What I wish I would have known BEFORE getting to WDW!

[ShooshBrat]

My DD(19) and I go to WDW quiet often, and have "kits" that we keep just for Disney.

We are, however, bringing our niece (8) and nephew (2) this time, so our "needs" are going to change DRAMATICALLY!

This thread is helping my "things to pack" list SO MUCH!!!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU ALL!!!!

Once I get through all the posts, I'll add my 2 cents......if there's anything I can think of that ya'll haven't already!!

AWESOME THREAD!!!

 

[IcePrincess467]

I didn't have a chance to read all the pages but so far the tips are great! One thing I have to say is bring a sweater!!!! I went in April and thought that because it is FL that you'd never be cold!! Boy was I wrong! I ended up forking over $49.99 for a sweater jacket!! (I wanted one that zipped up the front) I now will always be bringing a sweater...even though the next time we go it'll be August....but just in case...(you never know.,...lol)

 

[party of 3]

loop.

My daughter also has asthma and I struggled with whether or not to take her nebulizer and I was very glad to have it due to the humidity the week we were there. For some reason the whole week we were there she had difficulty breathing and I used it in the middle of MK. I have to say the staff was VERY helpful in quickly finding a place for me to plug it in.

Most of all i would have to say just HAVE FUN!!!!

my son also has asthma and we never thought about bringing his neb with us. boy were we wrong. we ended up at the fire/rescue station across from the Caribbean beach (which is where we were staying) and they gave him a treatment there. what a godsend those people are. they were so good to my little man. so this time, we are bringing it with us for sure!!!!!!!

thanks for all the ideas everyone.

 

[princess jackie]

I didn't have a chance to read all the pages but so far the tips are great! One thing I have to say is bring a sweater!!!! I went in April and thought that because it is FL that you'd never be cold!! Boy was I wrong! I ended up forking over $49.99 for a sweater jacket!! (I wanted one that zipped up the front) I now will always be bringing a sweater...even though the next time we go it'll be August....but just in case...(you never know.,...lol)

I purposely forget a sweatshirt or sweater so that I HAVE to buy one every year. However DH has finally caught on. So I'll have to come up with some other clever plan.

 

[luv 2 plan]

My family just went last week and I was surprised how few people were using anything to make their strollers easy to identify. I had read many tips here and in guide books to attach bandanas, etc. to strollers and it turned out to be great advice. In a sea of 100 strollers, mostly identical park rentals, it was so nice to walk right up to ours. We used 2 bandanas that look like American flags. They have clear pockets on the backs of the rental strollers to insert a card with your name, but you can't read those from much of a distance.

Another thing I'm glad I packed was a set of 10 oz. Take-N-Toss sippy cups from the baby section at Wal-Mart. They are technically disposable, but much sturdier than regular disposable cups. I put each person's name on one with a permanent marker and carried them in a ziplock bag in my park bag each day. They made it easy to get someone water from a water fountain in an emergency, or to split one large purchased drink. I washed them out at the hotel each evening.

 

[Dizneydaz]

And speaking of strollers-don't forget to bring an extra poncho (if you don't have a stroller cover) and use it to cover your stroller when leaving it unattended-especially in the late afternoon, in summer. Those summer time storms, come and go, very quickly! One time we had lunch at 50'sPTC, and while we were eating a storm came and went. Everything in the stroller got wet so if you can't park it under a cover make sure to cover it yourself. And be aware that the CMs do move the strollers, alot. So, if you can anchor, or attach, the cover to the stroller, it'll be better. Once we came out of Philharmagic and our (personal) stoller had been moved but our poncho ended up on another (Disney) stroller. Luckily our poncho had our name on it and after a few minutes we were able to find it.

 

[Theatre_Princess]

Another thing about how to find your lost kids is my dad always put radios in our fannie packs (yes they work, really well) so if we where ever lost we could just whip out our radios and find him. we never had to use them because we've started using cell phones instead, but my brothers will still have and use radios as well as my dad.
Zip lock baggies are a good idea. they're handy and keep things dry.
for entertainment purposes my parents always put some cheap electronic game in our fannie packs. Like this year i think in mine I'm getting sudoko (sp?) and my brother a car racing game.
For anyone going in January it is COLD in the mornings and afternoons. really, you need long sleeves and maybe even sweatshirts or something. I was a little surprised our first trip how cold it is.
Totally of topic here but we're from the northern states with lots of snow, so my favorite thing to do at Disney when we go down in January is to sit in the parks eating ice cream (about mid day so we think it's warm) and watch all the Floridians stare and think we're crazy. it's funny! another fun thing to do is to go swimming. it gets a few stares too. lol

 

[Andrea]

I wish I had known you can ask for free glasses of ice water before I spent a ton of money on bottled water at all the parks. Some say they don't like the taste of it but if it was cold and icy on a hot day, I would've survived it no matter what!

oh wow i didnt know that they would give you a free glass of water, that would be awsome

 

[godsgirl680]

Autograph Books and Sharpie. They mini scrap books {4x6} at Hobby Lobby that you can use as autogragh books. Their about $4. Also you can buy disney stickers to decerate them.The autograph books are expensive in Disney.

 

[nanadeb]

In December we did Disney with all our kids and grandkids. I got passport holders that you hang around your neck and made up cards for each of the kids with their parents and aunts and uncle's cell phone numbers on them. I added a few Disney dollars and made tag autograph books using book rings to hold them together.
The kids loved them. My favorite sight was to see my 8 year old grandson swaggering along with the passport holder draped over one shoulder and under the opposite arm, with the tag book bouncing against his hip. He was doing Disney commando style!
We never had to use those cell phone cards, but they were there and made everyone feel safer. The kids loved having their own Disney Dollar stash and a place to keep their tickets and fastpasses. The parents loved them having a place to keep stuff without losing it.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I am a HUGE overpacker, but I can't stand the thought of needing something at the parks that we have sitting at home.

