Are you headed to The Happiest Place On Earth?! Good for you! A trip to Disney World is not only a way to make magical memories with your family, but it’s also an opportunity to relax…if you pack right.
How in the world do you get packed without bringing the entire house to keep the kids entertained and prepared for all of the ‘what ifs’? Don’t worry. I did this trip last summer, road trip style, with a family of 6 and we were packed for success with room for souvenirs! Let me walk you through it.
What To Pack
- Suitcases
- Toiletries
- Kitchen Items
- Park Bag
- Activity Bags
- Extras
Suitcases:
When packing your suitcases, focus on the clothing categories. What kind of weather do you need to pack for? What activities will you be doing? Is anyone going in the pool? Does your hotel supply towels or do you need to bring your own? There are a lot of important things you need to think about so you have everything you need without overpacking. The packing list below is for a 7 day trip over the summer where laundry is accessible, so modify the quantities/items based on your vacation length, weather, and laundry accessibility.
- 7 shirts
- 4-5 shorts (we did laundry during the week)
- 1 pair of pants
- 1 sweatshirt
- 1 lightweight jacket
- 5 pairs of pajamas
- 10 underwear (day and nighttime)
- 7 pairs of socks
- 1 pair of gym shoes
- 1 pair of sandals
- 1 swim suit
- 1 beach towel
- Goggles
- Sunglasses
- Hat
- Diapers/pull ups
- Wipes
Also, I recommend investing in those fabulous suitcases that have 2 sides, if possible. My kids were each gifted one for Christmas (thank you Mom!) and they were perfect for a Disney trip. I brought 4 (one for each child) and packed all of their clothes on one side of the suitcase. I put things that we were going to use and dispose of (diapers, wipes, kitchen paper items, etc.) on the other side of each suitcase. That way, at the end of the trip, each kid had an empty side of their suitcase. That made it soooo easy to transport all of those acquired souvenirs home!
Toiletries:
This category is going to be pretty family specific, but I will give you the general items that would be helpful to have on a trip like Disney.
Since we drove, I packed a separate bag with toiletries and 1 pair of clothes/jammies for each kiddo. It took us 2 days to drive there, so we had to stop overnight. Packing a separate bag for that stop was incredibly helpful. That way, we didn’t have to lug 6 suitcases into a hotel for one night!
- Toothbrush
- Toothpaste
- Floss
- Brush/comb
- Hair Spray/Hair Gel
- Contacts/solution
- Glasses
- Make Up
- Deodorant
- Perfume/Cologne
- Jewelry
- Shampoo/Conditioner
- Body Wash
- Razor/Shaving Cream
- Feminine Products
- Sunscreen
- Bug Spray
- Aloe
- Medicine
Kitchen Items:
The kitchen items you need will be completely dependent on your hotel/condo situation. We stayed in a condo with a full kitchen, so every breakfast and most lunches were had in our condo. If you are staying at a hotel that only has a mini fridge and all of your meals will be had outside of the room, your kitchen supplies will be pretty minimal.
Our full kitchen did come with dishes and basic utensils/tools. However, we made the choice to save on dishwashing time and spend more time at the parks by using mostly throw away items. Here is what we needed for a full kitchen:
- Paper plates
- Paper bowls
- Plastic silverware
- Paper cups
- Paper Towels
- Napkins
- Dish soap
- Dish rags
- Scrub brush
- Food – think about the meals you will eat or prepare from your room as well as snacks you will want at the parks
- Laundry detergent/color catchers/dryer sheets – if you have access to laundry
Park Bag:
This is probably the most important bag that you will pack throughout your entire trip. The Park Bag! What do you want to bring to the park? Part of that depends on how old your kiddos are and part depends on what you are willing to pay for inside of the park.
My goal was to bring as much as possible so buying was left to souvenirs and the occasional treat. As much as I love Disney, it is expensive! And with 6 people in my family, a snack stop can easily turn into a $100 bill if we’re not careful!
Here is what I generally brought with 4 kids aged 1-7.
- Backpack to carry everything
- 3-4 diapers
- 1 pair of extra undies for the toddler
- 1 pack of wipes
- Diaper changing pad
- 6 water bottles (I had a separate small drawstring bag for waters that I put in the stroller once we rented it at the park)
- 2 snacks for each kid in snack cups – goldfish, pretzels, veggie straws, etc. – I let the kids pick 2.
- 6 fruit snack packs
- 2 fruit pouches
- Lunch if we were eating at the park – usually consisted of 2 sandwiches cut in half, 2 bags of veggie straws, carrots/fruit, milk cup for the baby
- 4 mini fans
- 5 hats (we wore these)
- 6 sunglasses (everyone carried their own)
- First Aid Kit – I’ll go over what’s inside in the Extra Section at the bottom of this post
- Small activity bags for waiting in lines and for reservations – see the next section for ideas
- Epi Pen
Activity Bags:
Activity Bags are my specialty. Everywhere we go, my kids bring their activity bags. We leave them in the car for easy access during our typical weeks at home. That way, we always have something to keep them busy in case we end up at the doctor, in the store, or have an impromptu dinner out.
I am always getting comments and questions on our bags and it makes this Mama proud. I am not about the judge anyone who has their child on technology when out and about (we all need a break and every family is different). However, one of the first choices that I made when my kiddos were old enough to come on errands with me, was that they were not getting my phone and I wasn’t going to buy an iPad so they could stare at it in the store. There are so many learning opportunities when out and about with your kiddo; I wanted to take advantage of it!
That being said, Disney was no different. I did not want to hand any of my children my phone and we still don’t have iPads/tablets for them. Now, when we had gone through all of the activities and dinner still hadn’t arrived, my sister did whip out her phone to put something on for the littles. Sometimes, technology is just what you need to keep 6 kids calm at 7:00pm when they are hangry!
Check out the links below to find our park activity bags:
Extras:
Here are all of the important extras that didn’t fit into another category:
First Aid Kit
- Bandaids in multiple sizes
- Polysporin or other ointments
- Alcohol Wipes
- Gauze
- Hand Sanitizer
- Sunscreen
- Bug Spray
- Kleenex
- Clorox/wet ones
- Tape
- Glasses kit
- Pen
Epi pen – We have a kiddo with a life threatening peanut allergy
Camelbak
Camera
Small Ziploc – if you collect pressed pennies
Magic Bands
Enjoy!
Now that you have taken the time to pack, enjoy the trip! Get out there and experience those magical memories with your family.
Thanks for stopping by, sweet friend! Check us out on Pinterest and see what we are up to on Instagram. I hope you have the most magical trip on Earth!
Check out our Awesome Disney Activity Bags here!
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