Our first day at Walt Disney World after its closure for COVID-19 was about two weeks after the parks reopened.  In the days between the reopening and when we arrived, I watched countless Instagram stories and made a list in my pseudo-bullet journal (aka random lists and notes I write in a Moleskin) of things I wanted to remember to bring. 

I’m going to make two posts on the items that made our final list and ended up in our park bags.  This post (Part 1) is about the more typical bag items, and Part 2 will be about things we brought that are less mainstream – some of which we found to be more useful than the typical ones.  I had Dom help me out with this post, so with each item I’ll tell you what each of our opinions were on the item’s usefulness. To make things simple, I used a scale of 1 to 5 for our opinions:

1	Not useful; won’t bring again
2	Not very useful; might bring sometimes
3	Can live with or without it
4	Useful; will probably bring again
5	Must bring every time

So for an extreme example, if an item has “J5/D1” next to it, it was something I found incredibly useful while Dom thought it was useless.

A few things to keep in mind: we only spent two days in the parks, we only visited Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Disney Springs, and the high temperatures for our two park days were 91 and 93, respectively. 

Hand Sanitizer

Avg Score: 5 – Must bring every time (J5/D5)

It’s not completely necessary to bring your own hand sanitizer to the parks unless you have a specific kind that you really love, but I also wouldn’t recommend going to the parks without it – I just wouldn’t bring a ton of it. The hand sanitizer stands are literally everywhere, but I did pull my own out a few times  – occasionally when I caught myself touching something that was high contact or when I would sit down to eat.

I saw someone post that they liked having hand sanitizer on a keychain outside of their bag so they can use it after pulling down on the lap bar of rides, which I thought was a good idea since the rides aren’t being sanitized after every person (just every two hours).  I bought the hand sanitizer of every Disney character I could find (they sell them at both Walmart and Target) and had one of those in my bag, but I also felt like that kind smelled a little odd.  So, bonus points for cute but deducting a few points for that. 

Extra masks

Avg Score: 3.5 – Could be useful (J4/D3)

Almost every Instagrammer I follow said they brought extra masks and changed them throughout the day, but Dom and I actually never felt the need to change ours.  I made the masks that we ended up wearing and we were comfortable the whole time; we never felt like they got gross or anything.  I think part of why we were fine is because it didn’t feel too hot on either of our park and because we were inside a lot – whether it was for the AC portion of queues, the indoor attractions, or to eat.  I would definitely bring extra masks if you already have them just for the peace of mind, but you can always buy some when you’re there – they are $6 each at the parks and they’re super cute; I want to pick up a few the next time I go. I have heard almost everyone say to size up on the Disney masks, though – most adults seem to wear the size large.

Yeti / Hydroflask filled with ice water at the hotel

Avg Score: 5 – Must bring every time (J5/D5)

If you don’t end up bringing anything else on this list, bring this; it was key to our comfort at the parks.  I talked about this a lot in my post about what I was worried about on our trip after the parks reopened during COVID-19, but essentially, carrying insulated water bottles that we filled with ice before we got to the parks each day was the best decision we made.  We filled them up with ice and water before we left the hotel, refilled with water from drinking fountains as needed until lunch, asked for extra ice water at lunch and poured those in, and refilled throughout the rest of the day as needed. It was perfect – it kept our water cold the whole day. Dom brought a 32 oz Hydroflask and I brought a 26 oz Yeti.

Since I’m posting this while COVID is still going on, I’ll reiterate what I said in my other post – since almost all of the Quick Service restaurants are mobile order only, getting ice water throughout the day isn’t as easy as it used to be.  I remember stopping at almost every country with a Quick Service restaurant at Epcot on one of our trips to grab ice water, and that’s not really possible now since you can’t walk into a Quick Service restaurant without a mobile order.  So, having an insulated water bottle to keep ice water in all day is very important.  Even if/when things go completely back to normal, I don’t think I’ll ever pass on bringing this because I know it kept me more hydrated than I would have otherwise been.

USB rechargeable hand-held fans

Avg Score: 3 – Can live with or without (J4/D2)

I had seen a lot of people post about bringing fans to the parks, so I ordered a couple off of Amazon.  They were really cute (like anything mouse shaped), light up, and are really functional with three speed options and USB recharging.

We only went to Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios on this trip, and most of those lines end up inside so they have AC for a significant portion of the queue.  There are some exceptions like Slinky Dog and Astro Orbiter, and of course we were in the sun when walking between rides, waiting in line before the indoor portion of the queues, and watching the cavalcades, so there are some times when it did get really warm.  In a couple of those instances, I did pull out my fan for a bit and it helped cool me down, but I probably would have been fine without it if I didn’t have room to bring it or hadn’t wanted to spend the money on them.  That being said, I also felt like our days weren’t as hot as some summer park days and we also didn’t go to Epcot and Animal Kingdom where I feel like we tend to walk around in the sun a lot more.  Dom actually didn’t use his at all, so that’s why he rated it so low – he never got warm enough to need it.

