Do you bring a bag into the parks? I tend to people watch when I’m there and I’ve noticed the majority of people have book sacks or some sort of bag. I saw one guy with a full sized hiking pack! I don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea, this is not a “You should bring a bag into the park” posts, this is simply a post about what I bring in the part for my family.
In 2018, with a 3.5-year-old, we rented a double stroller. I’m glad we did because our 6-year-old girl had “tired legs” and had to ride more than walk. I carried a small (ish) back pack then and basically used it to hold the autograph canvasses my wife painted for the kids. I think back then I also kept a couple of snacks in case anyone got hungry.
I debated bringing that same back pack on this last trip, but I quickly realized that with the new Genie+ system, I would likely need a portable charger. We would also need disposable masks, disposable ponchos, hand sanitizer and a couple of other things. I opted to go with a Jansport book sack for the trip. I packed quite a bit in there and, during our trip, I realized that I made some mistakes. I’m going to list the things that I brought in my bag for this trip here:
Disposable masks
Hand sanitizer
Tylenol
2 packs of peanut butter crackers
My hydro flask
My oldest and my middle child’s soda style metal water bottle
5 charging cables
Chapstick
The question I had was where to carry my hydro flask and two of my three kids’ metal, soda style water bottles. That was the biggest goof on my part because putting those in the Jansport meant they were, uncomfortably, pressed against my back with no padding or protection. Other than that one issue, the Jansport was a great bag. It has two zippers, so if you actually get stopped at security coming into the park you only have to unzip the bag twice. I had plenty of room to keep and store all of the stuff we decided to bring in the parks too.
After two park days, I decided to switch from the Jansport to my laptop bag, which has a padded back. The drawback with it is that it also has 5 compartments. I got stopped in security only one time going into a park, which was perfectly fine. Now, I’d rather not get stopped by security, but if and when I do, I’d rather than 2 compartments to unzip and check than 5 as I mentioned above, however I chose comfort after two parks this last trip. I still like the Jansport and my laptop bag was literally too big.
One of the best things we bought and brought was the silicone straws. In the parks, they’re life savers especially when you get a drink and are handed a paper straw. Individually, it was nice having them when we got some iced drinks around the parks. The only thing with them is that if you drink something super sticky, and you don’t have a zip lock bag to put the straw in, you run the chance of getting the inside of your bag sticky.
Another must have, for us, was disposable ponchos. While we went during a time where there wasn’t much rain, it’s Florida. In Florida, 365 24×7 there’s at least a 30% to 50% chance of rain. At least one day, we got a typical Florida afternoon shower and that was about it. That shower was while my daughter and niece and I were riding Tower of Terror. My wife and the kids were forced to run into a shop. She tried to put a poncho on with her back pack, at least one of my kid’s droids backpack and my lightsaber on and it didn’t really work well. There appear to be some logistics we need to account for! That or we wrap the bags in ponchos themselves!
In reality, I like to be prepared. I mean, I was a Boy Scout after all! I just don’t to get caught in the park saying “Oh, I wish I had this!”. I also don’t want my wife to be stuck carrying everything either. We spoke with our kids and they’re getting to the age, at least the older two, to where they want their own bag. The girl, she’s going to be 11 the next time we go and she’ll have her “purse”. My oldest, he’ll be 15 when we go and if we’re doing things he doesn’t want to, I want him to be able to roam and ride things he wants to ride and be fully prepared as well.
We’re going to try something out on our next trip where everyone has a sling type bag that they can carry their own water bottles, phones, chargers, etc. For us, I believe this to be an ever changing “thing”, what we put in our bags and what we bring into the parks…