Hello there Disney trip planner! Wondering what to pack in your Disney park bag? Or perhaps wondering what bag you even should be taking? From snacks to baby wipes to glowsticks, having all the essentials handy will make a dramatic difference in your day exploring the most happiest place on Earth.
I’m compiled my absolute necessary 20 items for my Disney park bag, but of course tailer your packing list to what makes sense for your family. Age of your kiddos will of course make a difference! I’m currently traveling with my 9 and 7 year old so you’ll notice my list is geared towards items that will allow us to move quickly through the parks.
Also, don’t forget to download and print my free Disney Park Bag Checklist (at end of post) to bring with you to your Disney park day. Trust me, whether your morning is filled with character breakfasts or getting the family dressed and out the door for rope drop, your mornings will be busy. And nothing is worse than realizing you left your sunscreen or water bottle back at the hotel.
Glowsticks
This is by far one of my favorite surprises for the kids because it’s cheap, and who doesn’t love a glowstick? If you’ve been to the parks at night you know that around sunset all the glowing kiosks magically appear with anything from glowing wands to blinking balloons. And if you haven’t, get ready! It’s quite a site and they definitely are tempting… until you see the price tag.
That’s why I prepared and bought this 248 Piece Glow Stick Pack from amazon for under $17 to split up throughout our stay. As soon as those kiosks start popping up, I break out the glowstick pack and walla! My kids are satisfied!
This pack is my favorite though for a few reasons that are noteworthy. The first being the obvious Mickey Mouse ears. These are so fun to swap out with your day ears and we always get so many compliments on them.
Beyond that, the pack includes everything from various wands for your Disney prince or princess to wave at the night parades to sunglasses to to glowstick balls that are perfect to attach to your stroller handle (a great way to recognize your stroller from afar!)
Dude Wipes (Your man will thank you!)
If my husband were writing this he’d put Dude Wipes as the absolute #1 thing you need to buy. Seriously.
We’ve done many a Disney trip and I always spend a significant amount of time whilst vacationing hearing about how bad the Disney Park toilet paper is. “It’s scratchy,” “it’s too thin,” “it’s downright terrible!” I mean, I can’t object. The toilet paper at all Disney parks is anything but luxurious.
It’s why a few trips ago my husband started bringing his own toilet paper to the hotels. For obvious reasons, this is NOT something we brought to the parks with us.
This helped some of the complaining, but truly, it was the Disney parks’ toilet paper that was the overarching issue.
So this last trip, I took matters into my own hands and decided we’d try out Dude Wipes. And OMG! I have spent twice as much time listening to my husband regarding the bathroom situation (you’ve been warned) but it’s simply because he won’t shut up about how great these were! Hallelujah.
Essentially, these are flushable wet wipes for your bum. They’re roughly 20 cents a wipe which is totally worth the pamper, or so I’ve heard… So whether your man complains or not, I highly recommend giving him (or maybe even yourself!) a little treat.
Disney Carabiner
We have used our Disney Carabiner Clip for so many ways. I’m sure you’ve used them before and get the idea so I won’t belabor it. But, these truly are helpful if you’re bringing a stroller.
Our favorite ways to use it are hanging our water bottles on it (buy a few!) and clipping our Disney baseball hats and hand sanitizer to it.
Of course, any carabiner will do, but the Disney Carabiner Clip is so cute and you get two for about $7.50 each.
Cooling Towels
Game changer, game changer, game changer!!! I absolutely hate sweating and given we are a “go go go” type family at the Disney parks, sweat and overheating for me is inevitable.
We decided to try these Sukeen Cooling Towels for our last trip to Disney World in July (hello humidity!) and I literally am not sure I’d be able to have made it the full day without these (nor could my 7-year-old son).
Simply get them wet with cold water and wrap around your neck, over your shoulders, wherever. They truly bring your internal temperature down, soak up sweat, and also provide a nice barrier between you and the sun if you’re starting to burn. Truly God sent in my opinion!
Tip: Anytime we saw a water fountain or water station, we’d splash some water on these to cool off. The little baggies they come in are great for storage on rides or when you’re not using them. We just clipped them right to our Disney Carabiner Clip on our stroller.
