Latest / Mom Street USA / 92. What's in my Disney Parks Bag?

Transcript

92. What's in my Disney Parks Bag? · Mom Street USA

0:05
Welcome everybody to Mom St. USA.
0:07
My name is Jackie AKA Wishes Mama, and on today's episode of
0:11
Mom St. USA, I'm tackling a question
0:14
that I feel like gets asked a lot in the Disney Parks
0:17
community, especially from first time visitors or first time
0:21
parents going to the park. And that is what's in my Disney
0:26
park bag. So we're going to be talking
0:28
today about all of the things that I tend to bring to the
0:32
parks with me. And I also put this question out
0:36
on our Discord server, our good friend Kirk at Walrus Karp.
0:39
We have a channel over there and I put this out to all of our Mom
0:44
St. listeners to give some input too.
0:46
So I'm going to include some of the things that they said as
0:49
well. So thank you to those of you who
0:52
responded to me over there and gave me your input.
0:54
It is greatly appreciated. But we are going to be talking
0:58
all about things that you take into the parks with you in your
1:01
bags and what that kind of looks like is, is the plan for today.
1:06
So the first thing that I want to mention is that the level of
1:11
what you pack and how much you pack is going to greatly vary
1:16
based on the ages of your travel party, right?
1:20
So if you are traveling with little infants or toddlers or
1:24
even like those young preschoolers, your items that
1:29
you bring with you are going to look vastly different than what
1:33
someone who's got maybe a school aged kiddo is going to bring or
1:36
a teenager is going to bring, right?
1:39
So I'm going to give you kind of two different categories today,
1:42
as we talked about parks bags to kind of give you an idea of,
1:46
hey, this is what I would think for this younger age.
1:49
And here's kind of what you can look at for this older age.
1:52
If you're somewhere in between or you feel like you need a
1:55
little bit of both, feel free to pick and choose from these
1:58
lists. And this is not an end all be
2:00
all list. This is just kind of what I tend
2:02
to bring and what some of our mom St. listeners tend to bring.
2:06
Before we jump into the contents of a parks bag, I do just want
2:12
to mention kind of the method that I tend to use.
2:15
And I use this method all the way up until actually this most
2:18
recent trip that I went on with my family.
2:21
And that is I tend to kind of pack two different park bags.
2:26
And that may sound a little crazy and like a lot, but it's
2:29
not as much as use as as you would think it is because what I
2:33
tend to do is everything that is replaceable goes in one bag.
2:40
So that might be extra clothes. You can buy extra clothes.
2:45
That might be water bottles, you can buy water bottles, you know,
2:48
things like that, that like it would be a bummer if they got
2:52
lost, went missing, but they're replaceable.
2:55
All of that goes into one bag for me.
2:58
That bag typically stays with our stroller because we have
3:02
young kids still. We still need a stroller.
3:05
That is what I typically would do prior to this most recent
3:09
trip and I'll talk about that here just a minute.
3:12
So everything, snacks, all that stuff that's replaceable.
3:15
Then I will carry a second very small bag typically like a
3:20
crossbody or a Fanny pack. And in there is all of the
3:24
irreplaceable things, right? It's our money, it's our ID's,
3:28
it's our, you know, gift cards and, and wallets and things like
3:33
that are phones for or, you know, my husband and I, those
3:37
types of things will go in that smaller Fanny pack and that
3:41
never leaves my body, right? That goes with me on everything.
3:45
It's always with me. It doesn't get left on the
3:48
stroller ever because everything in there is irreplaceable.
3:51
You don't want to lose your ID, your wallet, your phone while
3:55
you're down in the park. So those things all stay on me.
3:57
So that tends to be my kind of approach when I've got younger
4:02
kids. Now, this last trip when we
4:05
went, we still sort of did that, but kind of to a lesser extent.
4:11
My husband and I both carried lounge flies on this last trip.
4:16
And my lounge fly was kind of the essentials and that, you
4:20
know, things that irreplaceable items and his lounge fly was the
4:24
replaceable stuff, but it didn't always stay with our stroller.
4:27
It just really depended on where we were going, what we were
4:31
doing and those types of things. So you can kind of pick and
4:36
choose and do a variance of that depending on the needs of your
4:40
group, right? But when our kids were little,
4:42
little, that's what we always did.
4:45
We found it much easier so we didn't have to, like, scramble
4:48
and panic and think about, OK, what's in our stroller?
4:51
What's in this bag? Do I need to take this with me?
4:53
Can this stay here? Is it OK if it it, you know,
4:56
falls off or someone grabs it? You never know at the Disney
5:00
parks, right? They're generally safe.
5:01
But there's still a public place with thousands of people, so you
5:07
never know. So that was kind of the approach
5:09
that we always took to our parks bags, just to make it a little
5:13
more seamless for us, make it a little bit easier for us
5:16
whenever it came to parking the stroller and going to get on a
5:21
ride. That being said, I am going to
5:23
touch on strollers one more time probably in this episode, but
5:26
I'm going to do a deep dive on strollers on my next Mom St.,
5:30
which will be in a few episodes from now, but that is coming.
5:33
So if you want more information about strollers at the parks,
5:36
that is coming your way very soon.
5:38
So let's talk about if you are visiting the parks with infants,
5:44
toddlers, or really young preschoolers, what does your
5:48
park bag look like? And again, this is me speaking
5:52
from experience, and this is also I just did a Disney trip
5:59
with varying ages. On our last Disney trip, we had
6:02
4 kiddos aged 10 months, four years old, six years old, and
6:06
eight years old. So I kind of spanned this age
6:09
gap and then some. So I'm going to talk about
6:11
school age here in a little bit. And then also, like I said, I
6:15
put it out to our Mom St. community to give me their input
6:18
on what they typically would pack.
6:20
So we're going to kind of compile a list now as you're
6:23
listening to this, you may or may not need some of the things
6:27
that I'm going to mention, right?
6:29
You know your group, but I would say most of these are pretty
6:34
essential to consider for putting in your park bag.
