Hey everyone, it's Jacqueline for Pixie Dust PhD. In this video I thought I would give you a quick
update about some items that we purchased with our Walt Disney World trip in mind.
Some of these will be exclusively for Walt Disney World; most of them will get general use out of
other than the trip, but the trip really was the impetus for the purchase. This also includes
one single fairly extravagant purchase, so be sure to stay tuned until the end to see that!
Before we get started, I want to say thanks so much to everyone who has a liked the video
and subscribed to the channel. If you aren't yet subscribed, I really wish you would. It's free,
and you can ring the bell icon to receive notifications whenever I post new videos. With my
trip right around the corner I’m probably going to be posting videos a little more sporadically than
usual. Therefore, ringing that bell to receive notifications should prove pretty useful that way
you don't miss anything. I’d also love to hear about what you tend to purchase before you head
down to Walt Disney World or Disneyland! Are there any park specific items you absolutely must have?
Let me know in the comments down below. For my list let's get started with some items that
really are Disney specific. First, I did buy two new pairs of Minnie Mouse ears; we did a whole
video unboxing of those. If you want to check that out click the card in the corner, and I’ll
leave the link in the description below. Next, my partner and I did also decide to buy MagicBands.
You don't need a MagicBand anymore, and also they aren't free, but for on-site hotel guests you can
receive a slight discount on some MagicBands that are offered. We did decide to go ahead and
purchase MagicBands. If you want to learn more about that process and see what we got you can
look at my recent MagicBands video. Next that's pretty Walt Disney World specific and I don't
think we'll get use out of really anywhere else that we travel or at home are disposable rain
ponchos. I got a pack of six of these and assorted colors for about $11. I picked these specifically
because they have the string around the hood so if it's going rain bad I can tighten that string and
hopefully that helps keep some of the rain off of my head. I generally don't like to use single-use
products, especially single-use plastics, so this is not something I would normally purchase. But
we all know how absolutely ridiculous the rain in central Florida can be and I want to be prepared.
I do have a rain slicker that I use at home, but even when I scrunch it up real small it's not
super small so it's not really something that I want to lug around the parks. These ponchos,
since it's a super thin plastic, will take up next to no space in our luggage and in our park bags.
I don't know what they charge these days for ponchos in the parks, but I’m guessing it's
quite a lot. It's probably more than ten dollars, right? It might even be $15 to $20. But anyway,
if we get caught in a rain pour I don't want to have to feel like I need to buy one of those
ponchos on property. Instead we will just have these that we'll bring with us. And the last
real Walt Disney World parks specific item that I bought is going to be disposable face masks.
I purchased two packs of 50 in these boxes, which feels a little bit ridiculous, but we are going to
be gone for two full weeks and there's two of us. And I assume we'll be changing masks at least once
a day. Again, normally I try to avoid disposable products. At home we've been wearing cloth masks
all the time. Other than when we go to a doctor's office and they give us a disposable mask to wear,
we just don't use disposable masks at home. And I like the cloth masks plenty and we absolutely are
going to pack them, but I anticipate we'll be using them primarily for double masking rather
than just our primary mask wearing. Mostly I don't want to have to be washing masks every couple
days while we're on vacation because we really just don't own that many cloth masks. Overall,
I just think having the disposable ones will make our lives a lot easier. Also while I definitely
mask up when I need to, some of the cloth masks we own are not the most comfortable. And I know from
prior experience when I was a graduate student that I can easily wear these disposable face masks
for at least six hours. I don't think I’ve ever done eight or nine hours, but I don't anticipate
I will do eight or nine hours in a row without switching masks out at the Disney parks either.
Truly, I hate to be wasteful; it makes me cringe inside, but I just think this is the best path
forward for us for this vacation. Plus, I bought these two boxes specifically because they came
in a lot of fun colors so hopefully I will have a good time mixing and matching with outfits. Moving
on, let's go to a category of apparel. I did buy a new park bag for this trip. It's from Dora and Liz
and it was about $23, though the cost did vary depending on what color you ended up buying.
In 2019 my park bag was a Kipling small Annic, and I really liked it. You can convert it from
a crossbody to a backpack, which is exactly what I want. Backpacks are probably the most convenient
for parks, but I hate that back sweat feeling and it's kind of inevitable in Florida. Plus,
when I’m in more crowded situations like at rope drop or during the nighttime spectacular I prefer
to have my bag in front of me. So being able to convert from a backpack for ease to a crossbody
for safety, security, and basically for my paranoia is something that I really value.
