What single item/article do you always take to the parks?

[JennyWren]

I always pack a couple of lids (from deli containers, etc...) that I cut a small X in the middle of. Slide these on the sticks of Mickey bars and popsicles to catch the drippings...it saves lots of sticky hands and stained clothes.

 

[Piglet843]

I'm going to second a pp - and say put a change of clothes in gallon Ziploc bags. You will then want Ziploc bags for any wet/soiled clothes, or to protect stuff in your bag from getting
wet (water rides, rain...) So take extra.
I have created a Daily Park Checklist for our trip in Sept. It will be Me, DH and our 4 yo son. Maybe something on here will help you too.
Daily Park Bag √List
Guides/Maps/Tickets, Plans
germ wipes / sanitizer, kleenex
1 shirt & shorts for DS
1 swimsuit & mini towel for DS (think dishtowel)
2 extra undies for DS
glow sticks / suckers
ziploc bags, trash bags
autograph book/Clickies / Pens
3 ponchos / mini 1st aide kit
stroller cover & stroller label/marker
toys/ stickers/ colors/ bubbles
snacks & drinks x3
sunscreen/bug bands
wipes / tissues, flashlights
My Cards, Gift Cards, & ID
portable charger/phone & charger
carmex, compact, femprods
pins & lanyard
sunglasses / hats
extra socks for all 3
dramamine, stroller fan
moleskin / safety pins
Penny Press Book
DS's ID

 

[DLgal]

I take exactly ONE bag into the parks at this point and had the same style bag when the kids were those ages (they are 12 and 14 now). We go to Disneyland every week and WDW every two years. Its basically a purse...crossbody Overland brand Donner bag. This is what is in my bag, it hasn't changed in over 10 years:

Water in an insulated bottle (Camelbak Podium Big Chill-easy for everyone to drink out of, easy to fill at soda fountains with ice and water, doesn't sweat, lightweight)

Wet Ones Travel pack of wipes--absolutely ESSENTIAL with kids of all ages (I used 4 packs over our 10 day trip last week)

Kids and adults OTC pain meds (3 of us are prone to headaches) - I keep chewables in a tiny pill pouch for the kids and prescription migraine meds for myself.

Sunscreen Stick-less messy to apply vs liquid

That's it. The other stuff is my personal stuff: chapstick, gum, wallet, compact hairbrush, phone charger

We all wear hats and sunglasses, and at WDW specifically, we bring ponchos every day and one person carries them all along with 2 lightweight travel umbrellas in a drawstring sling style bag. We used the HECK out of the ponchos during our recent trip.


I never bring in snacks, change of clothes, etc. We buy snacks when we are hungry. One time we did have to buy an entire outfit on the fly due to my son throwing up all over himself and having a urine accident simultaneously. That was expensive, but the Disney gift shops sell EVERYTHING including socks and underwear, so it worked out (was an $85 outlay of money, though). He was 3 at the time.

 

[quandrea]

I take exactly ONE bag into the parks at this point and had the same style bag when the kids were those ages (they are 12 and 14 now). We go to Disneyland every week and WDW every two years. Its basically a purse...crossbody Overland brand Donner bag. This is what is in my bag, it hasn't changed in over 10 years:

Water in an insulated bottle (Camelbak Podium Big Chill-easy for everyone to drink out of, easy to fill at soda fountains with ice and water, doesn't sweat, lightweight)

Wet Ones Travel pack of wipes--absolutely ESSENTIAL with kids of all ages (I used 4 packs over our 10 day trip last week)

Kids and adults OTC pain meds (3 of us are prone to headaches) - I keep chewables in a tiny pill pouch for the kids and prescription migraine meds for myself.

Sunscreen Stick-less messy to apply vs liquid

That's it. The other stuff is my personal stuff: chapstick, gum, wallet, compact hairbrush, phone charger

We all wear hats and sunglasses, and at WDW specifically, we bring ponchos every day and one person carries them all along with 2 lightweight travel umbrellas in a drawstring sling style bag. We used the HECK out of the ponchos during our recent trip.


I never bring in snacks, change of clothes, etc. We buy snacks when we are hungry. One time we did have to buy an entire outfit on the fly due to my son throwing up all over himself and having a urine accident simultaneously. That was expensive, but the Disney gift shops sell EVERYTHING including socks and underwear, so it worked out (was an $85 outlay of money, though). He was 3 at the time.

We are similar. I prefer to travel light and on the rare occasion that I have to buy an $85 outfit, I do. Much better than packing up what amounts to an overnight bag and then never needing any of it. People so often say travel with kids is hard. It doesn’t have to be—you just have to keep it simple.

 

[DLgal]

We are similar. I prefer to travel light and on the rare occasion that I have to buy an $85 outfit, I do. Much better than packing up what amounts to an overnight bag and then never needing any of it. People so often say travel with kids is hard. It doesn’t have to be—you just have to keep it simple.

Yeah, I never did the packmule thing. When the kids were in diapers, I would bring exactly two and a small pack of wipes. If I needed more, I would buy them at the baby care centers (which happened exactly once...kid had a blowout and I used ALL the wipes on one change). If it didn't fit in my one bag, it didn't come with us.