6:38
Again, a lot of this stuff is going to be that replaceable
6:41
stuff that can just stay in the stroller in a bigger backpack.
6:44
And then you'll know for, you know, which things you want to
6:47
take with you and either a lounge fly or a smaller Fanny
6:50
pack or whatever that may be. So a couple things that are
6:54
really obvious for packing in your bag with your infant,
6:58
toddler, young preschooler, any sort of meal type prep that you
7:04
need for them, whether that be formula and bottles, whether
7:07
that be silicone lids, you know, they make those kind of stretchy
7:12
lids that you can put over top of cups.
7:14
So that way any open cup becomes a sippy cup for your little or a
7:18
lid with a straw, those types of things.
7:20
Whatever you need for your kiddo to be successful at meal time,
7:24
you want to make sure you have that with you.
7:26
Also, diapers or pull ups and wipes obviously are something
7:30
that you want to carry with you as well.
7:33
If you ever run short and you'll hear me talk about this again,
7:37
baby care centers are great for that.
7:39
If you know something ever happens, if you set your wipes
7:41
down, you leave them somewhere, you lose them along the way,
7:44
head to the baby care center. They're going to be able to help
7:46
you out, which is really great that every park has 1, so just
7:50
be aware of that. If you ever get into a situation
7:53
where you are in desperate need of something like that, be aware
7:57
of that as well. You could consider if your
8:01
diaper bag or backpack that you're using has room for one of
8:05
those fold out changing pads, whether or not you want to bring
8:08
it. The way that changing tables
8:12
work at Disney is they are not necessarily located in a stall,
8:17
which is what you find at a lot of like restaurants or places
8:21
like Target, Walmart that you go out and go shopping.
8:24
They typically have one that's kind of around the corner from
8:27
the sink area in most of the bathrooms.
8:30
And it is a hard, you know, surface.
8:32
So you can decide whether or not you want to bring a changing pad
8:36
with you as far as that goes. And again, kind of more with the
8:40
meal stuff, any sorts of purees, snacks, little baby spoons, any
8:46
of that type of stuff that you want to that you're going to
8:50
need for your kiddo to be successful at meal time.
8:53
You want to make sure that you have that with you.
8:55
And I would throw a couple extras in.
8:57
They may be on a very regular eating schedule, but putting
9:02
them in the heat, putting them in a new over stimulating
9:05
environment, putting them in a situation where maybe they
9:08
aren't getting as long or as many naps as normal.
9:11
They may need more in that situation.
9:14
So keep that in mind as well. Whenever you're looking at how
9:18
many, make sure you've got a couple extra snacks or make sure
9:22
you know where in the parks you can get kind of something that
9:24
you need. There are several locations, a
9:26
lot of quick services will have fruit and things like that, but
9:30
it really just depends on the needs of your kiddo and what
9:33
they typically like to have. So all of those things you want
9:38
to make sure you have kind of handled in your bag for your
9:42
kiddo to be successful at mealtimes.
9:45
Couple other things to include. Always have a set of extra
9:48
clothes. And I would encourage this all
9:50
the way up through into early elementary school to having an
9:55
extra set of clothes, whether for potty accidents, whether for
10:01
whether if they, if you're, you've got a kiddo that cannot
10:04
handle having wet clothes if they get rained on, you never
10:09
know, right? So always having at just one set
10:12
of extra clothes in your bag, even if it's just for Peace of
10:16
Mind, even if you never need it on your entire trip, I think
10:19
that's super helpful to have. And then alongside of that,
10:25
having a few Ziploc bags in there as well.
10:27
I mean, what we tend to do is we just put our kids extra clothes
10:31
in a Ziploc, squish all the air out of it.
10:34
And then we know that, hey, if they need those extra clothes
10:37
and they've got dirty clothes, we can just swap them and then
10:39
they go into the bag and get sealed up and we can handle them
10:42
when we're not in the parks. But I would also throw in a
10:46
couple other Ziplocs, either like one or two gallon size or
10:50
quart size Ziplocs in your bag. You never know when they might
10:54
come in handy. That also being said, you're
10:56
going to want to make sure you have a plan if you're using
10:58
bottles that you have a plan for where you're used or dirty
11:02
bottles are going to go in your bag.
11:04
Because despite your kiddo getting most of the formula
11:08
milk, whatever it is in there out there is still the chance
11:11
that those could leak a little bit on the other contents of
11:14
your bag. So you want to make sure you
11:15
have a wet bag or just a zip lock or some sort of bag that
11:19
seals to have those in your bag after you use them.
11:23
Same goes for spoons or bibs or any of that kind of stuff.
11:27
And again, anyone who has an infant or a toddler, this is all
11:32
kind of second nature to you. This is what you guys already
11:35
know, what you guys have in your diaper bags or in your car bags
11:38
or go bags, whatever you whatever you call them.
11:41
But just a reminder that that's always a great idea to have a
11:43
few extra Ziplocs in your bag just in case.
11:48
Now let's talk about some things that maybe you don't carry
11:51
day-to-day, but you definitely need to carry when you are at
11:54
the Disney parks, some sort of a hat or sunglasses for yourself
11:59
and for your little. You know that the sun down
12:02
there, especially if you're not used to Florida is very hot.
12:06
You are a lot closer to the sun. If you're from, you know, I'm
12:09
from Ohio when I go down to Florida, I am a lot closer to
12:12
the sun down there than I am up here in Ohio for the most part.
12:15
So hats and sunglasses for everyone are always a really
12:18
great idea. Sunscreen that should be a
12:21
given, but making sure that you have an extra container of
12:26
sunscreen in your bag because you're always going to want to
12:28
make sure that you reapply. Another good thing along with
12:32
that is making sure you have some sort of a lip balm or
12:36
chapstick and preferably one that's got an SPF on it again,
12:40
the sun in Florida I'm talking mostly about Florida, but all of
12:43
this does apply to to Disneyland in California as well The
12:47
weather there is a little bit different right than Florida.
