10 Must Pack Items For A Day At Disney World

If there is one thing I learned from our recent family vacation to Disney World with the  kids, it’s that you must be prepared and armed with the essentials that will make your visit much more relaxing. If you’re a parent, you know that going anywhere with kids can be extremely stressful and when that place is a massive amusement park with lots of people and weather upwards in the 90’s, you better believe you’re kids will be next level cranky!

But, you can minimize the crankiness by making sure you pack the right things for a day at the park. It is like going to battle so having the right weapons in your backpack will save you!

Here’s my list of the 10 MUST bring items for a fun day at Disney World. Preparation is key and packing the right things will help you have a smoother day, less cranky kids and a stress free vacation.

1. Baby Wipes/Wet Wipes – You’ll definitely need these after having a Mickey Mouse chocolate dipped ice cream, churros, giant turkey leg, dole whip, and so on and so on! These are also helpful for wiping down tables, chairs and any surface areas before eating.
2. Hand Sanitizer – So. many. germs. These also come super handy for the little ones who touch anything and everything all day.
3. Sunscreen – Make sure to protect yours and your kids skin from the hot burning sun and don’t forget to reapply after a couple of hours. I use the Sun Bum and Coola brands because of their natural ingredients.
4. Water or Water bottle – You can bring a bunch of water bottles which is what we did, but what I would do next time is bring our Hydro Flasks. They hold a little over 1 liter and keeps your water cold throughout the day. There are water stations at the park and, here’s a tip, if you get a drink at Starbucks, make sure to ask for a Venti Iced water! In fact, most of the restaurants at the parks are actually very accommodating with letting you refill your water bottle if you ask nicely.
5. Snacks – The park allows you to bring food, so stock up at Target, Walmart or your favorite grocery store on snacks that will give you energy throughout the day. The kind of snacks we brought were bananas, apple sauce, Kind bars, popcorn, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We would save our snacks for when we were in a line and it would occupy the kids time during the long wait.
6. Cell phone/camera with chargers – Super important if you want to capture these moments! First of all, make sure your phone and/or camera are fully charged upon arrival at the park. If you are spending all day there until the evening, you will probably need to recharge. Some phones have better battery life than others but still, you don’t want to risk it.
7. Hat – The sun is hot. Like, super hot. And we were not prepared for how scorching it would be so we spent $100 on 3 hats at one of the stores inside the park! Ouch!! Don’t be like us and remember to bring your hats.
8. Cash/credit cards – Most places accept credit card and actually we saw a few Apple Pay stations at some restaurants. Either way, you’ll definitely need to keep your money and cards in your bag. Tip: Avoid putting anything in your back pockets, such as cell phones, cash, credit cards. There are some savvy people out there and you just never know.
9. Map and Schedule – Unless you are a Disney World regular, you probably don’t know your way around the parks. Even if you are a regular, there are new attractions, shows and rides that pop up all the time and you want to make sure you see everything you came to see. Maps and schedules can be found all over the park so make sure to grab one.
10. Water spray bottle with fan – This is major if you’re going to be visiting the parks during the hot summer months. Make the investment and purchase one at the park for $20 or if you can find some outside the park that costs much less, even better! Either way, this will save you.

A couple of other things you may want to bring to Disney World are sweaters and blankets if you’re visiting during the cooler months and planning on staying for the fireworks at night. Also, don’t forget your autograph book and pen if you want to get signatures from the Disney characters you will meet.

Of course you’ll need a cute backpack to put all these goodies in. Remember, comfort is key since you’ll be walking around with this thing all day.