What to bring to parks in backpack w/small kids?

[Minnie824]

This is our first time to Disneyworld w/small children. When we go, DDs will be 4yo and 19mos. Trying to figure out what to carry along in my backpack...I want to be prepared, but I don't want to lug a 50lb suitcase around either. I have a small list, but figured I'd ask for input here. Can anyone give me their lists of what to carry? I want to try to contain everything to one backpack, including cameras, that way at a ride, nice and simple, park the stroller, take the backpack. Thanks!

 

[bestmami]

Im going this week with a 3 year old and Im not expert but I'll be taking snacks,water,sunblock,some little toys for entertaiment if we endup waiting,and it depends of the weather but if you think you will have a good chance of rain that dain maybe some extra clothes sounds like a lot but better be rady than sorry. Have a grat trip!!

 

[DisneyCrazyX5]

Our best idea was to take a damp washcloth in a zip lock bag for washing faces and hands. It took less room the wipes - could be rinsed out in restroom and thrown in the hotel laundry pile each night. Sipper cups (disposible ones are at my Wal-mart) water (with the pop-up top,easier of kids to drink from) small snack packs (pretzels, fruit bites), my boys liked lifesavers or peppermints. We usually took 2 bags, one for the camera (and film, batteries...) and one for kid stuff. We have 2 Eastport over the shoulder bags. One will hold a camera and small video camera. Oh and my boys each had one of the small personal fans with foam blades ($1 or so) to keep them cool and they loved to play with them.

 

[tbelfonti]

Antibacterial wipes or lotion.
Change of outfit (preferably in a ziplock bag so you have a place to store the dirty clothing)

And I have to second the PP's comment about the misting fans with the foam blades. They sell for around $5 in Walmart vs. $18 - $20 at Disney.

 

[stacy6552]

sunscreen. Those stickey matts that you stick to the table for finger foods (shoot cant come up with the name). A change of clothing for each child inside a big ziplock bag, just in case. snacks. diapers and wipes should do you just fine.

 

[stacy6552]

Got it!!!! TABLE TOPPERS thats what theyre called.

 

[pinkdiamonds1007]

We are going with our 3 yo as well, and are planning to bring a change of clothes, a small soft cooler with some snacks and drinks..some bubbles for entertainment in lines, and some wipes. Maybe a sweatshirt if it drops down at night. And a poncho for her and the rest of the fam. ( we are getting ours before we leave at walmart or something though, i heard on the boards that all of the ponchos logically look the same when you buy them at WDW, so it would be harder to spot your child if she got away from you.)

Have a fun trip!!

 

[dismom9761]

One of the best things I packed were the individual servings of fruit(pears,peaches).My kids were able to share kids meals and round them out w/ something healthy.None of them liked the applesauce that came w/ alot of the meals. They are 9,7,6,1.

 

[Snoopymom]

Well, if I could go with the attitude that whatever I don't bring I can buy...but I'm too cheap, LOL, so here's my list

a small sample of sunscreen
a few loose bandaids
a few snacks
a few diapers, if you're done with diapers then I hate you, just kidding.
a little pack of wipes
a little pack of glow in the dark sticks
a few cards of stickers or a little sticker book
a digital camera

and for extra clothes, tank tops and shorts made of stretchy t-shirt material aren't as bulky.

also, if you're staying somewhere with a freezer...lots of frozen water bottles stored in the bottom of the stroller, means no need for sippy cups, no worries if they spill it on their clothes, can also sprinkle or soak a wipie to cool off with.

have fun!!!!

 

[flagdaytwins]

We went to WDW three weeks ago with 3 yr olds. We brought a backpack, a small soft cooler and a fanny pack. Put camera in fanny pack by itself. We left cooler in stroller while on rides.

In soft cooler we put frozen sport top water, wet frozen washcloths in plastic bags. Sport top water eliminates need for sippies, in our case.

Previous poster mentioned individually packed fruit cups. These were a lifesaver for us. Good energy booster. Brought spoons too.

Add Goldfish and cookies to the list. Should have brought chips/pretzels.

Extra kiddie underwear. We have a leaker! Plastic bags to put dirty clothes in.