12:49
We've talked about that previously on Mom Street, but
12:53
most of my experience comes, all of my experience comes from
12:56
Florida. So that's kind of where I pull
12:58
my information from. But I'm having some sort of a
13:02
chapstick with SPF is a really great idea for both Disney World
13:06
and Disneyland to make sure that you are protecting all aspects
13:10
because you don't want to put regular sunscreen on your lips.
13:13
Not a good idea. So chapstick with SPF is always
13:16
a great idea. A couple other things for mom
13:20
and dad to maybe worry about. Carrying around some extra
13:24
deodorant in your bag is always a great idea.
13:28
You know you get hot and sweaty in the parks, you end up on
13:31
buses or on the monorail or wherever close proximity to
13:35
people. Having an extra stick of
13:37
deodorant in your bag is always a great idea.
13:39
The people around you will thank you.
13:42
Also, water bottles are hugely important and we've talked about
13:45
this on Mom St. Take your refillable water
13:48
bottles into the parks with you. There are so many places you can
13:51
get water. There are a ton of water bottle
13:54
filling stations on a lot of the water fountains now.
13:56
Even more, whenever I went a couple weeks ago, I noticed more
14:01
of the kind of where the water fountains were at the bottom and
14:05
up above there was the push button where you could put your
14:07
bottle underneath to fill. A lot more of those have been
14:10
popping up on the water fountains in the parks as well.
14:13
As well as if you want water with ice, you can always get
14:16
them at quick service restaurants.
14:17
Again, lots of places to get water.
14:20
Be sure you have water bottles with you and also if you are
14:24
traveling with an infant you want to kind of maybe get them
14:29
used to a little bit of a sippy cup or have them used to maybe
14:32
drinking some water out of a bottle.
14:34
Again, this is not medical advice, talk to your doctor
14:37
before you go depending on how old your infant is, but I think
14:41
it's always a good idea to get them used to drinking at least
14:43
some water so that way they don't get dehydrated.
14:47
This is just my best mom advice that if they are old enough it's
14:51
a really good idea to start to to get them used to drinking
14:54
some water before your trip so that way when you're down there
14:58
it won't be completely foreign to them and they will be able to
15:00
drink some as you're going through.
15:04
Again, dehydration is no joke, especially for little littles.
15:07
The signs are going to be a lot harder to tell, so you want to
15:09
try to avoid that as much as possible.
15:13
Along with that, cooling towels are a really great idea if you
15:17
are going to the parks when it's really, really hot outside.
15:21
Cooling towels were a lifesaver on our last trip when we just
15:24
went. We had not really used them
15:26
before, but it was very, very hot at the beginning of our trip
15:31
when we went and my little 10 month old niece, we would get
15:35
the cooling towel situated and then just put it on her legs
15:38
like a blanket and she was happy as could be.
15:41
My kids also use them around their necks, around their heads,
15:44
you know, just a really great thing to have to keep cool.
15:48
And the nice thing is like for example, ours that we got off
15:51
of, I think we just ordered them online, came with little bags
15:55
that you could store them in. And all the bags had a little
15:57
clip on them. So we just used 1 carabiner and
16:00
we clipped all four of our cooling towels onto it.
16:02
And we clipped it on the outside of our stroller because it
16:05
wasn't something that we needed to carry in our parks bag, but
16:08
it was something that could just be clipped to the stroller.
16:10
And then even when my husband folded our stroller for the
16:14
buses, they were not in the way. We could fold the stroller up,
16:19
leave them hooked on and they could just stay there the whole
16:21
time, which was really nice. And it prevented them from
16:24
getting gross and not trying out completely because the the bags
16:29
that they were in were meant for them to be put in after we were
16:33
done using them. So that was a really great
16:37
accidental find with our carabiner because I just had a
16:40
couple with me because I figured we would need them for
16:42
something. And that was a really great
16:44
lifesaver because it was something that we didn't have to
16:47
put in our bags and figure out where we were going to put.
16:49
We just hooked it onto the side of the stroller and that worked
16:52
out well. So cooling towels are a really
16:54
great idea. Handheld fans and a stroller fan
16:58
obviously would be something along with that, but we're
17:00
talking more about what's in your bag.
17:02
Handheld fans, I am a big fan, get it of these little ones like
17:08
this. If you can see me on video, this
17:10
is just a little portable fan that folds out and it's got a
17:16
couple different speeds on it. But my kids both have these and
17:19
they are great. They are kind of, if you can
17:22
hear that they give just enough air to keep you cool.
17:29
And the nice thing about these is they're they're not
17:32
completely childproof, right? But the blade will stop if you
17:37
touch it. So if I accidentally put my
17:39
finger on it, it doesn't hurt. First of all, because it's
17:42
plastic and second of all, it automatically stopped without me
17:46
having to turn it off. And I think that's a really
17:48
great asset of having a fan like this.
17:51
Also, they're really, really cute when you fold them up.
17:53
If you look at the front, it looks like a little bear.
17:55
It's got a little bear those and little barriers on it.
17:57
So my kids, I bought them both their own so that way they
18:02
weren't stealing mine. So I had one and both of my kids
18:06
had them and I just think they're a really great little
18:09
portable fan. The battery life on these is
18:11
really, really good. And the other nice thing is they
18:13
do have a flashlight on them which is nice too.
18:18
My kids use this a couple times when they dropped things like on
18:22
the floor or under the bed in our resort room if they were
18:26
looking for it. So it's really nice that it's
18:29
got that little flashlight on the end too.
18:30
It is also a portable charger if you need it to be.
18:33
We didn't use it as a portable charger, we just used it as the
18:37
light and the fan because my kids didn't need a portable
18:40
charger and we had other ones with us anyway.
18:42
I imagine if you use it as a charger, it would probably drain
18:45
the battery pretty fast. But those fans are a really
18:49
great thing to have. And I would say kids anywhere
18:53
from 4 and up could probably handle that type of a fan.
