Three Favorites Thursday: Packing for Disney Edition

I shipped a box down to my Disney hotel on Tuesday so that we can restock our Owner’s Locker with shampoo, conditioner, my new favorite beach waves hair cream, a box of glow bracelets… I should have take a photo of the contents but until 15 seconds ago I didn’t know what my favorites were going to be this week.

We are leaving Friday for the long weekend. Our youngest is turning 18 on Saturday and we cashed in all of our JetBlue frequent flier miles and Disney Rewards Visa points to bring her and 2 of her friends to stay at Bay Lake Tower. We are going to the Halloween Party, it is the first weekend of the Food & Wine Festival and Tiffany is going to be singing for the Eat to the Beat Concert Series, I can’t wait.

I think half of the battle for regular Disney visitors are finding:

1. the perfect park bag.
2. the perfect park shoes.
3. the perfect comfort/convenience items.

So here we go:

 

 

My perfect park bag is the Kavu rope sling bag. I’ve been using the same one for the last several years and it still looks BRAND NEW. Which is awesome, but also- c’mon! I want a new one. (Specifically the space pops one– how great is that?!)  There are a ton of pockets- the front one fits my iphone 7+ perfectly, and that’s a monster so I can’t imagine a phone that wouldn’t fit there to be easily accessible. It is comfortable to wear, I don’t find myself getting all sweaty under it. It fits EVERYTHING. I generally start the day with a couple of bottles of water, a cooling towel, charging cords, a sunscreen, a single neatly folded poncho, my phone, and a small wallet with ID/Annual Pass/Gift Card/Disney Visa Card.  I generally end the day without the water bottles but WITH a cake pop or school bread or carrot cake cookie, a set of ears, various souvenirs, three damp ponchos, and still room for more.

I love this bag.

 

 

 

I go back and forth on the perfect park shoes. For a year or two they were Sketchers lace up sneakers with memory foam cooling insoles… and then my feet decided that being confined like that would RUIN EVERYONE’S DAY.  So I’m all set with that for now.

I have had much luck with Sanuk Yoga Mat Slings – they have fabric that hugs your foot while still giving them lots of room to breathe – which keeps them from getting cranky – which keeps ME from getting cranky.  (never wear these to the beach, you will never get the sand out of the sling bit)

BUT THEN I bought a pair of these Fit Flop Uberknit flip flops. I committed the first Disney mortal sin of wearing brand new shoes, straight out of the box, for a full day at Disneyland and they were so comfortable I broke the second Disney mortal sin of wearing the same shoes two days in a row. No regrets. I bought a second color and these two pairs might be the only shoes I bring for the weekend.

 

And for #3 I’m essentially asking Genie for a million wishes because I can’t pick a third and instead I’m listing some of my favorite convenience items.

1. The Disney Park Poncho – the original and the best – I decided one year that I was going to buy those disposable little ponchos and it ripped while I was putting it on mid-rainstorm. So.
2. I mentioned I have an Owner’s Locker the locker is packed with ponchos, ears, full sized bottles of shampoo and conditioner, any meds we might need, bandaids, sunscreen, bug spray, aloe, etc. So now I store our ponchos in the Locker, but before that I’d just bring them back and forth each in their own quart sized ziplock bag.
3. Cooling towels. I’m a better person when I have one wrapped around my neck. These are NOT in our locker, because they’d be all mildewy so I bring them home to wash between visits. At quick service counters you can ask for free glasses of ice water. I ask for 2, and one of them is just to submerge my cooling towel in. Game changer.
4. and finally – power. I have a few different kinds of portable power sources for our phones but the Fuel Rods available on property hold more than a full charge and are replaceable on site – so you don’t have to go back to your room to recharge. Your first fuel rod also comes with a little cord and a few different phone adaptors. It is expensive at $30 but I feel as if we have recouped the spend multiple times over so far.

 

So that’s what I’ve got.  And other than the poncho and the Owners Locker these would work for a day at any amusement park or field trip or hike.

I’ve got to start packing…

xoxo