5 - What to take to Disney

Finally. You've decided when you're going, made your advance dining reservations, made a touring plan, or have at least a general idea of what you're going to do when you're at the parks. Now it's time to pack for your trip.

We walk, on average, 10km every day we're at a park. No joke. Pack good shoes. Don't wear flip flops to the park.

Remember how I said Disney was like a movie theatre? Everything will cost a lot more there and you'll have to wait in line to get it. Try to think of things you can bring from home that will mitigate the cost. Reusable water bottles are at the top of my list -there are water fountains you can refill them at. Rain jackets (the almost disposable ones you get at the dollar store) are also a good buy -they're cheap and small. Snacks are also handy to have around. Another tip: DisneyWorld offers free wifi. You’ll want to pack a charger (although you can rent one if you need to) and load up your phone with the Touring Plans App, My Disney Experience App, and the Play Disney Parks App. The Touring Plan App is the simplest way to keep track of your plan. My Disney Experience lets you see your reservations for restaurants and Genie+ selections (and allows you to make new selections). It also has maps that will give you directions in the parks much like a map app (this is especially handy when you need to find the closest bathroom!). Play Disney Parks is an app that can be used on some rides while you’re waiting in line. Some of the games are park-wide - Epcot has a neat Phineas and Ferb game I highly recommend (this is being replaced by a DuckTales one, which I'm hoping is just as good)! You’ll get to travel around the different pavilions and interact with the scenery.

Keep in mind that you'll be going through a security check before you enter the park (or before you get on the monorail), so try not to bring too much. The more bags you take, the longer your check will take. Check out the park rules for a list of prohibited items.

Just a few more things to decide about in advance:

Magic Bands: If you buy a ticket, it's like a hotel key card that you carry around (if you buy them online, you pick the physical tickets up at the park entrance). Aside from the inconvenience of having to get another one, you don't have to worry too much if you lose it because everything is attached to your account, not to the ticket. If you're staying onsite, you get a discounted magic band if you order it at least 10 days in advance of your trip. Basically, you will have to decide whether it's more convenient to have your ticket on a watch-like thing on your wrist or to take your card out every time you need it. You need your card to get into your onsite hotel room, to get into the parks, to get your pictures from rides/photographers (see Memory Maker below) and to use your Genie+. It's not a huge inconvenience, but the cost of a magic band is not a huge expense either, depending on the size of your party. We usually keep the kids' cards and take them out as needed, but we thought the kids would like wearing a magic band so one year we tried them out. They did not like them, and we ended up keeping them in our pockets and distributing them as we did when we had cards. When we stayed onsite a few years later, they did like using their magic bands to open the hotel door, so maybe it’s an age thing.

Memory Maker: there are several rides at Disney that take pictures while you're on them. There are also photographers stationed all over the parks. Obviously, if you feel no need to buy these pictures, don't. But if you're like us, and you don't always remember to take lots of pictures, you might find it useful to purchase Memory Maker. It's cheaper if you buy it in advance, so if you do plan on getting it, make sure you get it more than 3 days before your trip. Once you're there (whether you've purchased it or not), you use your ticket/magic band (of the person who purchased Memory Maker on their account, if no one purchased it then it doesn't matter) to tap and the pictures will be linked to your account. Some rides automatically assign pictures to your account. If there's one particular picture you really like, you can just purchase that picture, but if you have Memory Maker, you get access to all the pictures.

Strollers: remember when I said we walk, on average, 10km everyday we're at a park? You might be able to handle it no problem, but even if your kid hasn't used a stroller in awhile, they might not be able to. The first trip we took with no stroller my kids were 8 and 5. That means they were 7 and 4 and still using a stroller.

You have three options when it comes to strollers: bring your own, rent one from a company near Disney, rent one at Disney. You might already be planning to bring your stroller, so maybe this isn't a huge decision for you. We didn't have a double stroller, so our options were to rent one from a company or rent one from Disney. The benefit of the company is a snazzy, comfortable stroller. Disney strollers are just hard plastic, and are not divided so the kids sit right next to each other (cue: "they're taking up all the room" arguments). These are not strollers for infants that need to be strapped in. Also, you will have to wait in line to get a Disney stroller (if you do a mutiple day rental, the line is shorter, and it's good across all the parks). However, the benefit is you will not have to bring a stroller on the tram or monorail. We've actually walked from the parking lot to the park (and vice versa) rather than deal with the hassle of folding up the stroller to get it on the tram. So if you're kids are a little older and may not sit in the stroller the whole time and you can tolerate a little arguing about who's hogging all the room, you may want to opt for renting a stroller at Disney. Regardless, make sure you have something (like a rain jacket from the dollar store) to cover up the stroller when it rains, as well as a small towel in case it gets wet anyway. Stroller rental companies and Disney will give you a sign, but you may want to make one if you're bringing your own stroller. Even when we've rented a Disney stroller (which looks the same as all other Disney strollers) we have never had our stroller lost or stolen.

Safety: wear sunscreen and drink lots of water. Also, make sure to TAKE BREAKS. The first time we went, I bought some SafetyTats but we never used them (their labels are very good though). Honestly, nobody wants to steal your kids at Disney. The people there barely want their own kids. It's probably a good idea to have a conversation about what to do if they do get separated (talk to the nearest Cast Member). We haven't lost a kid yet! (knock on wood)

Souvenirs: Disney really, really, wants you to buy their merchandise. So much so, that almost every ride you get off of exits right into a store. Decide in advance how many souvenirs you're going to get (if any) and speak to your kids about it. You'll save a lot of begging and pleading if they know whether or not getting something is even on the table.

Things to remember while you're there:

Take a picture of your parking spot. We forgot where we parked once. Not a pleasant experience at the end of a long day, and this was in one of the smaller parking lots. Just snap a picture and you won't have to worry about it (especially if you leave the park and come back again).

HAVE I MENTIONED YOU SHOULD TAKE BREAKS? No, but like, seriously. We take a longish break almost every afternoon. We head back to the rental for lunch and when we get back to the park around 3 feeling refreshed everyone else has hit melt-down o'clock. It is super intense being at the parks. TAKE BREAKS. Magic Kingdom takes the longest to get in and out of (because you have to take the Monorail/Ferry from the parking lot) so if you opt not to leave the park, find a quiet spot (the Tomorrowland Terrace when it's not open is great) to just sit back and chill for a bit. At Hollywood Studios, we also like the end of the alley where the Incredibles hang out. We got some funny pictures of Frozone bugging my son while he was playing on his iPad.

My best advice:

Roll with it. There's a lot of pressure to HAVE FUN when you're on a Disney trip. I get it. It's expensive, you want to get your money's worth, and it's the happiest place on Earth. If you can't have a good time there, where can you? But all the pressure can be counter-productive. It's not going to be perfect. The fact is, you will be annoyed, overwhelmed, stressed, etc. Remember, it's the album, not the individual photographs. So even if a couple of your memories are not going to be good ones, as long as the overall trip is fun, you're doing OK.

Here are the other posts on DisneyWorld planning:

1 - When to go to Disney: what age is a good age? What time of year is good to go?
2 - Where to stay at Disney: breaking down the pros and cons of off vs. onsite
3 - Advance Dining Reservations: because hour long waits for lunch/dinner are for non-planners
4 - Genie+:  getting on the rides faster
5 - What to take to Disney: including discussions about strollers, magic bands and memory maker

Updated Nov 30 2021