Rain Ponchos
Ok, I’m from Seattle, so I’m generally against things like umbrellas and rain ponchos. If you know anything about Seattle it’s that we’re known for our grey rainy skies 9 months of the year so getting wet is just part of life. You can easily spot a tourist in Seattle if they have an umbrella, true fact.
But, that being said, bringing rain ponchos is a really good idea, especially if you’re going on water rides or to any park in Disney World given they experience rain quite a bit. You see, I’m more against the chaffing that inevitably happens when you walk around the park all day in wet shorts than I am a poncho.
We love these adult Borogo Rain Ponchos. They are the perfect unisex size, lots of colors to chose from, and have a hood string to tie it tight. A two pack is just $12.99 making it a no brainer.
SCROLL DOWN TO DOWNLOAD MY FREE DISNEY PARK BAG CHECKLIST
Disney Ears
So let’s get into it. Ears are a must, unless you’re an Eeyore. They’re so fun and you have a plethora of options: from Minnie Mouse Ears to hats, to characters, to color choices.
You can of course wait to buy these in parks, but if you’re looking to save some money, Amazon has many great options for you to buy ahead of time. And if shopping on Main Street isn’t your cup of tea, this is a great option.
One thing we always bring, and have had to buy twice because my son’s got left on Star Tours one time, is the matching Disney Adult & Kid Mickey Mouse Baseball Caps. My husband and son love wearing these! It’s a great alternative to the traditional ears that end up giving you a headache half way through the day and of course a baseball cap keeps the sun of your face.
Bonus that these are sold at a discount in a Adult and Kid matching pack.
Speaking of those headaches, I can’t tell you how many Minnie Mouse ears are lying around the park by the afternoon. I’ve lost several to them falling out of the stroller while we’re on the move or yes, have sadly flown off during a ride because I forgot to take them off last minute.
I love this Mouse Ear Holder clip! Only $8.99 and we clip it to our Disney Carabiner Clip on the stroller. When those ears starting to dig in around lunch, I can clip them in for a quick break and know that they’re secure.
This of course can double as a binky clip if you have little ones.
Insulated Cooler (with snacks!)
Say it louder for the people in the back! This is a MUST if you have littles with you or you’re looking to save some money.
On our arrival day, I order groceries through Instacart to our hotel room and pack up some snack packs and lunches for the Disney parks, and keep in the mini-fridge until park day.
For each park day I typically pack some mini bagel sandwiches, cheese cubes and crackers, apple sauce packs, etc. I store these all in an Insulated Lunch Bag which is easy to pull in and out of the stroller (you can rent a locker as an alternative) when going through security bag check as well as when you want to grab and go in the Parks.
This Insulated Lunch Bag on Amazon can actually clip on to the side of your stroller, freeing up a lot of space! I haven’t personally tried it, but wish I knew about it before our Disney trip this summer. Would have made a world of difference!
Most importantly, the insulation keeps the food cool and safe to eat through late afternoon.
This is such a game changer when traveling with kids who love their snacks! Save money on all the Disney food and skip the long lines.
Related: Top 10 Disneyland Tips for Moms
Insulated Water Bottle
It can’t go without saying that staying hydrated is key to having a good Disney trip. Planning ahead and bringing a water bottle will keep you out of the long lines when thirst hits and no doubt save you a lot of money (water bottles are over $4 a pop).
I love our Hydro Flask Stainless Steel Water Bottle (24oz) as it keep the water cold and clips right on to our Disney Carabiner Clip.
If you bring a stroller, I highly recommend bringing in a gallon of water to cart around with you. On arrival day, we Instacart a gallon of water for each day in the park to bring and use it to fill our Hydro Flask throughout the day that we’ve prefilled with ice from the hotel.
There are water filling stations throughout the parks as well as water fountains, but they are monitored and cast members will not let you fill up your water bottle from them. Instead, you can fill up complimentary paper cups and use those to fill your bottle.
Sweat and Face Wipes
I’m realizing by the end of this post you’ll know far too much about my personal hygiene and absolute hatred for sweating, but on we go! Carpe Sweat Absorbing Face Wipes is a must!
I discovered these a few years ago when I was looking for a lotion to use to help excessive sweating while I was on a medication that had the unfortunate side effect of sweating. Anyway, it came with these additional face wipes which I never used until I took one of our trips to Disneyland.