Kipling did make a regular size Annic--I purchased a small Annic and found that while it was great it
was a little bit small. Anytime I wanted to carry both a water and my camera along with my everyday
essentials, things were pretty tight. Especially when you consider that normally at Disney parks
I would like to bring a light jacket or a light sweater along with also for those chilly indoor
situations. The Kipling small Annic really could not fit all of that I found. So recently I decided
maybe I’ll just go buy the regular sized Kipling Annic. Unfortunately, they discontinued it. So
that set me off on this hunt to find another bag that was a little bit larger than what I had
that can convert from a backpack to a crossbody. I settled on this bag from Dora and Liz, and I’ve
been using it for about a month and I’m actually pretty impressed with it. The backpack function is
super easy and makes a lot of sense. Converting it from backpack to shoulder bag is also really easy,
quick, and simple. Converting it from backpack or shoulder bag to crossbody is a little bit wonky;
it does work but it doesn't perhaps feel the most secure to me. You're basically relying
on this piece of hardware to hold everything together; so you elongate the straps and then you
unbuckle it from the bottom, and then you have these two pieces of hardware that just like
clash and that's how your bag stays crossbody. I just wish they had added another D-ring for
me to clip into for some extra security. But otherwise, I think it's a decent sized bag.
I can definitely fit everything I need in it. It's nylon, so it's fairly lightweight.
There's decent organization. Honestly, if it were the old park days where security had to go through
every pocket of your bag I might say there were too many pockets in this. The front of the bag
alone has four separate compartments, and then you have the main compartment, which also has a
zipper, and then the back also has a zipper. But since security's been updated and I should just
be able to walk right through I think this will be perfect. I also find the straps to be comfortable,
at least on my frame--it's different for everybody though. But also at $23 it's a pretty hard price
to beat. After I discovered Kipling no longer makes that Annic style bag and I was looking into
other bags, honestly there just weren't very many options that converted from backpack to crossbody.
And the other few I found were typically over a hundred dollars. Many of them were from more
bougie travel companies so it had all these safety locks and features and RFID blocking everything,
blah blah blah. Which I’m sure that's cool, but I just really don't need that for a park bag.
Although I will say this bag is advertised as having some RFID blocking technology as well.
I probably am going to pack more than one bag for the trip, but I did purchase this bag with
the trip in mind. And I think it probably will be my primary park bag for this trip.
If you're looking for a convertible bag with enough space to carry your things, but that's not
as big as backpack--not so overwhelming, honestly I really recommend this. Like I said, I’ve been
using it around town for several weeks and I’m really enjoying it so far. Next, let's talk about
shoes and socks. If you watched my recent shoes for Disney video you know that I’m a bit peculiar
and particular about this topic. For shoes I did end up purchasing a new pair of sandals from
Vionic. This is the Lizbeth backstrap sandal. I like the way it looks, but mostly I was looking
for a sandal with this full ankle strap. I had one very similar to this--it wasn't exactly the same,
the decoration was different, but the rest was exactly the same--in 2017, which I took to the
parks and that was probably my favorite. I ended up purchasing these for about a hundred dollars,
which is not necessarily my favorite. Usually I’m able to find Vionic shoes on Zulily for
about forty dollars a pair, but time was ticking by and I knew I really wanted these and these
weren't popping up on Zulily so I just bit the dust and spent the full price. And I know I’ll
get great use out of these sandals outside of the parks at home, on other vacations, etc., so it's a
worthwhile investment for me. Next, and I didn't technically purchase these--my partner got them
for me for a birthday gift, but I do have now my third pair of Allbirds. These are a tree material
pipers; so piper is the style. I previously owned a wool piper and I liked it a lot, but the wool
was just not maybe my favorite thought for a vacation in central Florida. So now I have this
tree material that's lighter, breezier; this is gonna be a great shoe for me in the parks!
I’ve been wearing it around town since I got it for my birthday, and yep these are a great shoe.
I’m really excited to take them to Walt Disney World. Regardless of an upcoming vacation,
I’m always on the hunt for a good no-show sock. But certainly with vacation coming up that is
more urgent than usual. I did end up buying a pair of Trino hider socks from Allbirds, and I do like
these very much actually. They have this flat lay seam that feels nice on the top of my foot, and
there are some grippies on the inside of the back of the heel. So for the most part I’m not noticing
that they're falling down or anything. I will note though that I typically wear a women's seven and
a half or eight size shoe, and this is a small sock--which is technically for women's five to
seven size. So I did purposefully size down and I do think that was the correct decision. I like
these socks plenty, but they are an expensive sock much like Bombas. That being said, with
Bombas when you purchase a pair they also donate a pair, which I do not think Allbirds is doing.