My "goal" was to not have to wait in line for food/drink -with toddler twins this could be a nightmare. So I brought all the snacks and lunch/dinner was eaten at rest.

 

[pooh4evr]

We brought water bottles and crystal light on the go mixes- great-I think over the 8 days we were there- other than meals we did not buy a drink! We also brought in chex mix, fruit snacks, little chicken salad kits (no refrig required) and fruit cups. Definately bring in a small cooler. We also had of course diapers, wipes- which were used more for hands than anything, sunscreen, hats sunglasses, disposable bibs and extra changes of clothes for our DDs 1 and 4. It sounds like a lot but we fit it all in one back pack and a camera bag in the bottom of our double stroller!

 

[poohkinandpiglet]

I bring a messenger type bag that hangs perfectly over the double stroller handle at MK. For the most part it stays on the stroller or I throw it over my shoulder during the rides. Here is my list:

extra change of clothes packed in a gallon size ziploc
sweatshirt for each kid (depending on what time of year you go)
extra ziplocs
sunscreen/lip balm
wet ones wipes (LOTS of these) also packed in a ziploc
granola bars/raisins or other quick energy snacks
Brita water bottle/small packets of crystal light lemonade
digital camera/extra set of rechargeable batteries
small first aid kit with bandaids/moleskin/tylenol/antibiotic cream
earplugs for loud attractions

 

[surfgirl]

echo most of the above... a few additions

- bandaids - princess or pooh are a big hit in a crisis
- cortisone cream - someone always needs this - its a different reason every year!
- anti-bacterial hand soap
- diapers, wipes, of course (+ diaper rash cream - they always get it when least expecting!)
- snacks... we just take the little bags and then put them all in a gallon ziplock, so they can pick what they want while waiting in line (we don't take the time to sit and eat on property, we wait until home and can have 'real' meals...) - my kids also love the little boxes of cereal - that is a big treat!
- "emergency" snacks... lollipops, sweettarts, lifesavers, tic-tacs - in a separate ziplock for those "moments"
- sunglasses (kids), sunscreen, lip balm
- mini travel size magna doodles. good entertainment if stuck in unplanned line. notepads to draw on /doodle on... maybe get some fun different ones.

Another thing we do to 'lighten the load' - take your wallet and leave 90% at home - bring a small wallet to hold 1 or 2 credit cards, driver's license, health care insurance card, cash. Then if there is a problem, you haven't lost your life.

 

[SqueakyMouse]

We just returned from 10 days at WDW with our 2.5 yo dd, almost 5 yo ds, and 12 yo ds. The first time I packed our back with the "bare essentials," we could barely lift it. Clearly, this wasn't going to work. After reevaluating, we took some trial-size packets of sunscreen for emergencies (We really coated the kids, especially our 2 redheads, prior to leaving our hotel rooms. Knowing that we'd be returning mid-day, we didn't worry about taking a big bottle of sunscreen. It worked -- no one got burned!!), a couple of pull-ups in case our little had an accident (never did -- but it provided piece of mind for us), a complete change of clothes for each of the little ones (DEFINITELY used these. Between the water play areas and meals, the kids were constantly a mess!), and a small container of wipes.

Things that didn't work for us: Washcloth in a bag. Bag came open some how and the washcloth got everything damp. Disposable sippy cups -- The tops come off very, very easily. Also, the tops don't have stoppers; so they leak. Our little ones did better with bottles of water and sodas in the regular counter containers. Our kids never wanted the snacks we brought from home. I can't say I blame them. The stuff at WDW always smells and looks so much more appealing. Hand held video games--at home, our kids our glued to them. At WDW, they never came out of their travel bags. (Yea!!) Mini-magnadoodle stayed in the car. Our kids enjoyed looking at all the different people in line with them. They never grew bored during a wait.

We didn't have to put our mister fan in the bag because one of the kids always wanted to carry it.

 

[Mac and Us]

We have a 3.5 year old. We just went to Disney in April for 12 days. We camp alot so we basically bring a backpack everywhere we go.

I have a daypack and my husband has a small backpack.

