What is in YOUR "park day bag"?

[cobright]

I have a 2 year old and always take a backpack, which comes on rides with us (not a hassle at all). Our stroller does have a bottom storage space and zipper pocket, which I will leave extra bottles of water in.

Here's my backpack packing list:

• Hand sanitizer
• Lysol wipes (for tables)
• Johnson & Johnson anti-bacterial hand and face wipes
• Diapers
• Wipes
• Autograph book & sharpie
• Snacks (I put a variety that don't melt, like small packs of raisins and goldfish, in a ziplock bag)
• Sunglasses for everyone
• Small sunscreen (we put it on before we get there, but it's back up if someone starts looking pink)
• Extra contacts (you would be surprised...)
• Wallets
• Phones
• Phone charger
• Extra kid's outfit (t-shirt and shorts)
• Ziplock bags (used for a variety of reasons)
• Kids hat (if not wearing)
• Kids rain coat and disposable (dollar store) ponchos for adults
• Bottles of water for adults and kids water bottle
• Pack of glow sticks (if we are planning to be in the park at night)

TotMom has a great list to get you started. My kids are 10 and 12 and I still pack most of that. Disinfecting wipes are cheap and all but remove the anxiety of having to sit on a public toilet (though disney has earned my respect in this regard). Also fine for wiping sticky fingers after a September ice cream.

I usually have a pretty extensive first aid kit as well (from lunar-styptic matches to needle and thread to electrolyte packets)

Pack an old android phone (or get a $20 prepaid smartphone) and load it with location aware alerts. Then stitch it into your pack so it won't be seen. We leave my bag where we like because no one is leaving the park with it but me. I'm not saying leaving it on a dining area table for our entire trip through the kali river rapids, was polite but we were already in line when we realized that none of the others took it to the locker. We didn't worry.

Power bank for charging your tech.

At least one adult and two kiddo sized change of clothes.

 

[Accident]

If i'm bringing a bag with me, it'll usually have:

almost always in the bag:
- chapstick or similar
- some water. depending on if it's just bottles or a keep it cold type refilable will change how much. it's a small bag so 3 bottles of water at the most.
- icy towel
- a couple zip lock bags in case I need to protection something if it rains.
- usb cable to charge my phone (it's actually a cable that can do a few different types of phones).
- spare magicband (the one I wear is dead battery so my backup and one that works for ride photos lives in my bag).
- adult toothpicks (the ones that look like a large matchbook).

What I sometimes have depending on how long I'll be at the parks:
- battery charger for the phone.
- those flavor drops you can put into bottle water to make it not taste like water.

 

[tee11]

Ahh - you guys are all great!
I see that I missed several items... I'm so relieved bags can go on the ride without issue! I appreciate all the details!

 

[tee11]

Don't forget a rain cover for the stroller and clothes pins to clip it on. A cheap dollar store shower liner works fine and saves the littles from having their stroller soaked during sudden WDW rain showers. Most stroller parking is uncovered and strollers can get flooded while you are on a ride or eating.

Thank you for this!!
I wonder, if a poncho would work? I need something super light and small.
The shower liner you mention is very thin? Thanks again!

 

[tee11]

TotMom has a great list to get you started. My kids are 10 and 12 and I still pack most of that. Disinfecting wipes are cheap and all but remove the anxiety of having to sit on a public toilet (though disney has earned my respect in this regard). Also fine for wiping sticky fingers after a September ice cream.

I usually have a pretty extensive first aid kit as well (from lunar-styptic matches to needle and thread to electrolyte packets)

Pack an old android phone (or get a $20 prepaid smartphone) and load it with location aware alerts. Then stitch it into your pack so it won't be seen. We leave my bag where we like because no one is leaving the park with it but me. I'm not saying leaving it on a dining area table for our entire trip through the kali river rapids, was polite but we were already in line when we realized that none of the others took it to the locker. We didn't worry.

Power bank for charging your tech.

At least one adult and two kiddo sized change of clothes.

I have to know more about the location aware alerts. Sounds very Burn Notice to me.
My first thought was that my 4 year old should have that!

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Our wallets, phones, chargers, camera, change of clothes for DD, mugs, sunscreen, hairbrush, and deodorant.

 

[caroline1851]

Water, sunscreen, snacks, hand wipes, ponchos

 

[linzbear]

Backpack:
In the big pouch
-spare shorts, shirts, undies for each kid (usually used when they go for a water play area, I don't bother with bathing suits)
-cheap ponchos that can be tossed after use
-small microfiber towel
-bottled water
-goldfish (or similar)
-sunscreen
Medium pouch
-autograph book
-clickable sharpies
-5 diapers
-wipes
-pin lanyards
Small pouch
-locking backs for pins
-travel packs of meds
-travel pack of bandaids

In my small purse
-cell
-id
-cards
-epi pen
-hair elastic

Under stroller
-baby carrier
-sweatshirts (depending on forecast and time of day)
-hats

I don't bother with ziplocs because I can get a bag anywhere if I need to separate wet clothes. Basically nothing of value in the backpack so it can be left behind guilt free.

