We made our first trip to Disney this June and wanted to pass along some ideas we found that worked great.

First, as I didn't want to be the heavy packmule for the group. I decided everyone would help out. I purchased each person thier own fanny pack. Mom and dad's had extra compartments for the cell phone and cameras, All of them had a pouched water bottle as well as a fairly decenct size compartment so everyone could carry thier own sunglasses, sunscreen, bug repelant towellets,pocket money, "if I get lost" info for the kids and extra disney pins for trading.

The kids are getting older now, and I remembered what a mess they could make looking through all the luggage for the shirt they just had to wear that day. I bought the kids thier own color coordinated luggage with matching carry ons. This worked great as they knew what bag held thier clothes and it was easy for me to see who might of made the mess while rumaging.They did take thier carry ons with them filled with gum, small snacks, coloring books, crayons and diarys for thier trip which made for a fairly quiet ride. Emptied at the hotel they also were big enough for each to carry thier own swimsuit, towel, sunscreen and extra set of clothes for the water parks.

My daughter is right between a girl's large size and a small junior. It was very hard for me to find the clothes she wanted with her favorite disney characters in this size. Seems everything was either for a toddler or women's size on most sites. Just as I was about to give up....bingo! There they were on ebay.

I made my purchases on ebay and totalled them up. Then looked at what they would of cost me on other online sites. Some of the things I bought may have not been new, but  I just wanted to get a weeks use out of them anyway. Sunglasses, luggage, fannypacks, clothes....with shipping and handling included, I figure i saved over $200. Having the extra money to spend on a lot of little extras made a much nicer trip.

Oh and the pins! I had bought some on Ebay before the trip because I read about the trading there. I didn't tell anyone as they were to be a surprise. Our first day there my husband went to the hotel lobby to buy some postcards while I unpacked and he brought my son along. My son had been saving his money since christmas and came back to the room proudly showing me the 8 pins he had bought for $90. I very quickly unpacked and gave out the ones I had bought for them . I didn't have the heart to tell him I paid a total of $44 for 20 pins. But I was real glad I did.