best ways to stay hydraited?

[Shey]

for all you mom and dads out there....

how do you keep the your kids hydraited at the parks...do u guys bring your own....or do you pick them up at the parks or the resorts....

I hear I can get water and lemonade at most stands....but for $2.50 a bottle x 8 people....I'd go broke....

any info would help out! :veryconfu

 

[Captain Cab]

If you're really concerned, then the best option would probably be to purchase sports drinks or water bottles (plastic bottles only!) somewhere off Disney property. Each person would have their own bottle in the park, and you can keep refilling them with cold water from the hundreds of drinking fountains found throughout WDW.

If cost is a problem, then just stick to visiting the water fountains. They are easy to find in the parks and hotels, and most of them are ice-cold and in good working condition.

 

[Samwayla]

Shey,
Sorry to get off topic I just had to tell you how cute your Avatar is. Maybe it's already been said but I wanted to say it again. That is just too cute! Back on Topic though. Are you going to use a stroller? You could just put a small cooler in the bottom and put in some bottled water. Another thing I heard, BUT, Don't quote me, Is that Ice Water is free at any sidewalk stand or restaurant. Hope I helped.

 

[Epcot is my fav]

Originally posted by Samwayla
Shey,
Sorry to get off topic I just had to tell you how cute your Avatar is. Maybe it's already been said but I wanted to say it again. That is just too cute! Back on Topic though. Are you going to use a stroller? You could just put a small cooler in the bottom and put in some bottled water. Another thing I heard, BUT, Don't quote me, Is that Ice Water is free at any sidewalk stand or restaurant. Hope I helped.

About water being free at sidewalk stands it use to be but over the summer they would just give cups with ice.....which is good then you can fill it up at the water fountain......you can always go to Ice Cool Station for free soda....your best bet is filling up bottles are the fountains.......although the water always has a funky taste

 

[SpongeScott]

we will bring in a bottle of water per person (four of us) and carry it in a backpack. We also stop and get a drink at just about every water fountain we pass and we drink water, not Cokes, at our meals. Saves on the money and is better for you.

 

[pocahontas79]

What my family did last summer was to take a couple of ice cubes from the ice bins that are at the drink stands to rub on your forehead and neck. This helped on those hot Florida days.

 

[RogueHabit]

One of those water spray fan things is a good investment. They cost about $10.00, but they are great, especailly for keeping the kids cool.

Last year we had real problems with our 1 year old daughter until we figured out that a bottle of apple juice would make about 5 drinks in her bottle when mixed with ice.

We put about 2 inches of juice in her bottle and got ice from the drinks stalls, you have to get it from the soda fountain stalls as the bottle stalls ice isn't suppose to be eaten, but anyway, we would fill the bottle with ice and the juice and as it melted it kept her drink cool and she would drink and drink so she didn't dehydrate.

One important note, malke sure the kids eat proper food, it isn't just the water that they sweat off.

 

[ISTCrew20]

Well, what I do when I visit the Parks really depends what park im going to---

Magic Kingdom: Water Fountains are great there...If you go in an off-time and you think its good...its also a great meeting place..find something bigger nearby, and then find your water fountain

Animal Kingdom: A VERY hot park in the summer...If you go over to Rafiki's Planet Watch, there are great water Fountains over there...But you migt want to find some elsewhere in the park, cause RPW is just Aweful

Disney MGM: As of yesterday, ALL of the Fountains in the GMR plaza area and all of NY street were aweful...Not cold, and tasted aweful.....Those by TOT were pretty good though..


Epcot: MEZZO MIX.....best drink in te park

 

[mwitkus]

we tend to just buy drinks as we go, but that's easy for us since there are just 2 of us...

i would recommend buying a few bottles of water and keeping them in your stroller.... you can refill them at the fountains, get ice from the vendors, and fill them up at your hotel the night before or that morning... if you have a freezer available, fill them 1/2 way the night before and freeze them overnight - then fill the rest in the morning... that helps to keep the water cold...

there are also popsicles - i don't know how much they will help, but my theory is that every little bit helps... and the kids may be more inclined to enjoy a cold popsicle over more water...

and on a side note - i also love the avatar! sounds like you have your hands full with that family but i am sure they are wonderful!!!

