If you are reading this post you are likely going or planning on going to Disney World-if so YAY!!! Disney World is one of my favorite places to travel with my family. The magic of Disney is truly a thing! But I have seen so many times the magic come to a halt if you are not prepared for the day. It takes a lot of thought, planning and prep but once it is done then the magic lasts longer! Check out these must haves for Disney World!
Autograph Books for a Disney Day
This has happened to me before in our early Disney days. We went to the parks and the kids were so excited to see the characters and saw kids ahead in the lines with books that the characters sign! Then the disappointment when they realized we didn’t have any. Very quickly after this first character failed autograph character greeting we went to a shop and got a book. Now this is always an option- but it is an expensive one.
For one or maybe 2 kids it isn’t too bad but now we have 4 and that is not a way that I want to spend all that money. We plan ahead now. We are from Canada so going to a Walmart in the States is always exciting for us. But even more is the Walmart’s near Disney. They have SO much theme park attire and everything you could need. They have so many autograph books to choose from and so many nice pens. We always let our kids choose a fancy pen but then we also pack extra for when those get lost or stop working.
Now that we have been a few times my kids are ready to try other things other than the book. On our Disney Cruise we took a pillow case with fabric markers and that was so fun! On our next trip we want to try a water bottle!
Ponchos
Okay this is another big money saver and on our list of must haves for Disney World! We have been to Disney World many times and it has not failed that at least one of the days it pours rain. It doesn’t always last for long but it is a downpour. Again as I did with the autograph books on my first trip we did not bring our own ponchos so I paid a lot for all of us to get ponchos to try and stay a little bit more dry. On our next trip coming prepared with ponchos was on our list. We brought a few for each of the kids and ourselves. We just got them at the dollar store and they held up well. The kids liked that they could choose cute animals.
I have used a poncho over the stroller as well if needed but ensuring that you have a high quality rain cover for your stroller is a must! It not only keeps your baby dry but we could put our bag under the rain cover and it stayed dry as well.
We try to remember to pack a bag for the wet ponchos to go in when the rain ends. We usually just hang the ponchos on the balcony of our room to dry out and then we can repack for the next day.
Shoes
When we go to Florida we are usually escaping the cold of winter here in Ontario. So getting to wear sandals in the winter is a treat. For your day at Disney you really need to toss away the sandals and wear good shoes. Especially the kids. When your kids get to that age where they are too big for the stroller it is a really long day and their feet will start hurting. A few times we have packed sandals in the back incase the rain soaks their shoes. Proper footwear is one of our must haves for Disney World.
Snacks
We pack as much as we can so that we don’t have to buy everything.
Typically we buy our meals but not our snacks. In the heat and all the walking having food is one of our must haves for Disney World. We take in apple sauce pouches, cheese strings, crackers. Protein bars can help the adults get through the day. I find that individually packed snacks work better because it will prevent an entire bag of Goldfish crackers from spilling and being wasted.
I don’t like putting things into containers because it just adds the risk to losing the containers.
We also talk to our kids about what they would like for snacks so they know going in we aren’t buying anything. We do tend to buy a popcorn bucket because we find it a good value with cheap unlimited refills, and lets be real the popcorn is delicious.
Stroller Clip for Water Bottles
One of the great things about Disney is there are water bottle filling stations all over the place. We are constantly reminding our kids to drink water during those hot theme park days. We are a family of 6 so that adds up in terms of how many water bottles we have. Our kids are still at the age that we could have a stroller without it looking weird so that is helpful as those have cup holders. But getting a clip or even two to hang the water bottles on is so helpful.
When we are heading onto a ride we can just leave them hanging on the clip so we don’t have to carry them and don’t have to worry about them dropping out of the stroller.
We didn’t know about using these clips for our first few trips but they are a game changer for our family now!
Spray Bottle for the Heat
On those hot days where the kids are screaming and sweating it can be tempting to buy an expensive Disney Spray Bottle. And sometimes there is no choice and you just have to do it (we have too as seen in the image). But I would suggest brining one with you. We have just gotten small plastic spray bottles which work just fine and we have found cute Disney Ones too.
I find this is helpful as you are walking through the parks on a really hot day. You can get the ones that Disney sells with the fan for cheaper at the stores outside of Disney as well. Having the fan is a nice added touch. For the kids though I find they just want the water misted in their face and didn’t care so much about the fan.
I hope this list of items helps to make your Disney trip magical. Check out more posts about traveling with your family at Home – Together We Can Travel.