18:58
And it's got a little strap on it too, which is really nice for
19:00
carrying it around. So some sort of a fan, a fan for
19:04
your stroller, A handheld fan if you've got kiddos that are maybe
19:07
going to be in and out of the stroller.
19:09
Very, very important to have. The next thing on my list is
19:14
very, very important for Florida.
19:17
California maybe not so much unless you're visiting during
19:20
the rainy season, but in Florida, you always want to make
19:23
sure that you have some sort of a poncho or a rain jacket.
19:29
Those summer storms and into a little bit of the spring and a
19:32
little bit of the fall are no joke and they will pop up out of
19:36
nowhere. So you want to make sure that
19:38
you have some sort of a poncho or a rain jacket that you're
19:41
carrying along with you just to be safe.
19:46
We used our several times on our trip because we had one of the
19:50
rainiest trips that I've had in recent years.
19:54
I was very grateful to have our ponchos with us and so are my
19:58
kids. Sometimes they kind of use them
20:00
as a tent in the stroller and sometimes they wore them just as
20:03
ponchos, but either way, having one of those in your bag is
20:06
super, super important. A couple other things that you
20:10
may or may not need depending on your group.
20:14
We always carry either headphones or earplugs.
20:18
My kiddo, especially my oldest, is really really sound
20:21
sensitive. Primarily during the fireworks
20:25
but also during some of the other attractions and shows.
20:30
It can be really loud and he does not enjoy that.
20:34
So we used to when he was this age we had headphones.
20:38
We had either baby safe headphones that would come on
20:40
like an elastic headband that he would wear or once he was old
20:44
enough to do just like the over the head standard headphones, we
20:48
would bring them into the parks with us, which is something you
20:51
have to kind of coordinate. Getting some of the ones that
20:54
fold compact into like a little, you know, they're not completely
20:58
out and open all the time and they fold into like a smaller
21:01
little bundle is really helpful. But my kiddos now are are big
21:06
enough that they can do just earplugs, which is a huge, huge
21:09
benefit of that. And I'll talk about their
21:12
earplugs here in just a little bit, but some sort of ear
21:14
protection, especially for infants is a really good idea
21:17
because even rides like for example, Mickey and Minnie's
21:21
Runaway Railway, I don't know why that ride is so loud, but
21:26
it's so loud and it's an all age, all height ride, so little
21:31
babies can go on that. But it is such a loud ride.
21:34
So having that ear protection and being prepared for those
21:37
situations is always a really good idea.
21:40
If you're seeing something like Fantasmic or the fireworks, if
21:44
you're planning to stand close, close by, you want to make sure
21:48
that you have ear protection for your littles.
21:50
And then as they get older, they may or may not want to have that
21:54
just to give them that sense of security cause fireworks are
21:56
loud no matter any age, right? The other thing to think about
22:00
in your bag as primarily for mom and dad at this age is your
22:06
power bank and charging cords. You want to make sure you have
22:08
those. We all know how much we have to
22:12
live on our phones at the Disney parks, so having some sort of a
22:16
charger is always a really good idea.
22:19
My husband has a Magsafe charger that he really, really likes.
22:22
I use fuel rods. You guys, most of you probably
22:25
know about fuel rods. These are the exchangeable power
22:28
banks that you can get in the parks.
22:30
There's lots of machines all around.
22:32
Order them on Amazon ahead of time.
22:35
The nice thing is these new ones do have the LED that tells you
22:38
whether or not how much charge you have in yours.
22:42
But these are really really helpful.
22:44
I've got 2 and that is plenty to get me through.
22:48
Even if I am living on my phone. If I am taking content or I'm
22:52
booking lightning lanes or mobile ordering or whatever it
22:55
may be, having some sort of charger is a really really great
22:59
idea for your park days. Something else to consider for
23:04
your Disney Parks bag is if you are someone that is concerned
23:08
about clothes rubbing or skin rubbing, any sort of chafing,
23:13
this stuff is really great. This is called Mega Babe and it
23:17
is just an anti friction stick. There's lots of different types
23:20
of these out there, but having something in your park bags to
23:25
help combat that is always a really good idea.
23:28
And the last thing that I will mention for this age, we're
23:31
going to talk about a little bit older kids here in a moment, but
23:34
you always want to have just a small little first aid kit with
23:38
you, a few band aids, maybe some Neosporin, some Advil for mom
23:43
and dad. But do keep in mind that the
23:48
majority of anything that you would need is going to be
23:51
available at either the baby care center or first aid in the
23:54
parks. So I do not recommend carrying a
23:58
giant first aid kit with you. A couple band aids is probably
24:02
all you'll need in a pinch. Now, do things happen?
24:05
Yes, of course things happen, but generally speaking, having a
24:09
few band aids and having some Advil for mom and dad's feet
24:14
late later on throughout your your trip is always a good idea.
24:17
But you really don't need to carry a huge amount of first aid
24:22
items with you into the parks. It is going to be readily
24:25
available for you at first aid if you get in a pinch, or you
24:29
can always go to like for example, we were at the pool at
24:33
our resort. My daughter had a little cut on
24:35
her foot and we went to one of the lifeguards and they had a
24:38
whole kit with a bunch of band aids in it.
24:40
So like you're going to be able to find what you need in the
24:43
parks from the majority of the cast members that you come
24:46
across. So keep that in mind.
24:48
You don't feel like you have to carry this gigantic first aid
24:51
kit with you. So with your school age kiddos
24:55
that you're visiting the parks with, chances are good that a
24:58
lot of these kiddos are going to be able to carry their own bag.
25:01
I'm going to talk about that here in just a minute.
25:04
But before we get to that, I'm going to just kind of run down
25:07
this list of what it might look like in your park bag if you are
25:11
bringing a school age kiddo. I mean, when I mean, when I say
25:14
school age, I mean typically like elementary school, right?
25:17
6 to 10:00-ish kind of in that range, maybe 5 is what we're
25:23
talking about here. So a lot of the same things as
25:26
what we said earlier really is what you're going to need.
25:29
Not as many feeding type things, right?
