Hitting the Road – Make a Disney Car Bag for under $20!

Our trip is a little less than a month away! Since that is the case, I’m starting to prep for Disney. Setting things aside that I plan to take, and trying to be more organized and proactive. (it’s good to have goals, right?) We are going this year with my parents, and my in-laws. This means we’ll be taking two cars. Its a long ride down to Orlando, so I thought it would be nice to have a bag of goodies in each car to keep people occupied. Just because we’re all adults doesn’t mean we don’t get bored!

I think the total for everything in both bags was probably around $30-40 bucks. Mainly because I bought extras of a few things that are not strictly for the car, but for the trip in general. If you were only making one bag, you could easily get everything for under $20. Everything was from the Dollar Store, with a few items from Five and Below thrown in as well. I was super excited to find Disney bags at the Dollar Tree!

What’s Inside?

First, we have the silly “Magic Towels” that they sell. There were tons of them – I ended up with 6. One for each of us. I picked all Disney characters, but they had tons of Marvel characters and others like Paw Patrol. These are actually pretty handy. They are tiny, so they pack well, they expand in water, so you could use them as a quick clean up in the parks or on the road with a little dribble of water from a water bottle, and they can be used and washed, or used and tossed. At one point our dollar store used to sell a version of towels like this that were a little smaller than a laundry tab and came multiple ones in a package. they were plain white, but they were excellent as disposable towels for a trip like this. Sadly, I haven’t been able to find them again.

Now we’ve got everyone’s favorite – travel tissues. These are always handy. ‘Nuff said.

The Dollar Tree near me always has a lot of Disney themed things – especially things like coloring books, activity books and the like. I picked up some puzzle books and coloring books (hey – grown ups like coloring too!) and a packet of pens, and a multi pack of these crayon sets. They’re cute, and I’ll use them even if no one else does!

Okay, many, many years ago I splurged (or my dad did) and got a mister fan from Disney World. I still have it, and I’ll be bringing it with me again because it is WORTH IT to me. But I did find these handheld fans at the Dollar Tree, so I picked up about four. I figured that others on the trip may want them, and if they break, they were a dollar. I also bought a fold out fan at the same time, because it actually moves more air in the end, and I thought it might come in handy. You know, for when I run out the batteries and don’t want to pay the price in the gift shop for the ones at Disney.

I also picked up ponchos in the Dollar Tree. They are thin and flimsy, but I thought it would save us from paying so much for them in the parks. That being said, my husband has zero intention of wearing his (he was way more polite about saying it though), and I actually hate wearing them as well. Most times, I’d rather be a little damp, but you never know. Better to be prepared, right?

Okay, I was SUPER excited when we came across these in the Dollar Tree. I don’t know about you, but when I was a  kid we had these heavy cardboard games with little pink plastic slide windows and you slid it over the little box every time you saw something on the trip. Did any of you have those?

I can’t tell you what was on there anymore, but I know my brother and I spent a  lot of time playing with those. I wish we still had them! We also spent a lot of time playing the license plate game and the alphabet game. So these were a no brainer when I saw them. I mean, for a buck, why not?

I didn’t photograph everything, but I did include a few more. I found a couple travel versions of games at Five and Below, so I bought the Chomp game with the Alligator, where you push a tooth down and try not to get your finger chomped, as well as a deck of Old Maid cards. They had lots of other options,  but I figured two was enough. We can always switch games at a rest stop if needed. I also put snacks, water bottles, pens, pencils, and a small USB port that plugs into the cigarette lighter in the car. In my own bag I included a $5 quick charger pack from Target, and a popup laundry basket. These aren’t really car items, but they are great in the hotel room. I thought the laundry hamper especially would be useful. We can keep all the dirty things in one place until we are ready to pack up.

Anyway, I hope that these ideas will help you create a bag of fun for your gang in the car during your next road trip, whether it be to Disney or to the mountains or across town! For under $20 you can put something together that will suit your family’s tastes and help keep everyone occupied while on the road.

What things would you change or include that I didn’t? I ‘d love to hear!