Your trip to the happiest place on earth is a special time for all involved, but travelling to Disney with children can be very expensive, so this post is all about making the whole experience that extra bit special for your little ones, but also giving you some tips on how to save a bit of money in the process.
All these can be purchased from Amazon by clicking on the relevant picture 🙂
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MAKING YOUR DISNEY HOLIDAY EXTRA FUN FOR KIDS
Apart from the obvious things like staying at a Disney resort to increase the magic for children, there are many many other ways you can make your holiday more fun for them, this can start at home, incorpoate the journey for them, and things to generally make their stay more fun. These may even be some items they will want to purchase whilst in Disney, so buying them before hand and packing them in their suitcase will save you money in the long run.
Firstly, the fun can start at home:
*Countdown Plaque*
We have a ‘Disney Countdown’ chart, the kids really enjoy counting down and rubbing it off and writing new numbers (this can also help with the understanding of time frame). There are 2 ideal variations, 1 counts down the days/sleeps until Disney, and the other counts down the weeks. We chose the days one, as it will get more exciting when they can countdown the days and get to 1.
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*Doodle Bag*
I would suggest that a must have when travelling with children is a ‘doodle bag’, this can be filled with various items that will be fun and help to keep them occupied once on the plane, after all it is a long flight, it gives them a nice break from the onboard films etc.
This can incorporate all of their favourite characters right down to the pens, pencils, colouring books, stationary, notebooks, etc.
Here are a few items I shall be packing:
It can even all be popped into a Disney themed bag to make it a little more fun, with a character of their choice:
*PLEASE REMEMBER TO MAKE SURE THAT ANY CARRY ON BAG PURCHASED MEETS THE REQUIREMENTS FOR CABIN LUGGAGE SIZE SET BY YOUR CHOSEN AIRLINE*
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*Passport Cover*
Added fun at the airport:
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*Disney Accessories*
Packing their suicase can be lots of fun, we save so much money buying the things they will need before we go, rather than some of the Disney merchandise whilst out there, we get them a Disney Themed towel, a Disney swim suit, sunglasses, goggles, hats, water shoes, water toys, swim bag
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*Disney Suitcase*
Even the suitcase can be a fun Disney themed one, although these do not come cheap they are easy to spot on the luggage conveyorbelt! Plus you get to watch everyone else look at it and comment….lots of fun:
Numerous characters can be found.
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*Disney Luggage Tags*
Also a fun idea is to give them a Disney luggage tag on their own bag :
Again all different character available, some as a matching set with passport cover :
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*Disney Water Bottle*
A themed water bottle with built in straw is a fantastic purchase, drinks can be pricey in the parks and it gets very hot at times, with a lot of walking. A bottle that you can fill up from the free water fountains saved us a lot of money, we carried around the small Robinsons juice squirts and made up juice for our son, they come in all flavours and really can save a fortune over the course of the holiday:
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*Swim Bag*
Lovely to pop their towel and swim bits in, then they don’t mind carrying it themselves:
*Disney footwear*
Water shoes:
Flip flops:
sandals:
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*Disney clothing*
I usually make customised Disney clothing, you can buy iron on transfers to make the entire group personalised matching tops, iron or sew on Disney patches to make plain hoodies, T-shirts, shorts etc ‘Disney’fied’.
Almost every character you can think of can be found to add onto your own clothing.
If you are like us and live in the UK, then I find buying Disney clothing from shops like Primark, Asda, Matalan and Sports Direct are very cheap compared to the Parks and Resort Gift shops. This can save you a lot of money by purchasing some before you go.
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*Personalised Autograph books*
An autograph book is essential to every holiday for character meet and greets, they are fab memories of a magical holiday, I found these to be quite expensive at he parks, so this time I shall buy one before we go, you can also purchase personalised ones too which make a lovely keepsake:
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*Minnie/Mickey Ears*
These can also be very expensive at the parks, I see nearly every child wearing them so your child is more than likely to ask for a pair too, if you’re on a budget then you could always purchase these in advance and pop them in their suitcases, I highly recommed this if you have more than one child. This is something we will certainly be doing for our 3:
Some for the boys too (these are hard to find in the parks, they are all quite girlie) :
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*Stroller/Buggy*
Are you thinking of hiring a buggy or stroller whilst there?
I would highly recommend taking your own lightweight stroller, this can be sent in the hould on the aircraft for no extra cost when travelling with children/a child. The rental prices per day really will mount up and it can be very expensive for a week or 2 to rent one, you will be surprised how often your child wants to get in one and is tired. I see children as old as 8 sprawled across buggys fast asleep come 8pm. Taking your own will save you a lot of money and hassle even if you decide to leave it there or donate to another family before you leave:
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*Disney Reins*
As we can all imagine, the parks can get very busy at times and all the little ones like to stretch their legs and have a walk around too. As a parent myself, I know this can be worrying at times, this is why we purchased the Littlelife Character reins, it was added peace of mind and our son did not seem to mind wearing them at times because they were fun, these have a little zip compartment in the back which is very handy for popping in a little bottle of hand sanitiser or sun block etc. A few Disney characters available :
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*Bibs and Dummies*
Extremely essential for those ice cream pit stops!!
Again, all sorts of characters available
Whether you are in the parks, or at the water parks, you will be surrounded by children wearing Disney clothing, footwear and accessories of some sort, the shops are filled with them and your children are bound to want them to be like the other children, so i suggest buying some before you go but obviously treating them to a few gifts whilst there if you can. But they will want the lot, so as much cheap pre-purchase as possible gives you more Dollars for your holiday, plus it keeps the kids happy, so is a win win situation.
Do you have any favourite items you like to take? Let us know in the comments below
I really enjoyed reading this article. A couple years go me and my wife went to Disney world and had an amazing time — and we said we would take our kids in the future when we have some.
I thinking of these products would come in handy and also keep the kids entertained like you said.
How many times have you been to Disney world, and out of these items you listed which ones are your favorite?
Hi there,
Thank you for your comment. I have been to Walt Disney World in Florida 7 times and Disneyland Paris 3 times. I have my 11th Disney trip booked for next year and this will be the biggest and best yet! Next years trip will be with 3 children, my most favourite products will be Disney Suitcases, I just adore Disney suitcases and spotting them on the luggage belt, the doodle bag to keep the kids happy on the plane (first time flying with more than 1 child) and lastly the Disney strollers, the children love them. But quite frankly I shall have all of them ha ha.