25:32
You're not going to worry about bottles or purees or any of that
25:36
kind of stuff. And obviously you're, you're at
25:38
this point most likely not going to be worried about pull ups,
25:43
wipes, those types of things. But still an extra set of
25:46
clothes is always a good idea. Even up through like I said,
25:49
about 8 or 9, having an extra set of clothes just in case.
25:53
You never know, you would hate to be stuck without when you
25:57
need them. So I always suggest throwing an
26:00
extra T-shirt and extra pair of shorts in your bag for them just
26:04
in case. And again, Ziploc bags, you
26:07
never know when you might need them.
26:09
Things get wet if you need to protect something.
26:13
If you're going on a water ride, Ziploc bags are always your
26:17
friend when it comes to that, so just throw a few in your bag
26:19
just in case you need them. Snacks, granola bars, protein
26:24
bars. Something with protein in it is
26:25
always a really good idea, especially if you are kiddos
26:28
tend to get hangry. My oldest goes from zero to 100
26:32
when it comes to getting hangry, so we had Clif bars, protein
26:37
bars, those types of things for him in the morning to.
26:41
He doesn't usually get a morning snack, but when we were at the
26:43
parks he did just to make sure that he was good to go all the
26:47
way until we made it to our lunch stop for the day.
26:50
Sunglasses, hats, sunscreen. Again, all of those types of
26:54
things are a great idea. Hand sanitizer.
26:58
This is something we haven't talked much about yet and you
27:00
will probably use it for your younger kiddos or you'll, you
27:04
know, work on washing their hands, use the wipes to wipe
27:07
their hands off those types of things.
27:08
But we are a huge fan of these little spray hand sanitizers.
27:16
This one's from bath and body works, but you can get them from
27:18
all different kinds of companies now make them in this spray
27:21
option. It's so much nicer than the gel
27:24
kind because if the kid turns their hand at all, you guys know
27:29
it slides right off. So having the spray like this is
27:31
really nice. So we use these a lot every day
27:36
when we go out places too. But using the spray, especially
27:39
in the parks is really nice because I would just my kids
27:43
would put their hands out and so would my niece and my husband
27:45
and my sister. Everyone put their hands out and
27:48
I just go down and spray the line.
27:49
That way we could all have our our clean hands.
27:51
But the spray I highly suggest doing that as opposed to having
27:56
the like gel kind for that reason.
27:59
Again, chapstick, some sort of lip balm with an SPF is always a
28:04
great idea. Water bottles we already talked
28:07
about. I didn't talk about my favorite
28:08
brand of water bottle, which is the Owalla.
28:11
You can see all my my lovely Disney stickers on here.
28:15
I love these water bottles. I love that they have the
28:19
handle. I love that you can lock them.
28:22
I love that you can either use the straw or you can tip and
28:25
pour it in your mouth. They keep things really cold,
28:29
which is nice. If you put ice in this, you're
28:31
set for the whole day. So I really love a Walla brand.
28:35
I know there's lots of different kinds of water bottles out
28:37
there, but I really prefer those.
28:39
They're really durable. My daughter, I don't know what
28:44
it was on this last trip with her, but I think she dropped her
28:47
a wall of probably 17 times while we were at the parks.
28:51
It held up great. It's got some dents on the
28:53
bottom now, but overall still functional.
28:56
That's all that really matters, right?
28:58
So love that brand. That's a really great one.
29:01
And they come in a bunch of different sizes.
29:02
If you're someone who's carrying a lounge fly or a smaller bag,
29:06
they make like a little 14 oz one that I'll bring sometimes if
29:09
I know I'm just going to have a Fanny pack and not a stroller or
29:12
a bigger bag to keep. Keep this size 1.
29:15
This is a 24 oz one, but the little 14 oz 1 is really good
29:19
for that. You just have to refill more
29:20
often, but it's nice to not have one that's quite as heavy to
29:23
carry around. So big, big fan of those.
29:28
Let's see what else? Cooling towels.
29:29
Again, we talked about cooling towels and if you're someone who
29:33
doesn't have a stroller at this point, but you want to have
29:35
cooling towels, I really suggest that grabbing a carabiner of
29:39
some sort. You can find them for cheap
29:41
online or at Walmart or wherever and just hooking them to the
29:44
outside of your bag. You don't really want to stuff
29:47
your wet cooling towels back inside your parks bag.
29:51
So having some sort of a clip on the outside, I would clip them
29:56
to like the on my lounge fly strap where the adjustable part
30:00
was. There's like that little square
30:02
buckle. I would clip them to that if I
30:04
need to or to the top little handle on the top of my lounge
30:09
fly. That's where I would hook them
30:10
to as well. So, but I highly suggest doing
30:14
that again, fans, like I said, I have this one too.
30:18
I think it's really great to have some sort of small compact
30:21
fan ponchos or rain jackets we talked about.
30:25
Now let's talk about earplugs. At this age, typically once you
30:30
get to about 5-6 years old, your kiddos are going to be able to
30:33
handle, if they need ear protection, they're going to be
30:37
able to handle doing something more like an earplug.
30:41
My kids both use this brand called Vibes.
30:44
They're very similar to the loop earplugs as well, whereas these
30:49
just dampen, but they don't alter the sound, which is really
30:53
great. But if you see, and I'm showing
30:56
this to our video friends here, it is just a little clear
31:01
plastic base with one of those adjustable rubber tops on it.
31:04
And when you order them, it comes with three sizes.
31:07
The smallest size fits both of my kiddos, so they're six and
31:10
eight. The smallest size of this fits
31:13
them. We did a couple trial runs with
31:15
these before we took them to the parks because they I wanted to
31:20
make sure that they were going to stay and they were going to
31:22
fit. Now, you do have to be really
31:25
careful because these are teeny tiny, right?
31:28
They're not giant headphones. They're very easy to lose.
31:31
So I kept both of their little cases in my bag rather than
31:36
letting them keep them in their bags, which again, we'll talk
31:38
about kiddo bags here in just a minute.
