- Children's Tylenol, Advil and Benadryl. .. Consult your doctor on how much each child can take because it will be different for each child depending on age and weight. Notice this is at the top!! I'm so glad I brought it! First, let me clarify that I never "medicate" my kids to make them behave or for no apparent reason. Your kids are so exhausted during the trip that you may think they will totally pass out at a moments notice, but they are also over stimulated and sore (and not able to express if they hurt). I hurt from all of the walking, and even though they rode and were carried a good portion of the time, it was a lot more walking than they were use too! And Gabe was a total mess and up at all times of the night... just from being out of his norm and sleeping with the rest of the family and tylenol seem to help him (it very well could have been teething for him!). Allergies are also kind of crazy down in Florida, so the Benadryl will help with the drainage and stuffiness your kids may experience. But know your kids... sometimes Benadryl makes kids go crazy instead of sleepy :)
- A Stroller... Last year we took two strollers, a double umbrella stroller and a regular baby stroller. The double was for the older kids and the single was so our little one could nap better. Even if your kids are ages 5-8, it can be a lot of walking and they can wear out fast in the heat, especially if they have been cooped up for a few months and not use to the heat. Last year, we prepped our kids by taking long walks around the neighborhood. This seemed to really help break in shoes and get them in shaped, or as my sister-in-law says... "getting your Disney legs". So having a place for your kids to rest or nap while you wait in line for characters or walk around the park is great, and you will have room to carry any extras you need for the day. We have a jeep umbrella stroller that is awesome, and I can hang a book bag from the back and even put my lunch box on the bars underneath. DO NOT rent a stroller from Disney... biggest waste of money. The stroller was nice to have through the airport and you just store it at the gate (free and easy). Obviously, if you are driving, you can take one. And if you insist that it is too much extra stuff to take on the plane, you can rent from another outside agency or buy on Amazon and have it shipped to your resort, then donate it to a local church!
- Bottled Water... if your looking for a way to save money, having bottled water in your resort room can save you a ton of money. Last year, we had groceries delivered to our resort. This year, I think I'm just going to order a couple of cases of bottled water delivered to our resort the week before. Also, take the individual packets of Lemonade and Fruit punch or Hi-C (found at walmart and easy to pack) to flavor the water if you want. I always filled thermos' for the kids before we left and then take 4-6 cold bottles in a lunch box and use them to refill the thermos' or drink yourself through out the day. With the heat and walking, you get very thirsty, and water is expensive or the Florida water tastes funny. And you are aloud to bring your own drinks and food into the parks!
- Food... I will go into more detail about food in another blog, but we took snacks and breakfast with us! Anything that needed to be put in the fridge we ordered from a local grocery delivery. We needed juice, and 3 gallons of milk (with 3 kids on whole milk, we go through it pretty fast!), cheese sticks, and yogurt. There are small fridges in each resort room and we may have bummed some space off of others in our party :)
- Organizers... This was probably one of the best tips I found, especially with 5 of us in one room. And I now take these whenever we travel!! As your kids get older, you can take multiple organizers:
- The Door Shoe organizer- you can take this and fill it with snacks and small things you don't want your kids to lose. Since my kids were little and can't open there own snacks, I didn't take one. But I may rethink it this year, that way I have a place to put shoes and soaps and toys and snacks.
- Hanging Closet organizer (I typically see people use these to put sweaters in and they are box shaped) All of these organizers fold easily and take up little room. I used this to put shoes and bathing suites in (after dried) and just gave us some extra storage space we needed.
- Box organizers- the hospital gave it's associates trunk organizers this year. A few of the nurses who didn't want theirs gave them to me. I plan to take them for shoes and toys this year. I don't want to be trying to leave for a park and not able to find a shoe, so as soon as we get in a room everyone can take off their shoes
These are just some of the things I've thought of that were most important for our family to bring and maybe inspire some ideas for you on your trip!!
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