What is your not so normal item to pack, which is helpful while at WDW ?

[MuggleMel]

We bring a bright colored scarf to tie to our stroller so we can find it in the masses when it gets moved in the stroller parking area.

 

[MumziMom]

I bring a hanging cloth sweater-organizer that collapses into a bundle about an inch high, as well as stacked small plastic bins (like you would find 3 for $1 at CVS). I label the bins - I slide them in and out of the organizer, one per opening, and it really keeps the bathroom/room neat. I'll use one to toss in pocket contents/receipts, one for my personal toothbrush/cleaning stuff, one for the other little stuff we bring (mini first aid, washing items, etc.) Everybody gets two, and when they were little they liked having their own personal space (albeit "tiny".) Those little "drawers" hold a lot of little bits of stuff that get all over, and keep the place tidy. It doesn't take up much room, and I usually stuff the collapsed organizer in the outside pocket of my suitcase, while the "bins" are fairly compact.

This time we will be staying at Kidani, and will hang the organizer in the closet next to the front bathroom. If we will be anywhere for more than a couple of days, it comes in really handy. It attaches right around the closet rod with the velcro on the top.

 

[OMGWDWWedding]

My husband gets GIANT blisters on his feet every time we go to Disney. The first couple of trips we had to rent a wheelchair after a few days, then someone told him about a military tip. We take cotton thread, original Listerine and a needle. Thread the needle and soak the thread in the Listerine (feel free to use the Listerine to sanitize the needle as well). Now use the needle to pull the thread thru the blister. This only works with original Listerine, not the flavored stuff, the entire point of the Listerine is to sanitize everything. He then leaves the thread in the blister overnight, the cotton thread pulls the liquid out & the blister usually callouses within a couple of days.

 

[Tink_83]

My husband gets GIANT blisters on his feet every time we go to Disney. The first couple of trips we had to rent a wheelchair after a few days, then someone told him about a military tip. We take cotton thread, original Listerine and a needle. Thread the needle and soak the thread in the Listerine (feel free to use the Listerine to sanitize the needle as well). Now use the needle to pull the thread thru the blister. This only works with original Listerine, not the flavored stuff, the entire point of the Listerine is to sanitize everything. He then leaves the thread in the blister overnight, the cotton thread pulls the liquid out & the blister usually callouses within a couple of days.

You could use alcohol wipes instead of the Listerine, although if you also use Listerine as a rinse then I guess you get double duty out of it (which is better) I'll just mention an item I take hiking (I wear flipflops around Disney with no issues) is body glide, which protects your skin from chafing and I use it on my feet to help prevent blisters. That and gold bond powder in my socks and then changing my socks and reapplying body glide during a long hike seem to help me.

I have heard of this before (the string and needle through the blister) and it does help! A great option to address the blisters after they have started and are large; thanks for the reminder!

 

[ArielSRL]

body glide

I use the gold bond friction defense, which is the same but a tad cheaper and more readily available around here. I use it for my thighs bc I wear skorts. It's a miracle worker and I notice fairly quickly if I forget it. I use it when I work out, too, so I don't just buy it for Disney.

 

[seus-mouse]

Really great ideas, thanks all.
Large sharpies and duct tape have been mentioned, I wrap several feet of tape ON the sharpie to save space, gives a good grip for large character hands, and duct tape works for hot spots and blisters in a pinch. Ymmv.

Thanks folks.

 

[Tia1977]

Maybe not so A-Typical, but the #1 thing that helps my family the most (save $$ & time) is a soft sided insulated backpack. No matter how we tinkered with the mini fridge in our rooms (or even ice chest), we could never keep bottled water cold in our regular park bags I don't know about anyone else, but luke warm water does nothing for us (it's just enough to aggravate instead lol ). We want cold/thirst quenching goodness lol.

We drink all day like fish! And while it's true you can get free ice water from CS places, lines can be long, locations inconvenient, and at times CM's can seem abrupt when that's all you want. You can also take refillable containers. But, I haven't tried a water fountain above luke warm yet. I can't tell you how many times we purchased cold water bottles on our 1st 2 trips (bc we always found ourselves away from a CS & close to a kiosk, or the CS lines were just insane) when we had luke warm ones still left in our bag! On our last 2 trips, we didn't pay a cent for cold water; bc we always had it with us.

DH wears a normal backpack as our park bag, and I wear the insulated cooler one. It's comfy even when full. We fill baggies with ice from the machine before heading out in the am. We also carry flavored energy packets for DH & myself, and regular ones for DD. When the ice melts (around midday), I dump them out. Our water will still stay cold til park closing (we don't take breaks lol). I found ours on clearance at a local drugstore. But, they're fairly common on Amazon and at various other places.

As small as it might sound to those who don't drink a lot, it was a game changer for us

 

[Atliana11]

We bring a plastic shoe holder....the kind that has the clear plastic on the one side and hangs down to hold 10 or 12 pairs of shoes. We use it in the hotel room to store nicknacks in an easily, fast location like brushes, lotion, hair ties, etc.

 

[1911]

frogg toggs chilly pads,soak em in a water fountain and wrap them around your neck while in the parks. works wonders on those blistering days.

