What We Packed for Disney World

All week, we’ve been talking about and recapping our big Disney World trip. So far, we’ve done a day-by-day review of how the trip went, and then I shared some of our biggest tips, tricks, and lessons learned. Today, I’m answering one of the most commonly asked questions – what did we wear/bring/use while we were there?!

There is often a lot of planning (and stressing) that goes into planning what to pack for Disney World. But, if you remember that you know your family best and what you’ll use (and won’t use), it can take a lot of the stress out of it! Today I’m sharing what ended up being essential for us.

First up, here’s a big ol’ roundup of a bunch of the shirts we bought for Disney. Of course you absolutely don’t have to buy an entirely new wardrobe for your Disney trip, but it was so fun to have these special outfits to wear each day, and it really helped us be even more immersed in the experience. It’s silly, but I was glad we had a ton of Disney shirts to wear all week long!

Disney World Shirts for the Family

• A Goofy Movie 90’s Style Shirt
• Tie Dye Mickey Shirt
• Classic Mickey Shirt
• Vintage-Style The Little Mermaid Shirt
• Mickey Tropical Shirt
• Mickey & Minnie Retro Shirt
• The Black Pearl Tee
• Lion King Shorts Outfit
• Retro Star Wars Shirt
• Queen of Naps T-Shirt
• Ice Harvesting Shirt
• Classic Lion King Tee
• A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes Tank
• Leopard Print Minnie Mouse Shirt
• Donald & Mickey Fist Bump Shirt

The Best Shoes to Pack for Disney World

Everyone knows you walk a LOT at Disney World (we averaged 15,000+ steps!). So, needless to say, shoes are important.

Thankfully, I’m very familiar with what shoes work best for my feet. Running marathons will do that to you. Here’s what I did for my shoes:

• I alternated between my Adidas Duramo running shoes and my Adidas Cloudfoam sneakers (with this insert added). I also brought a pair of Tevas sandals and switched over to those if my shoes got wet. Brooks are also a great option for Disney!
• For the boys, they alternated between their daily school tennis shoes and a pair of Crocs (with socks, always!). Of course, the Crocs had their favorite Disney Crocs charms added. We packed an extra pair of socks each day in case they needed a new pair. There’s something about a fresh pair of socks that can work wonders for tired feet!

My Disney Outfit Must-Haves

I found that for me, the perfect combo at Disney was a t-shirt or tank with either biker shorts or a tennis skirt. It was comfortable, flattering, and not too hot. I packed a few different options for bottoms (including jean shorts and other athletic shorts), but in the end I think I would have been happiest if I would have just brought biker shorts, tennis skirts, and maybe an athletic dress or two!

Here are some of my essentials:

• Biker Shorts
• Tennis Skirt
• Tennis Dress

What To Pack for Disney World: Other Essentials

Now, let’s chat about our day-to-day must-haves in the parks. We rented a stroller (we used Kingdom Strollers, and had a great experience!), and it was a total life-saver. We joked that we’ll continue to rent a stroller even when the kids have fully outgrown it, just because it’s so convenient to always have a place to stash stuff!

Here’s what we brought into the parks every single day:

• Our water bottles (these were a 10/10!)
• Ponchos
• Cooling towels (the kids loved having these and it really cut down on complaining!)
• A few snacks (goldfish, cheez-its, and Nature Valley bars)
• Liquid IV (I made everyone have one each day to stay hydrated. The boys split one pouch and Corey and I had our own)
• I used my fanny pack every day and it was so handy. I was able to leave it on for the vast majority of the rides, and it kept things like my phone, sunglasses, and credit cards within easy reach.
• We brought a portable phone charger each day, but we never actually needed it. Our phones did just fine, even with tons of photo taking and booking Lightning Lanes. It’s probably still a good idea to have a charger on hand just in case, but this wasn’t as essential as I thought it would be!
• And finally, we always brought an extra pair of socks, in case our feet got wet. Because there’s nothing worse than walking around with soggy socks!

What to Buy Ahead

Finally, my other biggest tip is to buy a few things ahead of time to save a little money. For example – Mickey ears! You might think you don’t want any ears, but there’s something so fun about a place where almost every adult is happily donning a silly headband with mouse ears. Just go with it, you’ll be glad you did!

Ears in the parks tend to run about $35 – the quality is great, but the price hurts a little. I bought ears for all of us ahead of time, and was so glad I did! I saved a ton, and they worked great for us.

• Here are the ears I wore most of the time.
• I also had these Alice in Wonderland ears.
• Jackson wore Sorcerer Mickey Ears
• And Grant loved these plain ones, along with these Goofy ears.
• I also had a set of these Minnie Hair Scrunchies – they were perfect for when I didn’t want to wear a headband!

For our next trip, I’m seriously eyeing this adorable hat. I almost bought it for this trip and decided not to…and I definitely wished I had it!

Oh, and a bonus tip? These Mouse Silhouette Earrings made me smile every morning when I put them on!

Here are a few other things we brought along that were really helpful:

• I grabbed these plastic pieces for our Magic Bands to help hold them on. I had heard they are easy to lose, and I was right. Even with these I managed to lose mine, but everyone else’s stayed on nice and tight all week long!
• We also grabbed this Mickey stuffed animal and this Donald Duck stuffed animal for the boys to surprise them on our way to the airport. It was a fun way to kick off the trip and Grant brought Mickey everywhere we went all week long!
• This cosmetics bag was a game-changer for me with packing. It holds so much, and I just hung it in the bathroom – it gave me super easy access to everything I needed!

And finally, let’s talk about…

Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party Outfits

We hit up Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party on our last night there, and we spent a lot of time planning super simple (and comfortable) costumes that wouldn’t be too hot! We loved how it turned out, and we were (mostly) all really comfortable. Corey’s shirt ended up being really hot – the design was so big it kind of turned the shirt into a sauna. Whoops!

| Goofy Outfit & Goofy Hat | Red Polka Dot Dress & Minnie Ears | Donald Duck Costume Shirt

And that’s it! All of our Disney essentials. I know we were first-timers for this trip, but we truly felt like we nailed it our first time around. We’ve already got next year’s trip booked and I’m counting down the minutes until we can go back!