 

[fla4fun]

Less than 30% chance of rain - tiny crossbody bag with phone, 3-4 individually packaged Wet One towelettes, tiny wallet

30%-50% chance of rain - small crossbody bag, add compact umbrella

50% chance of rain or more - medium crossbody bag, add rain poncho and Ziploc baggie for phone.

If I take my DSLR to the parks, I put a spare battery in whatever bag I'm carrying and wear the camera around the neck. I usually don't take extra lenses in the park, but plan my photography ahead and mount the lens I need in advance. After a gazillion trips to WDW, I usually only take the DSLR in the park for special occasions, and use the phone for snapshots or video clips.

I have back problems, so I try to travel as light as possible. I preferred to go bagless, but having to empty pockets to go through the metal detector is a pain of a different kind, so it's easier to just hand them the small bag and walk through.

 

[kristenhh]

Nail clippers with a file.

 

[Txshadow]

Thank you for this!!
I wonder, if a poncho would work? I need something super light and small.
The shower liner you mention is very thin? Thanks again!

Shower curtain liners are usually clear and thin. A poncho would work in a pinch. Just remember to twist close and secure the hole where your head goes or you will have a large leak.

 

[cobright]

I have to know more about the location aware alerts. Sounds very Burn Notice to me.
My first thought was that my 4 year old should have that!

The app I usually recommend for people who don't want to get too deep into the tech is called 'Find Me' by Running Husky software. It's available on the google play store. It spun off of their original project called SpaceTracker which was meant for broadcasting the location of a high altitude weather baloon like those cool pictures they show sometimes of hobbyists sending balloons into space (nearly). SpaceTracker has some neat features that are useful too, like taking a picture at certain times.

Find Me just sits there idle but it is set up so if someone sends your phone a txt message with a word you specify it will send them its location, speed, and direction.

They actually make kid-sized "smartwatches" set up to do this very thing.

I went a step further and set my tablet (which stays in my bag) to get nervous whenever it's 10m or more away from my cellphone (which is with me always) for too long. It starts sending my cell txts telling me where it is and asking me where I am. If it doesn't get a response it checks to see if it's on the move and if so starts sending me it's location every 15 seconds or so until I tell it to shut up. I can also tell it to alarm in those situations or brick the device(render the device permanently unusable).

I had a fun idea about building a child's backpack with this and include a lost-in-crowd feature where the risk is that a kid will get lost or wander off a bit but not so much that they'll get abducted. Sort of like those puppy-backpacks with the leash ... but with some secure options that don't use the leash. With my backpack if the kid gets too far away it will chirp like a smoke detector with a dead battery. If that goes on too long or if the parent panics and txts a code to it, it will inflate and release a small helium balloon on a string. Crowd or not, you'll see the balloon. I started prototyping the balloon thing when some paying work showed up at my shop and distracted me.

It's funny, you mention burn notice. I set this up on a phone for a private investigator doing work in some dangerous places and we set the kill code up to shunt the over-current protections on his battery and short them out. It was a Samsung Note4 with a 10,000mAh battery. I'm pretty sure the result would be a big bang or a small fire.

 

[jlnten17]

The one item I would invest in is a good rain cover for your stroller (especially if using a double). If the stroller gets wet it is a lot more difficult to dry it out than to change your own clothes. Know where the baby care centers are and use them. They are the perfect place for a break and to pick up anything you forgot. Also the first aid center (or whatever its called) gave me cold medicine free of charge when I found myself at DHS with a raging head cold last winter. We pack very light - a few snacks, sunscreen, change of clothes, diapers, hand sanitizer - and leave a bag with the stroller. I will carry a small crossbody bag with my id, phone and a little cash as well.

 

[dreiwhit]

I wear a backpack that has an internal pocket for a Camelbak. In my pack I have,

• Camelbak
• lunch for me for the day
• a travel size bottle of hand sanitizer
• a travel size pack of anti bacterial/anti viral wipes
• a zip loc sandwich bag containing mole skin and band aids for the family
• a zip loc freezer bag with granola bars
• a poncho (only carry if there is a chance of rain)
• a zip loc sandwich bag containing lens cleaning wipes for my glasses and sunglasses and camera lens
• a small two way radio clipped to the outside of the pack.
  
• I also keep a carabiner clipped to the handle of my pack. It works great if you have a purchase that you need to carry with you and its too big for the backpack. You clip the handle of the Disney bag to it and it on your back

For the next trip, i'm going to add a small portable battery charger and a micro USB cable. MK really sucks down the battery power of your phone. I keep my wallet, cell phone and car keys (on a key lanyard) in my pocket. My clip on sunglasses are in one shirt pocket and my ticket is on a lanyard in my other shirt pocket.

