What is a day bag do you ask and is it different than a diaper bag and do you even need one?! Yes, yes it is and yes, yes you do! A diaper bag is just that. A bag that I take into the parks that has all the necesseties that kids will need to get through a day in the parks, a day bag is everything that the kids will need either in the car or will need to get put into the stroller. The diaper bag is always under one car seat and the day bag is underneath the other. Having this bag resolves a lot of what the diaper bag does in that it keeps us from having to dig through our suitcases or other bags to get at what we need when we get to the parks.
If we are meeting friends, we tend to not even bother checking in at all, but instead go directly into the parks. Having a bag that has everything that we put into the stroller makes life a lot easier when we get to the parking lot and are trying to wrangle the kids and organize everything. There are things that we take into the park that have nothing to do with the diaper bag, so this is where a day bag comes into play.
Normally this bag is either used one of two ways. For either early check-in for hotels or for the Disney Cruise when our bags get delivered to us in waves and later on in the day (traditionally closer to dinner). Having this bag is perfect and it is a great size to keep everything we will need for during the day, such as; swimmies, bathing suits, all their sun stuff, sun hats, a change of clothes, a couple of wet/dry bags (did you expect anything less). and of course snacks and juice cups. There is no way I am lugging a gigantic beach bag around all day (even with a stroller it wouldn't fit in the basket portion) while exploring the ship and ending up at the pool. The bag fits everything comfortably and is super light to tote around. Basically anything that they would need for a day at the pool until check-in is put in the bag. This is extremely helpful for the cruise since you cannot even access your bags and this way the fun can be had from moment one. Afterall, what kid wants to look at the pool and that amazing aqueduck slide and not be able to enjoy it immediately.
Best. Day. Bag. Ever (I got this print from our outlet and I love it)
THIS is the day bag I traditionally use (technically this is the newer one, but same concept), it is of course Vera Bradley and it is of the Felix the Cat variety in that it holds much more than what it looks like it does.
However, the bag for this trip to Orlando required my duffle tote that is about one size up since I included everything that normally goes into the stroller with us.
Another print fave!
Included in this bag;
Clip On Travel Fans for the Stroller
Emergency kit here but it will stay in the car since I have the small one in the diaper bag)
Makeup bag (I may want to freshen up when we arrive at the park)
EV and I's hair bag (because we are extra) (it has leave in conditioner, sun spray protectant for my hair, dry shampoo, hair ties, headbands and a brush). Is this a necessity...noooo (but kinda), however, EV plays with her hair when she is in her car seat so I am able to redo while in the park parking lot without having to go in our suitcase
Amazon Kindles (fully charged up)
The travel cup that I plan to secure my beer and champagne in (priorities people)
The charger cord bag (we carry multiple cords as you know our relationship with our charging pods.
In case you all are voyeurs like me and you need the visual of everything of whats in the cases.
Emergency Kit
Pedialyte flavored packets for super hot days are a must and you can see everything else that we have in our emergency kit minus Children's Advil which is in the kids overnight case since it is a very round large bottle that does not fit comfortably in this kit, but small bottle of advil are in our diaper bag. The blue bottle is amazing and is Tom and Sheri's's Iron In a Bottle. I have both the really large bottle and the travel and this stuff is incredible. Hang up item, couple squirts of this and whammo...all wrinkles gone! It is perfect for travel and for iron haters such as myself...other than my cricut heat press, I do not own one.
Makeup Bag
This is a Sonia Kashuk from Target. They no longer sell her makeup line so I am not sure about the bags as I got this one forever ago. I love that it is slim, has two sides and a middle pocket for brushes. For some reason I hate having skincare in the same area as my makeup, so this is perfect.
Without fail I ALWAYS pack too much makeup and never use it. I do this all the time on the Disney Cruise and then I barely wear any makeup the entire time. I attempt taking the bare minimum and it never works out for me, so this time I swore I was going to limit it...no. matter. what, and below is the outcome. Granted there are a bunch of lipglosses, but babysteps.
It truly fits plenty of stuff and I basically took what I would wear on a general makeup no makeup day.
Mischa BB Cream ( I adore this, it is a your skin but better and for $8 it is a steal)
Clinique Beyond Perfecting in Neutral (The travel size often comes in the gift with purchase...I use it as a concelear)
Wet n Wild Color Icon (it is already packed or I would tell you the color, but all of them are awesome and the color payoff is perfect...and hullo...they are $3!)