 

[marypopmom]

Our one son has asthma so hydration in August is always important to us. We use the sprayer fan, wear hats, light colored shirts, never navy etc., lots of sunscreen. We fill up the resort mugs, transfer them into a big rubbermaid chugger bottle, several of those, by the time its lunch we save all our ice. The water is terrible tasting to us, and I always bring kool aid and mix it in to kill the taste. Also whenever we have a character meal, this works especially well at Crystal palace in MK at lunch, we ask for an extra drink refil before we go, We do not drink it, but pour it into the empty chugger bottle, This should last until the 3 o clock parade. If kids are getting too hot, go into a nice airconditioned place to stop the crankiness, like hall of presidents, great for a nap, or country bear jamboree, fun and cooling down at the same time. You get the picture. Have fun.

 

[Shey]

Thanks for all your advice....
we will have sippy cups for the boys...so that should be easy to fill up with water etc....
I like the idea about bringing drink powder down....the kids do enjoy fruit punch...gatorade...etc....
I've seen those sprayer fans up here....I always thought they were the ugliest looking objects...but I guess they'll serve well in Disney World....

we'll be going down with friends....who also have children the same age....
the one thing I am nervous about....are the girls not eating right....we're not the healthiest family....but the girls will be traveling with the dad's of our group....and I can seem them now with a mickey ice cream in one hand and a churro in the other
....

someone did mentioned this....
about the resort mugs....how we can fill those up and pour the contents into the sippy cups...sport's bottles etc....
instead of filling the resort mugs...can we just fill the sippy cups and sports bottles instead....we would still own a resort mug though....just save some time and spillage....

thanks for all the avater compliments...:king:

PS- is the water really that bad....I'd like to make freshg coffee in the morning....with the water ruin the taste?

 

[rosie.ca]

the water isn't that bad in my opinion ...i don't really notice anything if the water is cold enough or has ice in it ... it does have a certain taste tho kind of like well it is hard to describe ...not too too stong tho and coffee or juice crystals do cover the flavour just fine .

 

[JeepGuy77]

um.. isnt the best way to stay hydrated is by drinking water? It may be just me.


Haha. I bring a bottle of water into the park and usually refill it. Or just buy a bottle of water and keep refilling it. Still cheaper than a soda which contains sodium and that makes u more thirsty.

 

[wdwforus]

Originally posted by mwitkus


there are also popsicles - i don't know how much they will help, but my theory is that every little bit helps... and the kids may be more inclined to enjoy a cold popsicle over more water...

I have experienced this and think it works well. We had a sick one last year during our trip in April and they only thing we could really get her to eat or drink other than water was the fruit popsicles they sell. She ate alot of fruit also which helps your body to begin with. When the kids are saying they are hot and want an ice cream get a popsicle. I know they might be loaded with sugar but at least it helps cool them down for awhile and an ice cream of any kind is worth 20 minutes of peace in my house anyday. Going to WDW with 6 kids......omg....

 

[wdwforus]

Originally posted by Shey

I've seen those sprayer fans up here....I always thought they were the ugliest looking objects...but I guess they'll serve well in Disney World....

....are the girls not eating right....we're not the healthiest family....but the girls will be traveling with the dad's of our group....and I can seem them now with a mickey ice cream in one hand and a churro in the other

....how we can fill those up and pour the contents into the sippy cups...sport's bottles etc....
instead of filling the resort mugs...can we just fill the sippy cups and sports bottles instead....we would still own a resort mug though....just save some time and spillage....

PS- is the water really that bad....I'd like to make freshg coffee in the morning....with the water ruin the taste?

First... I wasnt too thrilled when my wife bought one of the fan sprayers but it was well needed and I think we paid closer to $15 but we made our girls share.

Second...Your on vacation....who cares what the kids eat as long as they eat SOMETHING....most of the meals we went to were buffetts so there is plenty to choose from...and there is always plenty of fruit around.

Third....carrying those mugs around I thought was an extreme hassle...we only used them at our resort if we were eating there which was mostly just breakfast...there isnt any juice or milk if I recall at the drink stations....you have to buy it seperate. Coffee, tea and soda was about it but if your going to eat at the resort alot you would probably get your monies worth on soda alone. Not sure how they would feel about filling any cup or mug at the drink station.

Last....I dont remember the water tasting really bad...just not that good....almost a chemical taste to it...but the coffee was fine...we were worried about spending alot on bottled water but in the end we just bought 2 fresh bottles in the a.m. when we got there and refilled off the fountains as we went.

