Ice Packs - How to Keep Cold

[YoungPirate]

My wife and I are leaving with our 2.5 year son this upcoming Sunday. He has allergies to egg & peanut, along with being lactose intolerant. With that being said, we will have to be bringing a cooler with us to the park. We are staying at Port Orleans Riverside. Our concern is how to keep the ice packs frozen.

1. Are there freezers that we can utilize at the park (in the Baby Care Center) to assist us during our time at the parks (Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom)?
2. Will we be able to utilize the front desk or kitchen to store freezer packs during our time

In addition how big are the mini fridges in the Royal Rooms? Can they fit a carton of Lactaid milk?

 

[Ensusieasm]

My wife and I are leaving with our 2.5 year son this upcoming Sunday. He has allergies to egg & peanut, along with being lactose intolerant. With that being said, we will have to be bringing a cooler with us to the park. We are staying at Port Orleans Riverside. Our concern is how to keep the ice packs frozen.

1. Are there freezers that we can utilize at the park (in the Baby Care Center) to assist us during our time at the parks (Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom)?
2. Will we be able to utilize the front desk or kitchen to store freezer packs during our time

In addition how big are the mini fridges in the Royal Rooms? Can they fit a carton of Lactaid milk?

Here is one idea...Pack some quart size zip lock bags and get ice every morning at POR and pack a few bags of ice in your cooler. You can ask for cups of ice at restaurants and quick service to refill as needed when you are in the parks.

**Edited March 28, 2019** My advice above is no longer an option. Because, as of today, March 28, 2019, there is a new rule. No loose ice can be brought in to any Disney Parks. Only solid freezer packs can be used. Of course that doesn’t work for you because the refrigerator in your room at POR does not have a freezer compartment. So, it seems that you will only be able to bring non perishable food and drink items into the parks since you will not be able to keep anything cold. Or....you can bring empty zip lock bags in your small cooler pack and get free cups of ice at any park food service location to fill the bags once inside the park.

 

[YoungPirate]

Thanks - Is there a fee associated to the ice at quick service and assuming you have to wait in line?

 

[KayaWildfire]

To jump in, water and ice are free at any quick service place. It isn't at the kiosks because they don't have a fountain. Typically, you aren't required to wait in line for the free water. The CM handing out menus at the back of the line at most quick service places will direct you to an area where they have water already made up. You would have to ask for a cup or two of ice, but there won't be a charge. As for your original questions, they won't let you store your ice packs anywhere other than your room.

 

[Klayfish]

Ice cubes will melt pretty quick, but I suppose they're better than nothing. I can't offer advice on keeping them frozen in your rooms, because we stay offsite and have a freezer. Make sure you have the larger ice packs, not the thin ones. They should be nice and thick. We use ones that actually come with a refrigerated medicine I use. It has to be kept cold, so it's shipped in a styrofoam box with these gel type ice packs. Even more than 24 hours after it's packaged, the packs are still more than half frozen. You can also use the ice packs meant to keep 6 packs cold, we have several of those. They're nice and thick also. Put them in a soft sided insulated bag. Even on a mid-summer WDW day, they'll stay frozen for 6-8+ hours for us.

 

[jo-jo]

Here is one idea...Pack some quart size zip lock bags and get ice every morning at POR and pack a few bags of ice in your cooler. You can ask for cups of ice at restaurants and quick service to refill as needed when you are in the parks.

Double bag the ice and I'd put a few napkins or paper towels in between to catch any drips.

 

[NYCgrrl]

My wife and I are leaving with our 2.5 year son this upcoming Sunday. He has allergies to egg & peanut, along with being lactose intolerant. With that being said, we will have to be bringing a cooler with us to the park. We are staying at Port Orleans Riverside. Our concern is how to keep the ice packs frozen.

1. Are there freezers that we can utilize at the park (in the Baby Care Center) to assist us during our time at the parks (Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom)?
2. Will we be able to utilize the front desk or kitchen to store freezer packs during our time

In addition how big are the mini fridges in the Royal Rooms? Can they fit a carton of Lactaid milk?

Assuming the mini fridges are the same throughout all the resorts, there is no freezer in the room unit.
Unless you are staying at some resorts with club level lounge you will only have access to Bell Services cold storage and I've never been able to hold anything frozen there, at best it remains cold.