So from that moral standpoint I ended up just purchasing more Bombas lightweight no-show socks.
Even though I think truthfully I probably slightly prefer the Allbirds socks, I just got eight pairs
of these gray lightweight no-show Bombas size small again, which again per the size chart I
should be a medium, but, you know, small it is I guess. I now have this one pair of Allbirds socks
and then 12 pairs of small Bombas lightweight no shows, and I will be taking all of those with me
on vacation. And then finally, close to almost a year ago actually I bought a parka from Uniqlo.
It's this lightweight pocketable UV protection parka. It normally retails for about 40
dollars. Forever ago they were running a one weekend special on it where it was $19.90,
so that is when I snatched it up. I did want the parka in general for my everyday life,
but I also knew that this would be a great thing to bring to Disney so that was sort of the impetus
for the purchase even though it was so long ago. It's pretty lightweight, fairly breathable--I mean
these things are never fully breathable because they're supposed to be somewhat water resistant.
This is fairly water resistant; I’ve worn it in what I would consider a drizzle or a light
rain here at home and it does great for that. I don't think it'll be really any help at all
during a torrential downpour, but it's better than nothing. And it'll be a nice light layer. Plus it
does pack up fairly small, which is cool; so I can either stick it in my bag or I can probably
clip it with a D-ring to the outside of my bag somewhere. If anyone's considering buying this,
I will note that I ended up buying a large. Normally I buy a medium in pretty much
everything. Several of the reviews said that the length was a little bit short and so they
wanted it to be longer, and in order for that they did size up. I also tend to want things to
be longer so I sized up to large and I’m glad I did that--I think that's correct. Uniqlo tends to
have closer to Asian sizing instead of American sizing, so you may end up sizing up. Just look
at the size chart pretty carefully. For the next category let's go over technology adjacent items.
So I did buy a new phone case; it is this cool cross body case, and you can cross it horizontal
or if you move the clips you can do vertical as well. I really wanted one that could do both,
but especially the horizontal. Primarily with filming in mind--that way if it's swung across
my body horizontal and then I want to take a quick picture or video this way, landscape not portrait,
you know, for the vlog, then I can just pull it up do it real fast, great! Interestingly,
this was pretty hard to find actually. There were plenty of crossbody phone cases in general,
but 98% of them only did that vertical hold and not the horizontal hold. I ended up paying about
30 bucks for this, which feels like a little bit much. It's not the sturdiest phone case of all
time, although I will say that the clip-ins where the strap holds your phone do feel very secure,
which is important. I’ll leave the link to the exact product that I bought in the description
below, but I’ll also leave a link to some similar products that look a little bit less expensive.
And I’ll note it actually came like this--it had this pretty large sort of small wallet
on the back of the phone case, which I think a lot of people like for convenience. And I get that,
but actually because it was so large it was hard for me to hold. It was hard for me to hold
my phone with one hand, and I found it really inconvenient. The wallet portion was basically
stitched and glued on to the phone case. It wasn't an integral part. Therefore, I decided to jerry
rig it more to my liking. I used a seam ripper to take off the stitches along where the wallet
part was stitched down to the phone case. Then, I just had to deal with the glue. The glue was only
in the center back so I just sort of tried to slowly peel it off. And it worked eventually,
but you can see that when I peeled it off there's this nasty part from the actual phone case that
came off with it too. So then the phone case was looking pretty bad. The wallet had another flap
here; so there's this holder, and then this is just a pocket… there was another flap. I
can't remember which side, but with one of these pockets--so it had, you know, more card space,
it had more places to store things. Again, that was just stitched in, so I unstitched it from the
wallet with the seam ripper. And then basically I just glued that down to the back of the phone
case to cover the ugly back. And then I put this cute sticker on it. So now I have a slim
phone case that I can hold with just one hand, but it does have the crossbody strap which is great.
For anyone wondering why I wanted a crossbody strap phone case to begin with, it's basically
because a lot of my outfits don't have pockets. And if I’m using my park bag in backpack mode,
rather than fumble around with that I can instead just keep my phone crossbody style in front of me,
on my body--on my person, even when I don't have pockets. I’ve used it around town it works very
well. I’m excited about the utility, especially for the upcoming trip! Next in tech, and I
mentioned this in my most recent monthly creator update, but I did get a new tripod. It's a Joby
Gorillapod like basically everybody else uses. One of the legs of my old tripod was more or less
broken so I’d been putting off this purchase for a while because I didn't feel like I absolutely
needed it. So the trip really pushed me to buy it sooner rather than later. And then I did end up
buying the tripod as part of a kit. You absolutely don't have to, you can just get the tripod alone,
but the kit came with this converter for your phone. So you put this on your phone and then
you can screw your phone into the tripod this way or this way--so you can get portrait or landscape,
which is great. Hopefully that'll help me take some cool footage while I’m down in the parks.