 

[melificent]

I ordered a batch of those small brown paper food trays off Amazon, though WDW also has them in many restaurants with topping bars. They are great for sharing snacks and meals amongst the kids (or adults). I keep a few in my park bag and used then pretty much every day.

 

[HappyGal]

I ordered a batch of those small brown paper food trays off Amazon, though WDW also has them in many restaurants with topping bars. They are great for sharing snacks and meals amongst the kids (or adults). I keep a few in my park bag and used then pretty much every day.

What do they look like?

 

[melificent]

Let's see if I did this right.

 

[heidijanesmith]

We bring a plastic shoe holder....the kind that has the clear plastic on the one side and hangs down to hold 10 or 12 pairs of shoes. We use it in the hotel room to store nicknacks in an easily, fast location like brushes, lotion, hair ties, etc.

This was the best organizer that I brought for our last trip.

I got this tidbit from the DIS, it was fantastic! No more questions from the family, where is this.... where is that. It was all on display in the shoe organizer.

Pop up cubes to organize change, magic bands and receipts.

Under Amour waterbottles that keep water/drinks cold for hours, no matter what the temperature is like outside.

Collapsible cooler, perfect for taking drinks to the pool and waterparks.

 

[HappyGal]

Let's see if I did this right.

Thanks for going to the trouble of posting the pic!

 

[beck00]

We bring a plastic shoe holder....the kind that has the clear plastic on the one side and hangs down to hold 10 or 12 pairs of shoes. We use it in the hotel room to store nicknacks in an easily, fast location like brushes, lotion, hair ties, etc.

This was the best organizer that I brought for our last trip.

I got this tidbit from the DIS, it was fantastic! No more questions from the family, where is this.... where is that. It was all on display in the shoe organizer.

Pop up cubes to organize change, magic bands and receipts.

Under Amour waterbottles that keep water/drinks cold for hours, no matter what the temperature is like outside.

Collapsible cooler, perfect for taking drinks to the pool and waterparks.

Plastic shoe holder....I've seen this tip many times over the years. I finally plan on trying it out on our next trip in Feb. Only one question. Did you hang this over the door leading out of the room? If not, where? Did either of you have issues with the pieces not fitting over the door? I bought a hook once for a trip and it was too thick for the room door. We've got our organization down really, but I would like to have this for this particular trip as I'm running the Princess Half and will have less time to show the hubs where everything is in the room as I'll be focused on other things, 13.1 other things to be exact.

 

[MumziMom]

Plastic shoe holder....Did either of you have issues with the pieces not fitting over the door?

That is why I instead use a cloth shoe organizer that hangs via velcro over a closet rod. It doesn't take up much room, it hangs in the closet near the bathroom, so people can still grab stuff while others are in the bathroom. It collapses to fit in a suitcase fairly compactly. I also being a small pile of stacked rectangular bin organizers (3 for $1.00 at most places) that slide in. Each person gets 3 bins, and there are a few openings left over for receipts, etc. I find it easy to slide out my bin when I need it. You can't see into them as easily, but i just make labels at home for them.

 

[msk]

I just got back and my newest favorite thing to bring is zip lock bags. At security they now want you to unzip every part of your bag. This includes those cute bags inside your purse/backpack that hold credit cards, bandaids, sunscreen, etc. After unzipping several bags inside bags, I put everything in its own ziplock bag. Security was so much easier the second day and everything stayed dry that afternoon when it rained!

 

[Atliana11]

Plastic shoe holder....I've seen this tip many times over the years. I finally plan on trying it out on our next trip in Feb. Only one question. Did you hang this over the door leading out of the room? If not, where? Did either of you have issues with the pieces not fitting over the door? I bought a hook once for a trip and it was too thick for the room door. We've got our organization down really, but I would like to have this for this particular trip as I'm running the Princess Half and will have less time to show the hubs where everything is in the room as I'll be focused on other things, 13.1 other things to be exact.

I hung it over the door to the toilet area usually. That way if the door was closed, it was still accessible.

 

[Atliana11]

We just got back from DW and I saw the neatest idea, even though we no longer have small children. The parents had a type of stroller that was a little bigger than an umbrella stroller but not huge like the ones that allow the kids to lay down completely. Unfortunately, as we all know, some of those smaller strollers don't have alot of storage. In this case, they took a small 6 pocket shoe organizer (3 on top, 3 on bottom) and attached it to the handles and used the pockets to organize things for their children, like snacks, sippy cups, etc. Granted you need to be careful about not overweighing the backend but with careful preparation this could work out perfect.....without knocking your kid out by flipping over backward (always considered a bad way to start a Disney vacation).

 

[ArielSRL]

Plastic shoe holder....I've seen this tip many times over the years. I finally plan on trying it out on our next trip in Feb. Only one question. Did you hang this over the door leading out of the room? If not, where? Did either of you have issues with the pieces not fitting over the door? I bought a hook once for a trip and it was too thick for the room door. We've got our organization down really, but I would like to have this for this particular trip as I'm running the Princess Half and will have less time to show the hubs where everything is in the room as I'll be focused on other things, 13.1 other things to be exact.

We hung it over the door to the shower/bath. It fit no problem.