What do use to tote things around the world?

[wdwfanatic2004]

We are leaving for the world next week and the wife and I had a "discussion" about what to use to tote things at the parks.
As we have a 4 year old I suggested a stroller, but she said a stroller is to much trouble getting on the busses, monorails, etc. Then she suggested a backpack. Just wondering what every one else uses.
Oh yea there is 6 people in our group.(3 kids).

 

[FSUgly]

We take a stroller, but we have a 20 month old. Our 4 yr old had no need for one, so if that is your youngest, I wouldn't worry with a stroller. If you really think you might need one, the one we have is about $30 at Target. It is made by Safety 1st (light blue and black with a silver frame), and it folds in half and rolls on all 4 wheels when in folded position. It was really quick and easy to collapse, and we didn't have any issues with getting it on and off the busses. It also has a decent size basket underneath for camera bags and snacks. Of course you can't leave anything of much size in the basket when it is collapsed.
Hope this helps....

 

[CindiFan]

We took a stroller last time (our daughter was 2.5 yrs) & it worked fine. It was a bit of a pain getting on & off the buses, but well worth it to help get a tired little one around the parks. This time, we're taking a stroller (our own stroller) as well - our daughter will be 3.5 yrs by this point. We don't want to take the chance of having to tote around a cranky little one this time either. She doesn't weigh all that much until you have to carry her for an extended length of time.

There's the added bonus of being able to hang bags w/purchases from the handles of the stroller. It also has a basket that holds things nicely.

Oh, one thing no one else has mentioned about strollers & little ones - they can help to 'restrain' those little ones who just aren't listening to mom/dad. There are times our daughter certainly doesn't want to ride in her stroller so it can work as an incentive to get her to 'mind her momma'. Too bad the strollers are a bit small to provide the same incentive to get errant husbands to mind. :->

 

[simonem]

bring it all

Hi,

We had a 1 1/2 year old and a 4 1/2 year old last Nov, and Grandma and Grandpa. We brought one beat up 15 year old LLBean backpack and the umbrella stroller that had a basket and a hood. The basket was necessary for the stuff that wasn't going to get stolen if we left it outside a ride, and stuff we just didn't need to carry with us all the time. I wouldn't want to leave a souvenier bag in the stroller basket when I went to see a show.

I carried my camera bag with the cards and some money. I think every adult member should have someplace secure to keep that stuff--a buttoned pocket. We switched off on the backpack now and again. We didn't have to leave the backpack because any ride we all went on, the pack would be fine, too. If it was a rollercoaster, Grandma had to stay with the little one anyway so we gave her the bag.

We really should have brought another stroller. My older one is active and doesn't usually want to sit, but because it is visually overwhelming, she needed to sit to absorb it all. And also an unexpected reason--both girls had ear infections diagnosed the day before we left and weren't there usual selves.

 

[Highland_Holly]

With kids, even those out of diapers, you do tend to carry along more "stuff" than the non-kids group. When our 2 were 5 & 7, we did not have a stroller, but still seemed to need lots of "stuff"... a shoulder bag was going to be too heavy for the all day adventure that is WDW (mind you, this was when video cameras were twice the size/weight they are now). So, we opted for an inexpensive ($20 @ Kmar+) small ROLLING backpack. It was big enough to carry the cameras (video and regular), autograph books, snacks, dry socks, medications, bandaids, sunscreen, etc. and no one had to heft that on their shoulders until we got into a tight queue or on the ride itself. It was such a blessing! And we had tons of people commenting on what a smart choice it was.

Now, we have added another mousketeer to the family, so when we go in December we will be back in stroller mode. But when she is out, we will definately go back to the backpack!

Holly

 

[Firewolfe51]

I have to have something to tote my loot in, so we always carry our mini Jantzen backpack. It is small and quite handy for the camera, gum, mints, park maps, putting sunglassess into while on rides, antibacterial goo, and such. And for goodness sake, I cannot leave home without my LIP GLOSS!!! And of course some sunscreen chapstick for the hubs!:lol:

 

[maelstrom]

Strollers are for toting your kids, not your various stuff you need to carry around the park. I've seen strollers tip over because people stuff too much junk into them and forget about that poor kid in there.

 

[Nemo14]

With kids, even those out of diapers, you do tend to carry along more "stuff" than the non-kids group. When our 2 were 5 & 7, we did not have a stroller, but still seemed to need lots of "stuff"... a shoulder bag was going to be too heavy for the all day adventure that is WDW (mind you, this was when video cameras were twice the size/weight they are now). So, we opted for an inexpensive ($20 @ Kmar+) small ROLLING backpack. It was big enough to carry the cameras (video and regular), autograph books, snacks, dry socks, medications, bandaids, sunscreen, etc. and no one had to heft that on their shoulders until we got into a tight queue or on the ride itself. It was such a blessing! And we had tons of people commenting on what a smart choice it was.

Now, we have added another mousketeer to the family, so when we go in December we will be back in stroller mode. But when she is out, we will definately go back to the backpack!

Holly

I thought that rolling backpacks were not allowed in the parks...