 

[quandrea]

Yeah, I never did the packmule thing. When the kids were in diapers, I would bring exactly two and a small pack of wipes. If I needed more, I would buy them at the baby care centers (which happened exactly once...kid had a blowout and I used ALL the wipes on one change). If it didn't fit in my one bag, it didn't come with us.

Same here. And you had lots of fun. Makes the kids a pleasure (mostly), rather than work.

 

[loves to dive]

I started taking my son when he was just shy of 3 and I was a single mom so was not going to be a pack horse too. I carried a little baggy with his snack choice of the moment and a small travel pack of hand wipes and that was it. If he got too dirty for words, we just went back to the room and changed and we used Disney transportation to do it, either buses or the monorail. He hated strollers so we didn't take one. If toward the end of the day he got too tired but not too tired we needed to go back to the room, I'd rent a Disney stroller. If it rained, we bought a poncho or if it was raining when we left, we would carry one. If he wanted/needed water we stopped and got it. It really was just easier for both of us if I wasn't carrying everything. We went slow and did things on his time schedule, if he got tired we would stop and just sit on a bench. I didn't take anything to keep him occupied in lines, he was a curious kid so we actually talked to each other.

 

[hopemax]

They'll get plenty of pool time, but both kids hate having wet hair, since we can't go in and dry after they're finished, we'll probably avoid that. You can't get them out of the pool, but my god, they hate wet hair after the fact. We are taking a stroller.

My initial thought for an August trip is ponchos. Especially after reading this. Yes, you can buy ponchos. But you can get completely drenched just in the time it takes to walk from the exit of the attraction you entered before it was raining to walk to the nearest shop. Plus, the shop might have a line 20 people deep. If you can even get in, due to all the people who flock to any covered location when the skies open up.

 

[amberpi]

Yeah, I never did the packmule thing. When the kids were in diapers, I would bring exactly two and a small pack of wipes. If I needed more, I would buy them at the baby care centers (which happened exactly once...kid had a blowout and I used ALL the wipes on one change). If it didn't fit in my one bag, it didn't come with us.

Yeah, we're (DH) not going to be packmules and some of the existing rules (like we don't take toys, etc. to restaurants or events) will still apply. I'm getting an idea of what we need and the possible liability of having to shell out some more money. Due to my health, I can't (or shouldn't) help carry stuff, so keeping it simple is important if I don't want to overwhelm my DH. I can carry my cc though and for our family, a little bit of cash is worth any amount of hassle. We just want this to be happy family time, and a slow, laid back approach is our only plan.

 

[amberpi]

My initial thought for an August trip is ponchos. Especially after reading this. Yes, you can buy ponchos. But you can get completely drenched just in the time it takes to walk from the exit of the attraction you entered before it was raining to walk to the nearest shop. Plus, the shop might have a line 20 people deep. If you can even get in, due to all the people who flock to any covered location when the skies open up.

Hoping that being in the room in the late afternoon will keep us away from the majority of that. The kids really do poorly when they're wet. They're wearing weather proof shoes for sure. The little girl loves to wear heels, but those aren't even coming with us. I kinda wanted her to have them for some nice meals, but decided her sandals and jelly shoes would be just fine...I know a battle coming and wasn't going to war over heels in the theme parks at night.

 

[amberpi]

I started taking my son when he was just shy of 3 and I was a single mom so was not going to be a pack horse too. I carried a little baggy with his snack choice of the moment and a small travel pack of hand wipes and that was it. If he got too dirty for words, we just went back to the room and changed and we used Disney transportation to do it, either buses or the monorail. He hated strollers so we didn't take one. If toward the end of the day he got too tired but not too tired we needed to go back to the room, I'd rent a Disney stroller. If it rained, we bought a poncho or if it was raining when we left, we would carry one. If he wanted/needed water we stopped and got it. It really was just easier for both of us if I wasn't carrying everything. We went slow and did things on his time schedule, if he got tired we would stop and just sit on a bench. I didn't take anything to keep him occupied in lines, he was a curious kid so we actually talked to each other.

This sounds like how we roll and gives me hope we can do this the way we were thinking. Mine will be just shy of 3 too. So, no stroller at that age? I'd almost try it given that I spend more time begging him to ride at places like the zoo than the time he spends in it.

 

[StarShine3]

In my small backpack I have 1 item I always bring and a few items that come and go depending on weather, which park we are visiting and time of year. The one item is a quart size ziplock with my essentials. They include...
A medium size safety pin
A small hard size container with Advil and Ginger pills(motion sickness)
Chapstick
Several sizes of pre-cut mole skin
2 bandaids
Small container of sunscreen
As many individually wrapped antibacterial wipes that comfortably fit.

I’m not an antibacterial type person but at Disney you touch so much and there are so many people. I really like the actual wipes not just the hand sanitizer gel. Some times you need to remove a mess, not just kill germs.

 

[amberpi]

I always pack a couple of lids (from deli containers, etc...) that I cut a small X in the middle of. Slide these on the sticks of Mickey bars and popsicles to catch the drippings...it saves lots of sticky hands and stained clothes.