31:41
But I kept them in my bag and then I would be very strategic
31:45
about handing them one at a time and making sure that it was all
31:48
the way in their ear before I handed them the next one.
31:51
I think this brand is really great.
31:55
Like I said, the smallest size does fit my kiddos.
31:59
So a really, really great option to have in the parks if you've
32:02
got a kiddo that needs them. Again, we talked about with the
32:07
younger kids for the grown-ups, having power banks, charger
32:12
cords, things like that. You may need them for your
32:15
kiddos own devices. If they've got a Kindle, if
32:18
they've got a phone or an out small iPad or something that
32:22
they're bringing into the parks with them to help them wait in
32:25
line or whatever. You know the use may be of that.
32:29
Making sure you have power banks and charging cords for those.
32:31
And again, a small first aid kit.
32:34
Those are all things that I would consider essentials.
32:38
Now, this next list that I'm going to give you are things
32:42
that you might want to bring with you if you feel like your
32:46
group. It's going to be helpful for
32:48
your group, right? These are things just to
32:51
consider. I don't necessarily know that I
32:53
would call any of them completely essential.
32:56
A lot of them are a really good idea and I do put a lot of these
32:59
in my bag as well, but I wouldn't consider them as
33:02
essential as some of the other things that we just talked
33:04
about. So a couple other things to
33:06
consider. One of the really great ones
33:10
that we got online that I hadn't even considered putting on the
33:13
list, but it's something that I do is having a slap bracelet for
33:17
holding your ears when you're not on the rides.
33:19
So we like to use the little Disney slap bracelets called
33:24
cutie cuffs. This is one that we've got.
33:28
This is a cute little sleepy stitch one, but they're little
33:30
character plushes that are slap bracelets.
33:33
So what you can do is when you go to take your ears off to ride
33:38
any sort of a ride, let me see if I can do this without totally
33:42
messing my hair up. You can take the slap bracelet
33:47
and you wrap it around the top and then you wrap this bottom
33:51
part where it's open around your bag strap and it will hold them
33:55
on. Now, is it like the most secure
33:58
hold in the world? No.
33:59
Will it work for getting on and off the ride?
34:02
Yeah. I've never had an issue with
34:04
that as long as I had a good sturdy slap bracelet.
34:07
You can get slap bracelets even at the parks as well.
34:11
They have a lot. A lot of the times they have
34:13
them up by the registers. We've we've gotten a couple of
34:18
that way, but having a slap bracelet on your bag for that
34:21
purpose is a really great idea. And like I said, we like these
34:24
little cutie cuff plushy ones because then my kids can have
34:28
their slap bracelet on their wrist as well.
34:30
Whenever we're not going on rides, another option that we
34:34
always bring with us, and this is something that we do to save
34:38
us a little bit of money when we're in the parks is we bring
34:42
glow sticks. So we go online or we go to the
34:45
store and we buy one of those big tubes of the glow sticks
34:49
that you can make into bracelets and necklaces and all that kind
34:52
of stuff. And we will throw a few in our
34:55
bag in the morning. And then that way when it starts
34:59
to get dark out, we can break them out.
35:01
You know, help the kiddos open them and break them apart and
35:04
they can do bracelets or necklaces, things like that.
35:07
And it's a really fun thing for them to do in the Evening Times.
35:10
We usually grab like 3 or 4 per kid and just throw them in the
35:14
bag either in like a Ziploc baggie or in like a pouch on the
35:17
inside of our backpack, depending on what we're doing.
35:19
I'm so that's a really great option.
35:21
If you've got kiddos who maybe will gravitate towards some of
35:25
those light up toys that you see that come out when it starts to
35:29
get dark in the parks, having some glow sticks on hand to help
35:34
maybe distract away from that can always be a helpful thing to
35:37
have. Kind of in a similar regards to
35:42
that, having some sort of a fidget toy in your bag can be a
35:45
really great idea. Fidget spinner, a little fidget
35:48
cube, anything like that for waiting in line, for standing
35:53
and waiting for fireworks for you, for your kiddo, for both.
35:57
Having some sort of a fidget toy is a great idea as long as it's
36:01
something small, but like not small enough to get dropped and
36:03
lost easily. A couple other things that you
36:06
can consider carrying would be a hair brush and extra hair bands
36:11
or headbands, things like that that you may or may not need
36:16
depending on your group. I always carry an extra hair
36:19
brush with me and I usually have at least one hair tie kind of
36:22
wrapped around the handle of it just in case.
36:25
When it's hot outside, I don't use it as often because usually
36:28
my hair is pulled back and out of my face.
36:31
When it's a little cooler and I have my hair down, I use my
36:33
brush a lot so I'd like to leave my hair down when I can, but
36:36
that's a great option to have as well.
36:39
If you are going when it's really, really hot outside, I do
36:42
recommend having some sort of liquid IV or electrolytes to add
36:46
to your water bottle. This is something that we have
36:52
used a lot on our last, we used a lot on our last trip.
36:56
Even for my kiddos. I would give them, you know, in
36:59
their big a wall as I would give them one of the, the liquid I VS
37:03
that we had with us just to help replenish.
37:05
When you sweat, you use you, you lose a lot of that sodium and
37:09
electrolytes are really helpful to be able to replenish that.
37:12
So throwing a couple of those in your bag is always a good idea,
37:16
especially if you're visiting during the really, really hot
37:18
months. It's definitely something to
37:21
consider. A few other things to consider
37:23
for the hot summer months in Florida.
37:28
If you are someone who does not do well in the sun, considering
37:33
AUV sun umbrella is a really great option.
37:37
Something small and compact that can fold down or hang on your
37:40
bag is a really great option. But I am seeing these being used
37:45
more in the parks now. I don't suggest giving them to
37:48
your kids just because umbrellas in the parks with kiddos who are
37:53
maybe a little bit shorter than some of the adult guests,
37:57
probably not a great idea for the people around you.
38:00
But if you've got one that you want to share with them, that's
38:03
a great idea of something to consider.