The last category of purchases I made for the upcoming trip is what I would consider personal
care. First, I bought these Bliss incredipeel resurfacing pads. These actually aren't my
favorite. I’ve used them before. Normally, I use these Elemis pads, but as you can see all the pads
are contained in this giant container and I don't really want to pack this if we're being honest.
Normally on shorter vacations I wouldn't worry about something like a facial resurfacing pad.
I use them every two to three days, so if we're only gone for five days I’d miss maybe
one session. That's fine. But we're going to be gone for two full weeks, so I want to keep things
as normal as possible--especially when it comes to my skin routine. I bought these Bliss resurfacing
pads specifically because they're individually wrapped, which again is pretty wasteful, but it is
very convenient for travel. So I’ll pack a bunch of these in the suitcase and then I can continue
to use them every two to three days and hopefully keep my skin happy. Next, and very important,
is sunscreen. Specifically this is age shield sunscreen for the face. I put sunscreen on my
face every day; my partner is good about it in the summer, less good about it otherwise,
but I’m trying to bully them into better habits. We know we like this exact face sunscreen. It's
what we're using now, but we only have about a third of a tube left and I’m not going to chance
it. So I bought an entire new tube to take with us on vacation to very, very sunny central Florida.
We do have plenty of body sunscreen, so I didn't need to worry about that purchase. But for the
face specifically I got a new tube so I know we will not run out while we're on vacation.
And the very last thing I purchased with our upcoming trip in mind,
but we will get a ton of utility out over time, is this Theragun prime percussive massage gun.
This is about $300, so it's not a small purchase at all. I’ve been going to physical therapy on and
off for most of my life and had some version of a massage gun used on me for years--maybe a decade,
I’m not sure, but for a really long time. I have some significant joint issues, and really any time
a system in your body is perturbed away from normal well there are effects past just that
point. So clearly a massage gun is going to do nothing for my ailing joints, but it does help
a lot with the muscles surrounding them. In the past year or year and a half or so, my partner's
knee has been bothering them kind of a lot. And recently they started going to physical therapy.
Through that process they also had the Theragun used on them, and suddenly they understood
why I was so jazzed about it in general, and occasionally would bring up “maybe we should buy
one of these”. But it is such a big purchase, so, you know, I didn't want to just do it on
my own without buy in from my partner too. After experiencing it for themselves, they were sold and
so we decided to buy one. Obviously this will be very useful for us in general and in the long run,
especially in terms of maintenance from our injuries. But timing wise we probably purchased
this earlier than we would have otherwise because of this upcoming trip to Walt Disney World. So we
are planning on packing the Theragun and bringing it with us down on vacation. I think it will feel
so good to use the Theragun on my quads and my calves after a long day in the parks. I know
it's pretty lavish, but really if you've never had a percussive massage gun used on you it's
it's kind of life changing and you may want to consider it. Even people who aren't athletes can
benefit from this kind of tool! That's just about everything I bought really with the upcoming Walt
Disney World trip in mind. Some purchases were really inexpensive--for example, each single
disposal mask was probably only about 30 cents; and then of course we went all the way up the
range to about $300 for a massage gun. I could have probably gotten away with not purchasing
any of these. I don't know that any of them were 100% necessary, but they are going to make the
trip so much more enjoyable for my partner and I, so I think they're good investments.
I’m looking forward to your reactions about the silly things I’ve bought, and also I still would
love to hear if there's anything in particular you always buy before you head down to the parks!
And if you want to chat outside of YouTube we can continue the conversation over on Instagram
or Twitter you will find me @PixieDustPhD. Relevant links for all these products will
be in the description below, though do know that some will be affiliate links. Full details will
be included in the description as well. If you want to support the channel outside of YouTube
please do consider shopping through my affiliate links--it will cost you nothing more, I will just
get a small tiny little kickback. We're going to be down in Disney so soon and I am extremely
excited! All these little purchases should make our day-to-day experience just a little bit more
magical too. I am wishing you all the very best, and we'll see you real soon at Pixie Dust PhD.