We did a blog post about a year ago about what we bring to the parks in our bags. Typically, Kim and I each bring our own bag. She’s the catch-all for our youngest son so her bag is backpack-style. I’m typically a catch-all, at least for the water bottle, for my daughter and my bag was a backpack-style bag (I’ve bought one strap sling bag since then that I used last year).
Obviously, things have changed so much since our first visit years ago. We brought snacks into the park in our bags, we had a stroller with a small ice cooler, we brought our RTIC cups, etc. When we got into the parks, we bought snacks. We realized that on our next trip, the youngest kids wouldn’t need a stroller, so we had to change from cups to water bottles.
I think we’ve finally got it narrowed down as to what we want, and need, to bring into the parks. Here are some observations from our family of 5! Linked below are our Amazon Affiliate links for each of the products we have purchased and use currently.
The kids needed insulated water bottles. The reason they needed them is because bottles of water, soda, etc. are anywhere from $4 to $6 in the parks. If you’ve ever been to South Florida during spring, summer, fall, and even winter, you know it gets hot! Not that I’m miserly with money, but if you figure 4 bottles of water per person per day in each park that’s over $400 just on water! It’s much easier to stop by a quick service place, grab a cup of ice water and transfer that to your insulated water bottle. The wife and I have Hydro Flask water bottles, so we picked up a couple of soda-style insulated water bottles for our kids. Typically, we’ll pack all of them with ice before heading out for the day and then add water as needed. Here’s a link to the bottles we picked up for our kids, check them out: https://amzn.to/3Q1IZ9t and the link to the Hydro Flask Kim and I have: https://amzn.to/3XYI8bs
And on the subject of water and water bottles, hydration is key in any hot and humid climate! Up until the last year and a half, we’d relied solely on water and the occasional soda with a meal for our hydration. We started bringing liquid IV’s to the park to help regain some electrolytes, carbs and to help keep us hydrated. We’ve had Strawberry, Lemon Ginger, Lemon-Lime, and Golden Cherry. The Lemon Ginger had an energy multiplier, which was nice, but the other flavors were excellent as well. It really helps in those situations where you’re just beaten down, you’ve been sweating, and you need to replenish. I can tell you that Liquid IV helped me tremendously in Epcot after walking from Canada all the way to Norway. I sat down by Kingla Kafe near the water fountain and had a Liquid IV. That added boost gave me that “get up and go” I needed to recover. You can browse more Liquid IV products here: https://amzn.to/44rhCtA
Another hydration point… Straws. Do you hate the paper straws given out in the parks? We did and we did something about it. We grabbed a pack of silicone straws, and we break them out any time we get a large soda or water with a meal. Everyone can take sips and share. Just make sure you dry the straw off before you put it in your bag! We picked ours up here: https://amzn.to/44NbFXD
Moving from hydration, what’s the next most important thing to have in the parks? Your phone. I mean, you don’t HAVE to have it, but it sure makes things so much easier. And if you’re constantly on your phone, you’re going to burn through your battery. Yeah, they sell chargers in the park, but it’s just so much easier to pick up a couple, charge them at night and have them ready for the next day. I bought two of them and each has 4 USB 3 ports and 1 USB C port. That covers my entire device list between my phone and my watch. These are the chargers I picked up. I carry two because I have 5 (sometimes 6) people who may need a charger) https://amzn.to/44sGrFv
As I got more and more into content creation, we realized that we needed something more than our phones. We wanted something that we could use across ALL our trips. We ended up deciding on a GoPro Hero 7 a couple of years ago. In addition to that camera, we got a few accessories as well. Unfortunately, the Hero 7 bit the dust late last year so we just replaced it with the Hero 9. I’m still learning the ins and outs of video production, but so far, it’s really fun and I can’t say enough about GoPro. The accessory we decided to go with was a hand-held mount. It’s not a selfie stick, and it doesn’t extend, but it’s good for handheld shots and videos. The second set of accessories we picked was a head strap mount and a chest mount. The head mount was used to film our video of Expedition Everest, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj0in-H3Lms&ab_channel=TheDadSideofDisney I have to work on getting things straight, I know! Just below, I’ve put links to what we purchased, the Hero9, handle, and accessory pack:
Hero9 Black: https://amzn.to/3rFW4uE
Hand Grip: https://amzn.to/44PXUrq
GoPro Accessories: https://amzn.to/3pJSwY4
For our final item I have a question; what is one thing you can almost set your watch to? Afternoon rain showers! What are the chances of rain in Florida? 50% almost every day! Now, that being said, it’s probably a good idea to have something in case it rains. We pick up disposable ponchos and put a few in our bags in case it rains. I’m not fond of bringing an umbrella into the parks but I will if I have to. Ponchos are just a better option. The only drawback is, sometimes they’re too small and sometimes they’re too big. Either way, we grab them for emergencies, and having them on hand is better than spending $20 or more per poncho in the parks! You can pick some disposable ponchos up here: https://amzn.to/3KqkM9h
One thing I almost forgot, and it was a lifesaver last year on our one-day trip to Animal Kingdom was COOLING TOWELS! Kim grabbed these before our trip and to be honest, I wasn’t sure about them, but after walking around in the jungle atmosphere of Animal Kingdom, having this on my neck and head cooled all of us down tremendously. I have used mine multiple times since then when mowing grass and doing other yard work. You can pick them up here https://amzn.to/3pVYTri
We also bring ChapStick, Tylenol, Advil, and some antacid tabs as well. We’ll each have a small bottle of hand sanitizer also. My wife brings moleskin in case of blisters. I’ve begun bringing a hand rag into the parks in my bag to dab sweat away as well. I’m sure I’m forgetting some things, but overall, we’re trying to reduce how much we bring into the parks.