Bringing your own drinks into the parks to avoid the never ending price hikes

[Crystal824]

We do this every single trip. We bring Coke zero for us, juice boxes for the kids, and water for everyone along with some snacks in a small soft sided cooler that we hang on the stroller. We have a great cooler. Ours is a Thirty-One Picnic Cooler that we bought from a friend who sells Thirty-One. I would imagine most well insulated coolers would work. We don't typically freeze our sodas or juice boxes (we do keep them in the fridge in our room), but we will usually throw in one or two frozen water bottles to help keep everything cool.

We almost never buy drinks at the parks. While we do usually bring in a few snacks, we don't bring in meals. We use our own drinks at QS meals. At TS meals, we will get water or sometimes order a specialty drink (ie smoothie, cocktail, beer, wine, etc.)

I do realize that we have a stroller so I'm sure things will change once we do not; however, we currently have a 15 mo. old son so that will be a while.

 

[HHMcG]

We bring one (in cool weather) or two (in warm/hot weather) of the Brita filter bottles. Fill them at a water fountain or QS and we are fine.

We also bring a few snacks/fruits that we usually use to supplement lunch. We share meals and anyone who didn't get enough adds an apple or granola bar.

 

[Clawdius]

We bring everything into the parks...lunch, dinner, soda, etc... It's super easy. We don't carry it around with us. We put it in a giant cooler bag that goes in an umbrella stroller. We park it somewhere and leave it until we're ready. So once we get past the front entrance and park it, we're bagless. We spend a small fraction of the money most people do to feed ourselves.

This idea crossed my mind today when I read about Disney's recent snack and drink price increases. I could bring in a cooler with a six pack of sodas and leave it in a stroller all day. It's cheaper than renting a locker to keep stuff in, and more convenient than walking back out to your car to get your stuff.

 

[maxiesmom]

They have water fountains. Pretty sure that would cover the need to provide free water.

 

[maxiesmom]

We bring one (in cool weather) or two (in warm/hot weather) of the Brita filter bottles. Fill them at a water fountain or QS and we are fine.

We also bring a few snacks/fruits that we usually use to supplement lunch. We share meals and anyone who didn't get enough adds an apple or granola bar.

This is what I got. Glad to hear they work.

 

[kymom99]

They have water fountains. Pretty sure that would cover the need to provide free water.

Or a bathroom faucet for that matter.

 

[Shanti]

With Disney raising the prices of a lot of snacks and drinks in the parks today, who all brings in their water, cokes, pepsi, ect to drink in the park? I think some people freeze the drinks and bring them in, but what would be a good product to buy in which to carry them in? Some type of insulated backpack, bag, ect? With the prices of drinks and water going through the roof, what are your tips with bringing your own drinks?

I prefer price hikes to hauling liquids. They're just too heavy to lug around parks all day, especially in summer heat.

 

[SL6827]

I prefer price hikes to hauling liquids. They're just too heavy to lug around parks all day, especially in summer heat.

Well we don't go to the theme parks when it is really hot. Will no longer do that. Only the water parks during the heat. And when we do the water parks now, I am going to be carrying in a large cooler so we can have a decent meal instead of what Typhoon Lagoon has to offer.

 

[SaintsManiac]

It was in the seventies, and we were jus walking around an amusement park. We weren’t running a marathon! Nothing I don’t do on a normal day without a water bottle attached to my hip. It’s simple for me - I eat when I’m hungry and drink when I’m thirsty!

Ok.

 

[MissManda]

We usually carry several bottles of water with us into the parks in an insulated back pack. If its super hot, we bring them in frozen. This is great while we have a stroller but in the future we won't have that and I don't personally want to carry around all of that water. I actually prefer to "travel light" while in the parks and not be encumbered with so much stuff.

We were at an outdoor transportation museum this weekend. The weather was pretty hot and humid for the time or year and we again filled up a back pack with water bottles so that we could stay hydrated in the heat. I was super surprised when we made a restroom stop that outside of each restroom, instead of a water fountain, they had bottle refilling stations with really cold great tasting filtered water. It was amazing!! (Hard to believe a water refill station could make some one so happy; but on a hot day having that cold water was nice!). I wish more places like Disney and other amusement parks would install these in place of water fountains. Water fountains can be so gross and the water never tastes good. Also, it would cut back on the amount of plastic water bottles and cups being used daily if you could just bring one bottle and refill it throughout the day.