 

[Dwarful]

We've gone both ways...brought our own, rented and even once did the buy & ditch.
Honestly I have to say we used bring a kids size backpack that is pretty much water proof. It has one smaller outer pocket that we use to hold autograph books, inkpens, maps. Then inside we have our handiwipes, sunblock (you'll want to reapply esp.in the summertime) & camera. And any little things we buy along the way. Generally we just let the backpack sit on top of the stroller hood (esp. the rented ones except at MGM) with the strap wrapped around our hand. Then when we parked the stroller we put the pack in the seat. On Dec. 25, 2004 we were in the MK we parked our stroller before our meal at liberty tree and 3 hours later we got back to the stroller...our youngest had left her pin lanyard w/her pins on it in the stroller...it was still there! Not that I'd recommend anyone trying that.

 

[Lucky]

We use a small backpack. If that's not big enough for everything you want to bring, I would recommend a 2nd small backpack. A big one will be too heavy for whoever has to wear it walking for hours around the park, and will be too large to stuff easily into the storage areas provided on most rides.

 

[TakeMe2TheMagic]

We use a black backpack we bought at WDW and try to pack it light.

 

[sdwsq2005]

It'll just be just my husband and I this trip (YAY!), so we decided to carry a small backpack. We don't carry a whole lot, mainly water, camera, sunscreen. Since I'm not fond of the taste of the WDW water, I found a site that sells sport bottles with their own little filters and last for a long time between filter changes. They run about $9 each and my sister says they were fantastic. She and her family just got back from WDW and I had loaned them to her. You just fill them up and off you go. It beats paying $2.50 a bottle just to stay hydrated. It also beats carrying a case of water with you in the park.
Hope this helps,
Sheila

 

[Lanipie]

LOL, glad you get a kick out of us, but it's stuff we need.

We have one miniature bookbag (used to have a pack) that carries everyone's stuff. We're not going to Austraila, but we do have people in our family who wear glasses as well as prescription sunglasses. they have to change these during the day to be able to see inside and outside. There are cases in the mini bag to keep glasses dry and unscratched.

I get sick very easily so we have a little bottle of hand sanitizer and some wipes. We also have glasses wipes.

We have some headache medicine, some band-aids, and some neosporin. There's a small stick of suncreen for people's noses, and feminine products if needed. (I know ewwwwwwww but hey, that's life) LOL

Everything else in the bag is Money, room cards, etc.

 

[RedBaron]

Everyone has always just carried thier own pack. I admit that I have not yet gone to WDW with children but I would think that everyone carrying their own small stuff would be much easier than one person lugging around everything in a pack. Also knowing our luck we would end up leaving the pack somewhere since you have to take it off on the rides. For me the hands free worry free pack is the way to go.

 

[PSU_Princess]

For those of you who use strollers....have you ever had problems with either your stroller or its contents being missing? I would hope that everyone is honest enough not to purposely take someone elses stroller or packages but we all know that not everyone who visits Disney is a polite upstanding citizen.

 

[3fordisney]

For those of you who use strollers....have you ever had problems with either your stroller or its contents being missing? I would hope that everyone is honest enough not to purposely take someone elses stroller or packages but we all know that not everyone who visits Disney is a polite upstanding citizen.

We haven't had any problems with the stroller or its contents going missing. We took an umbrella stroller when our son was 2 and rented a stroller last year. We would leave pictures or small items we might have purchased. We do not leave valuables like the camera, of course. We have had good luck with it so far!

 

[Lanipie]

Everyone has always just carried thier own pack. I admit that I have not yet gone to WDW with children but I would think that everyone carrying their own small stuff would be much easier than one person lugging around everything in a pack. Also knowing our luck we would end up leaving the pack somewhere since you have to take it off on the rides. For me the hands free worry free pack is the way to go.

:lol: I agree. I tried to convince our "stuff carrier" to stick with the pack, but they insist that it is out of style. I said SO ARE TINY BOOKBAGS! Besides at WDW no one cares. But, she won't listen!

 

[Tinkrbell]

When us kids were little, we all had our own pack to hold our sunglasses, autograph book or whatever we wanted. Now that we're older, my brother just puts everything in cargo shorts & me & my sister have small, pursesize backpack that we put everything in.

 

[Aurora_25]

For those of you who use strollers....have you ever had problems with either your stroller or its contents being missing? I would hope that everyone is honest enough not to purposely take someone elses stroller or packages but we all know that not everyone who visits Disney is a polite upstanding citizen.

We have never had problems at all when we leave our stroller or leave stuff in the stroller. One thing that I have on the stroller though is a luggage tag thing that has our names on it and is very noticable (bright green). We have left bags of stuff we bought in the basket and even have left the ponchos on it when it had been raining and never had a problem at all.

 

[Yellow Shoes]

Everyone has always just carried thier own pack. I admit that I have not yet gone to WDW with children but I would think that everyone carrying their own small stuff would be much easier than one person lugging around everything in a pack. Also knowing our luck we would end up leaving the pack somewhere since you have to take it off on the rides. For me the hands free worry free pack is the way to go.

Absolutely!

And our children, beginning at age 5, had their own waist pack.

For some reason, public sentiment has turned against them, and they are considered the worst of the tourist transgressions.

Guess what?? I don't care. (It's practically the only perk of getting older)

The waist pack leaves my hands free
I can't set it down and forget it
My back doesn't get sweaty
My shoulders don't get tired
No one is tempted to give me all their junk--they can put it in their own pack
After dark, I can hang my hat on the waistband

 

[kennygman]

We use a collapsable stroller, not too hard on the buses.