Mophie Charging packs and cords for Phones and Fans

Avg Score: 5 – Must bring every time (J5/D5)

To be honest, I don’t know much of anything about the Fuel Rods that a lot of people seem to use at the parks, but those may be worth looking into if you don’t already have an extra battery pack.   I did find an article that explains how the new Fuel Rod policy works, and I found a review that doesn’t recommend using them, but overall it’s just up to personal preference. 

My mom bought me a Mophie charging pack a few years ago, and it’s one of the most practical presents I’ve ever gotten. I bring it with me any time I’m worried my phone battery won’t last an entire day. Dom and his sister brought them on a trip to Europe and they said they would have been in trouble without them.  All of that to say, I think a Mophie charging pack is a great investment and I would recommend them to everyone.

The Mophie battery packs can charge your devices in a few different ways (wireless, USB, lightning), but as a warning, plugging a device into the Mophie is a much faster charge than using the wireless charging.  One thing to note is that I think all of the new iPads take USB-C chargers and most of those cords are USB-C to USB-C, so at least with the model of the Mophie that I have, I wouldn’t be able to charge my iPad with it unless I buy a USB to USB-C cord.  Just something to to keep in mind.

Mini Umbrellas

Avg Score: 4.5 – Probably want to bring (J5/D4)

The umbrellas we bought are perfect for traveling – they come in a small carrying case and are incredibly easy to get back into the case after use, which was a pleasant surprise.  I bought ours on Amazon and they come in a variety of colors – Dom has a navy one and I have a polka dotted one.  The biggest thing to remember with them is to open them back up and let them dry overnight if you do end up using them; that way they aren’t gross the next time you open them.

We got very lucky and didn’t have much rain at all when we were in the parks – it sprinkled a few times but that was it.  When we went to Disney Springs the night we flew in, it was a complete downpour.  Unfortunately, I had only bought one of these umbrellas because I wanted to test it out and make sure it was going to work, and while I knew the packaging was mini, I didn’t realize how small the umbrella itself was I guess?  Not the best thinking on my part because Dom and I ended up as close together as possible under the umbrella while we walked to The Boathouse for dinner.  All of that to say, I would recommend having a different umbrella for each person if you buy these because sharing didn’t work very well.

On a more COVID-related note, if you’ve ever been to the parks when a random storm pops up (i.e. almost every day), you probably remember how everyone pretty much loses their minds and runs into the nearest gift shop to take cover.  With a pandemic, this is obviously a problem because even though there are less people at the park, there are even more limitations to the number of people that can be in the covered areas while maintaining social distancing.  Because of that, even if you usually don’t bring an umbrella, I would highly recommend bringing one now.  You may not be able to get to a covered area where you can also maintain social distancing if a storm pops up, so it’s important to have a plan on how you can stay dry(ish) without breaking social distancing.

Rain ponchos

Avg Score: 2.5 – Not very necessary (J3/D2)

Similarly to the umbrellas, we also brought the cheap, plastic rain ponchos you may have seen before. We’ve had them for ages but have never used them – we just keep bringing them on our trips every time in case we end up at the parks on a particularly rainy day.  The folded up ponchos hardly take up any space, and I feel like they’re worth bringing in case we do need them.  Pretty much the only time I would recommend pulling them out is if it’s a pretty constant rain or drizzle and you don’t want to mess with using an umbrella as you get off and on every ride.  I’ll echo what I said about the umbrellas though – if you don’t usually bring them, this might be the time to pick some up just in case you can’t get to a covered area where you can maintain social distancing before a storm hits.

Clorox Wipes

Avg Score: 2.5 – Not very necessary (J3/D2)

I was able to get a few packages of travel sized Clorox wipe packages before we left for our trip which was really surprising – most of the time when I checked, all of the stores were sold out.  I used them on the airplane, but never used them while I was in the parks – I felt safe enough with just the hand sanitizer.  When I was thinking about it later I decided that when I go again, if I bring them to the parks I’ll probably use them on Toy Story Mania and Buzz Lightyear, but other than that I felt really safe even without them.  I’m a little surprised those two rides don’t seem to be wiped down between every ride since they are such high contact, but with the hand sanitizer stations right before you get on and off the ride I guess it’s okay?  I would have felt better if they were wiped down, though.

Gum

Avg Score: 5 – Must bring every time (J5/D5)

This is something that I would have generally brought on the trip anyway because of getting on airplanes, but I don’t know that I would have thought to bring it to the parks without seeing it on someone’s Instagram stories first.  I can’t remember exactly who it was, but they pointed out that going right from eating to putting on a mask isn’t always ideal, so it’s nice to have some gum handy.

Sunscreen

Avg Score: 3 – Could live with or without (J3/D3)

The ratings on this are a little misleading because Dom and I are both out in the sun a lot just because we’re pretty active people, so we’re already pretty tan and weren’t worried about burning.  We did bring a mini aerosol sunscreen (had to get a size we could fly with) but never ended up using it.  Out of habit, I also brought a mini face sunscreen, but that is pretty unnecessary for everyone – one of the few perks of wearing masks all day!  Anyway, if you are worried about burning, definitely bring this – we just didn’t need it.

That’s it for Part 1 – in Part 2 I’ll post the second half of our park bag list. Let us know if you have any questions or comments!