 

[kpearl]

I don't have children yet but this is what is in my park bag:

• Bandaids
• Wet Wipes
• Hand Sanitzer
• Ibuprofen
• Travel size sunscreen
• Extra hair elastic
• Body glide
• A small container with some Tums/Pepto just in case of upset stomach
• Refreshing wipes (I like Always - it's just the right quick fix to feel a little bit less icky, lol)
• Feminine Products (If needed)
• A water bottle (to put QS water in, I invested in a Hydro Flask this year so we'll see how it does)
• Phone Charger
• Camera with a back up battery pack
• Ponchos
• Identification Card
• Flip Flops (If I'm wearing sneakers I might throw in a pair of Old Navy flip flops to give give my feet some air at some point)
• Sunglasses
• Eye glasses (I'm trying contacts for the first time in park but if need be I have an option to switch them out and still be able to see distances)
• Hat
• Waterproof cases for phones (I bought two off Ebay for $2 with shipping! They're cheap but for KRR and SM it'll do the trick.)
• Enduracool towel(s)
• I grab maps/schedules and throw them in at the start of each day

That's about it. It may seem like a lot but I usually bring a cosmetic bag to throw all my first aid stuff in and I replenish it in the room for the next day once we go back for the night.

 

[rg35]

Ponchos, insulated water bottles, light snacks (crackers or similar), sweatshirts for our girls (they get cold in restaurants and some queues), extra sunblock. That's about it, really.

When we were using strollers, we would just leave the bag with the strollers. There was nothing in there that would have been a major loss had someone decided to walk off with it.

This year I brought a large laptop backpack and carried everything with us on rides.

 

[rg35]

I can't believe how many people use hand sanitizer. That nonsense is instrumental in the mutation of antibiotic resistant bacteria strains. Please stop.

 

[linzbear]

I can't believe how many people use hand sanitizer. That nonsense is instrumental in the mutation of antibiotic resistant bacteria strains. Please stop.

There are many triclosan free hand sanitizers. And even if they do contain triclosan, the long lasting effects do not manifest with one week's worth of use. Most people would rather not get sick on their vacation but are willing to risk it at home. Are you seriously suggesting that everyone embrace the germs in a foreign biosphere during a vacation?

 

[texasroni75]

Just took a trip in late May with my two youngest (11 and 4 at the time). In my baggalini crossbody bag I fit:

Phone
Small digital camera (my phone camera is terrible)
Money and ID
EpiPens and Benadryl (youngest DS has tree nut allergy)
Crystal light packets
Some small snacks
One water bottle - (which we refill with the free cups of water at CS locations, that way we don't have to finish the cup before getting on rides)
Spare clothes for youngest DS
Poncho (if rain in forecast)
Small pack of tissues
Small pack of wipes
Chapstick
Small hand sanitizer (on holder on outside of bag)
Two ziploc bags
Sunblock
Extra hair ties
Ibuprofen (I get migraines)
Bandaids

**yes I know first aid has meds and bandaids but it's easier sometimes to just have my own on hand, especially since if I take meds right away when I feel a migraine coming on, it can make total difference in how hard it hits me.

It sounds like a lot but it's just a lot of little things that make my day go smoother and save me time and money in the long run. I am used to being the "keeper of all things" since my first was born 21+ years ago. My bag nowadays is light in comparison to what i used to have to carry!

My bag with items listed above never leaves my person, and I take it on all rides. When the kids needed diapers, I usually had a second bag with the majority of that "stuff" in it that would stay in the stroller, and just throw a few diapers in my bag.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

When I had children under 5, I took a spare outfit for each in a gallon-sized Ziploc bag. Those I often left in the basket of the stroller, figuring that no one would bother bags that obviously just held a small outfit. When a child was in diapers, I put about 5 diapers and a travel box of wipes in my backpack.

Other items when we had small children:
empty disposable sippy cup
a few kid-friendly snacks (peanut butter crackers, fruit snacks)

Now that our kids are older, we've pared down our bag considerably to just a cinch sack:
Hidden Mickeys book
ponchos only if the forecast has a significant chance of rain (we're Floridians so we're used to summer showers)
couple of bottles of water to share
a Shout wipe
a pocket-pack of Kleenex
trading pins
portable external phone charger

I carry a small cross-body bag (Disney Dooney letter carrier bag). It has:
my phone
my sunglasses
small zip pouch with a little cash, an extra credit card, and DL
lactaid pills in case I want ice cream
a Benadryl in case my older son has an outbreak of hives (random occurrence with no known cause)


I don't carry anything that I can reasonably procure at the parks - bandaids, advil, etc. We sunscreen up before we leave in the morning and are OK all day.