 

[GenerationX]

One other idea that works for us:

We always rent a refrigerator, and we always take our insulated baby bottle bag (which is now only used on vacations) with us. It fits four water bottles.

We fill the bottles with water at night and put two in the refrigerator and two in the freezer. When we leave for the parks, we put the two ice bottles on the ends of the bottle bag and the two water bottles in between. We finish the water bottles in a couple of hours ... just in time for the ice bottles to have barely melted!

Also, we'll take a break and go back to the resort mid-day. We load all four bottles with water and put them in the freezer until we make our evening park run.

 

[Scooter]

For those of you who can't stand the taste of the water in the parks...

The Britta water filter Company makes a Sports bottle with a filter.

I got one and it holds almost 2 liters of water.

Every morning I would fill it with ice from the resort ice machines.
My wife bought a Disney washrag and made a cover for it with elastic around the top to further insulate it and to absorb the sweat from the bottle. We keep it in our back pack and it works well.

As the ice in the bottle slowly melts, we have ice cold filtered water.

It's basically just made of plastic so the ice doesn't last all day in the Florida heat but we just ask the venders for some ice and refill it and they are usually pretty nice about it.

 

[marypopmom]

Originally posted by Shey
Thanks for all your advice....
we will have sippy cups for the boys...so that should be easy to fill up with water etc....
I like the idea about bringing drink powder down....the kids do enjoy fruit punch...gatorade...etc....
I've seen those sprayer fans up here....I always thought they were the ugliest looking objects...but I guess they'll serve well in Disney World....

we'll be going down with friends....who also have children the same age....
the one thing I am nervous about....are the girls not eating right....we're not the healthiest family....but the girls will be traveling with the dad's of our group....and I can seem them now with a mickey ice cream in one hand and a churro in the other
....

someone did mentioned this....
about the resort mugs....how we can fill those up and pour the contents into the sippy cups...sport's bottles etc....
instead of filling the resort mugs...can we just fill the sippy cups and sports bottles instead....we would still own a resort mug though....just save some time and spillage....

thanks for all the avater compliments...:king:

PS- is the water really that bad....I'd like to make freshg coffee in the morning....with the water ruin the taste?

 

[marypopmom]

Originally posted by Shey
Thanks for all your advice....
we will have sippy cups for the boys...so that should be easy to fill up with water etc....
I like the idea about bringing drink powder down....the kids do enjoy fruit punch...gatorade...etc....
I've seen those sprayer fans up here....I always thought they were the ugliest looking objects...but I guess they'll serve well in Disney World....

we'll be going down with friends....who also have children the same age....
the one thing I am nervous about....are the girls not eating right....we're not the healthiest family....but the girls will be traveling with the dad's of our group....and I can seem them now with a mickey ice cream in one hand and a churro in the other
....

someone did mentioned this....
about the resort mugs....how we can fill those up and pour the contents into the sippy cups...sport's bottles etc....
instead of filling the resort mugs...can we just fill the sippy cups and sports bottles instead....we would still own a resort mug though....just save some time and spillage....

thanks for all the avater compliments...:king:

PS- is the water really that bad....I'd like to make freshg coffee in the morning....with the water ruin the taste?

I meant that I didnt want my kids to get in trouble for using other than the resort mugs, so we would just fill them up, generally with the pink lemonade from Captiain Cooks at the Polynesian and stay outside and then pour them into our big rubbermaid containers, yes it was inconvient and it took them a couple trips but I am one for following the rules. We just took the resort mugs empty into the backpack and stopped again on our way back from the park. Yes I did mention the drink powder and let me tell you we used lots of it. We feel the water is bad plain, thats why I bring all the kool aid and switch flavors every day grape, orange, fruit punch etc. Also I learned this from a Disney CM, bring lots of shout wipes. Really helps if the kids spill stuff on their shirts right before you want to take a picture, I was thinking of kool aid that is hard to get out sometimes. Have fun.

 

[RogueHabit]

Originally posted by rosie.ca
the water isn't that bad in my opinion ...i don't really notice anything if the water is cold enough or has ice in it ... it does have a certain taste tho kind of like well it is hard to describe ...not too too stong tho and coffee or juice crystals do cover the flavour just fine .

I find that the taste and quality of the water can differ greatly from fountain to fountain. And the temperature as well. Some are lovely and cool whilst others are luke warm.