Whoa - that's genius. I bet I could ask for some when we eat and before such treats.

 

[Emtgirljen]

Whoa - that's genius. I bet I could ask for some when we eat and before such treats.

The lids for fountain drinks work brilliantly for this, and bonus, the X is already pre-cut!

 

[quandrea]

This sounds like how we roll and gives me hope we can do this the way we were thinking. Mine will be just shy of 3 too. So, no stroller at that age? I'd almost try it given that I spend more time begging him to ride at places like the zoo than the time he spends in it.

My twins gave up the strollers by three. They were happy to walk—preferred it. Since we didn’t do commando park days, they could handle the mileage. Bonus was they were tired from a busy day and slept well at night.

 

[davper]

snacks (go-go squeez, goldfish, dry cereal...)

This

 

[DLgal]

Hoping that being in the room in the late afternoon will keep us away from the majority of that. The kids really do poorly when they're wet. They're wearing weather proof shoes for sure. The little girl loves to wear heels, but those aren't even coming with us. I kinda wanted her to have them for some nice meals, but decided her sandals and jelly shoes would be just fine...I know a battle coming and wasn't going to war over heels in the theme parks at night.

ALL of the rain on our trip happened after 7pm. And it was serious rain most days. We were on the Speedway when about halfway through, the skies absolutely opened up and dumped a biblical amount of rain on us. I frantically put my son's poncho on WHILE HE WAS DRIVING and he was the only one of us that didn't look like he jumped in a pool when we got off the ride 5 minutes later. It was insane. I have never been that wet from rain in my life. Everything down to our underwear was dripping wet when we got back to the resort. It took 8 towels to just wring the majority of the water out of the clothes so I could hang them up without dripping all over the place. Luckily the kids had on Crocs and I was wearing mesh Skechers Go shoes. My poor husband wore his running shoes. They took 4 days to dry fully. That happened on our first park day. After that, the second it even LOOKED like it might rain, the ponchos came out.

One of my kids HATES being wet while wearing clothes, due to sensory issues from autism. That experience on the Speedway seemed to have cured him of that fear, though. He was laughing the whole time. Shocked the heck out of us....We were expecting a full blown meltdown.

 

[DLgal]

Whoa - that's genius. I bet I could ask for some when we eat and before such treats.

I've never needed this trick. I wrap a napkin around the stick and that works just fine.

 

[amberpi]

ALL of the rain on our trip happened after 7pm. And it was serious rain most days. We were on the Speedway when about halfway through, the skies absolutely opened up and dumped a biblical amount of rain on us. I frantically put my son's poncho on WHILE HE WAS DRIVING and he was the only one of us that didn't look like he jumped in a pool when we got off the ride 5 minutes later. It was insane. I have never been that wet from rain in my life. Everything down to our underwear was dripping wet when we got back to the resort. It took 8 towels to just wring the majority of the water out of the clothes so I could hang them up without dripping all over the place. Luckily the kids had on Crocs and I was wearing mesh Skechers Go shoes. My poor husband wore his running shoes. They took 4 days to dry fully. That happened on our first park day. After that, the second it even LOOKED like it might rain, the ponchos came out.

One of my kids HATES being wet while wearing clothes, due to sensory issues from autism. That experience on the Speedway seemed to have cured him of that fear, though. He was laughing the whole time. Shocked the heck out of us....We were expecting a full blown meltdown.

Oh, that is LATE and would have taken me by surprise for sure. I'm going to have to consider ponchos now I guess.

 

[laughinplace199]

On our first WDW trip, I didn't bring extra clothes to the parks. We weren't there 30 min and DD (who was 3 at the time) sat down on a bench in Epcot and got a nice big bird poop stain on her shorts. We went to Mousegears to get new shorts, but brought extra clothes to the parks after that. Little clothes don't take up much space in your bag.

I'd definitely bring or rent a stroller. The heat this time of year can really zap the energy out of kids (and adults too, for that matter). Pack a backpack with clothes, sunscreen, snacks, wipes, etc, but nothing valuable. Then you can leave the bag with the stroller when you go on rides.

Be proactive about potty breaks and snack breaks. Kids that age will often wait until the last minute (AKA when you're next in line to board a ride) to tell you they need the potty. Staying ahead of hunger and thirst will help prevent meltdowns.

Sleep is important too. Some kids can go with the flow and some need more structure. My older two needed naps and weren't great about sleeping in the stroller, so we'd drive back to the resort every day for a mid-day break. They also couldn't handle being up much later than their usual bedtime (they never slept extra in the morning to make up for a late night). If they didn't get enough sleep, we would all be miserable. Luckily, my third was the easiest kid ever. Slept in the stroller or wherever we were and could keep any kind of hours - whatever worked the the rest of the family worked for him.

If you're planning on using Minnie Vans more than a few times, maybe look into renting a car? You can usually get some good deals when it gets this close to your travel dates. Having a car means not having to ride buses to parks, and no waiting for buses when the kids are hot, tired, and cranky and you just want to get back to the hotel now!