If you're visiting Walt Disney World in Florida soon, then no doubt you've been wondering what to pack.I spent months reading through Disney blogs & groups for advice but I found that my "To Buy" list was endlessly growing and it was so tricky to figure out what was a true essential, what I'd be better off picking up over there and what was just unnecessary!
Of course the answers to this will vary depending on lots of different factors, such as the time of year you're visiting and whether you're traveling with children or an adult-only party. But there are some items that I think are always going to be worth packing, so I'm going to share those recommendations with you today.
Ponchos
The rain in Florida is NO JOKE. I knew that we were traveling during hurricane season and it was likely to rain most afternoons, but nothing could have prepared me for the amount of rain we experienced during our trip. I had been told to expect a quick 15 minute rain shower most afternoons before it dried up and the sun shone again, but this was not our experience of September weather at all - it rained torrentially for HOURS most days! The rain was the heaviest I've ever seen...ponchos were an absolute must!
But the ponchos that Disney sell in the parks cost $10 a piece. Luckily we had taken multi-packs with us from Amazon - we bought a Family Pack Of Ponchos which had some adult sized ones and some kid-sized ponchos too, and we used them all during our trip! I would 100% take these with us again.
Handheld Fans
I was in two minds about whether or not to include these, as honestly both myself and my partner found them to be largely useless - we tried all sorts of gadgets to try and keep us cool, from cooling towels to UV umbrellas, but none of it worked. I would not take any of these things in future...but I decided to include handheld USB chargeable fans as my children did enjoy using them. I don't think they necessarily helped to cool them down, but they did make them feel that they could do something to TRY to cool down - and sometimes that was a helpful enough distraction! We used handheld fans which fit nicely into their backpacks.
Water Shoes
I'm really glad we purchased these as not only were they really useful for our visit to Discovery Cove where the bottom of the pools can be very rough, but they also provided welcome relief when walking between the pools and loungers as the floors can be scorching hot in the Florida sunshine! We got our water shoes from Amazon
Lanyards
These would be handy for anyone using physical park tickets rather than Magic Bands to save you having to root around in your bag or wallet before scanning in to a park, and we used them a lot for this purpose at Universals parks. But they were also great for pin trading collecting which my kids really enjoyed!
Starter Pins
If you or your children want to have a go at pin trading during your trip, be sure to buy some starter pins before your visit. If you buy official Disney pins from ShopDisney or the parks themselves, you will pay around $10 per pin...instead we bought a batch of starter pins from eBay for around £20. We did hear rumours on various Disney fan groups that we may have problems trading them as they're unofficial but we never encountered any problems with it and most of the pins we traded seemed to be from the same sorts of sets anyway! You can find them HERE
SPF
This was one item I was unsure about as I had heard it can be better to purchase SPF while there but I'm glad we didn't as it was extremely expensive. We took our own with us, my preferred brand was the SunBum Factor 50 as it only needed to applied once or twice per day and we had no issues with burning.
Waterproof Phone Case
This was something I actually forgot to buy before our visit, and I had a hard time finding one as the water parks sold out of them early when we visited. I was finally able to get one during our second water park trip and I used it a lot from then on whenever we were in the pools - it enabled me to get some great underwater video footage and in-pool shots, as well as meaning I didn't need to worry about my phone being stolen from our lounger. I bought one just like this, but paid around 3 x the price due to buying at the parks!
Portable Phone Charger
You will run your phone battery down QUICKLY at Disney because you have to use it a lot - for looking at maps, mobile ordering food, checking ride wait times, using Genie Plus and taking photos - the battery is soon drained so having a portable charger or two with you is a wise idea!
Crocs
Before our trip, I was very much anti-Crocs and I was certain that nothing would ever convince me to wear those hideous crimes against fashion - but I was wrong! Disney is HARD on your feet and Crocs are comfortable, light, breathable and easy to dry off after a heavy rain storm! I would opt for Crocs on every Disney trip from now on. If you're visiting with kids, you might want to buy some fun Disney jibitz for their crocs - but don't pay through the nose for official ones! We bought this pack for half the price which was full of all the different characters, they had so much fun choosing their favourites and decorating their crocs!
I hope this post has been helpful, and try not to panic too much about your packing - there's not much that you'll need which you won't be able to pick up during your trip. Have a magical holiday!
If you enjoy my blog, please consider following me on Bloglovin'