We carry in our packs:

Sunscreen and lip sunscreen
sunglasses
a small bottle of antibacterial lotion
camera & video camera
travel sized pack of Pampers baby wipes to wash DD's face and hands
A change of clothing (shorts & T Shirt) for DD in a gallon ziplock (that way you can put dirty wet clothing in the bag)
A 14oz Nalgene bottle of water for each
2 pouches of Capri Sun 100% juice for DD
a ziplock baggie with an assortment of granola's bars/raisins/fruit chews
a sandwich sized ziplock baggie of either peanuts or cashews (for protein)
a rain poncho for each of us -- the cheapy ones you buy at the dollar store

We don't bother to bring toys as DD has more fun watching people and talking with other kids in line.

We eat a good breakfast and don't eat lunch in the parks, we would rather spend out time playing then we eat a big meal later. The snacks usually do the trick along with a Mickey Bar.

 

[gary4jenn]

My List:

*bandaids and litle packets of anti-bacterial cream and cortizone(from hubby's first aid kit at work).
*cotton balls- niece is sensitive to loud attractions
*mole skin (already cut- just in case someone gets a blister
*travel eye drops
*handi wipes (saving the ones from Mc'Donalds-light and disposable)
*small activity books and travel pens to keep them busy while waiting for bus, meals, etc,)
*Extra clothes (for emergencies and if the weather changes) I also get a locker if needed for this type of stuff. Also jackets, mittens and hats-we go in January
*Ponchos
*frozen juice boxes
*general snacks and candy
*a lightweight sarong and clothespins to attach it to the canopy of the stroller to kep sun off my slepping kids
*diapers, wipes and small tube of rash cream
*itinerary for the day- tips for each park from the Disboards and a copy of the menu at the counter service rest for the park we are at
*travel sunscreen
*bandana for stroller- used to identify stroller, use to wipe off if it rains and quick cloth in case of emergency.
*extra batteries for camera- super expensive in the parks!

 

[AUDramaQueen]

Our children are 4, 2, and 7 months. We took:
small sunscreen
bottle and formula packets
Small size bottle of bubbles
Hats and sunglasses
2 Bottles of water
Small snacks (goldfish, cheerios)
Zip-loc bags of various sizes
Ponchos (2 for a dollar at dollar store)
Couple loose band-aids
Mini-fans

Then we put about 3 diapers, 2 pull-ups, the travel wipe box, and disposable multi-use pads in a large zip-loc bag and then put that in our back-pack. That way we could just grab that bag and take it to the bathroom instead of lugging the whole back-pack in. We also had a separate zip-loc bag for the baby food we needed (food, spoon and disposable bib). We would re-fill it back at the room every afternoon and morning. Worked great. No fishing around for everything and no extra diaper bag.

Call me crazy, but we only brought extra clothes for the baby. We did go back to the hotel every afternoon though.

 

[MelodyMack]

Looks like everyone covered everything...the only thing I can add is that you DON'T have to lug this around if you're bringing a stroller.

We packed all of the "extra stuff" like sunblock, snacks, wipes, glow sticks, etc. in a REALLY ugly diaper bag and kept it under our stroller. We never took it on any rides...just left it there and never had a problem. More importantly...if someone had taken our bag then everything inside it was easily replaced. The trade off was worth it....no heavy bag to haul around in the heat of the day....making our backs sweaty.

I kept my mini digital camera, cash, tickets, ID, CC's and all that in a belt pack (which I never wear anywhere but DW, but it's nice not having to worry about it. I never have to put my belt pack "down", so it can never be forgoten in the wonderful mayhem that is WDW).

Hope this helps-
Mel

 

[AUDramaQueen]

Good point MelodyMack. We had rented a double stroller for our older kids and we usually had the back-pack on top of the canopy. We left it in the stroller in lines and didn't have a problem (And ours wasn't even that ugly ) I used my Kavu Keeper for important stuff like tickets and cameras. It's the perfect little bag for Disney IMO. It's very thin but has a lot of compartments for a bag that size so you can stay organized. It wears across the torso and I left it on the whole time. It's my normal "purse" so I was used to carrying it. My husband also wore cargo shorts and carried the camera a lot of the time too.