What to Take Into Disneyland

So much for writing more frequently. Life just keeps getting in the way. Trying to keep up with work and take care of our girls and plan our own upcoming trip just takes so much time. We'll try to post a few things this week, since we're now to the fun stuff: What to do in the parks!

First of all, you have to know what you need to take in the parks with you, especially when you're taking kids. You can take far more than you'd initially think into the parks with you. First of all, you should review Disneyland's park rules and regulations to see specifics about what you can and can't take with you. The main things to note are the sizes of bags that you can take with you (basically just don't take something absolutely huge with you) and the size of allowed strollers. Most strollers fit within their parameters (31" wide and 52" long), even double strollers, so it's not a huge restriction. But you cannot take wagons of any kind into the parks anymore as of this past May. So if you have a wagon, leave it at home.

When it comes to strollers, if you have little ones with you that you know won't be able to walk all day, take a stroller. Both double and single strollers are available for rent at Disneyland, so that is an option too, but it is a daily charge. It costs $15 a day for a single stroller and $35 a day for a double, which is just one more thing to pay for when it's actually pretty easy to bring your own. We've never rented strollers from Disneyland; we've always brought our own. We make room in the car when we drive, and we gate check it when we fly. That tiny bit of extra hassle is worth the money we save.

In case you're curious, our favorite stroller we've taken is the Joovy Twin Groove Ultralight, which is a double umbrella stroller. We love it. It's lightweight, folds up pretty small so it's easy to travel with, and the seats lay all the way back so the girls can take naps in it. Goober is big enough to walk quite a bit, but she's not to the point where she can walk all day, so the double is still a great option for us.

Goober passed out and stayed asleep for quite a while. It must have been pretty comfy in there.

The other important thing to know is that you can take food with you into the parks. There are limits on coolers and the kind of ice you can bring in your coolers, but when it comes to snacks, you can bring all you want for your littles. There are no restrictions there. We enter the park equipped with a bag full of snacks. Goober is a super picky eater, so we bring applesauce, fruit snacks, goldfish, chips, fruit leather, etc. You never know when your kids are going to get hungry, and food in the park is pricey. I'm not willing to buy Goober food she won't eat, so we always keep stuff on hand that we know she likes.

There are also no restrictions on baby food or formula. When we did formula, we took the ready-to-feed bottles in with us because they are so much easier than mixing formula in the parks. I could hold Peanut in one arm and pour her a bottle with the other (which I've had to do more than once), so the convenience was worth the extra cost there.

Other things you will need in the park are drink cups and water bottles, especially if you have a stroller to store them in. It is Southern California, after all, and it gets hot, even in the fall and winter. It's nice to have water with you. To make it even more convenient, every counter-service restaurant in the parks will give you free cups of water. You don't have to buy anything; just ask for water and they'll hand you full cups. Most of the time it's ice water, too, so it's far superior to grabbing a drink from the drinking fountains. I love taking metal water bottles because when you fill them with ice, your water will stay cold all day long, no matter how hot it is outside.

The other thing that we always, always take with us is extra outfits for the girls. Multiple extra outfits. I can't tell you how many times we've dealt with blowouts or spitup or rain storms or spills, all of which have required us to change the girls' clothes. Sure, you can always head back to the hotel, but that's precious time wasted that could be spent playing at Disneyland. So we take multiple changes of clothes for both Goober and Peanut, just in case.

And those are the basics, really. Just pack 10 times what you need for a normal day, that's all. Do keep in mind, though, that you will have to go through security before you can enter the parks or Downtown Disney. They will check every bag, sometimes super thoroughly, as well as the storage under your stroller. So the more bags you have, the longer it will take you to get through security. The security lines are often longer than the entrance lines, so that's definitely something to consider as you plan what time you want to get into the park.