What to take into the parks?

[arharris]

Hello friends! My very first post

We are planning our very first WDW vacation for July. I've done a lot of searching on the forums. Wow! You guys know your stuff!

What do you take into the parks? What can you not do without?

I'm really on the fence about taking water in. Won't it get hot pretty quickly? I keep hearing about this free water? Why wouldn't we just do that? Are the lines long to get it?

TIA!!
Amanda

 

[KCSherri]

Welcome to the Disboards!

Here is a good current thread on suggestions of what to take into the parks: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3281802

With that said, I'm a minimalist…so I usually just take a lanyard with my ID, CC, cash, and my AP. I also take my iPhone, so I can keep up with my FP's, ADR's, line waits, etc. It also doubles as my camera.

As far as water, I don't take my own water in, as the Florida sunshine will quickly "cook" the water, leaving it warm…which will necessitate a trip to a QS counter for ice. If I'm going to have to get ice, I might as well just ask for free ice water - so I don't have to carry around a water bottle. That's just me, though!

Have fun on your upcoming trip to WDW - and happy planning!

 

[DisneyAnytime]

What you take in really depends on your group. Our kids are older (DD12, DS 14) so we don't have to haul a lot of the same necessities as when they were younger.

This trip, I am going bare necessities in the park bag: Spray on sunscreen, chap-stick, baby wipes, mini-first aid kit (band aids, blister pads, tylenol), portable cell phone charger, and ponchos.

If you have little ones, you will have to throw in their essentials and don't forget to have something to entertain them while waiting in lines.

Just keep in mind that the bag you start out with is going to feel 20 pounds heavier at the end of the day. Also, backpacks are great but can get very hot after just a little while wearing around in the FL sun.

As for water, I'm debating this as well. While you can get free ice water at any QS place, you would still be standing in line for it. Bottled water will get warm quick and add weight to your bag.

 

[CyndiLooWho]

re: bottled water. We always take in or buy 2 bottles each day and refill from the water fountains or get extra water cups when we eat. We take crystal light packets to mask the Florida taste. It was always nice to be able to fill up and not have to wait in long lines just to get water. They never stay full long enough to get cooked, as the 4 of us just pass them around.

 

[DisneyAnytime]

We just got back and opted not to carry water. It really wasn't bad to wait in line for water at the walk up QS. The inside QS would have ridiculous lines but the outside places weren't bad at all. I am referring to those places that serve food/snacks from a window not the snack carts as they would only have bottled water.

The current price for bottled water is $2.50 for Dasani and $4.00 for SmartWater

 

[lauradis]

Phone, phone charger, phone wall charger, ID, form of payment, lipstick, comb, smokes and lighter. IN small one zipper side sling purse.

hubby carries phone, money clip.

Im not a pack mule. If you want it you carry it.

 

[joannamet]

I have an extremely lightweight backpack (the daypack from Rick Steves website) that I carry everywhere. For July I'm planning to carry the usual misc items plus my daughter's autograph book/pen, tiny umbrella for standing in the sun (I'm a redhead who hates sun hence FL in July), lightweight ponchos for water rides; bags of pennies/quarters for pressed pennies, pins for trading. I am planning to take in 3 cold waters or gaterades for the morning. I don't expect them to last all day but they'll get us started.
Someone has to carry a bag and I'm a mom so I'm used to being the sherpa for our family of 3. On our last trip with another family, no one in the other family carried a bag. On the first day I was constantly pulling things that we needed out of my backpack or putting things in to hold for their son. Our friend kept asking his wife why I had a bag and she didn't. When we got back to the resort the other mom bought a bag at the gift shop. She carried that huge tote bag for the rest of the week.

 

[Gracie09]

Frozen water bottles (I don't want to waste time standing on line for water). Extra sunscreen, a couple small snacks, credit cards, driver license.

 

[Networth]

I bring water(drink it daily a lot , so it's just habit to have a bottle on hand), portable phone charger and poncho's if were gonna get wet. Sometimes extra's but that is usually the only items in my little pull string Addidas bag. If my fiancé had it her way we would being going through bag check with a suitcase...

 

[Momof2Singers]

We normally take:

Cameras of course, I am the one in charge of that, with extra batteries and memory cards, and I sometimes take a charger if we are staying 10 hours or so

Phone and extra PHONE charger, we have Halo

Brita filter water bottles (we usually only take 1/2 bottle in and get more in the parks

Sunscreen

Hand sanitizer/wipes

Rain Poncho

A change of clothes, usually socks if anyone is wearing them, or sport shorts and an extra shirt (just if we are staying all day), deodorant LOL

Oil absorbing wipes (I have 2 older girls) Makeup, lipstick and maybe one other item

Extra pair of shoes (lightweight) usually a type of flip flop or sandal just to give your feet a rest, even for an hour (my daughters shoe broke one year and it was of course a disaster, to her anyway) we finally found flip flops in Mousegear

Each person carries their own, except me the camera lady who always has the most weight to carry around. (my husband will not carry anything, so one of the girls has to carry his poncho) HE was normally our fastpass runner, so we take pity on him.