38:06
But do consider that when you are carrying that through
38:11
security, you want to hold it out in front of you as far as
38:14
you can when you walk through the metal detector because it
38:16
will go off on the metal detector.
38:19
So keep that in mind. Same thing can go for some of
38:21
the power banks if they're bigger ones, same thing with
38:25
those as well. Couple other things to consider.
38:29
Again, these are just things to consider for your parks bags
38:33
having floss or those little flosser picks in their tissues
38:38
if you think you're going to need them and maybe like a
38:39
little tied to go pen. Those are all great things to
38:43
consider and some of those options were suggested by our
38:47
Mom St. community. Thank you very much to those of
38:49
you who gave us those suggestions, but all of those
38:51
are really great option to consider if you think you're
38:54
going to need it. Do I think they're absolutely
38:56
necessary? Probably not, but they're
38:59
definitely something to consider depending on your preferences
39:02
with depending on your group you're travelling with those
39:04
types of things. And the last thing that I have
39:07
on my things to consider list for your Disney parks bag is
39:11
whether or not you want to have the shoe covers if it rains.
39:17
So they make these they almost depending on what kind you get.
39:21
Some of them look like shower caps for your shoes.
39:24
Some of them look like little zip up ponchos for your shoes.
39:28
But having a plan for when your shoes get wet, especially if you
39:34
are visiting Florida during the summer months or visiting
39:38
Disneyland during the rainy season.
39:40
Having some sort of a plan, either wearing shoes that you
39:44
know can get wet and will dry fine.
39:45
But if you are wearing tennis shoes, having some sort of a
39:48
plan because walking around with wet shoes and wet socks all day
39:52
is not a great plan for your feet.
39:54
So whether that's shoe covers or planning your shoe, wear
39:59
accordingly. Something to consider as well
40:01
for that. OK, so that is kind of my things
40:05
to consider list. Let's talk about child friendly
40:09
backpacks and what should your kids be carrying once they're
40:14
old enough to have their own bag in the parks.
40:18
So if you are to the point where you think your kiddo is ready to
40:23
carry their own bag, let's talk a little bit about child
40:27
friendly backpacks and what to pack in them.
40:31
I would suggest this is what we did and it worked out well,
40:35
starting with a smaller kind of crossbody for your younger
40:39
kiddos. This is one that I got my
40:42
daughter and it's just a small little crossbody that has just
40:46
one main pouch on it. And it had just enough space for
40:51
her to be able to carry a few things that I thought she would
40:55
want to have on her at all times.
40:58
And it was small enough that it could be stuck down in the
41:00
bottom of the stroller because I knew that she wasn't going to
41:02
carry it around with her the whole time.
41:05
For my son, who's a little bit older, he got a little bit of a
41:08
bigger bag, more of like a standard size crossbody, little
41:12
bit bigger crossbody bag. I gave him a little bit more
41:17
freedom to put some other things in his because I knew that he
41:20
was more likely and he did, to carry his bag for longer periods
41:25
of time. But I would start with a smaller
41:27
kind of crossbody option for them.
41:29
So it's not too heavy, but it will still hold a few things for
41:33
them. The things that I had my kiddos
41:36
put in their bags that they were responsible for were all things
41:40
that I knew they were going to need.
41:42
And again, we're small enough to fit into their space and not
41:45
super heavy sunglasses. Their fans, I showed you guys
41:49
what their fans looked like earlier, really compact.
41:52
One of the sanitizer sprays that we had that each had their own
41:56
in their bag, a chapstick if they wanted it.
42:01
Then they have little tiny digital cameras.
42:03
So they carried their little cameras as well.
42:07
And then we did decide because we we had them to put little air
42:12
tag trackers in their bags just in case their bags got left
42:16
somewhere and we needed to go back and find them.
42:19
So they each had a little air tag in their in their little
42:22
crossbody bag as well. The other thing that we let our
42:27
kiddos do for this trip was they each had one of these pinfolio
42:32
boards that they carried because they slid really nicely just
42:36
right along the front or back of their cross bodies.
42:40
They started pin trading this trip.
42:42
So this was something that we let them carry and they were
42:47
responsible for their pins. So I gave them starter pins that
42:50
I had gotten at the Disney outlet for a discount and I they
42:56
were in charge of their pins and they were in charge of having
42:59
them on them if they wanted to trade things like that.
43:02
Speaking of, if you want more information about Disney
43:04
collections for kids, we did a whole episode on that episode
43:07
82. I think it is so hot back a
43:10
couple if you want to hear more about different collection ideas
43:12
for kids. But that was something else they
43:14
kept because this is very flat and compact and easy to keep in
43:18
their bags with them. So they kept that as well and
43:22
that was pretty much it. Now with my daughter's bag, the
43:25
only thing that didn't fit was her camera, but her brother
43:27
agreed to put it in his because his bag was a little bit bigger
43:31
and he had more space. So that worked out fine.
43:34
Now I will note that with their bags, we did allow our kiddos to
43:39
attach one or two small plushy toys to their bags using either
43:44
a slap bracelet or hair tie method.
43:48
So that was they had a friend with them in the park.
43:49
So I showed you guys this little stitch.
43:51
This is actually my daughter's. So this is a slap bracelet one.
43:55
And what we would do is once their bag was full and they were
43:59
ready to go, we would just put these little guys on their bags.
44:04
And then whenever they wore them, they were just on the
44:07
strap and they could carry them around.
44:08
But they were hands free, right? They didn't have to hold on to
44:11
the toy and we didn't have to worry about them leaving it or
44:14
setting it down somewhere and forgetting it right then.
44:17
Both of my kids brought one of their new emo's with them as
44:20
well and we used the hair tie method, which I'm sure most of
44:23
you have seen, but basically you wrap the hair tie around one of
44:26
their arms, around the back of your strap and then around the
44:29
other arm to keep them on the strap of your bag.
