What to bring to Disneyland these days?

[fivelittles]

Hello!

I am heading to a day of Disneyland and a day of California Adventure in a couple weeks. I'm just taking one teen child for his birthday present, so no littles this time. (We have five kids, so this will be a light trip in comparison). I'm just wondering if there is anything special I should bring, given this altered experience. Are they refilling water bottles, or is that a no-no during covid times? I don't want to keep buying water bottles and we are big water drinkers. Is there enough counter service food that feels healthy enough to sustain all day, or should we bring in food? Bengal BBQ is about all I can think of. Lugging food around seems annoying. But I also don't want to JUST eat corn dogs and nachos all day. Haha. Just checking in to see if there is anything new that I should think of. Everyone here is so helpful. Thank you!

 

[midnight star]

There are water refill stations and free water cups at QS places. I brought my hydro flask last week filled with ice water with no problem.

 

[fivelittles]

There are water refill stations and free water cups at QS places. I brought my hydro flask last week filled with ice water with no problem.

Fantastic! Thank you!

 

[mel2014]

I'm having the same struggle with the limited food options, especially at California Adventure. We have three park days, so six meals potentially to cover and I can't eat a corn dog for all of them. Jolly Holiday does have some sandwiches and a salad on offer (looks like the same salad is being offered at Plaza Inn). French Market has a chicken Caesar salad. At California Adventure, Sonoma Terrace has a toasted cheese sandwich and tomato soup, but soup isn't necessarily appealing on a hot day. La Brea bakery in DTD has lots of options but they're super-expensive. We're flying in from Northern California, so it would be hard to bring our own food, but I'm very tempted to do an instacart order to get some stuff to bring in with us. I was thinking about grabbing food from Panera on Harbor to bring in but they're still closed.

 

[DLgal]

I feel like there are plenty of food options. We are going Sunday (family of 4 with 2 teen boys) and I'm not bringing any food.

We are bringing the following in each of our park bags:
Hat
Sunglasses
Insulated refillable water bottle
Wet Ones wipes
Hand sanitizer
Ziploc bag with extra mask and phone charger (phone goes in same bag on water rides)
Earbuds (for all those times waiting, so kids can watch YouTube videos or play games)

I plan to share a Plaza Inn fried chicken platter for lunch with one son while the other wants to go get Napolini with DH. Dinner will be burgers at Flo's for the kids and probably tacos from Cucina Cucamonga for DH and I. We'll probably grab some Ghirardelli or Dole Whip for dessert at DCA midday. If we can get in as standby, we are planning a pit stop at Lamplight Lounge for afternoon/early evening drinks.

 

[coaches24]

We plan to bring phone, portable charger, a big zip lock bag, water bottles, hats, wet wipes, an extra pair of socks, and a few light snacks all in a small back pack. That's probably all we will bring. Each person will have their own bag with those items (minus the portable charger, we only have one of those).

 

[Jackiii]

I know it seems strange but we bring our own toilet paper in a small zip lock bag. I love Disney, but hate their TP!

Also, we bring travel sized wipes, hand sanitizer, water bottles, extra socks, snacks (Target mini packets of trail mix are perfect!), sunglasses and a portable charger.

 

[fivelittles]

This is all so helpful! And I didn't know there were places to charge phones! Thank you.

 

[pindecisive]

There are water refill stations and free water cups at QS places. I brought my hydro flask last week filled with ice water with no problem.

Same! We plan on bringing my mini hydro. Usually I feel forced to buy bottled water, but from everything I've heard cups of water have been plentiful.

I'm having the same struggle with the limited food options...

I plan on bringing some Clif Bloks. I used to bring dried fruit, but it was never filling enough.

 

[evilmommie]

A couple of extras I brought during our adventures during reopening days, that aren't included in the above.

1. Lip Balm! (A must with wearing a mask for any length of time. (Y'all know you become mouth breathers with the mask after about an hour, right?)
2. Mints or gum (I normally don't approve of gum, with being a former CM...BUT, do you really want to smell your Ronto Wrap in your mask?!)
3. A Coolibar umbrella or whatever umbrella that provides shade. Remember that all ride queues are outdoors now. I especially recommend this for folks that are scheduled to visit the DLR parks when the weather report says over 80 degrees.
4. (This was already stated above) I agree with snacks...we had no problem with mobile order and finding options that we wanted for lunch, etc...but we brought a few fun snack packs with us.
5. Medications & bandaids. Whether it be, prescribed or over the counter. It's always prudent to be prepared for a small headache or whatnot. Also, most of us aren't prepared for the 10+ miles it takes getting around the parks. It saves time, being you're own first aid dept.

 

[crystal1313]

If it’s going to be hot, cooling towels really helped us on 4/30. Just remember to reapply sunscreen!

I always pack extra zip locks which come in handy. Plus reusable straws because we don’t like paper straws. Lol.

We got free water whenever we got food. And at jolly holiday they had tons of free water out and ready to go!

Have fun!