These are my abridged tips for keeping items cold from my camping times. They'll work well for anytime you need whether out in the wild or not.

My suggestion to you would be to take your ice packs, place in a clean plastic bag with no printing or dyes and bury them in the on floor ice machine's ice bed. Write your room # and length of stay on paper and place in bag. Inform the H/K staff what you have done and tip ahead of time (one of the few times I'd tip in advance). Make sure your portable cooler is well insulated; for a hard sided version Coleman's Xtreme series will give you the best bang for your buck. Not sure if they still produce the 6 day model but the 5 day is pretty good as well. Should you already have a Yeti or Pelican- enjoy and I'm turning a 'lil green! For a soft side unit, read this article and chose what best fits your needs and pocketbook:

https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/topics/camping-and-hiking/best-soft-cooler

To maintain coldness in addition to the ice packs, you can hard freeze small bottles of water and pack along all sides of the cooler. As the water defrosts, drink it or try to refreeze as you wish.

Leave as little air pockets as possible within the cooler so less warm air enters and gets trapped thus lowering the overall temperature. I use 100% cotton tightly woven dish towels for this and/or loose ice cubes. Zip or close after every opening and do not leave/store coolers in the direct sun.

You can also buy these to further the cooling as they are low weight and can't hurt but should NOT be used alone as they will not maintain temps solo:

https://www.zoro.com/igloo-reusable...MIw7yU992f4QIVCo7ICh2dbgEGEAQYBCABEgKd8fD_BwE

Normally I find them at Walmart's.

Chill all cooler's edible contents as well as the actual cooler at least overnight. When I've no space or time for the cooler I throw in a few bags of sacrificial ice bags in before loading.


If your cooler doesn't have a drain spout place dish towels at bottom of cooler to sop up moisture.

No idea about the cooling or heating facilities available at Baby Centers.


I would also contact Disney's restricted diet number to find out if they can further assist. Who knows? None of this may be needed.

Finally, the room fridge interiors can be modified by removing the shelves to accommodate certain items. Still not tall enough to hold a standard sized bottle of Champagne upright anddddddd now you know what my priorities are.

HTH and have fun out there.

 

[brent02139]

We pack a few cold water bottles, more than we would drink into our cooler. It's enough to keep stuff cool till lunch time. You didn't mention how long you will be in the park, with a 2.5 year old. But water bottles kept our stuff cool and also good to drink in the park.

Just FYI, you can't bring a roller cooler, per Disney rules

 

[Betty Rohrer]

My wife and I are leaving with our 2.5 year son this upcoming Sunday. He has allergies to egg & peanut, along with being lactose intolerant. With that being said, we will have to be bringing a cooler with us to the park. We are staying at Port Orleans Riverside. Our concern is how to keep the ice packs frozen.

1. Are there freezers that we can utilize at the park (in the Baby Care Center) to assist us during our time at the parks (Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom)?
2. Will we be able to utilize the front desk or kitchen to store freezer packs during our time

In addition how big are the mini fridges in the Royal Rooms? Can they fit a carton of Lactaid milk?

I do not know where you could keep freezer packs frozen. I know you are not staying there but the cabins at Fort Wilderness have full size with freezer there. one thing to remember that only place to reheat food is baby center no table serve or counter serve will be able to heat outside food for you

 

[tjmw2727]

You can fit a carton of lactaid milk in the fridge but you may have to remove one of the racks, they don't have a freezer however so ice packs will be tricky. I would try to find shelf stable snacks and non perishables for the parks. You could try using zip locks with ice as mentioned above but they tend to melt much faster than ice packs.

My dd is also lactose intolerant so she just has a glass of milk in the morning and before bed and drinks water during the day.

You didn't ask but the restaurant board and DisAbilities board here both have great info on dining with allergies at WDW, allears.net has an entire section dedicated to this.

 

[plutolovr]

You can fit a carton of lactaid milk in the fridge but you may have to remove one of the racks, they don't have a freezer however so ice packs will be tricky. I would try to find shelf stable snacks and non perishables for the parks. You could try using zip locks with ice as mentioned above but they tend to melt much faster than ice packs.