44:32
So we do allow our kids, we did allow our kids to do that as
44:35
well with their bags this time and that all worked out really
44:41
well. They had the things that they
44:42
needed. We had the more important things
44:45
right? Everything in their bag was
44:48
replaceable. Sunglasses, fans, even pins,
44:52
right? It would be a real big bummer if
44:53
their pins got lost, but it's all replaceable, so it wasn't
44:57
something that we were overly concerned about.
45:00
The other precaution we did take was putting that air tag in
45:02
their bags just to make sure if they did set it down that we'd
45:07
be able to go back and find it. Luckily we didn't have any
45:10
issues with that aside from my daughter almost leaving her bag
45:13
in a stall in one of the bathrooms.
45:15
But we were able to go to, we realized it before we even left
45:19
the bathroom. So that was fine.
45:21
But it was really nice to see that my 8 year old that he was
45:25
able to carry his bag for most of that time.
45:27
So that gives me hope that on future trips we'll have the same
45:31
success and he can be in charge of a few more things, maybe put
45:34
some snacks for himself in there, those types of things as
45:38
well. So again, that's what I would
45:40
suggest starting with. Now, if you've got a little bit
45:43
older kiddos, maybe ages 10 and up, right, you may need to
45:48
upgrade them to a smaller backpack size instead of a
45:53
crossbody or like a mini lounge fly.
45:56
We talked about lounge flies in that collections for kids
45:58
episode as well, or a Funko Pop bag, those that kind of mini
46:03
backpack style that you see. So a couple extra things that I
46:07
would add at that age level, I would add in a small thing of
46:12
sunscreen. That way they can be in charge
46:14
of making sure they reapply because at that age, they're
46:17
probably old enough to do it on their own, their device,
46:20
whatever that may be if I'm in. Also some sort of a portable
46:23
charger for that, for kiddos that just are using their phone
46:28
for fun. Again, fuel rods are really
46:30
great because they're really lightweight and if they die, you
46:33
can swap them for free at the Disney parks.
46:35
They're not swappable for free everywhere, but at Disney they
46:39
are. Making sure that your older
46:41
kiddo has deodorant in their bag is again a great idea for all
46:47
involved. Earplugs or headphones, like we
46:50
talked about, grabbing some small sort of headphone earplug
46:54
situation is great. And then putting them in charge
46:57
of their budget, right? So gift card or if they've got a
47:02
little debit card or a Visa prepaid card, whatever it is
47:05
that you're using for their budget while they're in the
47:07
parks, making sure that that is in their bag too.
47:10
That way, if they do go off on their own, if they're old enough
47:13
and responsible enough, you know that they've got some backup
47:17
money if they need it. Or if you want to hand them a
47:19
$20 bill though, a wallet of some sort in their bag is a
47:22
great idea as well for those older kiddos.
47:26
Now all of that being said, this is not a comprehensive list of
47:29
things to put in your Disney Parks bags.
47:32
This is just my experience and our Disney Mom St. community
47:38
that has given their input on what they would include.
47:42
Hopefully it gives you a good starting point.
47:44
If you are someone who is like, I had no idea where to start.
47:47
I don't know what to do. I don't know what I'm going to
47:49
need and what I'm not going to need.
47:50
Hopefully this gave you a good kind of springboard to start
47:54
your planning and packing for your Disney Parks bag.
47:58
A few other notes that I just want to mention before we kind
48:01
of wrap this episode up. Do keep in mind that kind of
48:05
thinking back to the beginning when we talked about those
48:07
younger kiddos, if you are traveling with a stroller, do
48:12
keep in mind that if you have bags or things in the bottom of
48:15
your stroller and you have to fold your stroller up, they're
48:18
going to have to come back out, right?
48:19
But things like ponchos or cooling towels, if they're laid
48:23
flat when you're folding your stroller can typically be left
48:27
down there. So depending on the type of
48:29
stroller you have and how it folds up, things like that.
48:31
But we were able to leave like our ponchos and cooling towels
48:35
on our and in our stroller. So that's just something to
48:38
consider that you may not need bag space for those if you've
48:41
got a stroller that will work that way.
48:44
And again, just one more note about strollers, Be aware that
48:46
all strollers will need to be folded up for buses and anything
48:49
double wide will need to be folded for the sky liner.
48:52
So again, that's part of the reason why having that two bag
48:55
method that we talked about at the beginning is a really good
48:58
idea. So that way you can just grab
49:00
your two bags out of your stroller.
49:02
You don't have to worry about, you know, what's where and who's
49:06
got what and having all these loose items or loose ends that
49:09
you need to kind of compile into a bag.
49:11
You're just ready to go when it comes to the buses.
49:13
And Speaking of strollers, like I mentioned earlier, our My Next
49:17
Mom St. episode, not our next hub episode, which I'll talk
49:20
about here in a moment, will be all about Disney strollers and
49:25
kind of the Disney strollers one O 1 when it comes to taking your
49:30
stroller, renting your stroller, what strollers can I have those
49:33
types of things. We'll be talking about that next
49:35
episode. So if you want more information
49:37
about that and more tips and tricks about your stroller at
49:41
Disney, come back for that here in a few weeks.
49:43
That's what we'll be covering very soon.
49:46
Our next episode of Mom St. that you will find on your feed will
49:50
be another hub episode. I mean, we are going to be
49:53
chatting with our good friend Stevie.
49:55
Again, thank you so much for listening to this episode of Mom
49:58
St. USA.
49:59
As always, if you've got advice, if you need help, if you've got
50:03
thoughts and opinions on a future episode, please feel free
50:06
to reach out to us. We are Mom St. usa@gmail.com and
50:10
you can find us at Mom St. USA on several social media
50:14
sites as well. If you're looking to connect
50:17
with us on Discord, we are part of our good friend Kirk at
50:20
Walrus Karp, his discord. You can find 2 Mom St. channels
50:24
on there. The links to all of that is in
50:26
our social media bio. So if you want to find any of
50:30
that, that is your best place to head.
50:32
But until next time, again, thank you all for being here.
50:36
Thank you for your support and I will catch you next time on Mom
50:39
St. USA.
50:40
Bye everyone.