't, but still insists on bringing it, then she can rent a stroller to carry it all in, or split the cost with you, if you think your daughter might use the stroller, too.

When we went to the park, for 6 of us, there were only 2 bags: my camera bag which held my camera of course, but also our ID, card tickets in case our MBs didn't work, lip balm, and sunscreen. Then we had a backpack cooler which held typically 6 bottles of water, an ice pack, Frogg Togg towels (when they weren't around our necks), some granola bars, and a handful of wipes, a diaper and a pair of shorts for DD in case of an accident.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

Why not just bring an umbrella stroller? When the kid isn't using it,use it to store stuff. If the kid needs a place to sit and rest, mom gets to carry her own backpack. I personally would not be lugging a heavy drink filled backpack around disney world. Not gonna happen.

 

[GPC0321]

no chill from you guys!! hahah I'd LOVE to see that go over with her! however, i'm probably going to suggest us both carry a backpack and if we NEED one, to just rent one. she also made a statement she needs something to hold on to while we're running all over the parks! haha

I understand your predicament, but strollers are a peeve of mine. They take up a lot of space and a lot of guests seem to use them to plow a pathway through the crowds. The thought of someone adding a stroller into the sea of strollers just because they want to carry a ton of "junk" into the parks and need their drinks "ice cold" in their personal cooler is...well...yeah. I'm not a fan of the idea.

 

[Minnesota!]

Backsack. Fits everything.

 

[TurtleGirl3]

Bring less "junk" or make Mom carry it. When I go with my kids I use a very small crossbody bag with enough room for tickets, id/$, and chapstick. If I need anything else I will get it there, but honestly I've never had a need for anything else. We just buy our drinks there. More expensive, yes, but also way more convenient than carrying "junk" around

 

[bumbershoot]

Igloo brand MaxCold cooler BACKPACK. Target. Go. Buy.

As for strollers being the place to keep stuff, all it takes is having stuff stolen from your stroller one time to realize that one should never have been using it as a place to keep your stuff in the first place.

Or once you've seen a squirrel rummaging around, gnawing on bottletops, snagging any food or food containers they can find, to realize that you should never have even left a water bottle in the stroller. Because ew, squirrel spit.

My son never used a stroller at home except for actual bonafide jogging excursions taken by me (with a bonafide jogging stroller), but we had one (not the jogger) for Disney. Disney is a million times different than home. And you have to think about the personalities of the adults. If you are "go go go" people (like me) and you like the stroller because even when she's tired you can keep going, you might consider keeping teh stroller. If your disney trips are all about the kidlet and you are totally 100% willing and able to take things at her pace (not something I can do easily), then try it out without the stroller. But maybe have it at the room just in case that first day goes differently than expected?

Despite him not using a stroller at home, DS needed it still for Disneyland trips through 5. Then we had our first WDW trip when he was 6.5, brought the Volo, and left it up to him. It never even got unfolded; just stayed in the hallway of the villa the whole trip. He never wanted it.

Thankfully we had had the experience of theft from our stroller twice (the second time was absolutely nothing of value, but it still went to show us that thieves will take anything) and I'd seen the squirrels already, so we never took anything we couldn't carry and never left even a water bottle (thank you, MaxCold cooler backpack) in the stroller starting when he was 4, so there was no difference to use when the stroller was gone.

 

[loves to dive]

I started going to the park when my son was 3. No junk carrying for us, but we did stay on site. If/when he got just too tired to walk, we would sometimes rent a Disney stroller but still no junk. If his clothes got too dirty to stand, we went back to the room and changed, gave us a chance for him to rest a little and settle down. I would carry the little disposable pocket packs of wipes, mostly for me than for him, I hate to get ice cream on my hands.