The Best Dollar Tree Products for Disney Trips

I'm lucky enough at Disneyland is a 6-hour drive away, but that trip can be and or feel so much longer a child. We've got lucky that, as a toddler, miles with such an easy child to travel with, but I owe a lot of credit to the Dollar Tree for that mini blessing. I wanted to share with you products that have made traveling to Disney so much easier on us in hopes that maybe it'll make your future Disney trip a little bit easier (lighter on the pockets), too!

Travel Storage

I highly recommend investing in the shower caddies, craft caddies and/or totes that Dollar Tree offers. If you don't have a backpack for your toddler and don't plan on investing in one anytime soon, these will be your best friends for the ride. I like them so much better than plastic bags or reusable totes, because you can see everything a lot better. These can sit on the floor or in the seat between you and your child for easy access.

Coloring Activities

Dollar Tree offers a lot of Crayola branded products. If you can spare $2-3, I highly recommend getting a brand new box (even if you already have some), a drawing pad or coloring book, and maybe even a reusable crayon case or pencil case for your little artist. Having a fresh box of crayons will feel shiny and new for your child, and any that get broken or lost during the journey won't affect your home supply. The coloring books and drawing pads are pretty big and will cover their entire lap. Utilize their cup holders to hold a few of their crayons at a time.

Toys

My mother-in-law and her late husband have this belief that the best way to keep a child entertained for long periods of time, whether that be at dinner at a restaurant or on a long car ride, was to give them a brand new toy. Dollar Tree has so many toys that can really hit all of your child's possible interests. Miles is forever fascinated with cars, and our local Dollar Trees almost always have Matchbox, Hot Wheels, or their own store brand in stock. We will typically buy three or four new cars for the drive. These help with meltdowns that happen when stuck in traffic and the newness of them carry over into standing in line for rides. Hot Tip: toddlers get a really big kick in running their car and figuring/dolls in planter boxes. As long as they're not digging holes or making messes, the Cast Members have never had to speak with us and always smile patiently and talk with us while he or any of my nieces played.

We will typically use two on the way down, and one on the way back. We've gotten lucky that on the last two trips we ever made we only ever needed to pull out one. So when we got home, the remaining cars were given as a reward for great behavior. The other nice thing is that your child typically won't have enough time with these toys to develop a strong attachment, so if they're ever lost during the trip, it's not usually that big of a deal.

This also helps if your frequent goer and your child always wants a souvenir. I've heard that you can get away with buying toys beforehand which eliminates the child's need to grab anything while in the parks. Fortunately enough for us, we've never had to do that, but I did hear that it works for some families.

Glowsticks

Glowsticks aren't really meant for the ride down, unless you're driving in the dark, but buying the glow sticks at the Dollar Tree make nighttime parades and after dark festivities a lot easier on the wallet. Glowsticks down in the parks and the surrounding stores get marked up pretty significantly. If you want your child to be able to participate in the after dark fun but don't have it in the budget to spend lots on them at the park, I highly recommend stocking up at the Dollar Tree. An alternate saving hack is to stock up after 4th of July at all of the major stores. Just make sure that you store them inside the house and a climate controlled area. One year, we made the mistake of buying $20 worth of clearance glow sticks from Target but stored them all in the garage. The California heat destroyed all of those glowsticks by drying them up. They were only stored for about 4 months so we were pretty disappointed when only one of them actually worked.

And Don't Forget: First Aid

If you don't already have a first aid kit at home, I highly recommend assembling one before heading down to the parks. I've used plenty of Dollar Tree products to make a trunk emergency kit, and I always pack a few extra pieces in my backpack. Even though your child will spend most of their time in a stroller or in a carry-on backpack, a lot of the ground in Disneyland is uneven surfaces, and accidents do happen. I believe it's always best to have some cleaning wipes, band-aids, and some kind of anti-biotic cream or spray on hand for oops moments. To make this kit, I bought a cosmetic bag, a pack of their Tylenol 2-capsule packs, their Triple Antibiotic cream, and a First Aid Kit available at my store that only had alcohol pads and bandages, since you can't bring the kits that have scissors and other metals in them into the park. To fancy mine up, I cut some heat transfer vinyl using my Silhouette Portrait 3 and ironed it on. This bag lies pretty flat, but has enough space for me to add a few other things I can't get at my local Dollar Tree (ie: my inhaler, children's liquid Tylenol, heartburn medication). Fits great in stroller baskets and backpacks!

But Avoid the Snacks

You could grab snacks at the Dollar Tree for your trip, but I don't really recommend it if you're going to be buying a lot. If you're hoping to just get a couple pieces for the drive down and up, you should be fine. Otherwise, I recommend going to a bigger name store to get larger quantities. Pre-packaged snacks end up costing more per unit at the Dollar Tree because their packs are smaller. You could invest in ziplock bags and their store brand snacks, but I've found that its typically easier to buy those elsewhere.

What other budget-friendly hacks have you found that works for you and your family during long trips? Let me know in the comments below! I can't wait to prep for our next trip to the parks!