My favorite tip that we got from the DIS is to bring a pump bottle of hand soap to use in the hotel room. That way the bar of soap doesn't make the sink area all gooey. I also bring a small bottle of Tide and Downy in case we have to do laundry. So far we have been on 2 9-night trips and never had to wash anything, but you never know! We also bring a bottle of wrinkle releaser spray so we don't have to iron.

I pack one suitcase of nothing but toiletry type stuff. I used to carry it on, but now we'll have to check it. I pack an empty duffle bag in one suitcase to fill with souvenirs, and the duffle becomes one of our carry-ons when we come home. I pack one suitcase full of nothing but shoes, but I make sure each person has at least one spare pair of shoes in their suitcase in the event that the shoe bag gets lost.

Target has big bottles of sunscreen that come with a little "travel" size bottle on a clip. You can clip the littel one to your backpack and refill it from the big bottle as needed. We prefer the spray, but we don't carry the spray in the parks.

We bring our own coffee (Starbucks) and filters (available at Target) so we can make coffee in the room every morning.

If you bring moleskin make sure you bring some little scissors to cut it with.

We have glow sticks from Dollar Tree. When we come back to the room at night we hang the glow sticks near the bathroom door and they are bright enough that we don't need a nightlight.

I bought a lightweight jacket at Target in the activewear section. I can fold it small enough to fit in a sandwich bag, and I always have it in my backpack.

 

[Mickeysangel49]

These are all such great ideas! Even though my sister and I are adults, some of the "kids" suggestions can translate into uses for us as well! (ie: we will have a wheelchair, so having something to put over it in case of rain is a super idea!) I have a couple of questions:

1) Where do you get the "neck cooler" thingies that you wet to stay cool?

2) Is there a particular reason why you don't "spray" sunscreen in the parks, or is it just so you don't spray the people around you as well?!

***73 days!***

 

[taylor91]

Im only 15 but with an annoyin younger brother I learnt this tip quickly. If you have kids and they get burnt put lavender oil onto the burnt or red areas. Usually you end up not peeling as bad and it clears the redness up.It Also as it is lavender oil it helps them sleep.

Hope that helps anyone.

 

[ILMICKEY]

Hi Taylor91! What an awesome 16th party. Is that what you wanted for your birthday?

I have a son that turned 16 last March. He also has a younger brother that I am sure he would like to sleep!

How old is yours?

 

[taylor91]

Hi Taylor91! What an awesome 16th party. Is that what you wanted for your birthday?

I have a son that turned 16 last March. He also has a younger brother that I am sure he would like to sleep!

How old is yours?

hi ILMICKEY. It was a bit of a suprise actually but I didnt want a party so my mum and dad organised this. My brother is 3 years younger than me...not very young but he acts a lot younger especially with sunburn lol

 

[ILMICKEY]

Well congratulations on your birthday and have a wonderful time!!!

Even if he doesn't get a sunburn, you could always put some lavendar oil on his pillow!!

 

[JadeDarkstar]

happy bday mine nov 30th and im celbrating in disney land. and my sons is oct and were gona combind it..disney is a grate place to celbrate bdays aniversys and all that

 

[DisTwix]

I always carry one of those little eyeglass repair kits - the tiny tube with the tiny screwdriver and little bitty screws... I've had to repair more than one set of glasses/sunglasses on the fly...

ALSO - I just got back from a trip and have decided that the next trip I am going to reinstitute my over the door shoe holder - it's the kind with the white plastickie back and clear pockets. I am going to pack my toiletries, all the cables for all the things that need charging (last trip I had 6 cables and chargers!) and all the other funny things that you end up needing (clothespins, extension cords, etc) - roll it up and stuff it in the suitcase. Unfurl and hang in the closet (always stay at value or moderate - so the rack is right there) and it keeps everything organized.

OH - I found the BEST pill holder at Target - it has two places to store pills - I keep allergy stuff in one side (chlorphenerimine - look it up, it's GENIUS) and some kind of pain reliever in the other side... My *take into the park* list includes that container, bandaids, bonine, pepto tabs, camera, inhaler, little tube of sunscreen, tiny container of antibacterial gel, eyeglass fix-it, one big baggie, mints, cell phone, lip balm/gloss, ID, cash, cards, and TICKET!! All that fits into one smallish fanny pack, tho last trip I had a crossbody bag that I really preferred... and my camera is TINY.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

These are all such great ideas! Even though my sister and I are adults, some of the "kids" suggestions can translate into uses for us as well! (ie: we will have a wheelchair, so having something to put over it in case of rain is a super idea!) I have a couple of questions:

1) Where do you get the "neck cooler" thingies that you wet to stay cool?

2) Is there a particular reason why you don't "spray" sunscreen in the parks, or is it just so you don't spray the people around you as well?!

***73 days!***

We already carry so much stuff in the parks that the big canister of spray sunscreen is more than we want to drag along!
Really, last August none of us got sunburned. We put sunscreen on in the morning before we went to breakfast and we were fine all day.

I will bring the spray to the water park. We put cream sunscreen on as a base coat and then reapply multiple applications of spray.

 

[Mickeysangel49]

Thanks for your honesty! I will probably have the same problem (bringing way too much stuff with us every day!) At least we'll have the wheelchair to hang the "stuff" bag on!

Anyone have any ideas about where to find the "neck cooling thingies"?