Ultimate Disney World Packing List and Tips

Welcome to part three in my Disney packing series, where I’m sharing my full Disney World packing list and all my best vacation packing tips! We’ve done Disney trips from 3-nights in length to as many as 9-nights. We’ve traveled to Orlando, FL in all seasons, stayed in lots of different types of accommodations, and had lots and lots of park days. I feel like my Disney World packing list has been tuned to perfection.

I also just love packing! When we get about 3 weeks out from a trip, I start to get so excited. I love planning out my outfits, gathering everything we need, checking things off my list, and fitting it all into our suitcases. This particular list is always what I start with for a long trip—a week or more. (If you’re interested in seeing how I pack for a short trip, check out my carry-on packing post here!) I’ll fine-tune it depending on the season we’re traveling and what type of trip we’re having (for instance, if there’s a MNSSHP involved then we’re gonna need some Halloween costumes).

Be sure to keep scrolling past the list, because I’m sharing my best family vacation packing tips below!

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My Disney World Packing List

My Best Packing Tips

Use Packing Cubes!

If you’ve never used packing cubes before they will change your life! We have this set from Amazon and absolutely love them! We’ve used them for about 4–5 trips now, and they’ve held up really well—and I can pack A LOT into one cube! 😅 I’ve been able to fit ALL of my clothes for up to 9 days into three large packing cubes. For me, this works even better than rolling my clothes.

Packing cubes not only allow you to fit way more into your suitcase than you normally would be able to, but they also keep everything from shifting around during travel. When you open your suitcase at your destination, all your stuff will still be nicely folded! They also make unpacking and re-packing a breeze. I like to take the packing cubes out of my suitcase and pop them into a drawer at the hotel. That way I can slide my suitcase under the bed and out of the way.

Pack Kids’ Outfits in Ziploc Bags

This is such a great kid packing hack! I buy the cheapest box of gallon-size zip-top bags and sort Liam’s clothes into outfits (including socks and underwear for each). Then I slide each outfit stack into a bag and label it with a sharpie with the day and park. Toss all the bags into the suitcase, and you’re good to go!

Liam is nine, and I still pack for him this way—it keeps everything organized and makes my life so much easier once we’re there! When we get to the hotel, I’ll transfer all the bags to a drawer, and then pull out the outfit for each day the night before. This way, Liam has no questions about what to wear when he’s getting dressed in the morning, and he doesn’t end up wearing the same pair of shorts all 9 days.

Check Your Bags Whenever Possible

If your airline lets you check so many bags in the price of your ticket, do it! In the past, we have always packed Liam’s clothes in a carry-on size suitcase. But this time, I figured we might as well check a full-size bag because it’s included with Southwest (actually, Southwest lets you check two full-size bags per ticket, they just have to be under 50 pounds). So we purchased a third 25-inch suitcase (I bought one on clearance at JC Penney, but our other bags are these American Tourister suitcases) and used it for Liam—plus some of my stuff that I couldn’t fit in my suitcase. 😅 The third suitcase wasn’t very full, but it gave us plenty of extra space for souvenirs on the trip home!

Pack More than You Think You Need

I also said this in my How to Beat the Heat post, and I stand by it! We love to take a mid-day break and change clothes, especially when it’s really hot! It makes such a difference in enjoying the evening hours at Disney World! Plus, you just never know when you might accidentally spill coffee all over your shirt and need to change. 🥴

I also recommend multiple pairs of shoes. Different shoes rub your feet in different places, and with all the walking it can feel so good to change shoes. Also, if one pair gets soaked in a rainstorm, you’ll want a dry pair!

Pack for All Kinds of Weather

We’ve now visited Disney World in March, August, and October. And while we’ve usually had hot HOT weather on our trips, on our most recent trip our first day was in the 50s! We ended up having to purchase Liam a pair of long pants at Uniqlo in Disney Springs because I only packed him shorts and he was freezing. Unless you’re traveling in the heart of summer, I recommend packing at least one pair of long pants and a sweatshirt.

Later in the week, it got up to the mid-90s, and we were breaking out our cooling towels and handheld fans. The weather in Florida is unpredictable, and you never know what it’ll be like!

You’ll definitely want a rain jacket too! (And a rain cover for your stroller if you have one! There’s nothing worse than coming off a ride and finding out it poured while you were inside and now your stroller is soaking wet.)

Don’t Forget!

Mask Chain or Lanyard—Obviously this only applies during the pandemic, but these were key for us on our recent trip! I purchased a mask chain for myself and Disney lanyards for Korey and Liam, and we used them every day. It was nice whenever we took a break to eat or drink that we could just pull our masks off and not have to worry about dropping or losing them. A lot of people commented to us how good of an idea this was or asked us where we got them!

Pop-up Hamper—Sounds weird, but this absolutely saves my sanity when we are on vacation! We use one similar to this one from Amazon (but I think I bought ours at Target or something). I just slide it into the top pocket on one of our suitcases and pop it open once we get to our hotel room. It keeps us from having dirty clothes all over the room and from trying to figure out what’s dirty and what’s still clean. At the end of our trip, we designate one suitcase for all the dirty clothes and just dump the whole thing in there! Then when we get home, it goes straight into the laundry room.

What to Skip

The Umbrella—I always pack an umbrella, and I’ve never once used it. Yes, it rains a lot in Florida, but I never want to carry an umbrella around the parks, especially when we’re hopping from ride to ride or in and out of the shops. It’s just a hassle! Plus, an umbrella is very likely to set off the metal detectors at the park entrance and send you to the side to get your bag checked. If it rains, we just rely on our raincoats to keep us nice and dry!

Disposable Masks—I bought a box of adult-size disposable masks and kids-size disposable masks, and we hardly used them. We had a bunch of fabric reusable masks from Geekily Ever After, which we just prefer. We also found the Disney reusable masks to be very breathable and comfy, so we purchased a few of those. I got some dish soap with our grocery order, and I used that to wash our cloth masks in the sink and hung them up to dry. It worked like a charm! If you know your family prefers one or the other, you really don’t need both!

Did I miss anything that you think is essential?

What’s on your Disney World packing list? Let me know in the comments below! And check out my other Disney World tips and tricks here!

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