These were fantastic! A great way to wipe off any sweat, dirt, you name it! You just get dirty unfortunately at the parks and these were a nice easy wipe to bring with.
Hooked Mini Hand Sanitizer
Speaking of hand sanitizer, this is the one I swear by: the Travel Size Hand Sanitizer with Hook. These are small enough to bring on the plane and the hook just easily clips to your Disney Carabiner Clip on your stroller so it’s easy to access and you don’t lose it.
My kids know to use it every time we move the stroller.
Related: Staying at a Disneyland Resort: Top 10 Perks
Disney Fanny Pack
So let’s talk about what bags you are actually needing to bring. Wether you are bringing a stroller or not, you’ll want something for on the go: a place to put your phone or sunglasses when you’re jumping on a ride, maybe a place to keep some quick snacks if you plan on leaving the stroller for a while.
I don’t like taking my purse to the parks for what I feel are obvious reasons: who wants to worry about it getting stolen? And more than that I don’t want to have to take it on and off and try to stuff it into the little bag area everytime I’m getting on a ride.
Solution? A fanny pack. They’re easy to carry and you can keep it on all day and on all rides.
Now, I bought my Minnie Mouse Fanny Pack well before these became popular again (80’s girl at heart!) so when I first started sporting these there weren’t many options. Now there are quite a few you can buy but I still love my tried and true Minnie Mouse Fanny Pack.
I can’t tell you how many compliments I get on it! The thing is, Disney doesn’t sell fanny packs in the parks so by the time you’re there and realize you need one, you’re already out of luck. I truly can’t swear by these enough. They’re comfortable, practical, affordable, and adorable!
Loungefly Disney Back Pack
The other option is of course a Loungefly Backpack. Loungefly is the maker of all official Disney backpacks as of a few years ago and omg are they adorable. There are tons of options here and people even collect them. That’s a whole nother topic.
If you’re looking for a perfectly sized backpack and want to be on theme, Loungefly is what you’ll want. You can buy these in parks, on Loungefly’s website or even amazon. These range in prices but are typically between $80-$100.
The Loungefly Disney Mickey Mouse Quilted Cosplay Mini Backpack has always been a favorite for me as it’s very gender neutral and such a classic. I didn’t see this in the parks the last few times I went but it is still available on amazon.
Neck Fan
Another amazing option to keep you cool is a Neck Fan. Being from Seattle, we don’t have a real need for these 9 months of the year, but after I tried my friends’ I was sold. It really does keep you cool and it’s really quite comfortable to wear all day.
My one con on this is that it’s for one person, clearly, so you’ll either need to share or buy multiple.
Lightweight Blanket
If you plan on doing any parade or firework watching I’d highly recommend bringing a lightweight blanket. Just pull it out to not only keep your kiddos off the dirty ground but also save some space for you all to sit as the crowds get bigger.
If you’re visiting in the colder months, there’s the obvious advantages in bringing it as well.
I say lightweight because it won’t take up too much space in the stroller or locker as well as in your suitcase, and you really don’t need anything heavy duty.
Bring one from home (I still have so many muslin swaddles laying around from the baby-era for some reason) or check out the aden + anais Minnie Mouse Blanket or Lambs & Ivy Mickey Mouse Blanket.
(Side Note: Having been a Buyer for Infant Apparel and Nursery for 12 years, both of these brands are fantastic. Super soft, durable, and great quality.)
Related: Disneyland Lodging: Which Type is Best for You?
Chafe Stick
I once left for the day at Disneyland, got nearly all the way there and realized I had forgotten to pack my Body Glide Anti Chafe Stick. No lie, I ran straight back to the hotel for it. If you have worries of inner leg chaffing and have not found your solution yet, this is it!
Baby Wipes
And last but not least, if you have kids, this is a probably a no brainer. Clorox sanitizing wipes or baby wipes both are great to help clean any dirty table, sticky fingers, you name it. I personally always love buying the Huggies Disney Wipes for Park days just for fun!
Make sure to download my free Disney Park Bag List including all the items on this post, a few other necessities, and some blank lines for you to add a few others.
Click here or the image below to download!
So there you have it! My complete list of everything I make sure gets added to our Disney park bag every time we go. As the kids get older I’m still surprised by how much we need to pack, but it truly makes such a difference!
Let us know- do you have any favorite items you like to bring that I missed? Comment below and share!
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