Rare Beauty in Fearless (another my lips but better win...I love this shade and the formula...Selena Gomez hit it out of the park with her makeup line and I normally hate celebrity makeup).
Kaja Bento Boxes (these round discs are amazing and again the color payoff is great). The discs have a cream bronzer, highlighter and blush. I like that you do not have to worry about dipping your brush into the other colors as you would with palettes, plus it is super small and compact and if I do not use it, I do not feel guilty for bringing it.
Wet n Wild Big Poppa Mascara (mascara is so personal, but it is perfection...nuf said)
It has been super hot here in Florida (like sitting on the sun hot), so a face full of makeup sounds like the opposite of what I want to experience being all day in the parks and wearing a mask to boot (you are able to take your mask off now for pictures when you are socially distanced from others)
Excuse the dirtiness...I did not wipe anything down before I threw everything in for pictures.
It Cosmetics Moisturizer (I also have the mini one to travel
Farmacy Clean Cleansing Balm (they always have this in mini form that you can use your points on and it takes forever to go through, so I try to get a couple and keep them in my travel section of the bathroom
Sephora Eye Cream (It is a brightening eye cream and I adore it)
Clinique City Block Sheer Face Sunscreen (awesome as a makeup primer)
Baby Yoda (I refuse Grogu) Hair Bag
This is mine and EV's hair bag (minus Shea Moisture kids spray leave-in conditioner which is in our overnight) day to day hair arsenal regardless of travel so I just take the full size and pop them into the bigger case along with some hair bands and fun disney ties (the ones above are from Target and are newer) and then I keep the smaller ties in the small Baby Yoda (not doing it) bag so that they do not go everywhere (the small round fits in the big one with everything else too). I love THESE from Amazon as they are super inexpensive, arrive in a load of colors and never seem to hurt EV's hair. Winning all around.
Park Outfits
I also have an set of Itzy Ritzy storage cubes that I adore and I am sure I have spoke about countless times (they come in a set of three and are always traveling with us). In the biggest one I put our "park outfits". I bought the below matching set from our favorite WhityDarlingDesign for the Flower and Garden Festival currently taking place (Orange Bird is always in fashion) for EV and Commodore. For myself, I got THIS t-shirt from LakeBuenaVisitor (I may be bias...she is Greek and Italian). I keep them in the storage cube so that I can change the kiddos when we get to the park. This way, I am not worried about them destroying the outfits in the car or getting ruined while they are strapped in the car seat or it being really hot and them not wanting to wear the outfit for very long. I can change them in the parking lot really quick and put the other outfits that they traveled in in the cube and throw it in the stroller. This way, the kiddos and I can take some really cute themed pictures (nothing says Flower and Garden at Epcot like Orange Bird)
and once it gets too hot, I can change them back into something cooler and the outfits will stay nice in the cube.
Shoes to show you how small these cubes are, but how much they fit.. My outfit actually fit in here too!
Masks
I have a makeup bag from Clinique that has an excessive amount of masks in it (like embarassingly excessive) and THESE extenders for EV that make the masks comfortable for her to wear for extended periods of time and I just bring the entire bag with us since I change out the masks often, plus we are expecting it to be quite hot this weekend. Our favorites are the 2pk Cat and Jack masks from Target ($4 for two and they come in really cute prints for the kids). The kid size actually fits my small head (the Hubs lovingly calls it a turnip head ::sigh::) so they are good for both EV and I and Daddio gets the adult ones.
Rain coats. The Commodores rain jacket (slicker if you will) was EV's when she was a peanut and I absolutely love the hood/face plate that comes down to make them look like an alien. I wish they made it in my size. EV's is iridescent, also from Cat and Jack and Target and looks perfect for Epcot, but fingers crossed we won't need it for anything else, but a rain shower.
I was able to get everything in the super small weekender with the exception of the rain coats and the fans which is why I upgraded to the bigger duffle, but even with that, it is incredible that all those items could fit into such a small bag. Hence it being my favorite day bag. If the price is a little steep just for a day bag and you have a Vera Bradley outlet near you, I suggest checking it out. I can sometimes get these bags upwards of 70% off and they end up being something along the lines of $20.
Don't worry, in June you will see how I pack the bag normally for an actual early-check in stay at the Dolphin for Commodore's birthday. We are planning to leave early so that we can have an afternoon at the pool (weather permitting) and the Dolphin is pretty strict even with Marriott Reward Members in regards to checking in at the appropriate time, so pool day it is and I am not even mad about it ;).
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