My dd is also lactose intolerant so she just has a glass of milk in the morning and before bed and drinks water during the day.

You didn't ask but the restaurant board and DisAbilities board here both have great info on dining with allergies at WDW, allears.net has an entire section dedicated to this.

LOOSE ICE
Beginning today, if you plan to bring a cooler or cooler bag to store snacks and drinks for theme park or water park adventures, it’s important to know that loose or dry ice are no longer permitted in our parks. Ice in ziploc bags is okay.

 

[Ensusieasm]

My wife and I are leaving with our 2.5 year son this upcoming Sunday. He has allergies to egg & peanut, along with being lactose intolerant. With that being said, we will have to be bringing a cooler with us to the park. We are staying at Port Orleans Riverside. Our concern is how to keep the ice packs frozen.

1. Are there freezers that we can utilize at the park (in the Baby Care Center) to assist us during our time at the parks (Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom)?
2. Will we be able to utilize the front desk or kitchen to store freezer packs during our time

In addition how big are the mini fridges in the Royal Rooms? Can they fit a carton of Lactaid milk?

I want to alert you to a new rule as of today about ice. Please see posts #11 and my added edit to my post #2

 

[NYCgrrl]

I want to alert you to a new rule as of today about ice. Please see posts #11 and my added edit to my post #2

Great alert but I don't think it'll be implemented until May and the OP will be there this weekend.

 

[Ensusieasm]

Great alert but I don't think it'll be implemented until May and the OP will be there this weekend.

The new ice rule actually begins today. March 28

 

[maxiesmom]

I'd like someone to e-mail Disney and ask them how they expect people to utilize freezer packs to keep things cold, when most of the room fridges do not have a freezer section.

Or do they plan to now sell frozen freezer packs with Disney characters on them in the parks? Only kind of kidding.

 

[sponica]

I'd like someone to e-mail Disney and ask them how they expect people to utilize freezer packs to keep things cold, when most of the room fridges do not have a freezer section.

Or do they plan to now sell frozen freezer packs with Disney characters on them in the parks? Only kind of kidding.

Someone asked on the TPAS board about using a water bottle filled with ice, is that loose ice? Or is it contained ice?

 

[NYCgrrl]

The new ice rule actually begins today. March 28

You're right; it's the stroller and smoking bans that start in May. So many bans, so little time. I get the dry ice ban as many counties nationwide prohibit the use.
Don't quite understand the loose ice ban. Maybe it has to do with a change of the chemical composition of the area's groundwater or reducing slips and falls?

@sponica - seems to me that a capped bottle filled with frozen water would be akin to the ice packs that are allowed but I'm sure we'll all find out soon enough how Disney interprets it. I also wonder how this will affect the guests at Ft. Wilderness.

 

[Ensusieasm]

You're right; it's the stroller and smoking bans that start in May. So many bans, so little time. I get the dry ice ban as many counties nationwide prohibit the use.
Don't quite understand the loose ice ban. Maybe it has to do with a change of the chemical composition of the area's groundwater or reducing slips and falls?

@sponica - seems to me that a capped bottle filled with frozen water would be akin to the ice packs that are allowed but I'm sure we'll all find out soon enough how Disney interprets it. I also wonder how this will affect the guests at Ft. Wilderness.

The reason for the loose ice ban seems to be that it slows down bag check having to dig through all that ice in coolers. So, now, in Disney’s own q&a section concerning this rule, they recommend asking for free cups of ice at any food service location inside the park.
Hmmmm. So maybe the answer is to just bring the zip lock bags empty and fill them up with cups of free ice after park entry? Who knows for sure how this will work out, since this just literally popped up today!

 

[Disneyfan754321]

The ice pack thing is crazy to me there seems to be so many people who really need them. Our sons med has to kept cold. We tried the frozen water bottle it works for awhile but in florida heat it was defrosted quicker than I wanted. According to them they will give me free ice if I ask, so I guess take ziplocks and get them refilled during the day.
Glad I'm not storing milk anymore what a hassle.

 

[amymgould]

So, some people are saying it’s ok to put ice in ziplock baggies and others say no. Can someone report back? We are going in 16 days and planned to use baggies with ice. Just want to be prepared. TIA!