 

[laughinplace199]

We just build the price of waters, Cokes, snacks, etc. into our vacation budget.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

When I was younger (I'm 35) I barely drank much water. Like a PP I would drink a soda at lunch and another drink at dinner and I was fine.

Now I drink at least 100 ounces of water a day. Usually more. Mostly for health reasons. It keeps my skin looking good, helps digestion, etc. So if I haven't had a few cups/bottles of water by 10 am I start to get a headache and just feel like crap. My mouth gets super dry and I get very sluggish.

No I don't carry a water bottle around with me everywhere in my day to day life or at WDW. On a day to day basis I drink water when I work out in the morning (tons of it) and then have a large cup at my desk that I constantly drink while at work. On the weekends I have the same kind of cup at home.

At WDW we go bagless so there is no way I'm lugging around a cooler of drinks. Way too heavy. What I do is drink a few bottles of water before we leave in the morning (I get a water delivery) and then get free ice water at QS spots. The water doesn't taste the best to me but it does the job. I don't find it disgusting.

When we actually sit down and eat I always get water. Depending on what we are eating I might get a soda but I usually opt for an alcoholic beverage. We rarely, if ever, drink soda at home so I don't really drink it at WDW.

 

[kathy884]

With a party of 10 and one renting an ECV, we bring in a soft sided cooler (fits in the ECV basket) with sandwiches, juice boxes, fruit, and a few diet coke cans that usually last us till 4 p.m. or so. All have breakfast at our offsite condo prior to getting to the park at rope drop. At 4 p.m. or so, we do a counter service meal. Some get water, but some order sodas. We stay till park closing and have some food at the condo when we get back.

If it's just me and my son (23) (more often these day just two of us at the parks on our mini trip -- DH stays home and we don't have as many extended family parties of 10 gatherings in Orlando as often as we used to), we go without any bags, and I budget $30 pp per day for food and drink at the park (lunch, dinner, and snacks). We eat at counter service places and are almost always under budget. We do almost an annual mini trip to Orlando (just a few days) to do maybe two theme parks and visit relatives in the area. // Do note, though, we are only in town for three full days and only doing two theme park days with two people when we are paying those prices. And usually we just do one Disney day and one day at SeaWorld.

 

[NKHarris329]

While not the best water in the world we really weren't THAT bothered by the water from the water fountains. We bring one insulated water bottle per person (24oz for adults, 12 oz for young kids) and refill it during the day at the fountains or at a quick service place. There are flavor drops that you can add if you really can't stand the water, and carrying a small and lightweight backpack isn't a big deal to me. We also bring 2-4 snack packs (granola, pretzels, etc) that we can munch on during the day. We go back to the hotel for lunch and mandatory rest time, and usually eat breakfast while on our way to transportation or while getting ready in the morning.

 

[dhardawa]

We bring everything into the parks...lunch, dinner, soda, etc... It's super easy. We don't carry it around with us. We put it in a giant cooler bag that goes in an umbrella stroller. We park it somewhere and leave it until we're ready. So once we get past the front entrance and park it, we're bagless. We spend a small fraction of the money most people do to feed ourselves.

This is genius! I’ve considered taking a stroller, but never wanted to push it around all day.

 

[Dezign]

Heck, why stop at a stroller? If you rented a ECV you could just load the basket up with an ice chest full of drinks and snacks AND avoid all that tiresome walking! It's a win/win!

 

[daisyduck123]

Nope never. We are a family who carries minimal "stuff". If we get thirsty, we stop for a free cup of water. I cannot imagine us carrying around bottles of water, a cooler, juice boxes, whatever....all day.
We do counter-service for lunch each day and table-service for dinner each evening and that's when we get soft drinks.

 

[SUSIEQ]

Heck, why stop at a stroller? If you rented a ECV you could just load the basket up with an ice chest full of drinks and snacks AND avoid all that tiresome walking! It's a win/win!

Wonderful idea!!!