Final countdown - Packing

Walt Disney World
21

I’ve invested more time and money in planning WDW packing than any other thing in my life.

What I’ve learned is: there’s so much you don’t need.

I love minimal packing, both on the plane and in the parks. For the majority of my trips I’ve had carry-on only on the flights. In the parks I’ve gone from a tote bag to a small washbag and, when I can, no bag at all.

In terms of packing, you need clothes and toiletries. Disney provides shower gel and shampoo. So I need my own toothpaste, toothbrush, sunscreen. I have to take antihistamines every day, so I bring those. And ibuprofen and antacid, just in case. Then there’s my phone, iPad and chargers.

The folks on here got me into packing cubes. I’m not 100% sure they’re necessary, but they do keep your suitcase very neat.

In the parks I carry a very light raincoat, that squishes up pretty small. I have sunglasses and regular glasses. My antihistamines. My phone, which has a battery case so it lasts all day. You can do everything with a Magic Band, so you don’t need a wallet, though some people take an emergency credit card, just in case Disney’s systems go down.

There are other things I’ve taken — a small fan, a cooling towel, a flannel, a blow-up cushion, a water bottle, a pair of Crocs for if it rains, spares socks — that I just haven’t used.

Depending on your budget, remember that Disney sells pretty much everything, and the health centres (or whatever they’re called) in each park are well-stocked. Ice cold water is free and readily available.

On my most recent trip I didn’t expect I’d be buying so many souvenirs and I ended up buying one of the new reusable Disney bags to carry them all in. The bag was maybe $2.

The one time I didn’t take my raincoat, it rained very heavily and I had to buy a Disney poncho, which was $12.

22

LOl…When I started reading your reply, I thought you were a minimalist until I read ALL the extras to bring…Had to giggle!

23

I always fight the urge to overpack.
MOST IMPORTANT: bring two pairs of very comfortable walking shoes and antiperspirant/deodorant.
Bring a a comfortable outfit for each day and a few extra tops. If you are dressing for dinner. Bring 2-3 nice outfits and a pair of cute sandals …This is where I fall in a trap of bringing too many dresses.
You don’t really need to bring shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. The kind that Disney provides is good and I am very picky.
The only extra items that I truly needed were blister protectors (but they sell them at resort gift shops) which I needed (even with moleskin) after walking 12 miles at EP.

24

First aid-Yes, it’s all available in the parks, but I find it’s worth having a tiny first aid kit so we can deal with most things ourselves rather than wasting time going to a first aid station. I carry a small pouch (about the size of a snack size baggie) with bandaids (used to prevent blisters when we notice an area starting to rub, not just for cuts), ointment, ibuprofen, a travel sized sunscreen, and glasses cleaning wipes. None of it is essential, but bringing it saves us time and money.

Glow sticks, bubbles, etc–entirely depends on your child. If they want everything they see or have a hard time waiting in line without entertainment, then it saves a lot of money to bring your own. I brought a few things like that on our first Disney trip and realized it wasn’t necessary for us, but my youngest was 7 at the time. We did use the snacks I brought, since often the kids would get hungry at times when it wasn’t convenient to go buy snacks. Not to mention that an entire box of granola bars in a grocery order is less than a single snack at Disney!

Souvenirs–We’re not big souvenir people. With 3 kids, they add up fast! We’ve always set boundaries ahead of time. We typically did one souvenir per trip when they were little plus something they could get a lot of–for my kids, that was pressed pennies. So they could get as many of those as we passed machines for in addition to their 1 souvenir. I know other families that do 1 souvenir per day or 1 per park. Now that our kids are older, we give them a budget and allow them to keep any cash they don’t spend at Disney.

My idea of park essentials would be refillable water bottles (no cooler), phones and portable chargers, the small first aid kit I mentioned, dollar store ponchos, snacks, hand wipes, tissues, a paper copy of our plans, and a mini wallet (credit card, insurance card, ID, and cash). In reality my family goes with more than my essentials, since we bring epi-pens, my camera, umbrellas if it’s going to be a rainy day, and sweatshirts for the morning and evening (in November).

Have a wonderful time!

1 Like
25

@Ladyderks my husband and I commented about how odd it was that we never saw any bugs…not even a fly. We’ve been multiple times in October as well as April and Labor Day weekned.

1 Like
26

Keep in mind that Prime Now (the delivery service) is only available to Amazon Prime members, and memberships is roughly $100 per year. So if you aren’t already a member, probably not worth it to join just for Prime Now.

If you aren’t a Prime member, you can also use Instacart, which a lot of people have had success with.

Regarding not checking a bag; if you are staying onsite, remember that the Magical Express will pick up your bags for you and deliver to your room, so it may be worthwhile to check them to avoid lugging heavy luggage around!

27

Yes, I have plans to bring extra shoes to rotate. And it sounds like by al the other replies I better do the first aid. But I am relieved to hear I believe we will be fine without so much STUFF!

2 Likes
28

We are prime members, just no same day delivery in our area.

We have gone back and forth about checking the bags because of MDE, but in the end I think as long as we’re packing light it’s not worth the extra cost per bag per direction to check.

2 Likes
29

When I pack at the end of my vacation I always regret how much unnecessary stuff/clothes I brought! “Travel experts” say to pack a week ahead and then 1-2 day before, unpack at least a third of your clothes.

3 Likes
30

Since our son has been born I have had this problem! It never was a problem with us before. And then after hearing what others pack I was worried it would get even worse!! After reading all these comments I think we will be fine. It’s not like we’re camping haha

31

Also keep in mind that there are laundry facilities at most places, so you don’t need to pack a bunch of back up clothes. We planned to do laundry halfway through our trip to rewear some outfits, so that helped cut down on space and was nice for dealing with general kid messiness!

32

so true what I used to carry…Thank God for double strollers!

33

I find that when I pack last minute I bring too much. I’m lecturing you here, @terp05 !

1 Like
34

:joy: I’m the opposite. The longer I have to think about it, the more stuff I start putting in the bag.

Last minute packing is part of my minimalist packing strategy! Right @dreamer?

1 Like
35

cheating! No invoking a Disney goddess!

1 Like
36

Hey, she said it.

I’m just following her words of wisdom :joy:

2 Likes
37

I loved this article about it: This Is Why You Never See Mosquitoes at Disney World

1 Like
38

Everytime I see the title of this thread, this gets stuck in my head. Gah, I’m old!

5 Likes
39

:laughing: Thanks for posting! It’s one of my favorites. (I’m not sure about how our Liner friend @longwalk will feel about it though :wink:)

3 Likes
40

Be aware that there are stroller size restrictions.

https://disneyparksmomspanel.disney.go.com/question/restrictions-strollers-bring-home-370024/

1 Like