your guide to bags at Disney World [which ones to bring, what to pack in them, and how to manage them in the parks]

Mary Poppins' carpetbag. Wouldn't that be the ideal choice to bring to a day at a Disney Park? It's light as a feather, holds everything you need (including a nice-sized mirror and a floor lamp), and it's totally on-theme. Kidding aside, there are some bags that work better than others inside the Disney parks, and I'm going to spill all! I've also got you covered with what to put in your bags and how to manage them at the parks.

+ Bags for Adults

After a lot of (probably too much) research, I landed on the Baggallini Everywhere Travel Crossbody Bag (in black) for myself. I don't hate it. In fact, I am currently using it as my everyday bag. However, I will probably make a different choice the next time we visit Disney World. I think my major complaint about the Baggallini Crossbody was its crossbody nature... I could hold so much in the bag (something I wanted!), that I felt lopsided when I wore it. It's also not the cutest bag. (I jazzed mine up with a sparkly Minnie Mouse-inspired keychain from the Beach Club Marketplace.)

Next time, I will choose a backpack, and I think it will be the Travelon Anti-Theft Backpack. I love all the security features and the fact that it has a specific place for me to put a water bottle. My Baggallini was roomy enough to hold a water bottle in the main pocket, but it rolled around and just felt kind of clunky.

Disney seems to be onto the whole "backpacks being a good thing at the parks" because there are LOTS of cute ones to choose from. I was eyeing up this Minnie Mouse Sequined Mini Backpack while we were at Disney Springs, but I couldn't justify spending that much money on something I would only be comfortable wearing at Disney World.

My pick for myself:

As for my hubby, he wore the Under Armour Hustle 3.0 Backpack and loved it. It's stylish and has lots of pockets for the family's necessities. He was able to take it with him on all the rides, too. (More on that later.) 

My pick for the hubs:

+ Bags for Kids

The three older boys (ages 10, 7, and 4) each had his own Cinch Sack. Ours are from thirty-one (THIS ONE is very similar to Shane's), but you can find them anywhere these days. I have to say that I was happy the boys' bags were monogrammed. Despite a billion reminders from us to "grab your bags," our middle children repeatedly forgot their bags in restaurants and on rides. The personalization made it easy to identify their bags when we later realized they were missing. (You definitely don't have to have your bags monogrammed, but I do highly recommend having them labeled somewhere with your child's name and perhaps your cell phone number.)

My pick for kids:

Theo just turned two years old, so we needed a diaper bag for him. I won't go into depth about this because we packed the diaper bag as we usually do (sippy cup of water + snacks + diapers + wipes + extra change of clothes + small toys for distraction purposes + mini first-aid kid). I'm a big fan of backpack diaper bags and would never go back to the standard kind. Although I don't have it (and I'm not about to go buying another diaper bag when our youngest child is two years old), I am obsessed with THIS ONE. It has perfect ratings, is functional and stylish, and isn't something a dad would be embarrassed to schlep around. 

My pick for baby:

+ What to Pack in Your Bag

My bag:

• wallet (I adore my HOBO Vintage Lauren Wallet. It's spendy but occasionally goes on sale [that's how I got it!], and I feel like it was such a good investment. Be sure to pare down your wallet before your trip. Bring plenty of singles for tip money! You shouldn't have to tip much at the parks, but you will probably need to tip at the airport, when you depart the Magical Express, and as guest services bring things to your room.)
• my phone
• sunglasses
• a bottle of water (Through Amazon Prime Now, we ordered two cases of Aquafina to be delivered to Beach Club. I'll probably do a separate post on this later, but I will try Garden Grocer next time instead of Amazon Prime Now.) And can we just take a moment to talk about the water at Disney? SOOOOOO many people warned me ahead of time that the water from drinking fountains at Disney is disgusting to the point of being undrinkable. We thought the water was fine. I mean, I wouldn't take a sip of it and burst into song about how it was the most delicious water that has ever touched my tongue, but it was certainly tolerable. Each of us brought in one bottle of water every day, and we refilled at drinking fountains, and no one complained. I grew up with well water, though, so maybe I just have a high tolerance for variations in the taste of water??
• travel hand sanitizer (The trip I made to Disney World when I was 8 years old was thwarted by stomach flu. I wanted to make sure I was armed against those obnoxious germs!)
• travel facial tissue
• bubblegum (I brought this to help the boys with ear pressure on the airplane and also to help cheer them out of any sour moods. I dared not give it to them for their own bags because the entire pack would be gone in a day.)
• snacks (typically a Quest bar, an individually wrapped beef stick, and a slender stick)
• children's Dramamine (My kids occasionally suffer from motion sickness. I had to bust this out on more than one occasion, and I wished I had more!)

Dan's backpack:

• snacks
• bottles of water
• ponchos (We shipped two boxes to ourselves at Beach Club, but one box would have been enough.)
• sunscreen (the spray kind)
• baseball cap
• sunglasses/case
• cell phone charging cord and Anker portable charger (I highly recommend bringing at least one portable charger.)
• cash
• hand sanitizer
• Disney trip guides/tour book printouts

Boys' cinch sacks:

• baseball cap
• sunglasses
• snacks
• a bottle of water
• hand sanitizer (for my 10 and 7 year olds, not my 4 year old)
• a gallon-size zip-top bag containing an autograph book and a retractable Sharpie (This was based on an amazing tip from my friend Betsy. The bag keeps everything together and waterproof. The retractable Sharpies are a perfect choice for character autographs. They are easy for the characters to use with their big costumed hands! Also, I bought inexpensive personalized autograph books on Etsy. Be sure to choose cardstock for your pages. Some of the characters' autographs bled through the cardstock, so I can only imagine how much they would bleed through regular paper!)

+ Managing Bags at the Parks

Managing bags at the parks is easy-peasy! The most tedious part is getting through security. When you arrive at a Disney park, you need to wait in line to have security search your bags. To expedite the process, security asks you to have all the pockets open ahead of time. Getting through this checkpoint was not lightning-quick because we had six bags that needed to get checked (mine + Dan's + 3 cinch sacks + Theo's diaper bag), and Theo's diaper bag has a billion pockets. They also search the stroller at this point.

Once you are through the security check, there really isn't much else to manage! You can bring your bags, including your backpack, onto all the rides. (Dan usually just put his backpack on the floor of the ride.) I either wore my bag across my body or set it on the floor. I even wore my bag onto Kali River Rapids at Animal Kingdom (where you will most likely get soaked). My bag is waterproof but, even if it wasn't, I would have just tucked it under my poncho. If Theo was able to ride with us, we just left his diaper bag hanging on the stroller. 

I hope I've answered all your questions about bringing bags to Disney! If you have any more, send 'em my way! Just know, however, that I won't be able to explain how Mary Poppins managed to get a potted plant in and out of hers...

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