And yes, by the end of the day it gets kinda old carrying it around, but we have always done it. If there is no chance of rain we take the small throwaway ponchos we get for $1 at the dollar store, if rain is in the forecast we take our heavier ones we purchased in the park last time.

I'm getting tired just thinking about it

 

[shan2321]

I personally can't stand the taste of WDW water. We freeze bottles of water and the florida sun melts it enough to drink while it's still cold. I have a 5 year old so we have to be prepared for all scenarios. We still take in a stroller so we have a cooler that fits in the bottom that fits about 10 bottles of water. This is summer time. Fall/Winter it's much less since its not as hot. My list is below.

jogging stroller
backpack
soft cooler
crossbody bag (for wallet, phone, car keys, stuff not wanting to leave in stroller parking)
DD bathing suit, change of clothes, flip flops, ziplock bag to hold wet clothes
water, juice boxes
snacks
ponchos
autograph book
hand sanitizer, wet wipes, sunscreen
trading pins
earplugs (for fireworks)
large caribiner on stroller to hold purchases or backpack

Whew!!!

 

[Dazmorbus]

I just got back today from a week in WDW. Are you staying in a Disney resort or offsite? I was at the AllStar Movies, and basically took the refillable mugs full of ice, and water. This was just to get me going through the initial day. By lunchtime I would re-hydrate with drinks.

There are public water fountains scattered all around. No lines really...just fill your bottle if you wish. I never drank from those simply because I have this thing with public water fountains.

You could also purchase bottled water in the park of course. Another option is buying fruits (oranges), and a case of bottled water at the nearby WalMart and storing in your hotel fridge.

 

[daisyx3]

I will have a WDW tote bag with one poncho (for me), water, phone, and sunscreen. I will take photos with my phone. I will probably take a charger of some sort. On one day we will be eating dinner at California Grill so I plan to take collared shirts in another bag and put them in a locker so we can stay at MK all day and still look spiffy.
Daisyx3

 

[Dazmorbus]

I will have a WDW tote bag with one poncho (for me), water, phone, and sunscreen. I will take photos with my phone. I will probably take a charger of some sort. On one day we will be eating dinner at California Grill so I plan to take collared shirts in another bag and put them in a locker so we can stay at MK all day and still look spiffy.
Daisyx3

Take your charger. After day 1 my poor phone was hovering at 5% power. I was using it to text, check the Disney app for FP+ reservations/changes, and gps map apps. If you add picture taking (I used a dedicated camera) you will be out of juice quick. I had one in my bag constantly just in case.

 

[ponyboy]

This is one reason I'm excited about the magic bands because that means less stuff I have to keep up with.

This year I'll be taking my phone and that's it.

 

[disnut8]

We don't take that much. We are two adults in our early 50s with about 60 Disney trips under our belt. We have gone from taking just about everything down now to next to nothing.

Things we can't be without are chapstick and a credit card. If we drive to the park, each of us has a car key (in case we lose one). We both have our phones. We both have our MagicBands.

That's about it. We spray on sunblock before we leave the room and it's fine for the entire day. There are blocks out there that will survive getting sweated on and that's what we use. We don't take any first aid supplies because there are First Aid stations in every park. If something drastic happens, we can get relief from there.

 

[DaisyNY]

Partially frozen water bottles (everyone carries their own), camera, sunscreen and wipes...and Magic Band for charging meals and other assorted goodies...

Green Grocer will deliver to your resort room...the savings per bottle is a little more than $2.10 per bottle over park prices...with seven of us going in December we'll order 3 cases and groceries...Our savings in water bottles alone will pay for our in-room breakfast items that we buy!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

We bring a soft-side cooler & stash it in a locker. DW will throw a couple drinks & one snack in her purse, and we restock from the cooler as the day goes on. We bring:

Chips
Drinks (soda, water, & juice - we freeze everything but the soda)
Subway footlongs for lunch
Sommer Sausage, cheese & crackers

 

[ZoZo]

I carry a Baggallini Messenger Bagg with the following:

• Refillable water bottle (refilling with ice water from CS restaurants throughout the day)
• Cell phone
• Sunglasses
• Visor (has a velcro strap so can be looped through the strap of my bag)
• Poncho
• Lip balm
• Moleskin (cut into pieces)
• Dry socks
• Trail mix (homemade - peanuts, raisins, M&Ms, and Goldfish pretzels)
• Mini first aid kit (bandaids, tylenol, Pepto tablets/Tums, inside an empty Altoids tin)
• Small wallet with some cash, ID, medical insurance card, credit card)
• Kleenex "Splash and Go" wet wipes (very refreshing on a hot day)

Love my Baggallini bag; it fits a surprising amount but isn't too big. It's cross-body and very comfortable, and easier to carry than a backpack.

 

[Art 1]

Wallet, keys and sometimes phone.